EDU 657: Elementary School Practicum and Research Seminar

Here are the notes from this week's class:

We had a guest, Renee Potter, visit our class this week. Renee provided information regarding the 100 hour practicum requirement that is attached to this course. Renee asked students to complete information forms for this experience and referred students to the Field Placement website for more information. The site can be accessed at: http://www.cortland.edu/fieldplacement  It is important that students in our class are familiar with the content in the Pre-Student Teaching Handbook. Please click here and scroll down to find the link for this handbook. It is essential that students are familiar with all practicum requirements mentioned in this handbook.

In class, students thought about different learning theories that they have previously learned. We spent time discussing the following: Multiple Intelligences Theory (H. Gardner), Social Learning/Development Theory (L. Vygotsky and A. Bandura), Constructivist Learning Theory (J. Bruner and Dewey), Situated Learning Theory (J. Lave), and Experiential Learning Theory (D. Kolb).

It is important that students understand that theories can inform teaching practices because they provide a basis for knowing how students learn and this information identifies different pathways that teachers can use to facilitate knowledge acquisition. For example, Multiple Intelligences Theory distinguishes 8 different ways that people are "smart" and therefore offers 8 different pathways to help maximize students' learning. This idea challenges traditional teaching methods because traditional practices primarily utilize "sit and get" instruction.

The following information was shared in class regarding the aforementioned learning theories:

Multiple Intelligences Learning Theory (1983) - H. Gardner... Intelligence is not fixed... Levels of intelligence change throughout life... Everyone has unique ways of being "smart"... There are 8 distinct ways of "being smart", including:
(1) Logical/Mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
(2) Spatial Intelligence ("picture smart")
(3) Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence ("body smart")
(4) Musical Intelligence ("music smart")
(5) Interpersonal Intelligence ("people smart")
(6) Intrapersonal Smart ("self smart")
(7) Naturalist Intelligence ("nature smart")
(8) Verbal/Linguistic ("words smart)

The above learning theory helps us as teachers to consider that there may be at least 8 different ways to teach the content we're teaching (with numbers, pictures, music, self-reflection, physical experience, social experience, nature experience, or with verbal expression). What does this teach us about teaching? Keep thinking about this question and we'll continue to come back to it at various points in the semester.

We talked about the Social Learning/Development Theory and discussed the main concepts: Learning occurs within a social context; learning can happen through observation; attention is a critical factor when learning; modeling is an effective way to help students learn; and the mind, behavior, and environment all play a key component to learning.

The Experiential Learning included the main concepts that fit into the well known quote by Confucius (450 BC): "Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand." D. Kolb has a famous model that identifies students' concrete experiences, observations, and identifying abstract conceptual understandings based on their experiences.

Kolb's famous model focuses on four learner abilities, represented below. Although this model contains numbers at different points, Kolb himself argued that different stages can occur at different times for each learner so it may be helpful to think of students beginning their learning cycle at any point in this model:

The Constructivist Learning Theory (1966, Jerome Bruner) has main concepts that  inform teaching today. They are: (1) emphasis is placed on student learning (rather than teacher's actions); (2) learners interact with their environment to gain understanding; (3) learners connect new experiences/knowledge to prior knowledge for meaningful learning to occur; (4) learning is an active process; (5) students learn new ways to learn information as they progress through their learning process.

The Situated Learning Theory (1991 - Jean Lave) has several main concepts that can inform teaching including: (1) social interaction is critical to learning because learners become involved in a community; (2) learning normally occurs as a function of experience through the activity and its context; (3) learning is often thought of as incidental rather than deliberate; (4) learning requires social interaction and collaboration.

In class, we spent a considerable amount of time reviewing course requirements and assignments. This website contains all pertinent information regarding this course so students are encouraged to visit each section of the site.

We won't have class next week because we'll be celebrating Labor Day. Class will meet again on Monday, September 12.

That's all for this week. Keep reading, keep learning and keep coming to class! ~Kim