Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences claims that individuals have multiple forms of intelligence as opposed to a general intelligence. He proposed 8 different forms of intelligence.
Linguistic
· Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meaning of words and the functions of language
· Poet, journalist
Logico-mathematical
· Sensitivity to, and capacity to detect, logical or numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of logical reasoning
· mathematician
Musical
· Ability to produce and appreciate pitch, rhythm (or melody), and aesthetic quality of the forms of musical expressiveness
· Instrumentalist, composer
Spatial
· Ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately, to perform experience in the absence of relevant stimuli.
· Sculptor, navigator
Bodily-Kinesthetic
· Ability to use the body skillfully for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes; ability to handle objects skillfully
· Dancer, athlete
Naturalistic
· Ability to recognize and classify all varieties of animals, minerals, and plants
· biologist
Interpersonal
· Ability to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others
· Therapist, salesperson
Intrapersonal
· Ability to discriminate complex inner feelings and to use them to guide one’s own behavior; knowledge of one’s own strengths, weaknesses, desire, and intelligences.
· Person with detailed, accurate self-knowledge
v All of these intelligences show that no child is going to learn the same as everyone else within the classroom. It is imperative to use a variety of methods and teaching skills in order to reach all levels of intelligence. Use music, art, movement, and math throughout all lessons in order to gain an understanding from students whom may not comprehend if taught through direct instruction, worksheets, or some other means of intelligence.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
According to Piaget’s theory, there are three stages that school aged children encounter. The first years of elementary school, kindergarten and first grade, children are experiencing the preoperational stage of development. This stage lasts from 2 to 6 years of age. In this stage, the usage of symbols is crucial to learning. Students associate words with mental images and gestures. It is difficult for students at this age to distinguish appearance from reality and to take other points of view into consideration. The most common terms to describe children in this stage are egocentrism and centration, which mean that they have trouble understanding anything outside of their viewpoint.
The next stage of development encompasses ages seven to eleven, or grades one through six. This stage is known as the concrete operational phase. At this period in development, children are learning how to take others opinions and viewpoints into account, known as decentration. Their levels of thinking also increase to include logic, categorization, and reversibility. At age 8, children begin to understand conservation, a term used to explain that properties of an object will remain the same even if altered, such as shape or container. For example, if you pour water from a cup into a vase, there is still the same amount of water; it has only changed to the shape of the new container. At higher grades, classifications and serial orders become a large part of their thinking requirements. Gained in the concrete operational stage, classifying can help students to retrieve information from previous knowledge and apply it to the task at hand. This form of thinking is especially important when it comes to solving difficult math problems, analyzing literature, or simply memorizing facts.
The final stage, according to Piaget, that children experience is known as the formal operational stage. This phase includes children at age 12 and caries them into adulthood. For grades seven and eight, junior high, the most common theme that children are struggling with is personal identity. In this point in life, children are learning to make logical connections and chained reasoning which is important in higher level thinking. They also learn the important skill of deductive reasoning and are able to answer and understand hypothetical problems. At these grades, logic and reference to previously learned information is crucial. The development at this age allows for greater understanding of difficult problems in all subjects.
The next stage of development encompasses ages seven to eleven, or grades one through six. This stage is known as the concrete operational phase. At this period in development, children are learning how to take others opinions and viewpoints into account, known as decentration. Their levels of thinking also increase to include logic, categorization, and reversibility. At age 8, children begin to understand conservation, a term used to explain that properties of an object will remain the same even if altered, such as shape or container. For example, if you pour water from a cup into a vase, there is still the same amount of water; it has only changed to the shape of the new container. At higher grades, classifications and serial orders become a large part of their thinking requirements. Gained in the concrete operational stage, classifying can help students to retrieve information from previous knowledge and apply it to the task at hand. This form of thinking is especially important when it comes to solving difficult math problems, analyzing literature, or simply memorizing facts.
