Module 4

    In Chapter 9 of Woolfolk, on of the main focuses was metacognition: know when, how, and what to learn (p.329). The part that piqued my interest, obviously because I'm an adult learner, is the concept of metacognitive development for older students. I appreciated that the text provided examples of what kinds of questions we should ask ourselves to deepen our understanding of what we know (knowledge), how we learn (effective strategies), and when to apply those (appropriate strategies for varying situations) (p. 331). I think that all of us have something to gain by looking at those questions and reviewing our learning strategies. Woolfolk gave several examples of learning strategies such as: taking notes, highlighting and underlining,Venn diagrams, concept mapping, and tree diagrams ( p. 335).
     Next, Woolfolk tackled problem solving: identifying the problem, setting goals, exploring possible solutions and consequences, and evaluating (p.340). I recently saw these ideas in motion when I helped my son prepare his science fair project! My mind kept going back to all the problem solving we did together for his project when I was reading this chapter. Lastly in Chapter 9, I loved that Woolfolk discussed the importance of creativity relating to problem solving (p. 352-354)! I hear people say all the time "I'm just not a creative person" because they aren't the best painters or their drawing ability is limited to a  stick figure ( that would be me). It's important to understand that creativity is THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!!
     Chapter 10 discussed cognitive and social constructivism, including ideas by Vgotsky and Piaget. It explained the two ideas most important to the constructivist view of learning: 1. Learners are active participants in gaining knowledge and 2. the construction of knowledge is influenced by social interactions ( p. 373). The most interesting part of Chapter 10 for me was learning about situated learning. It really made me reflect back to how I learned certain things, such as proper or appropriate social behavior. I also think the topic of  different knowledge being passed in particular cultural settings is intriguing. I will be teaching History, so I can definitely see myself using this concept as a tool explain how different eras in history believed in the knowledge that they were able to attain at the time. For example, for a long time people thought the earth was flat, until new knowledge came forth that it wasn't. This chapter also discussed how student centered approaches to teaching were an essential element in the view of constructivists, for example, giving students problem- based and complex activities, providing students with several different resources for information, allowing student to work collaboratively, and asking students to apply their knowledge in real life situations (p. 379). The teacher I'm observing utilizes several of these methods, especially providing students with a plethora of resources for information.
     Chapter 11 focuses on Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory. This theory proposes that by observing other people and learning consequences using people like teachers as models of behavior in collaboration with thinking, reasoning, and self regulating, people learn (p. 413). This theory uses the triarchic reciprocal casualty system to show how all of the facets involved in social cognitive theory relate to one another (p. 413).Chapter 11 also touched again on the topic of a teacher's sense of efficacy (p. 422). I truly think that this is one of the most important factors for us, as future educators. We need to believe our students can succeed, and actively instill that belief in them as well! I also think that an important factor we should take into consideration for our future classrooms in the idea of teaching for students to develop skills and attitudes that will move them forward in their learning well after they have left our classrooms. This idea is presented in Woolfolk (p. 433) when discussing self- regulated learners.