Course Contract #3

What are you doing well?

Well, up to date I feel that I have caught up with my assignments. Which I feel is a very good thing & a huge weight off of my shoulders! I have been doing so much better about getting my reading done & staying a bit more organized. It is so much easier to get things done when you are organized!

What are you not doing well?

Even though I am doing better at staying organized, I am not doing that great of a job of sticking to the study plan that I set up for myself at the beginning of the semester. Eventhough I am getting things done, it is not done on the days that I said it would happen,thus.... I find myself playing catchup. Like today, it is a Saturday & I am here with a list of things to do playing catchup. When in retrospect, many things on my list should have already been completed.

Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

I feel that yes I am making progress. Sufficient progress? I would say sufficient but not significant.

List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals

- Now that I am staying a bit more organized, I now need to stick to my schedule.

- I need to stop letting myself get behind,

Chapter 10 Case Study Analysis

1. Which teacher in the scenario demonstrates vicarious reinforcement? Justify your response with an example from the case study.

I would say that Ms. Yamashita demonstrates vicarious reinforcement. The reason I say this is that she praised Robin when she found out about her concept map. By doing this, the other students pick up that doing concept maps are good & the teacher like them. This could very well encourage the other students in the class to follow suit.

2. Is Mr. Kessinger considering reciprocal causation in his class? Explain your response, including all aspects of reciprocal causation in your reasoning.

I don't believe that he is. First of all, reciprocal causation entails environment, behavior, & personal variables. By yelling at Robin about creating a concept map & wanting to learn, he is creating a bad learning environment, not only just for her, but for other students as well. He is teaching them that if they take notes, they will get in trouble. Now, don't we as educators want our students to take notes & create such things as concept maps? This would be a good behavior, this is what we want our students to do. He is essentially disciplining his students for having good behavior. Also, by doing this he is really affecting Robin's & his students self efficacy, (personal variable)

3. Which self-regulated learning process is Robin engaging in when she creates her concept maps? Explain your reasoning.

This one I feel could probably go a couple of different way. Though for this question, I am going to go with Solicitation of outside help when needed. Robin is not trying to do everything on her own. She realized that she needed help so she makes a concept map & takes notes on what other students are saying. She wants their input to help her complete her goals of learning the material. She is not afraid to listen to others to help learn the material any which way she can.

4. How do you think Robin's self-efficacy has been affected by this experience. Be specific about which self-efficacies have been affected and justify your response with examples from the case study.

Her self efficacy in my opinion has been affected greatly. Before she had the run in with old man Kessinger, I believe that he self efficacy was at a high level. She is studying, doing well & learning. Though, after the run in, he pretty much shoots down her confidence & even though she did something good (concept map) & demonstrated good behavior, she was punished. Now, when she goes to her other class & the teacher praises her for her good behavior, she still thinks that she did something terribly wrong & took off crying. So even her resilience of self efficacy has been effected. She is having trouble completing successful tasks after experiencing a serious set back.

Chapter 3 Case Study Analysis

1. From a social development standpoint, how might we explain Laura's preoccupation with her appearance? In particular, consider this statement by Laura: "I don't want people to think I'm a geek!" Include information from Erikson's theory and social development in general in your response.

From where I stand, it seems like Laura is in the "Identity vs Role" stage in Erickson's theory of psychological development. She seems to be very self conscious about her appearance not wanting to be considered a "geek." She spends the time in front of the mirror making sure every last hair is in place, etc. She is still trying to find out who she is and where she fits in.

2. In suggesting that Laura join the debating class, Ms. Watkins is hoping to pique an interest in classroom subject matter by capitalizing on Laura's desire to be the center of attention. What two other strategies might the school faculty use to motivate students who seem to be more interested in social matters than in academic pursuits?

Well, one thing the faculty could do is encourage the students to serve on the student council. Here, the students have a voice where they can be heard. Another thing that could be done is they could encourage the students do participate in athletics. Here, the students are at the center of everyone, all eyes are on them. Plus, as they participate in athletics, they need to keep their academics up, so this could also be used as a motivator.

3. From the perspective of Kohlberg's theory, in which stage of moral development is Laura? Justify your response. How might Mr. Marcalescu help Laura to advance her moral reasoning?

I feel that Laura could very well be in stage 4 of Kohlberg's theory. The Law & Order stage. You see, Laura knows that there are rules that govern society. There is a right & a wrong. She know's that essentially, pollution is bad for our society. So by making everyone walk everyone, there is no pollution from automobiles. So her solution? Take away everyone's car. Then nobody can drive & problem solved. Though she neglects to look at the needs of our society. One way Mr. Marcalescu could help is that he could help her realize the needs of our society and how we could still have laws that could help the pollution problem, but also fill the needs of our society.

4. In what ways might a debating class contribute to students' cognitive, linguistic, social, and moral development?

A debating class definitely stretches the cognitive abilities of the students. It makes them think at a fast pace. In the linguistic sense, it also gets there mind going at a quick pace to thing of the right words to say to be able to get their point across. As far as their social and moral development go, debating with other students promotes social development. Talking and debating different topics with their opens up their minds to other points of views that they might not have thought of before. By doing this, their moral views on different subjects could be shaped and become more mature.

