Problem Based Inquiry-Constructionism At Work

Problem Based Inquiry touched a chord with me as it is an instructional strategy and process that I could use with my students within the confines of my classroom. Using web resources to explore a topic and develop background knowledge, multi-media news stories, and a relevant topic that could inspire them, the Problem Based Inquiry approach could help to engage my students and give them the purpose for learning, “if” I framed it in very logical and doable steps so as not to throw them off and have them shut down. As Dr. Orey (2001) indicated, this type of instructional strategy not only builds personal problem solving skills, but also when you engage students in realistic problems of society, they develop their citizenship skills:


Problem-based inquiry emphasizes learning as a process that involves problem solving and critical thinking in situated contexts. It provides opportunities to address broader learning goals that focus on preparing students for active and responsible citizenship. Students gain experience in tackling realistic problems, and emphasis is placed on using communication, cooperation, and resources to formulate ideas and develop reasoning skills.(Dr. Orey, 2001)

Several weeks ago, my students read an article about “Fracking” which led them through defining what Fracking was and why it wasn’t a positive process, even if it did yield in locating and retrieving natural gas. This was an opinion piece and was presented as an opinion piece which was also discussed. Bias in the news and advertising was discussed and explained. Next, I supplemented this article and discussion with a CNN short video clip about Fracking showing a more rounded view of the topic. CNN Explains Fracking Students and I viewed this supplemental video about Fracking,and we essentially ended the topic there. I have since found a great webquest on Fracking and believe it will be a great extension activity to explore this topic further. In this activity students would expand on what they know and they would see the ‘issues’ through more video clips and reading. Starting with an essential question they could problem solve, using Problem Based Inquiry to try to come up with solutions to the consequences caused by fracking. Here is the webquest: http://www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=156560


As students move through the webquest, they will identify the details and label them as Facts and Opinions. Students will find one or two additional sources about Fracking as teams to look for corroboration. Next, students will gather more information from the website for the movie, Gasland, released in 2011. This website has some additional information from the documentary that could add to the base of knowledge students already have. Here is the Gasland link: Gasland Documentary There are many resources on this interactive site, and students will explore looking for 3-5 new facts. Here they will practice their research skills using the webquest, the original article on Fracking from Green Magazine, the CNN Fracking video, and the Gasland site.

They will seek to answer essential questions and to problem solve, determining their own opinion on Fracking through their investigation. Finally, for the culmination of their knowledge students will create a project. They may choose: Prezi, Google Presentation, a podcast, a Sliderocket presentation, or any of their own ideas resulting in a project that satisfies the assignment goals. Students will have the option of presenting their presentation using the Smartboard.

Project based Inquiry utilizes and capitalizes on the essence of Constructionism. As Dr. Orey discusses in Problem Based Instruction:
         

Problem based inquiry is an effort to challenge students to address real-world problems and resolve realistic dilemmas. Such problems create opportunities for meaningful activities that engage students in problem solving and higher-ordered thinking in authentic settings.

Concepts to explore and  that will be answered in their project would be essential questions like: Why would you/wouldn't you allow Fracking in your town? Why would you/wouldn't you allow Fracking on your property? What would you do if you said no to the fracking company but your next door neighbor signed the contract? What problems and solutions can you imagine?Students would be encouraged to explore the positives and the negatives that can result from Fracking as discovered through their research. Fracking is a real world problem for many in this country, and as such meets the criteria according to the quote above.

Whenever we connect students to concepts that could affect them or their families at this time or in the future, we are building a bridge of realism to their learning. As Dr. Orey (2001) states these “meaningful activities” can even capture the attention of the most disengaged learner and give him a purpose. Constructionism is the cornerstone to this learning bridge that gives students a purpose for their work, teaches them problem solving and questioning skills, and does all that seamlessly as they navigate a topic resulting in a project that stands as a pillar on that learning bridge.

References:

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved January 28,2013, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/



Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program seven: Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved January 27,  2013: from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Cognitive Learning Theory In Action

Instructional strategies help educators frame instruction for the varied learners who walk through their doors. In 2013, we have new theories as well as the older standby theories of learning and instruction to inform our methodology and practice. As educators,we are also blessed with the internet, and we can easily access just about any information we need in the form of  lesson plans, strategies, virtual field trips, units others have used successfully,  tests, quizzes and professional information to cause us to ponder what we do and why we do it. Never has there been more available at our fingertips. I hate to sound like Grandma, but when I was a new teacher either it came out of a book or you created it. I was the teacher who never had a budget so I created almost everything I used in the classroom. This has served me well for how I cater instruction to my learners now. I constantly create and design my students’ learning opportunities.

