To post your questions, click on the link (above) for this reading. You will see a "Post a Comment" box appear in which you can add your questions.
Please post 2 deep-level questions on this chapter after completing your reading. Remember, a deep level question:
- Does not repeat the reading
- Is not directly answered by the reading
- Goes beyond the material presented. Deep level questions:
- Attempt to explain causal factors, or
- Interpret the meaning or implications of the information, or
- Compare current ideas/information to previously learned ideas, or
- Reason about the mechanisms, components, or processes
testing 1 2 3
ReplyDeleteI feel the quote from this reading “information and knowledge are growing at a far more rapid rate than ever before in the history of humankind” is huge. My husband is an accountant and works for an industrial bank. Most of his bosses only have bachelor degrees. But quickly a bachelor degree is meaning less and less. Now a days you needs at least a Masters to have your schooling mean anything. I think this has a lot to do with how fast knowledge and information that we are required to know is growing. You can’t learn everything you need to in four years anymore. It is requiring more school and more money to become successful. This really worries me. Today we work so hard for our bachelor degrees and who knows in 10 or 20 years they may not mean anything.
ReplyDelete“Contemporary view of learning is that people construct new knowledge and understandings based on what they already know and believe”. Wow I couldn’t say it better myself. I am an Early Childhood major so I am in little kid mode. When talking to young children you can’t just throw something in their face and expect them to understand it. You have to connect it with something they already know. It is the same concept in math. You can’t build and move on to the next concept until you understand the previous concept. I think that this is the number one concept when planning on becoming a teacher. You can’t move on just because your schedule says so or because you’re ready. You have to make sure your students are ready. And with being a teacher your students are your number one priority.
ReplyDeleteI thought the opening part of this chapter was interesting. It says that throughout the last 30 years or so, educators paid little attention to the work of cognitive researchers. However, teachers and these researchers are working together. It makes me think about all the other areas of education we have yet to really research. As this research develops though, how can we as teachers implement the findings into our classrooms? We have to ensure that the research is reliable then practice those things we believe will most help our students.
ReplyDeleteToday there is so much emphasis on passing tests and earning grades. But are we ensuring that our students are really learning the material and making connections? This book states that there is a new emphasis on learning with understanding. I think this is so important! As teachers we need to try not to focus on teaching to a test. Rather, we should be focusing on our students understanding concepts and applying what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was impressed by the same part as Kacey. Right before the part she quoted the article said, "Now, at the end of the century, these aspects of high literacy are required of almost everyone in order to successfully negotiate the complexities of contemporary life." It is almos intimidating to me how much the bar has been raised because I feel the responsibility and obligation to be able to help prepare my students to one day enter the real world. Students need to be actively engaged and constantly learning and growing to be able to be competitive and succesful down the road. My question is, how can we constantly push and challenge each student and help them reach their full potential? I know that technology will be one resource that will be extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteQuestions from readings
ReplyDeleteMegan Hilton
Learning: From Speculation to Science
1. In the article, “Learning: From Speculation to Science,” it states, “ Work is social psychology, cognitive psychology, and anthropology is making clear that all learning takes place in settings that have particular sets of cultural and social norms and expectations and that these settings influence learning and transfer in powerful ways.” (p 1). What are the cultural and social norms of today’s classrooms, and what does this setting look like?
2. Learning research suggest that there are new ways to introduce students to traditional subjects such as mathematics, science, history and literature, and that these new approaches make it possible for the majority of individuals to develop a deep understanding of important subject matter, what are the new ways and are they being used in the classroom today? If not, why? Is it too expensive, timely, etc?
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ReplyDeleteQ1. Reading this book, I could find some factors which are very important and influence for learners to learn. They are thinking, reasoning, evironment(stimuli and respenses), social and cultural factors. What is the most powerful factor of them to make learners construct knowledge? If we can find the importance of the factors, I think it is easier to approach to students' previous knowledge or the false concepts.
ReplyDeleteQ2. I'm wondering that I can say spirit as cognition. It can be a little different from cognition, I've wondered how we can connect between human spirit or cognition and science. Even in this chapter, it is not completed. And is there not inherent ability that we can't understand by science? such as the ability of learning language for babys? I believe there are probably some aspects that can't be explained by science. Then how can teachers cover them when they are teaching?
According to Chapter 1 of the book "How People Learn" it discusses that students are not often taught to understand but instead to memorize. What can teachers do to know if a child understands something or if they have just memorized facts?
ReplyDeleteSince we know that new knowledge is based on old knowledge, what are some signs that we can look for in students that tell us they have incomplete knowledge of something they have already learned?
The chapter discussed briefly how developmental researchers found that children at an early age were able to understand basic principles. It suggested the idea of making an innovative curricula for advanced reasoning for younger children. As I plan on becoming a first grade teacher, I want to start my students in the right direction. I wonder how I can expose them to these higher order thinking skills in their everyday curriculum?
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting how the chapter described how today's formal education environments seem to select talent rather then develop talent. As a teacher you have to remember that everyone has talents and can be skilled in different ways. How can I as a teacher make an environment that is conducive for each student's talent development?
ReplyDelete1. Researchers have led studies in the understanding of people’s abilities to solve problems in a wide variety of areas including mathematics, science, literature, social studies, and history. I was wondering if any of the other areas in learning could come into play when doing this research of how to help children learn.
ReplyDelete2. Researchers are discovering ways to learn from the “wisdom of practice” that comes from successful teachers who can share their expertise. Have these expert teachers stayed teaching in the ways they learned in college or have they updated their strategies?
