Luke Pauly
TEEL 362
Test 2
Dr. Taggart
September 30, 1998
1. Studies have shown that children develop misconceptions about mathematics and/or science concepts. Provide an example of a commonly held misconception. Then outline five possible strategies for assessing and/or dispelling the misconception.
A commonly held misconception about math and/or science is associated with the different seasons that the earth goes through in a year, and the process involved. This example was one that we seen on the video that was shown during class, which involved asking various students to explain the process of seasons and how the earth plays a role. A majority of the children asked responded with an answer, which was generally common between them. Most of the children thought that the earth moves closer and farther away from the sun depending upon which season it is. If it was winter, the earth has moved farther from the sun, and in summer, the earth has moved closer was the process in which the students believed. In actuality, the truth is that the earth does not move at all, but the only movement that occurs is the earth's tilt towards or away from the sun on its axis. A teacher can stray from misconceptions such as these by a few techniques or strategies if effectively implemented. One way to do this is to provide models that are reliable and valid. By the use of models, children may develop a better understanding of a concept through visual interaction with it. Another method to develop the concept would be through the use of hands-on-materials and interaction with them. Concerning the seasons this may take some creative thinking to implement, but can be done. When providing factual information to students, teachers need to keep in mind that the material needs to be easily relatable and understandable so that the concept is unambiguous. Activities that accompany this new body of knowledge should encourage students to construct knowledge through their own experiences and interaction.
2. Cooperative learning has many benefits for learning of academic and social skills. How do the five essential components of Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec's cooperative learning model aid in the teaching and learning of these skills?
As mentioned in the text, mastery of essential cooperation components assist teachers in different ways. These components can be used by educators in order to structure curricula, existing lessons, and courses in a cooperative manner. The cooperative learning lessons can also be adjusted in order to meet a teacher's instructional needs, circumstances, curricula, subject areas, and students. The last way teachers can maximize the use of these components is by successfully using them to diagnose problems that arise from students working together. If an undesired behavior in group work is evident, a teacher can intervene and effectively adjust the group setting in order to embrace the cooperation concept.
The five components of Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec's cooperative learning model can also aid in the learning of academic as well as social skills. The first component of the model is positive interdependence. With positive interdependence, each group member is committed to not only individual success, but also the success of other members. This interdependence is both an academic as well as a social skill for children, which is mandatory to secure cooperation. Roles within a group may be divided individually, but keeping in mind that successful completion of each individual task means success for everyone.
The second component is individual and group accountability. This academic skill is very similar to positive interdependence, in which each group member is responsible for contributing his or her share of the work so that the group can achieve their goals. The group must have a clear understanding of the goals and be able to measure the progress in achievement, and the efforts of individuals. This accountability exists when results are returned to the group of each individuals assessed performance. From this assessment, a teacher can then see who needs assistance and guidance concerning accountability.
The third component of the cooperative learning model is promotion of interaction. This component is stressed to be face-to-face, and encourages students to promote success of each other by sharing, supporting, and praising. This academic skill also includes oral explanation and discussion of concepts being learned and connecting past knowledge with present. A great body of knowledge can come from interaction of this nature, especially if it is carefully and effectively implemented.
Teaching students the required interpersonal and small group skills is the fourth essential component of the cooperative learning model. With this component, students learn interpersonal and small group skills required to function as a team effort. Like mentioned before, this social skill must be present for group success. The concept of cooperation concerning leadership, decision-making, and conflict-managing are just a few factors that children must be motivated to use in the group setting.
Group processing is the final component of Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec's cooperative learning model. This component is sort of an assessment of their group progress and how well things have gone in the group. This component furthers social skills by having group members discuss their achievement degree and working relationships with other members. Individuals in a group setting need to constantly look at ways to improve group interaction and progression abilities when working together. Like the text says, together we stand, divided we fall.
The following are ten elements of textbook evaluation that I feel are important when making a selection.
Like we have all heard before, 'don't judge a book by its cover' is not always the case when it comes to book selection. I have, and still do at times, judge books by how appealing the cover is. If a book catches a student's attention, that student is more likely to take an interest in looking deeper into the book.
This is a very important factor when choosing a book. Books need to be more directed at the child's developmental level instead of their age. Age has little effect on the ability level of an individual. It is important to choose a book that is both challenging, but also understandable to the reader.
Every child learns at their own rate and in their own way. Quality and up-to-date graphics can assist children's consumption of more and new knowledge. If a student were a visual learner, it would be very beneficial to have books with good and relevant graphics.
The content of a text needs to be stimulating, challenging, and most of all, understandable. The nature of the text should provide material that student's could use to increase growth and knowledge. If cognitive growth is not promoted, a different piece of literature should be chosen.
One of my biggest pet peeves are stereotypes and labels that society places on individuals. Society does this enough, and it is hard to change a stereotype once it has been established. Stereotypes have no place in education, or actually life in general.
A teacher as well as the student needs to be aware of the reason or objective of the material. With the objectives understood, more knowledge can be taken in and a better concept of the subject can be established.
While I was in elementary school, I was very dependent on a book's glossary. A glossary can aid in the understanding and meaning behind words or phrases. It can make it very difficult to insure understanding if a book is without a glossary.
These objectives that were carefully researched and constructed exist for the quality of material and activities that each teacher should yearn for. These standards are made with the individual student in mind, and are a starting point for developing each child so that the learning process is maximized.
The manual should include unambiguous lessons with plenty of examples to accompany them. A lesson cannot be effectively maximized for the students unless the teacher who is to implement it first understands it.
The manual should also include activities that review previously taught material. Sometimes material is not embraced cognitively by students, and ample information needs to be given to secure understanding and meaning.
The scope and sequence found in the text is important for the presentation of the material, and the sequence of knowledge that is delivered to the child. Material needs to be mastered before new material is given. The scope is important to keep on narrow terms so that a student is not overwhelmed by too much, too fast.
It is very valuable to determine readability level in a text so that it can be carefully selected for individuals. I covered this point above, but once again, it's important to choose a book that is challenging, yet understandable. The book needs to be chosen according to the student's developmental level, and not their age level.
Advantages of integration:
By integrating, a better and deeper meaning can be given to a topic that may seem never existed before.
This is important because certain pieces can easily be left out of an application that can easily be seen when implemented into another subject.
Material needs to be understandable, yet cognitively challenging to the individuals. Integration can secure this factor on different applications.
This social aspect of integration can be very beneficial to students in all realms of life. A student's social skills should always be taken into consideration when developing a lesson.
A concept may not be fully understood until it is tied to another subject.
More meaning will be given to activities and applications if students can see how they would apply a concept outside the walls of the classroom. If student's can see how an application can help them other than in school, they will embrace that knowledge and take pride in it.
Integration can help certain students learn better if an application is applied in a subject that appeals to them and has success in. A concept or activity that they didn't like could take on deeper meaning if applied in a different area.
This factor should always be the target of every lesson. Self-confidence affects an individual so much, and can cause easy success or failure in performance levels.
Knowledge is sequential and should be always presented in a stimulating manner. Integration plays an important role in the increase of new and meaningful knowledge, which should always be relevant to each individual.
This is part of the starting point for the learning process. Subjects must be interesting and stimulating in order to keep the child's attention to stay involved.
| PREVIOUS | |||
| Lesson Index | Taggart's Page | TE |