Thursday, February 26, 2009

Psych 301 Teaching Reflection

Louisa McSweeney
Reflection on Teaching

While Michelle and I were planning on teaching the parts of Social Constructivism that we were in charge of, we decided to use the different theories of learning on our students. We not only wanted to teach them what the strategies were and how you could use them but also wanted them to put them into practice. I feel that we were successful in our approach because I think that the students were able to really understand the definitions based on the activities we had them do.
We used collaboration, cooperation/cooperative learning, and jigsaw in the first activity. In our activity we had the students discuss the differences between collaboration, cooperation, and cooperative learning while actually participating in these theories of learning. By doing this it was much easier to explain the differences between the three by referring back to their activity.
We were also able to bring in different teaching strategies that we learned in other lessons such as concept mapping (where we showed a way to remember the difference between collaboration, cooperation and group work). Along with the previous we used distributed practice (they practiced the principles multiple times throughout the lesson), and positive reinforcement (the treats).
It was great to be able to bring in different principles and strategies from others lesson to strengthen and improve the teaching of our own lesson. I can definitely see how a combination of the differing strategies can be used within one lesson plan.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Psych 301 QQ T/F

Psychology QQ True/False
1. T/F The essential difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is the person’s reason for acting.
2. T/F Goals should be kept very general.
3. T/F Arousal involves both psychological and physical reactions.
4. T/F Mastery-Oriented students have a high fear of failure.
5. T/F When the goal is simply performing students tend to only care about finishing.

Answers: 1-T, 2-F, 3-T, 4-F, 5-T

Monday, February 23, 2009

TPACK Questions

The Content the class will focus on comes from 4th grade Social Studies, Standard 1; Objective 1; Indicator B. This states that students will understand the relationship between the physical geography in Utah and human life by examining the forces at work in creating the physical geography of Utah (e.g. erosion, seismic activity, climate change).

The Pedagogy that I will use for my classroom will be to have a group discussion where we list on the board the types of natural forces that we found shaped the geography of Utah. I will then have the students write in their journals about the different landforms they found and how they think they might change if the force continues to work on them.

The Technology that will be used for this lesson is Google Earth. At each site of the land formation I will allow students to click on that place and have a picture and some information on that site pop up. Included in the information will be what forces of nature have acted on it.
I think that it is a great way for students to actually see the site of the land formation that I want them to look at. By knowing what force formed it and what the formation looks like today students will more easily be able to fulfill the journal writing assignment.

Virtual Tour Part 1
































Location ActivityGoogle Earth Content
1. Timpanogos CavesStudents will find that deposition and erosion formed these cavespath trail, students will click on the site and information and a picture for this site will pop up.
2. Arches National Parkdeposition and erosion formed these.path trail, same as above
3. Great Salt Lakeevaporation from Lake Bonneville formed thispath trail, same as above
4. Salt Flatsevaporation and faulting formed thispath trail, same as above
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:I will use path trail to mark the different places around Utah the students will be discovering. They will also have the terrain box checked.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Psychology Quiz Questions-Matching #2

Psychology QQ Matching:

1. Arousal

2. Constructivism

3. Cognitive Apprenticeship

4. Motivation to Learn

5. Utility Value


A.) Suzy knew that she needed to listen in class in order for her to understand the information given to her.

B.) Bobby knew that if he didn’t pass his English class he wouldn’t reach his goal of graduating in May.

C.) The sound of the bell caused my stomach to tense up because I knew that I hadn’t studied for the test.

D.) Joey watched and listened to the Head Nurse because he was an intern and she was an expert in the field.

E.) Sarah wanted to learn French because she was going to Paris next year and thought the language would benefit her while she was there.


Answers: 1-C, 2-A, 3-D, 4-E, 5-B

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Matching Questions, Psych

Quiz Questions wk 3, Psychology 301

Matching
1. Development
2. Identity
3. Adolescent Egocentrism
4. Assisted Learning
5. Zone of Proximal Development

A. Phase at which a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support

B. Orderly, adaptive changes we go through from conception to death

C. Providing strategic help in the initial stages of learning, gradually diminishing as students gain independence

D. Assumption that everyone else shares one’s thoughts feelings, and concerns.

E. Principle that a person or object remains the same over time

Answers: 1-B, 2-E, 3-D, 4-C, 5-A

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

TPACK Question wk5

The content that I chose to focus on for this week once again came from the Utah core standards. The first standard was number 1 Objective 2 which states, students should develop language through viewing media and presenting. This will be achieved once the digital storyboard is complete. I then used standard 8 Objective 6 which states, students should write in different forms and genres. We achieved this through the use of poetry to present our story.