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ReplyDelete1. In "Pre-Existing Knowledge", the example "Fish Is Fish" giving the idea of pre-existing knowledge was interesting to me. We can't deny that pre-existing knowledge affect on our way of thinking seriously. However, there is somtimes a situation which requires totally different way of thinking somethin creative. How can teachers make students think of this totally different and new ideas compared to pre-existing knowledge?
ReplyDelete2. In "Active Learning", there were three types of teachers. I think active students will do well and learn what they are supposed to learn no matter which type of teacher they meet, but for passive students, I don't think they will. Which type of teacher among three would be best for students who learns passively in class?
1. With laws such as NCLB in place, how do we as teachers engage students in "meaningful learning" while still ensuring they pass the tests necessary for the school to keep funding?
ReplyDelete2. What is the difference between learning from the technology and learning with the technology?
Question 1: The chapter talks about different models for teaching (teaching by telling, letting students construct knowledge, active learning, etc.) but how do you know when to use each method and should one be used more often than others?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: New theories about how people learn are being tested every day, as a teacher how will we know which is best and how can we structure our classroom so that all children can benefit, even if they all learn in different ways?
1) The chapter talks about how teachers need to build upon the pre-existing knowledge out students have. How can different types of technology help teachers guide a students learning?
ReplyDelete2) We know that not everyone learns the same way. When using active learning how can teachers make sure every student is being reached?
Question 1: In this chapter they discuss how students memorize facts and don't understand them. Students have a lot of pressure to remember facts and to do well on tests so as a teacher how can you test your students understanding of the subject and not just facts?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: The chapter talks about how we learn from waht we already know. As a teacher how can you know what your students already know? How do you test them on things they already know?
Question 1: Motivation is a key part in making sure students learn, and understand the material being presented to them.
ReplyDeleteWith using technology in the classroom I believe this is a good motivater for students to learn many different skills they will face in the work force later on. How do we know what is the best programs to use to both motivate and prepare them?
Question 2: Stated alot in this supplemental reading was that students need to engage in active learning and construct knowledge for themselves. Not only do I believe in this, but it sounds to easy to be true. How do we know when a student is constructing their own knowledge or even learning for that matter?
I'm just wondering how do we get our teachers to focus on students who have potential to learn and be more talented if our classrooms are too large for our teachers to focus and work with studetns one on one?
ReplyDeleteI think its important for a teacher to make sure you student(s) understand what you are teaching and not just memorizing the lesson to pass the test. How would I as a new teacher know and be able to tell if a student is following what Im teaching or just taking notes for the exam?
ReplyDeleteI think its important for a teacher to make sure you student(s) understand what you are teaching and not just memorizing the lesson to pass the test. How would I as a new teacher know and be able to tell if a student is following what Im teaching or just taking notes for the exam?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: Technology is a good way for students to get into learning and to get motivated to learn. What is a way i can keep my students involved in the learn without them just listening to me lecture and write notes.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: I thought it was interesting to read that formal education is on talent rather then the individual. In a classroom i remember one of my teachers saying something like this and noone really did well in this class. What are some ways that you are not focusing on their talent but rather focusing on all of their strong points in learning?
1. The book states, "the goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the intellectual tools and learning strategies needed to acquire the knowledge that allows people to think productively about history, science and technology, social phenomena, mathematics, and the arts." As teachers, how do we create and nurture this foundation for learning if we don't feel we have learned to do this on our own as adults?
ReplyDelete2. The chapter talked about people build on prior knowledge, if a student has the wrong idea about a concept how do we change the direction of their thought and promote correct understanding so the child is on the same page as his/her classmates?
1. In real life, people will naturally group together to collaborate their work to accomplish a task. The school system runs on the belief that learning is an "independent process" (p 4). If people in real life will seek out the help of others to work as a team on something, then why do schools believe that working together is synonymous to cheating?
ReplyDelete2. The development of cheap multimedia and the growing popularity of the Internet in the 1990s made the computer with communication tools (e-mail, etc.) the dominating technology in the classroom (p 6). How can teachers have students create/produce their own unique work instead of just doing what they are told or copying others' work?
“Learning: From Speculation to Science” from Chapter 1 How People Learn
ReplyDelete1. The article states “that all learning takes place in settings that have particular sets of cultural and social norms and expectations” (Page 4). Where is a student from a refugee camp who has never been to school before coming to the United States and is age wise in the fourth grade put in our education system. How do they catch up to their peers here in a different country? There is special education but it is not like the student is handicapped, they are from a different culture and have language barriers that are not their fault. Cognitively they may be on level for the country they came from but are behind in the education system here.
2. The article also states “that there is hope that new approaches can make it possible for a majority of individuals to develop a moderate to deep understanding of important subjects” (Page 6). How can teachers achieve this when there is little time and money with 30 + students in a classroom. Is there a way to fix it so children can learn in different ways. Not all children are the same and there needs to be a way to teach in different ways so all children can learn.
1. With the ever increasing population of immigrants and diverse classrooms how can we as teachers create an experience to reach all the levels of understanding and build on previous knowledge applying the technologies available to us in the school we will teach?
ReplyDelete2. Could I as the teacher use the available technology in a classroom setting where I have a student new to this country who doe not speak the language access the web in his native language to enhance the concept taught? To keep building on his/she previous knowledge an keep up with the class in any other content except for the language?