Chapter 10

What?
Chapter 10 is all about Social Cognitivism. Social cognitive theorists define learning as an internal process that may or may not lead to a beahvior change. People learn by observing others and in process, begin to assume control over their own behavior. Like the cognitive theory, social cognitivism recongizes that there are things going on in the brain when learning. And just like the behavioral theory, behavior is sometimes exhibited through learning. As a visual metaphor we can think of a video camera recording all the things that are going on around us. However, it may not play back everything that it saw:0 The Bobo Doll Experiment was conducted by having children watch adults interact with the dolls. In the first case, the adults were quite violent with the doll hitting it with a hammer, kicking it, and throwing it across the room. The kids were then put in a room with toys and a doll. Those children then reacted similarly to the adults towards the dolls and even in some cases took it further by shooting the dolls with toy guns and throwing things at the dolls. In case two, the adults acted kindly towards the doll. The children watching this sceranrio were then also kind to the dolls and didn't harm them much.
Social cognitivists have found that there is some Reciprocal Causation between the enviormental factors (reinforcers, punishers), the students motivating beliefs, perceptions, values, etc, and their behavior. It's a back and forth kind of motion that occurs between these things. So as teachers, we need to both recognize our students' beliefs and also set up an encouraging environment in order to get a desired behavior out of our students.
The Power of Expectations plays a role in achieving those desired behaviors. As students watch a behavior exhibited followed by a consequence, they in return will have expectations that the given consequence will always be given for that behavior and predict that it will happen for them as well. If teachers don't always follow through they will be less likely to produce that behavior because there is no consequence. (They get away with it)
Modeling is demonstrating a behavior for another or observing and imitating another's behavior.

The four steps to the ARMM Model are
Attention - Learner must pay attention to model
Retention - Learner must remember what model does
Motor Reproduction - Learner must be physically capable of reproducing the model behavior Motivation - Learner must be motivated to demonstrate the modeled behavior.
All of the steps must be included in order for modeling to be effective.

Vicarious Learning is when students are actually exhibitting a certain behavior because they've observed another doing the same behavior and being reinforced or punished for it. Response Disinhibition is when the behavior is perceived as bad however, thy saw someone do it and get away with it so they try it. Erickson makes a point that as teachers in jr and high school classrooms, we need to be careful not to point the same student out every time, we don't want to create an uncomfortable environment for that student.

Self-Regulation is self-choosen behavior that leads to the the fulfillment of personally chosen standards and goals. The process of self-reuglation is 1)Goal Setting- students must set these goals for themselves, 2)Planning- how to achieve these goals, 3)Self-motivated Learning- using strategies to accomplish goals, 4)Self-monitoring- making sure they're on the path. It's a before, during, and after process that makes it most effective. As teachers we should encourage personal responsibility and teach this process explicitly to our students.

Self-efficacy is believing in yourself to be able to do something. Self-efficacy is task oriented where slef-concept and self-esteem are a more broad idea. Having self-efficacy in something is breaking it down to the things that you can actually do. Students' self-efficacy plays a huge role in their learning process. Studies show that students feel more confident about their abilities when working in groups.

So What?
As a teacher this chapter is very important for collaborating different teaching techniques and more practical for the things we will actually see in a classroom. We can actually teach our students the steps to becoming self-regulated and help them have high self-efficacy for our content areas. This section shows the power of example and how our students are affected by the things that we do. Also we need to have high self-efficacy in our content area as were teaching and feel comfortable and confident with the material and ourselves in front of people in order for our students to take us seriously.
Now what?
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed in that it seems our students will be watching our every move and if we do something wrong we'll blow it. But really I think it comes down to our attitude and content knowledge in the classroom. I need to be confident with my material and treat each student with respect. I still need work in my content area pulling it all together so that I can give students the "big picture" without confusing them.