The final stage, according to Piaget, that children experience is known as the formal operational stage. This phase includes children at age 12 and caries them into adulthood. For grades seven and eight, junior high, the most common theme that children are struggling with is personal identity. In this point in life, children are learning to make logical connections and chained reasoning which is important in higher level thinking. They also learn the important skill of deductive reasoning and are able to answer and understand hypothetical problems. At these grades, logic and reference to previously learned information is crucial. The development at this age allows for greater understanding of difficult problems in all subjects.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Learning Theories
Learning Theories
Piaget’s theories of equilibrium- using schemes:
The foundation of this theory is based on the idea that people have an intrinsic need for understanding, order, and certainty. Piaget describes this need for understanding as the drive for equilibrium. For example, when we can explain new experiences, we remain in equilibrium; when we can’t, our equilibrium is disrupted and we are motivated to reestablish it. When our thinking advances as a result of regaining equilibrium, development occurs. To achieve and maintain equilibrium, people use two related process: organization and adaptation. People create schemes in order to reach equilibrium. Equilibrium must be maintained with new experiences through the processes of accommodation (scheme modified) and assimilation (stimulus modified).
Vocabulary Terms:
Equilibrium: A state of being able to explain new experiences by using existing schemes.
Schemes: Actions or mental operations that represent our constructed understanding of the world.
Organization: The process of forming and using schemes.
Adaptation: The process of adjusting schemes and experiences to each other to maintain equilibrium.
Accommodation: A form of adaptation in which an existing scheme is modified and a new one is created in response to experience.
Assimilation: A form of adaptation in which an experience in the environment is incorporated into an existing scheme.
Instructional Activities:
· Keep the developmental needs of the students in mind when designing and implementing instruction.
· Use social interaction to help students verbalize their developing understanding.
· Design learning experiences as developmental bridges to more advanced stages of development.
· Provide concrete experiences that represent abstract concepts and principles.
· Provide students with developmentally appropriate practice in reasoning.
Learning Preferences and/or Styles:
The concept of learning style has at least three implications for teachers. First, it reminds us of the need to vary instruction, since no instruction strategy will be preferred by all students. Second, it suggests that we should help students understand how they learn most effectively. Third, awareness of learning style can increase our sensitivity to differences in our students, making it more likely that we will respond to our students as individuals.
Many descriptions of learning style distinguish between deep and surface approaches to processing information. Deep-processing approaches result in higher achievement if tests focus on understanding and application, but surface approaches can be successful if tests emphasize fact learning and memorization. Students who use deep-processing approaches also tend to be more intrinsically motivated and self-regulated, whereas those who use surface approaches tend to be more motivated by high grades and their performance compared to others.
Learning Styles: Students’ personal approaches to learning, problem solving, and processing information.
Learning Styles: (students’ learning preferences vary)
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Piaget’s theories of equilibrium- using schemes:
The foundation of this theory is based on the idea that people have an intrinsic need for understanding, order, and certainty. Piaget describes this need for understanding as the drive for equilibrium. For example, when we can explain new experiences, we remain in equilibrium; when we can’t, our equilibrium is disrupted and we are motivated to reestablish it. When our thinking advances as a result of regaining equilibrium, development occurs. To achieve and maintain equilibrium, people use two related process: organization and adaptation. People create schemes in order to reach equilibrium. Equilibrium must be maintained with new experiences through the processes of accommodation (scheme modified) and assimilation (stimulus modified).
Vocabulary Terms:
Equilibrium: A state of being able to explain new experiences by using existing schemes.
Schemes: Actions or mental operations that represent our constructed understanding of the world.
Organization: The process of forming and using schemes.
Adaptation: The process of adjusting schemes and experiences to each other to maintain equilibrium.
Accommodation: A form of adaptation in which an existing scheme is modified and a new one is created in response to experience.
Assimilation: A form of adaptation in which an experience in the environment is incorporated into an existing scheme.
Instructional Activities:
· Keep the developmental needs of the students in mind when designing and implementing instruction.
· Use social interaction to help students verbalize their developing understanding.
· Design learning experiences as developmental bridges to more advanced stages of development.
· Provide concrete experiences that represent abstract concepts and principles.
· Provide students with developmentally appropriate practice in reasoning.
Learning Preferences and/or Styles:
The concept of learning style has at least three implications for teachers. First, it reminds us of the need to vary instruction, since no instruction strategy will be preferred by all students. Second, it suggests that we should help students understand how they learn most effectively. Third, awareness of learning style can increase our sensitivity to differences in our students, making it more likely that we will respond to our students as individuals.
Many descriptions of learning style distinguish between deep and surface approaches to processing information. Deep-processing approaches result in higher achievement if tests focus on understanding and application, but surface approaches can be successful if tests emphasize fact learning and memorization. Students who use deep-processing approaches also tend to be more intrinsically motivated and self-regulated, whereas those who use surface approaches tend to be more motivated by high grades and their performance compared to others.
