Teaching Main Learning Styles EDSE 415 PLSI School Climate Page Shindler Index

Week 8: Cognitive Processes of Learning, Teaching inductively and for Concept Attainment, and Exploring the influence of Socio-Economic Status in Choice of Teaching Methods

Socio-Economic Status and School Practice:

What Researchers Found (Anyon 1980)

Working-Class School

Emphasis on following directions
Little explanation for purpose of work
Worksheet-driven
Get task done, not promote critical thinking
Conformity
Routine and rote preparation

Middle-Class School

Get right answers
Get good grades
Focus on text not student interests
Little creativity
Getting into college

Affluent Professional School

Encourage student self-expression
Apply their learning to real life
Negotiations between teacher and students
Foster decision-making skills
Promote a sense of responsibility for one’s learning

Executive Elite School

Develop analytic skills
Make judgments about the best answer
Independent project-driven
Reasoning instead of rules
Promote self-directedness and self-confidence
Preparation for life of leadership

1. After reading the Anyon reading, classify the school you are most familiar with into one of the following: Working-class school, Middle-class school, Affluent professional school, or Executive elite school.

2. What factors contribute to this situation?

3. What are the problems with a differential curriculum based on SES level?

4. What is the likely result of giving certain “cultural capital” only to some?

5. With regard to what and how we teach, what is our responsibility;

· To our employer?

· To our community?

· To our students?

Instructional Choices Exercise

Borich separates models of instruction into 2 categories - Direct and Indirect.

On p. 229, Borich outlines some instructional “events” that fall under either direct or indirect classifications.

It may help to conceive these two types of thinking within their contrasting frameworks characterized by the following diagram:

Type

Direct Models

Indirect Models

Conceptual

Design

Deductive

general

specific

Inductive

specific

general

Some

applications

Direct Instruction (i.e., Hunter, Gagne, etc.)

Part- Whole teaching

Mastery Learning

Discovery learning

Inquiry-based learning

Problem-based learning

GROUP EXERCISE:

A good place to start when initiating your instructional planning may be taking your learning objectives and decide what type of model would best facilitate their achievement. While there is technically no absolute right or wrong answer (some teachers are relatively effective teaching almost exclusively out of one model), most learning could best be achieved using an approach that best fits its nature. Classify the following learning outcomes as either - better suited to a direct instructional model or better suited to an indirect instructional model.

· supply and demand

· how to tell time

· how to draw a human face

· latitude and longitude

· the plot of a story

how to use a computer application
states and their capitals
division
how to tie one’s shoes
how to treat people well/nicely

Inductive Concept Attainment Sequence

In this exercise students explore concrete items and through logical investigation they form an understanding of a concept. The model defined here is an inductive process, because it moves from specifics to a generalization.

Step 1: Explore items

Examine the characteristics of the following items.

Step 2: List characteristics

Describe the qualities of the items that are similar to one another.

Step 3: Develop a definition

Synthesize the characteristics of the items that have been listed into a concise definition.

Step 4: Select an appropriate label

Identify the common label for the concept or invent one that makes sense.

Step 5: Classify new items

Identify new items as examples or non-examples of the concept, given the definition that has been developed.

Wirtz Article:

Given an inquiry-based learning situation, describe the events of the learning activity using this chart below. Identify the specific learning event on the chart using the numbers provided to identify intersections. Explain the movement of the lesson from more concrete to more abstract.

Manipulative Representational Abstract