Ahh, thats a terrible gap between post one and post two. Sometimes I get so busy and strung out doing everything in life that I neglect to do things that I remind myself of constantly, like posting here. No matter, I'm going to have to make sure and keep up now, hopefully Prof. Nellis can find it in his heart to forgive my lack of organization in posting!
But anyways, there are a few class topics I have to talk about, and for today I would like to talk about Vygotsky. The main idea associated with Vygotsky's theories is that of social learning, in which the social factors surrounding a student and the learning environment are a key factors. His idea of a proximal zone of development is very evident in a real-life situation, as I've noticed in the Grade 6 classroom I often work with. Sometimes a student will raise their hand for help on a question, and state that they have "No idea how to solve it Mr. Wanner!" Of course, as soon as I crouch down and start the question for them or prompt them toward a group of correct answers, their brain which "Had no idea" suddenly starts to have a lot of ideas, and they start to jump into the question, solving it before I have to finish. This is a fantastic example of scaffolding, another of Vygotsky's ideas, in that the teacher can provide a framework or nudge in the correct direction from which the student can use to reach the answer, like scaffolding along a building,
This is even more evicent in the tutorial classroom I often work with, as these kids are not by any means not intelligent, or "stupid" as the label is sometimes given, but merely need help with motivation, or a push in the right direction. I have noted that by using the proximal zone of development theory, what these kids can accomplish with a little help from me or Mr. S is actually on par or above students not in the tutorial room, they just need that scaffolding and assistance in order to help them do so on their own.
Another merit to Vygotsky's theories is the simple idea that learning is a social activity. I find that groupwork and brainstorming with other students with unique perspectives often facilitates a great deal of benifet for all students. It is as if the students create scaffolding for eachother and then show the proximal zone of development theory in practice, except with peers rather than a teacher figure. This just goes to show how important social skills and social interaction are to the learning process, and are one variable often overlooked in schools which can cause students' needs to be neglected or not properly adressed, when all they need is a little good old Vygotsky social learning theories to be put into practice for them to succeed!
That would be the end of my Vygotsky rant, I'll be posting soon about then next class topic!
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Wednesday 18 January 2012
First Ed Psych Post
This a blog dedicated to my constant thoughts and feelings on Education Psychology, many of which that will be prompted by my experiences in the lectures presented by Dr. Nellis at Red Deer College. There will be many of my thoughts, however, that are much broader in origin and may not relate to the course at all, such as my proper introduction post which will, ironically, appear after this post as I have class material to discuss in this "issue" of my blog.
So, down to business then. There are two class subjects on which I wish to touch on in this post, presented to us in the first few days of classes. The first topic actually began with Dr. Nellis' warning about blindy accepting research as the "last word". What he means, I believe, is the fact that many studies, experiments, and articles are written or conducted with a certain leaning in which the author/experimenter imparts upon the reader through his findings. For example, a certain study could find that "when excessive multimedia such as movies are used in a classroom focus is scattered and 8 in 10 students recieve lower marks when viewing films in class rather than studying hard." Someone could read said experiment, and conclude "Oh my gosh! Movies are a waste of time, I'm never showing one in my class again!" Now of course, the study did measure the marks of children who watched movies more often in class than as they compare to children with a more traditional lecture routine, but the experiment said NOTHING, about the other variables. What type of movies were shown? How related were they to class material? What sorts of assessments went with the movie? Were the two groups of children very similar, or was there a distinct difference between the two groups? Even something like the screen/technology used to view the video and/or sound quality can be a factor. This is why we must all be very careful to caution ourselves against jumping to conclusions and blindy accepting outside knowledge without first validating and critically examining the information, source, and all other variables. Well, that was quite the rant...but now on to the video prompt.
Dr. Nellis presented us with a video which featured a news report on a teacher, her name I cannot recall, working with challenging students in a school setting. Many of the students were in a very difficult place, and did not have the motivation or skills they required to draw themselves up to their full potential. In short form, the teacher was exposed to the idea that physical activity, particularly cardio work, could significantly improve a students drive, focus, and motivation to work and learn in the classroom. Thrilled by the emerging idea, she brought exercise equipment into the room and had the kids run or workout in various ways that appealed to them for about 45 minutes before they were to work on their excersices or assignments. Over the school year, she found significant improvements in her students, not only academically and in their self-esteem, but in their behaviour and focus. Now, the story is a wonderfull success story, and I actually do believe there is some merit to the theory behind the physical activity in classrooms movement.
HOWEVER, my experience with other fields of psychology have imparted on me the key idea that every individual is different in many ways from his or her peers, and just because physical activity has positive effects on this children in the video, it does not necessarily mean that this is some sort of "Wonder Drug" for education, in which ALL students will benifet GREATLY. Now, I abuse my shift key for a reason, and the point I am trying to emphasize is that I do not believe that all students will have as much success as the children in the story, if the benifet is even significant at all. For example, I was a fairly successful student through my years in school, always netting academic marks in the honours range or higher. I say this not to brag, but simply to state that I do not believe physical activity would have had much of an effect, if any, on my academic abilities. Looking back, instances where physical activity was more prominent in my lifestlye did not correlate with higher marks at all, and though not an official experiment, leads me to personally believe it would have not had an effect. This is however, a case study based solely on myself, and my opinion in the matter could be biased, of course. After all, every single on of us has the underlying need to be right and see ourselves in a positive light, it is a basic social psychology principle.
My overall point is, the success of physical activity on SOME students is certainly an intruging topic, and one that should most definetly be pursued further, in hopes of finding out imformation that could improve the lives of certain student groups greatly. I would only caution people from taking the idea TOO far, and presuming that ALL students would benifet from high levels of physical activity integrated into the school day.
Well...it was an interesting topic, if anything. I mean I could keep on typing, but I've ranted enough, and my fingers are chafing. So until the next post, Keep the knowledge flowing!
So, down to business then. There are two class subjects on which I wish to touch on in this post, presented to us in the first few days of classes. The first topic actually began with Dr. Nellis' warning about blindy accepting research as the "last word". What he means, I believe, is the fact that many studies, experiments, and articles are written or conducted with a certain leaning in which the author/experimenter imparts upon the reader through his findings. For example, a certain study could find that "when excessive multimedia such as movies are used in a classroom focus is scattered and 8 in 10 students recieve lower marks when viewing films in class rather than studying hard." Someone could read said experiment, and conclude "Oh my gosh! Movies are a waste of time, I'm never showing one in my class again!" Now of course, the study did measure the marks of children who watched movies more often in class than as they compare to children with a more traditional lecture routine, but the experiment said NOTHING, about the other variables. What type of movies were shown? How related were they to class material? What sorts of assessments went with the movie? Were the two groups of children very similar, or was there a distinct difference between the two groups? Even something like the screen/technology used to view the video and/or sound quality can be a factor. This is why we must all be very careful to caution ourselves against jumping to conclusions and blindy accepting outside knowledge without first validating and critically examining the information, source, and all other variables. Well, that was quite the rant...but now on to the video prompt.
Dr. Nellis presented us with a video which featured a news report on a teacher, her name I cannot recall, working with challenging students in a school setting. Many of the students were in a very difficult place, and did not have the motivation or skills they required to draw themselves up to their full potential. In short form, the teacher was exposed to the idea that physical activity, particularly cardio work, could significantly improve a students drive, focus, and motivation to work and learn in the classroom. Thrilled by the emerging idea, she brought exercise equipment into the room and had the kids run or workout in various ways that appealed to them for about 45 minutes before they were to work on their excersices or assignments. Over the school year, she found significant improvements in her students, not only academically and in their self-esteem, but in their behaviour and focus. Now, the story is a wonderfull success story, and I actually do believe there is some merit to the theory behind the physical activity in classrooms movement.
HOWEVER, my experience with other fields of psychology have imparted on me the key idea that every individual is different in many ways from his or her peers, and just because physical activity has positive effects on this children in the video, it does not necessarily mean that this is some sort of "Wonder Drug" for education, in which ALL students will benifet GREATLY. Now, I abuse my shift key for a reason, and the point I am trying to emphasize is that I do not believe that all students will have as much success as the children in the story, if the benifet is even significant at all. For example, I was a fairly successful student through my years in school, always netting academic marks in the honours range or higher. I say this not to brag, but simply to state that I do not believe physical activity would have had much of an effect, if any, on my academic abilities. Looking back, instances where physical activity was more prominent in my lifestlye did not correlate with higher marks at all, and though not an official experiment, leads me to personally believe it would have not had an effect. This is however, a case study based solely on myself, and my opinion in the matter could be biased, of course. After all, every single on of us has the underlying need to be right and see ourselves in a positive light, it is a basic social psychology principle.
My overall point is, the success of physical activity on SOME students is certainly an intruging topic, and one that should most definetly be pursued further, in hopes of finding out imformation that could improve the lives of certain student groups greatly. I would only caution people from taking the idea TOO far, and presuming that ALL students would benifet from high levels of physical activity integrated into the school day.
Well...it was an interesting topic, if anything. I mean I could keep on typing, but I've ranted enough, and my fingers are chafing. So until the next post, Keep the knowledge flowing!
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