Sec. B. Ch. 1 Pt. 1 Class Notes

September 20, 2010                                                             EDIT302 B

CHAPTER 1: Constructivism and Behaviour

Constructivism: Interacting with real life experiences to build learning.
                                    -Student centered
                                    -“how we learn in life” (eg. Talking, walking, body awareness, problem solving)
                                    -things children learn without being taught.

Technology is perfect for constructivism, if used properly.  It allows the user to learn as they go.  The software needs to be open ended to allow for multiple endings and creativity (eg. Glogster, Power Point, Sims, Mind-Mapping, Oregon Trail, video games). 

Behaviourism: Teacher-directed approach to learning.                                  
-major criticism: it’s linear
-B.F. Skinner        (pg. 6)
-Madeline Hunter (lesson planning and design approach)

One third of your instruction should be teacher directed (behaviourist), one third student directed (either constructivism or self directed learning) and one third collaborative (group work).

Behaviourist                                                                               Constructivist

Teacher-centered                                                  Learner-centered
Teacher as expert                                                   Teacher as member of learning community
Teacher as dispenser of information                      Teacher as mentor, coach, and facilitator
Learning as a solitary activity                               Learning as a social, collaborative endeavour
Assessment primarily through testing                   Assessment interwoven with teaching
Emphasis on “covering” material                          Emphasis on discovering and constructing knowledge
Emphasis on short-term memorization                 Emphasis on application and understanding
Strict adherence to fixed curriculum                    Pursuit of student questions highly valued

(Chart from page 12 of Forcier book)

*Testing at the end of learning is called “summative”. 

*Testing that is interwoven in the learning is “formative”.

*Application and understanding are parts of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Thanks to Kyley Rumohr for this posting.