Handout 5 PDF

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FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING Hand-out 5 Activity 1: 1. In classroom, how does language play an important role to increase the ability to deal with abstract concepts? Teachers and students use spoken and written language to communicate with each other–to present tasks, engage in learning processes, present academic content, assess learning, display knowledge and skill, and build classroom life. In addition, much of what students learn is language. Language allows the students and teachers to increase the ability to understand with different concepts when details of such are arranged and ordered the context of learning. It should always keep in mind that committing mistakes or error wile discovering is part of construction of new ideas or concepts. 2. How does constructivism become a learner-centered strategy in the 21st Century classrooms? The classroom of today look so much different from that of the past. Today individuals are finding new ways of being and functioning in the 21st century that look much different from those of generations before. Mindfulness is on the rise and today schools are focusing more on social and emotional skills with their student population. Helping students to be aware and mindful of what they are feeling and how to selfregulate those emotions in order to sustain themselves with the demands of the classroom and world today. In other words giving students the ability and skills to construct their own way of being. A constructivist classroom fosters critical thinking, flexibility, creativity, active learning, and more. All of which are standards of what a 21st century classroom should reflect. It is not just about technology; to sustain a 21st century classroom educators need to move from a transmittal instructional practice to a constructivist and transactional model. I believe in order for students to be successful in and out of the classroom today we need to create learning environments that give students the permission to construct knowledge, not receive it. As long as there were people asking each other questions, we have had constructivist classrooms. Constructivism, the study of learning, is about how we all make sense of our world, and that really hasn’t changed.

3. What is the essence of knowing and applying the tenets of constructivism in implementing the K to 12 curriculum? The essence of knowing the tenets of constructivism in implementing the K to 12 curriculum is that it is not possible to teach anybody anything. It is only possible to set up the environment to make it more likely that they will learn. Put another way, students have to do the work of building their own understanding, so the only thing that matters is what the student does and not what’s in the book or not what the teacher spouts. Not how many hours are in the school day or what standardized tests are put together. The only thing that matters is the work that each and every student puts in to try to grow and understand. The basic tenet of constructivism is that students learn by doing rather than observing. Students bring prior knowledge into a learning situation in which they must critique and re-evaluate their understanding of it. Activity 2: 1. How do cooperative and experiential learning relate to the features of constructivism? The cooperative and experiential learning relate to the features of constructivism is by giving a helping hand of each and every one of us. Cooperative learning theory is an offshoot of constructivism, the practice of building new knowledge upon the foundation of previous learning. It incorporates the idea that the best learning occurs when students, of mixed levels of ability, are actively engaged in the learning process and work in collaboration with other students to accomplish a shared goal. Experiential learning is based on the actual-hands activities or experiences that most effective means of learning to master a concept or skill. While constructivism focuses on personal experience as the foundation for learning new material, cooperative learning utilizes not only the student’s own experience to solidify knowledge, but also uses the experiences of others. These theories emphasize the importance of interactivity with respect to the design and implementation of lesson plans.

2. How does collaboration help in boosting inclusivity in a K to 12 classroom setting? Collaboration helps in boosting the inclusivity in a K to 12 classroom setting through educational experiences that are active, social, contextual, engaging, and student-owned lead to deeper learning. The benefits of collaborative learning include: Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.

Teachers are continually looking for ways to enhance student collaboration in the classroom. Student collaboration can add much-needed variety to the standard, traditional lecture style of teaching. Classroom collaboration also encourages communication and cooperation among students and in effect allows them to teach one another. In some instances, students actually understand the material better when it is explained by their peers. Another significant benefit of collaborative learning is the positive bonding experience that occurs among the members of each group when everyone is contributing to a common goal.

3. In your experiences in using cooperative and experiential learning, what should teachers consider to ensure order and maximize participation among learners? Teachers should organize each class session to include opportunities throughout to ask and answer questions; prepare initial and follow-up questions ahead of time. Use questions to assess student learning, to signal to students which material is the most important, and to help students advance their knowledge and thinking. Cooperative learning involves students working together to accomplish shared goals, and it is this sense of interdependence that motivate group members to help and support each other. When students work cooperatively they learn to listen to what others have to say, give and receive help, reconcile differences, and resolve problems democratically. While experiential learning is what learners enjoy when they take active roles. Teachers challenge them to come up with their creative style of presentation based on their skill. The role the teacher plays in establishing cooperative learning and experiential learning in the classroom is critically important for its success. This involves being aware of how to structure learning in groups, including their size and composition the type of task set; expectations for student behavior; individual and group responsibilities; and the teacher’s role in monitoring both the process and the outcomes of the group experience.

CHAPTER ASSESSMENT Identify the concept described in each of the following statements. Write only the letter of your answer. ______ 1. The line. “to perceive is to categorize, to conceptualize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize,” is associate with that theory? a. Gestalt theory

c. Bruner’s constructivist theory

b. Subsumption theory

d. Cooperative theory

______ 2. At an early age, teaching should be integrated with the experiences and contexts that will make the child willing and able to learn. This can be associated to: a. readiness

c. environment

b. strategies

d. cognition

______ 3. “A whole is more that its parts.” This is the major emphasis of what theory? a. Gestalt theory

c. Bruner’s constructivist theory

b. Subsumption theory

d. Experiential learning theory

______ 4. When a human eye follow the paths, lines and curves of a design, and prefers to see a continuous flow of visual elements rather than separated objects, this illustrates the principle of: a. similarity

c. continuity

b. proximity

d. closure

______ 5. If the visual elemnts are not complete, the user can perceive a complete shape by filling in missing visual information. Such principle is referred to as ____________. a. continuity

c. closure

b. proximity

d. proximity

______ 6. A child knows that a dog barks, has four legs, and has hairy skin. After a lesson on mammals, the child learned that dogs could be classified into seven major types. This situation illustrates _____subsumption. a. correlative

c. derivative

b. combinatorial

d. superordinate

______ 7. Australian Cat dogs, Bearded Collie, and Beauceron belong to the herding group of dogs. This is an example of __________ subsumption. a. correlative

c. derivative

b. combinatorial

d. superordinate

______ 8. Puppets, pantomime, and role-playing are examples of these experiences. a. purposeful

c. contrived

b. direct

d. experiential

______ 9. According to Ausubel, this is one way of strengthening a person’s cognitive structure-seeing the general picture of concepts before its details or parts.

a. text presentations

c. group works

b. advance organizers

d. graphic organizers

______ 10. This theory state that learners become very creative and innovative because of the interactions and active participation of each member of group. a. Experiential learning theory

c. Cooperative learning theory

b. Subsumption theory

d. Gestalt theory

______ 11. Concrete experience means doing something tangible as an application of what has been learned. Which is not an example of concrete experience? a. problem solving

c. debates

b. reflection paper

d. role playing

______ 12. One important component of experiential learning is active experimentation. Which of the following best illustrates experiential learning? a. case studies

c. film viewing

b. simulations

d. learning logs and journals

______ 13. This situation encourages learners to look for resources and materials that they need rather than just relying on the teacher. a. heterogeneous grouping

c. collaborative skills

b. simultaneous interaction

d. group autonomy

______ 14. This is the heart of cooperative learning. a. individual accountability

c. simultaneous interaction

b. positive interdependence

d. trial and error

______ 15. One effective technique in Gestalt learning theory is exercise. What is the best purpose or exercise in this theory? a. to develop the muscles of the body b. to establish cooperation among children c. to develop self-confidence and self-esteem d. to elicit emotion and to produce action...