Constructionist Instructional Strategies

Over my three years of teaching math, I have learned that students absorb math concepts best when they see how they can be applied.  Providing opportunities for students to create artifacts based on mathematical areas of study yells constructionism.  Constructionists view learning as a process in which people go through a series of learning mechanisms and create artifacts to develop understanding of content (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).  Students basically place new information in specific categories of their brains (schemas) and adjust their specifications as they become more knowledgeable about the topic.  

Many strategies are available for teachers to implement so students have chances to work through activities or projects to have a resulting product that reflects textbook information.  I especially like some of the ideas offered in the text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007).  An entire chapter focuses on making hypotheses and testing them for students to develop problem solving skills in relation to data collection.  Students can use spreadsheet software and formulas to test data results as far into the future as they like.  Situations with very large numbers and graphs that would take forever to calculate and construct with a calculator and paper can be done within minutes using the programs.  Rather than spending the majority of class time preparing data and focusing on technicalities, class time can be used to discuss hypotheses accuracies and test them in different contexts.  Students can actually understand why math is applicable is real life instead of only seeing the aggravations of constructing a coordinate plane and properly graphing equations.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc.  (2009).  Constructionism and constructivism.  Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology.  DVD (custom ed.).

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Introduction to Probability Concept Map

Instructional Strategies and Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognitive learning theory focuses on the ways that people process information.  It is imperative that teachers have knowledge of the different theories and instructional strategies that align with them so they can adjust lessons according to how their students will learn the content.  By now, educators should know that most students cannot learn from simple direct instruction.  Teachers need to break old habits and test different strategies to help students learn and retain information.  

In "Cognitive Learning Theories," Dr. Michael Orey discusses three main facets of cognitive learning: sensory registers, short-term memory, and long-term memory.  People receive information through their senses, and it becomes part of their short-term memories, where students can only handle about seven items at a time.  Information is then sent to long-term memory, where items are stored as a network of connections between ideas (2009).  Teachers can implement strategies that stem from the concept of retention as a result of connections between ideas.

Visual aides are very important for some students.  Paivlo's duel coding hypothesis supports the method of using images to teach concepts because people remember images and labels as duel codes .  Teachers can present simply-worded topics with related images to help students make memorable connections.  Connections can also be made through elaboration, or relating a new subject to a familiar subject to learn and remember it (i.e. General Lee wore Lee Jeans) (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).  

A specific instructional strategy that I plan to try in my math instruction is concept maps for organizing information.  So many of my students struggle with remembering steps to solving certain types of equations and problems.  Concept maps and other note-taking tools can help them visualize the flowchart of steps they should follow to find solutions.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Cognitive learning theories. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. DVD (custom ed.).

Behaviorist Theory in Classroom Instruction

Behaviorists believe that "the learner acquires behaviors, skills, and knowledge in response to the rewards punishments, or withheld responses associated with them" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008).  I agree that student behaviors can be influenced with different forms of immediate feedback, such as positive reinforcement.  Technology can be a great approach to help students absorb the importance of doing homework and practice with effort.  

As a math teacher, data collection is an integral part of my content instruction, and, now I realize, that it can also be used to make an impact on students' perspectives and attitudes toward schoolwork.  I can use rubrics to evaluate student effort, and students can track how their level of effort correlates with their achievements in class via spreadsheet software.  Software like SurveyMonkey.com gives me the tools to create surveys for my students so I can get insight into their characters and help them see the general tendencies of our class.  (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  

My greatest struggle, especially with my eighth graders, is getting the students to completely do their homework and practice skills independently.  The end of the school year is a nightmare!  They do not seem to understand that a major reason they are not succeeding on tests is because they are not actively trying to learn the skills.  I can try to help the issue by incorporating practice assignments that students can use to track their speed and accuracy with specific skills.  Then, I can have them track their success over time with more practice.  Students can also see different angles of mathematical topics with different tools programs provide, such as spreadsheet software and various algebra websites.

References

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J.  (2008).  Theoretical foundations.  Laureate Education, Inc. (custom ed.).

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M, & Malenoski, K.  (2007).  Using technology with classroom instruction that works.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD..