I really thought that Behaviorism was a very important subject matter that can help further my techniques of teaching to reach out to my students. It showed me the science behind teaching. "Learning is a process if memorizing, demonstrating, and imitating."(Molay 49) Behaviorism also boils down to the students preforming tasks then receiving a reward. This will make the student want to earn that reward again which will make them complete the assignment.
In the text it discusses teacher-centered and student-centered teaching.I personally believe that class rooms should primarily stick to teacher-centered teaching methods because you can not always rely on the students wanting to learn and understand the course material on their own. So for a majority of the time, the teacher has to be the driving force in teaching and have the class move at his or her speed. I am not saying however that student-centered teaching should not be in the classroom. Group projects are a intricate part of learning and gives the students a way of learning the information their own way.
I found the topic of metacognitive thinking to be really intriguing. It discusses how students need to evaluate their own learning methods.Once a students is able to question and reflect on their own learning then they are capable of understanding a topic fully using methods that work exceptionally well for him or her. I will try to have my future students use these methods to understand what kind of learner they are."metacognitive skills work best when they are overlearned and can operate unconsciously."(Metacognitive Skills)
Works Cited
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
"Metacognitive Skills." Metacognitive Skills. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015
While I lean more toward the student-centered learning, I think reality dictates a somewhat 'blended' model. As we work towards understanding how students best learn and try to personalize their instructions, I think there is more movement away from the traditional learning environment, but until there's enough money for 1-to-1 student/teacher ratio (Ha!), we will need to find a balance. Nice, clear example in your Piktograph - and don't worry, it takes a couple of time to master these tools (your job this semester is to just dabble in them so you become more aware of them!).
ReplyDeleteMetacognition is a concept worth more exploration. Learning how we learn and how to learn could increase the learner's self responsibility and thus, provide more direction and support for that personalization. You need to properly cite that article using APA citation style though (looks like you used MLA) so I can see the original URL. Also, you need to give credit to your own creation of the digital tool (i.e., Piktograph in this case) in the Resource section.