Learning Styles: Students’ personal approaches to learning, problem solving, and processing information.
Learning Styles: (students’ learning preferences vary)
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Blooms Levels of Learning
Bloom’s Theory of Learning
Benjamin Bloom thought of the idea of six steps to learning, the levels pertain to thinking and are also the cognitive domain. They start at the bottom then move up as the learner acquires more knowledge. This is a picture representing Bloom’s levels:
This staircase starts with the idea of recall, or knowledge. This expresses the natural urge to discuss previously learned material and provides a basis for future learning and higher levels of thinking. Basically, people need to know information and be able to recall it for use in order to achieve most things in life from a conversation to a degree. An example of this is when a student can tell you a dictionary definition of a vocabulary word.
Another step up is to grasp an idea, otherwise know as comprehension. One can know facts, but in order to be a higher level thinker that person must be able to translate that knowledge wisely and have an understanding of what they mean. Comprehension is only complete once a person is able to explain or restate ideas, proving they grasp a certain topic. To exhibit this level a student might define a word for you using their own language, not just from a dictionary.
After a person has recalled correct information and translated it into meaning, they are then able to apply that knowledge to a new situation. This step involves not only knowing information but then using it to solve problems in appropriate settings. Another way to look at this is if the same student who can describe a word’s meaning to you can then use it in a new sentence or a conversation.
Once a person has mastered the previous levels, then they are able to analyze what has happened. This involves breaking up the known information into helps bits of knowledge, such as the roots to a word. If a student can explain that a particular word can be broken up into parts which together mean the whole, then this step has been accomplished for that word.
Synthesis is the ability to have new innovations and piece together new wholes from parts of an idea. Basically, using the vocabulary reference, if a student can start with two root words and create a new meaningful word they have reached this stage or learning. In order to synthesize something an emphasis is put on unique understandings and creative relationships.
The last and most difficult stage of learning, according to Bloom, is that of evaluation and judgment. This type of learning involves every step in order to review and pronounce evidence and ideas so one can then make appropriate judgments and statements based in fact.
I got this information mostly from: http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html
Benjamin Bloom thought of the idea of six steps to learning, the levels pertain to thinking and are also the cognitive domain. They start at the bottom then move up as the learner acquires more knowledge. This is a picture representing Bloom’s levels:
This staircase starts with the idea of recall, or knowledge. This expresses the natural urge to discuss previously learned material and provides a basis for future learning and higher levels of thinking. Basically, people need to know information and be able to recall it for use in order to achieve most things in life from a conversation to a degree. An example of this is when a student can tell you a dictionary definition of a vocabulary word.
Another step up is to grasp an idea, otherwise know as comprehension. One can know facts, but in order to be a higher level thinker that person must be able to translate that knowledge wisely and have an understanding of what they mean. Comprehension is only complete once a person is able to explain or restate ideas, proving they grasp a certain topic. To exhibit this level a student might define a word for you using their own language, not just from a dictionary.
After a person has recalled correct information and translated it into meaning, they are then able to apply that knowledge to a new situation. This step involves not only knowing information but then using it to solve problems in appropriate settings. Another way to look at this is if the same student who can describe a word’s meaning to you can then use it in a new sentence or a conversation.
Once a person has mastered the previous levels, then they are able to analyze what has happened. This involves breaking up the known information into helps bits of knowledge, such as the roots to a word. If a student can explain that a particular word can be broken up into parts which together mean the whole, then this step has been accomplished for that word.
Synthesis is the ability to have new innovations and piece together new wholes from parts of an idea. Basically, using the vocabulary reference, if a student can start with two root words and create a new meaningful word they have reached this stage or learning. In order to synthesize something an emphasis is put on unique understandings and creative relationships.
The last and most difficult stage of learning, according to Bloom, is that of evaluation and judgment. This type of learning involves every step in order to review and pronounce evidence and ideas so one can then make appropriate judgments and statements based in fact.
I got this information mostly from: http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html
Theory of Belonging
Theories of Belonging from Glasser and Maslow
William Glasser and Abraham Maslow thought of two different theories about human needs. They each have similar ideas based on a sense of belonging and fitting in somehow. These ideas fit into the classroom environment very well because at one point every teacher has dealt with a student who is self-conscious, shy, or an outcast. By better understanding the human need to belong a teacher will better serve the students inside and outside the classroom.