Chapter 9

What?
Chapter 9 is about Behaviorism. Behaviorists define learning as semi-permanent change in behavior. This definition is advantageous since it is very measurable. The disadvantage of this definition include prior knowledge is not being taken into consideration. An analogy given in class is this: think about when the teacher puts up a PowerPoint and a slide contains a black box. Students are waiting for the teacher to start the video since this is what happened previously. However, there is nothing going to be played...it's just a box.
The main points of the behaviorism theory are 1)influence of the environment, 2)focus on observable events, 3)contiguity (which is the occurrence of two or more events at approximately the same time) of events, 4)similarity of learning principles across species (Pavlov's dogs), and 5)learning as a behavioral change.
Classical conditioning is the pairing of stimuli resulting in an involuntary response. Operant conditioning is where a response increases in frequency as a result of being followed by reinforcement. Reinforcement is the act of following a response with a reinforcer (consequence of response that leads to increased frequency of the response). Punishment is a consequence that decreases the frequency of the response it follows. So reinforcement is always increasing the frequency of the response and punishment always decreases the frequency of the response. Negative reinforcement brings about the increase of a behavior by the removal of a stimuli. For example, in your car there is a loud buzz/dinging when the key is turned on. Drivers must put on seat belt in order for the the sound to stop. Thus, the buzz/dinging is a Negative Reiforcer for putting on a seat belt. Another example would be studying for an exam to avoid getting a poor grade. The low grade is the NR for studying. Keep in mind that reinforcers are unique to each student and always encourage behavior. See page 316 of the text to see how development affects reinforcement.
Some keys to using reinforcers are:
1)specify the desired behavior, 2)personalize reinforcers, 3)make conditions of reinforcement explicit, 4)use cueing (the use of signals to indicate that a certain behavior is desired or that a certain behavior should stop), 5)be consistent, 6)monitor progress, 7)reduce reinforcement (ex: "today might be the day that I check for homework completion"), 8)promote intrinsic motivation. Only use reinforcers with subjects/concepts that kids are bored with. If the students are already intrinsically motivated-don't use reinforcers! Some practical reinforcers include but are not limited to: self-reinforcers, social reinforcers, grades and recognition, home-based reinforcement, privileges, activity reinforcement, etc.
When eliminating behaviors don't be afraid to tell students what you're doing. Beware of the "extinction burst!" Don't forget that it tends to get worse before it gets better, don't set a new baseline that you then have to try and conquer. Always use cueing to encourage positive behaviors.
There are some potential problems that can occur when using punishers: they are temporary, may distract the student form behavior, and can cause negative emotional responses or aggression. Punishment doesn't illustrate the correct behavior.
So What?
It's very important that teachers are aware of the reasons behind their students' behaviors. Teachers and students need to be able to communicate with each other in a non-threatening atmosphere. This topic is important to me as a future teacher because I need to be able to get my students to perform in a certain way and have a manageable classroom.By knowing how students are motivated and why they do the things they do, I can better understand them and how to react and act towards them.
Now What?
If I teach high school, I don't know how much of a reinforcement that I will use in my classroom. However, I did have a high school teacher that gave out coupons that could be redeemed to turn in a late homework assignment. We received these coupons for various things during the year. Some kind of system that is simple like is probably a good idea for my math class where there are numerous homework assignments. As I spend more time in the high/jr high school settings, I will be looking for different ways that teachers reinforce behaviors for different grade levels.

Chapter 7

What?
Chapter 7 is about Constructivism. In constructivism, learning is defined as an active process in which learners construct their own meaning based on prior knowledge and experience. Advantages of defining learning this way are prior knowledge and personalization. Disadvantages are personal misconceptions and incorrect interpretations that can take place during "learning". The power of schema comes into play when interpretting facts. As teachers we need to figure out what our students' schematas are through discussions and brainstorming. A concept is a grouping of objects/events that have something in common or a category that we fit things into in our head. In order for teachers to teach a concept they need to be able to define them clearly and give an example of the best prototype (typical example of a concept) that won't confuse the students. Teachers can fix misconceptions by 1) identifying existing misconceptions before instruction begins, 2) convince students in a non-threatening way that their existing beliefs are inadequate, 3) motivate students to learn correct explanations, 4) maintain self-esteem, and 5) monitor what students say and write for persistent misconceptions. Jerome Bruner is one well-known constructivist whose theory is "knowing is a process, not a product". Discovery learning is where the learner draws from his/her own past experiences and exsiting beliefs to explore concepts while the teacher acts as a guide and not a instructor. Such teaching techniques as discovery learning promote problem solving skills in students.
So What?
As a future teacher it is important to realize that students are bringing prior knowledge and misconceptions with them to the classroom. As a math teacher, it is very important that students understand the mathematical steps and the correct way to solve problems. In some content areas clearing up all misconceptions may not be necessary, but for math it is crucial that all students are on the same page with the teacher. Also I think that it is very important that the many concepts in math are very clearly explained and good prototypes are given so that misconceptions are not created in the classroom.
Now What?
An example of a 5 E- Lesson plan is:
Engage- Provide the students with a straightedge and compass and ask them to draw as many things as they can using only those tools
Explore- Have the students find different ways to construct 30, 60, and 90 degree angles using only their straightedge and compass
Explain- They then will work in groups to collaborate and get ideas from each other
Elaborate- Give board time to those who volunteer to explain their methods to the class
Evaluate- Allow students, with guidance from teacher, to look for any errors in their methods or things that may not actually be true...followed up with confirmation from teacher about their methods and clearing up any misconceptions that may have arose.