Regarding Developmental Learning Theory, I came up with a few questions that I hope I always ask myself when planning a lesson to make sure I'm using DLT appropriately. First, I'll examine each representation of the material individually and ask myself where that representation falls on the concrete vs. abstract spectrum. If the representations don't begin at an appropriately concrete level, if they don't move gradually from concrete to abstract and back again, and if they don't fall in the student's Zone of Proximal Development, then my lesson isn't using DLT in an efficient way.
For Social Learning Theory, I need to consider interaction and language. Regarding the first component, I need to ask myself who the more knowledgeable peers are in any given classroom setting, and if those more knowledgeable peers are being effectively utilized. Also, in every situation that I'm communicating with my students, which occurs almost constantly, I need to pause and consider the language I'm using and if that language is the best way to present the material.
When applying Constructivist Learning Theory to my teaching, there are three main questions I need to ask myself: how are the student's current schema's constructed, are those schema's correct and to what degree, and how can I reconstruct their schema's in a way that they will be receptive to.
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ReplyDeleteI think all of the things that you are talking about are questions we will all be thinking about when were making lesson plans and even actually teaching the lessons. But I think we all are still confused, atleast I still feel a little hazy on the ways to use all three of these in our lessons. But also making sure that we really think about these questions to help our students at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job of including all three learning theories in your blog. You gave alot of details also, but I think this particular post could have been a little more beneficial if you tied it to a specific subject or concept to make the questions relate to something more concrete for us.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post especially where you mention that you will "need to pause and consider the language you are using and if that is able to be broken down into more familiar terms." I think this is very true especially with ELL students as they need to begin with concrete ideas and eventually move to the abstract.
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