Glasser’s five needs are: survival, love and belonging, power and recognition, freedom, and fun. Maslow’s hierarchy starts with physiological, moves up to safety, then belonging, next a self esteem, and ends with self-actualization. Each of these theories starts with the same main human need, which is that of the physical body. This is a necessity, but an often neglected idea because little needs to be done unless the body is threatened. The next level for Maslow goes along with the first one, but is based outside the body such as a roof over our heads or money to keep us at distance from harm.
The second level for Glasser and the third for Maslow deals with the big idea of belonging. According to Maslow this comes from basic tribal instincts about being nice and helpful to others so they will want us in their lives in return. As a tribal species more people are better than one, so for a person to be a loner is to go against what makes us human. We crave companion from other in all forms, but mostly to fit it. This is most likely why teenagers give into peer pressure and will go to great lengths to be in the “popular crowd.”
Esteem and power tend to go together, such as they both follow after belonging on each list. The desire for a higher position in the group drives humans to achieve great things, and go to great lengths. This basic need comes from thinking that if people respect us then we will have great power. In order to receive respect and power one must first belong to a group, maybe this explains why students will try and stand out among peers as a specific trait, such as the jock, nerd, joker, etc.
The last few levels of needs must be only set into place once a person feels a sense of safety, belonging, and achievement. These needs are for self-actualization, which is the desire to become what we are capable of becoming and striving toward great things. The need for freedom goes along with this idea in that we as humans are able to achieve whatever level of thinking we want as long as we desire greatest. We are free to dream big and reach high goals. The last and most debatable need according to Glasser is the need for fun, because once all else is set into place we all just want to have fun and enjoy life everyday.
According to Maslow the way to use these ideas is to look at what a person has accomplished and work with that level. If you look into history and see the falling of nations it usually starts with the basic needs for safety and physiology. In order to threaten a person start with their body, but in order to help others encourage them to reach their highest needs. Let others see that we all can achieve higher things and assist others in attaining their goals.
This information was mainly gathered at: http://changingminds.org/explanations/needs/needs.htm
William Glasser and Abraham Maslow thought of two different theories about human needs. They each have similar ideas based on a sense of belonging and fitting in somehow. These ideas fit into the classroom environment very well because at one point every teacher has dealt with a student who is self-conscious, shy, or an outcast. By better understanding the human need to belong a teacher will better serve the students inside and outside the classroom.
Glasser’s five needs are: survival, love and belonging, power and recognition, freedom, and fun. Maslow’s hierarchy starts with physiological, moves up to safety, then belonging, next a self esteem, and ends with self-actualization. Each of these theories starts with the same main human need, which is that of the physical body. This is a necessity, but an often neglected idea because little needs to be done unless the body is threatened. The next level for Maslow goes along with the first one, but is based outside the body such as a roof over our heads or money to keep us at distance from harm.
The second level for Glasser and the third for Maslow deals with the big idea of belonging. According to Maslow this comes from basic tribal instincts about being nice and helpful to others so they will want us in their lives in return. As a tribal species more people are better than one, so for a person to be a loner is to go against what makes us human. We crave companion from other in all forms, but mostly to fit it. This is most likely why teenagers give into peer pressure and will go to great lengths to be in the “popular crowd.”
Esteem and power tend to go together, such as they both follow after belonging on each list. The desire for a higher position in the group drives humans to achieve great things, and go to great lengths. This basic need comes from thinking that if people respect us then we will have great power. In order to receive respect and power one must first belong to a group, maybe this explains why students will try and stand out among peers as a specific trait, such as the jock, nerd, joker, etc.
The last few levels of needs must be only set into place once a person feels a sense of safety, belonging, and achievement. These needs are for self-actualization, which is the desire to become what we are capable of becoming and striving toward great things. The need for freedom goes along with this idea in that we as humans are able to achieve whatever level of thinking we want as long as we desire greatest. We are free to dream big and reach high goals. The last and most debatable need according to Glasser is the need for fun, because once all else is set into place we all just want to have fun and enjoy life everyday.
According to Maslow the way to use these ideas is to look at what a person has accomplished and work with that level. If you look into history and see the falling of nations it usually starts with the basic needs for safety and physiology. In order to threaten a person start with their body, but in order to help others encourage them to reach their highest needs. Let others see that we all can achieve higher things and assist others in attaining their goals.
This information was mainly gathered at: http://changingminds.org/explanations/needs/needs.htm
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