When we consider the instructional strategy of Cognitive Learning Theory, there are so many wonderful pieces of this theory that are easily adaptable and useful in any classroom. Virtual field trips, although not exactly like being there, hold a great deal of promise and can absolutely extend learning, engagement, and participation. In the Laureate Education video clip this week, Virtual Field Trips, we were able to witness how one teacher tapped into this relatively new technology to extend and enhance her students’ learning. The virtual field trip in the film clip of Ford’s Theater, was an awesome example of this. The students had gone to Washington the year before, but had not  been able to get in to Ford’s theater because it was being renovated These students missed out on a  great opportunity while in Washington.The next best thing was for this teacher to connect that  Washington experience with the virtual field trip of the events that occurred there; which was the assassination of President Lincoln. She did that  through the virtual field trip of Ford’s Theater. She then connected the boring static image from their textbook with the exciting presentation of the real place. She challenged  them to consider certain elements of where Lincoln was shot and how they knew what they knew by comparing and contrasting the static recreation image from the book  with the virtual field trip camera that she was able to manipulate and pan around the inside of the theater itself. She used cuing and questioning to frame her lesson. By using the students’ Washington trip from the prior year, she automatically connected new learning to their ‘old’ actual experience in Washington. Thus, she was successful in bridging and connecting students’ Washington experiences with technology and creating a technology rich full experience for her students using Cognitive theories in action.  

Cues are explicit reminders or hints about what students are about to experience. Questions perform the same functions as cues by triggering students’ memories and helping them to access prior knowledge.(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, p73)

As I consider my use of many technology tools and how I use them to frame my own students’ learning experiences, I realize that I need to return to enhancing my own use of cueing and questioning. I use both presently,  but not in a conscious and  thorough enough way. I need to design that questioning right into my lesson intentionally and in ways that don’t illicit the dreaded, “I don’t  know” response.

When we consider all that technology brings to the table for learners in terms of framing their educational  experience; allowing choice in demonstrating  their knowledge; creating a learner centered ideal; and increasing internal motivation and excitement in their learning, how could we not provide them with these great technology tools allowing them to organize,assimilate information, seek and find relevant information to  their topic being studied all  while they advance and spark their own background knowledge and connecting new and old learning.

Learners function as designers using the technology as tools for analyzing the world, accessing information, interpreting and organizing their personal knowledge, and representing what they know to others” (Jonassen, 1991, p. 82). In addition, we can see from this research that using cognitive tools supports a constructivist model of learning. (Orey, p2)

Cognitive learning theories and all learning theories, give us a reason and a methodology for what we do in the classroom everyday. They are ‘recipes’ that we follow with a desired end in mind. Recipes list the ingredients and the process to follow. Often a recipe will give us variations  and substitutions to use. Sometimes we are given a visual image of the meal. Online sources give us tutorials of the recipe being made by the chef. In many ways the teacher is that chef. We have the ingredients in the form of students; the procedures are the learning and instructional theories, and the substitutions and variations in the recipe are those things we use to offer instruction. You can substitute blueberries for the raspberries, the recipe will tell us. In the classroom,perhaps we need to substitute an ipad for a book, or the Smartboard for a teacher’s lecture. Perhaps we will offer our  students choices in how they take notes: I Notes, Mind Maps, visual pictures. All of these learning  variations are essential to the success of learning today. Sometimes we meet with success and other times we know we need to flex and modulate the lesson, the delivery, the environment,  the tools, or the expectations. When we get it right, teachers help to create students who are filled to the brim with knowledge,motivation, and excitement for learning.  

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program six: Spotlight on technology: Virtual field trips [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved January 21, 2013, from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved January 21, 2013, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Cool Links

Here is a place where I will  maintain a list of "cool links" that I  find along my digital travels.

This tool, which is still in Beta, is an easy to use mind map that  can be used on a computer. It's  free and easy.  You could  project it on a Smartboard and do a whole class activity. 

Here it is: http://www.mysimplesurface.com/ 

Here is a link to open Google Panoramio.It might only work correctly in Google Chrome. You can open it up and do your own virtual tour of images that have been downloaded and added to this site. So, if  as a teacher you are discussing a specific location in the world, now you might be able to find the exact spot you are discussing using this site. You can add to your lessons and create your own virtual field trips. 
Here is the site: http://www.panoramio.com/

Okay, I found this Behaviorist Cartoon...and.....