The pedagogy that was used in our project all had to do with language arts. Our main emphasis was on poetry and I think that this could lead to a fun project for our students. It would be a good final project for a poetry unit that the students will be able to really show all of their creativity. I would have my students write their own poems and then create a storyboard to really show what they're poem is meant to represent. They could really become creative and have the storyboard be something that you wouldn't have thought the poem was about at first but a deeper interpretation of it.

We haven't used too much technology yet other than the basics. We were able to use the internet to find a good poem and pictures to go along with it. We will be using a program to record our narration and our song when we are ready to complete our project. Finally the use of a digital storyboard is technology and that will also be done in the next week.

Storyboard



Wednesday, February 4, 2009

TPACK Questions redone

The content I chose to focus on comes from the State Standards for 3rd grade Science. It came from Standard 1, Objective 1, Indicators A-C. These indicators focused on the physical appearance of the Earth and the Moon, the physical properties that make them up and where their source of light comes from.
The main sources of pedagogy I used were observation, data collection and data analyzing. Students were to look at photos of the Earth, Moon and Sun and find the connections to the asked questions. By looking at these photos students were able to find the shape of the Earth and the Moon to be spherical, a property of the Earth to be water as it is blue and that the source of light for the Earth and Moon comes from the Sun. Pictures that they were able to look at helped them to explore the Earth, Sun and Moon in a way that puts them outside of our atmosphere. After observing and collecting the data, the students were able to come to the above conclusions.
The technology that we used for this science study was Celestia. This was a fantastic way for students to be able to explore the universe outside of the earth. They were able to move around on the program as if they were in space. This enabled them to look at the Earth, Moon and Sun at different angles to see the different physical properties of each, and the effect that they had on one another. I feel that this program greatly enhanced the content and pedagogy trying to be taught and practiced. The students were able to do all of the exploring and coming to a conclusion on their own.

Psych Modules 15-17

In terms of Operant Conditioning, what does the “A” stand for in the acronym “ABC”?

a.) Antecedent

b.) Active

c.) Aversive

Correct Answer: A

Which of the following answers describe the Premack Principle?

a.) First: low-frequency, Second: high-frequency

b.) First: high-frequency, Second: low-frequency

c.) Waiting for perfection

d.) Positively reinforcing progress

Correct Answer: A

Which of the following is not one of the four skills that can increase student learning?

a.) Listening to the lecture

b.) Planning out assignments

c.) Working alone and in groups

d.) Copying another students work

Correct Answer: D

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

TPACK Questions

Content: our content was from UEN core standard 1.1.a-c for the third grade.
Pedagogy: Students were making their own observations, acquiring their own data, and analyzing what it meant.
Technology: Celestia

Tech Savvy Teacher

Tech Savvy Teacher:
In today's society it is really important that we, as teachers, introduce our children to the use of technology all around us. They are going to be growing up in a world where their future jobs will more than likely require them using technology. Technology has also increased the amount of learning that can be done in a given amount of time. Today's children are learning things faster and better than when we were growing up.
This week, as a part of our science unit we explored the appearance of the Earth and the Moon. We focused on the 3rd grade Core standard 1, objective 1, a through c. Using the computer program Celestia, students needed to find answers to the following questions: What is the shape of the Earth and the Moon? What are their sources of light? What are their physical properties? (i.e. what do they look like?)
Students were broken up into groups of two or three and were assigned to work on computers. First, they made predictions to the questions asked. Then, using the program Celestia, they observed and collected data to answer the research questions given. As a group, they were to collect evidence that confirmed or denied their original predictions. Their findings were recorded in their science logs. After returning to the classroom, we discussed and analyzed the data. These were some of their findings:

"The Sun lights the Earth and Moon." (Mark)



"It is blue, because it has a lot of water on the surface." (Luke)


"We found the Earth is a sphere.” (Meghan)

"The Moon is also a sphere." (Meghan)


"It is gray and white. You can see its craters." (Ben)


Using hands-on technology, students were able to do the work of learning. They were able to make observations from the appearances of the Earth, Moon, and Sun in relation to each other from outside our own atmosphere. Rather than looking simply at pictures they were able to look at them from different perspectives and angles. This stimulated the learning process and gave students the chance to really get engaged in the material! Overall, the use of the technology Celestia enhanced the learning of the students by making it an interactive activity. It is difficult to come up with ideas to help make the study of space a fun and interesting activity. If students are able to do the work themselves and see real photos the amount of learning will be increased in a shortened amount of time.