Chapter 9 Case Study Analysis

Chapter 9 Questions:

1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Ch. 7? Why or why not?

Mr. Kessinger does not represent a community of learners in his classroom. In a community of learners, the teacher & the students work together to help one another learn. Kessinger doesn't really seem to want to help at all. Instead of yelling at Robin about her notes, he should encourage her & want her to share with the class.

2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response.

This one made me think. Though, I would have to say that he utilized presentation punishment. He scolded Robin for using a concept map. This in turn lead to a reduction in her behavior & her confidence. I say this because after she was scolded, she went from being presumebly happy & taking her notes to just putting her head down & not doing anything the rest of the class period. Plus, when she went to her other class, she was very unconfident when the teacher asked her a question to the point where she left the class crying.

3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning.

Robin's reaction was greatly affected by the way old man Kessinger got after her. She is now association Kessinger towering over her desk & yelling at her with fear & that she has doing something wrong. Now, when another teachers comes over to her desk, it doesn't matter what the teacher is asking, she immediately associates that with fear & that she has done something wrong.

4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.

Well, she could let Robin know that by creating a concept map, it helps her as a student organize her thinking, this being able to learn more effectively. This could be considered as shaping, by positively reinforcing this, this could very well help Robin decide to continue to create concept maps to help her study more effectively throughout her educational career. She could also encourage her by letting the class know that they could learn from Robin's idea to create a concept map.

Chapter 6 Case Study Analysis

Case 1: Mr. West wants his students to truly understand Civil War battles. He engages the help of a local Historical Re-enactment Society and assigns each of his students to the Union or Confederate side. His students join the re-enactors from 7:00am-7:00pm for a full day of activities which include a long march (complete with rudimentary battle gear), setting up camp, cooking over campfires, scouting territory, and engaging in a historically representative battle.

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?
After participating in this activity, I feel that the students will remember much more than the students who just read a text book. When one simply reads a text book, you are only getting one of the senses involved, & more than likely you would want to use some type of learning method to help one learn & remember the concept being learning. Such as, rehearsal, visual imagery, elaboration, etc. Thought, the student participating in the activity in a sense are actually "doing." They are getting themselves involved actually doing what the soldiers did. This in my opionion gets more of the senses involved & more of your motor skills. Your brain is more likely going to remember something you actually did, vs something you just read in a book. Not to say that reading the text is band, though actually "doing" when at all possible I feel would be more beneficial.
2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?
Well, it invokes the process of meaningful learning, As the students are able to recognize something that they may already know about the subject. Once they begin to do the reenactment, they are able to relate to things. Though, if they feel something for the subject at hand, if it touches them in a way or if they can relate it to something, they would be able to grasp that information better. Because once they have a connection to something, they are more likely to be more interested in it, thus wanting to learn more about it. It peaks there interest, which is always a good thing.
3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?
As a follow up, you could quite possibly have the students do their own re-enactment. Or quite possible have them interview a family member, or someone they know that has been in a war and present their finding to the class. Or, have the interviewed person come and speak to the class.

Case 2: Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Richards, teachers at the same school, are debating in the teacher’s lounge about who provides the best type of organization for the students’ learning. Mr. Dunkin lectures and assigns reading and chapter problems Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays he gives a short answer exam. In Mr. Richards’ class the students never know what will take place on any given day until they arrive in class and look at a detailed outline of the hour’s activities on the chalkboard. His class engages in mix of role-plays, lecture, videos, group projects and demonstrations. Mr. Richards occasionally gives surprise quizzes and his unit tests can include true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay.

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective
I feel that Mr. Dunkin provides the better instruction. I only say this because I feel that the students would be better organized. During their cognitive processes, they would be better able to form categories, identify certain things and be able to find things better in their memories. Versus the other class who doesn't really know what to expect. When put on the spot, they might not be able to locate certain things in their memory since they wouldn't be as organized as the other students.
5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?
I would dare say that Mr. Dunkins students would have learned better. They would be more organized and would probably be able to locate certain things in their memory much quicker, versus Mr. Richards class. Though, now that I think about it, I feel would have been a little bit more of a rote learning style. They don't really know what is going to happen, though when they get to class, they get a topic and they attach meaning to something without making sense to it first. Though, if they would have had time to prepare, they would know ahead of time, what they are attaching the information to.

Multiple Intelligence Project

I've realized that I never submitted my proposal!

For my multiple intelligence project, I would like to create a trivia game. It would be along the lines of "Jeopardy." I plan to create about 5 or so categories with about 5-10 questions (I have decided yet) in each category progressively getting hard as the possible points gets higher. The categories would be musical concepts, music history, music theory, etc. Things that we have discussed as a class. The class would be split into two groups, so that they can caucus together the possible answer, if they get the answer right, they get to take another turn. If they answer incorrectly, the other team will have a chance to answer the question for the points. This will essentially go on till all the questions have been answered. This could be used for a review for a test, or just a good way to lighten the mood in the classroom after a tough day, but still be going over the material.