You have to look really carefully at this to get it, but clearly this patron did not make the right choice according to a Behaviorism  Cafe......

Here is the source of that graphic:
 http://thamanjimmy.blogspot.com/2010/09/history-of-behaviorism.html

Behaviorist Learning Theories and Technology-S.Karabaic Application Assignment 2

Behaviorist Learning Theories and Technology


There are many tools that  Behaviorists would encourage teachers to employ to help students make the connection to their own learning. Students in the 21st Century need to have digital tools that allow them to gain from instruction in the fastest way possible. No longer are our students like ‘The Beaver” or families like, “The  Huckstables”. For better or worse, many of our students might resemble Honey Boo Boo and Snooki and the families might be more like “Two and a Half Men”. We can not  assume that  the world has not changed since the Behaviorists reigned, and their theories coincided with the dedication and commitment to education of that time period.

Using motivational tools like spreadsheets and rubrics can help students to make the connection  between what they are doing/not doing to achieve success. Any methods that heighten students awareness of how their own actions affect outcomes can be invaluable. Some students will never get it as I am told “You gave me a C” and  they clearly do not make a connection between their lack of on task behavior, unassisted completion of a product showing level of understanding, and/or attention to detail with what  they are able to produce. My students especially have a ‘disconnect’ between what  they perceive as the task and the task itself. If I offer them a model of a paragraph, they will write the very minimum to just get the paragraph completed and done. There is not a focus in doing their very best for the sake of learning and growing. Instead, their mentality is how quickly can I get it done and move on. I visually see the way they approach their learning as assembly line workers with the tasks coming down the belt in which they have to do something with them and move quickly before the next object  moves down the line to take its place.

Unfortunately,  there is a lack of student investment or a quest to learn for the mere sake of learning. If homework is to be viewed as stated in, Using Technology In Classroom Instruction That Works, “As an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills. “ (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn,& Malenoski, (2007).), then perhaps there needs to be a different model. Technology can help to provide a Flipped Classroom model that allows students to engage in the task of learning through connecting to the school digitally. If students were to create interesting lessons with message boards where students post and reply to posts of their peers, this format could assist students in raising their engagement and interest levels. The immediate feedback from their peers also can provide the Behaviorist’s goal of reinforcing learning. On the chart on page 19, in Key Theorists and Their Differences, B.F. Skinner’s Stimulus Response indicates that the teacher’s role is to reinforce in the way of a response, and “with immediate and appropriate feedback.” Just  imagine a scenario where a middle school student is given the assignment watching a video clip of Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech and then posting their response on a Discussion Board, instead of reading a dull chapter in a history text book and answering questions. The immediate feedback would be incredibly more powerful than ‘just’ the teacher’s response as the students’ own peers would engage in the discussion post, too!

The Flipped Classroom has been very much in the news in the last few years and is gaining in popularity and in acceptance. In the article, Flipped Classroom Offers New Learning Path, (Bergman,2011) Jonathan Bergman was asked to define a flipped classroom, “The classic definition is kids watch videos at home for their homework and they come to class and do class work that used to be done as their homework.” Bergman went on to talk about the benefits of a Flipped Classroom model,

Number one, students become their own learners. They learn how to learn for themselves, instead of being spoon-fed. That is very powerful. Second, they become collaborators and help each other out. For teachers, they are able to differentiate since class is no longer a lecture chalk talk.(Bergman, 2011)

The  Flipped Classroom Model can put some teachers off, but I do believe this model would  support certain key pieces of Behaviorism. Students would be rewarded or receive a consequence if they were not following the flipped model. The responsibility moves from the teacher to the student and could further support the reward model of Behaviorism. Having students watch video clips at home,essentially receiving the lecture at home and then in class doing the actual application of the activity is project based learning at it’s best and offers students the immediate or close to immediate feedback, also known as stimulus and  reward. Rather than traditional drill and practice, take those same learning objectives and give them life by asking students not merely for a worksheet of fractions but instead ask them to apply their fraction understanding to a project. Reinforcement can come in the actual application of the learned objective, the demonstration to the class, and the increased student engagement and responsibility.

For the behaviorist’s strategies to work in the 21st Century,, students need to have a certain level of internal motivation. If its not there naturally, can we provide motivation to students so they can gain a higher degree of engagement in the process, by making them part of  their own learning? With digital tools, comes the potential to do more, expect more, provide more and support students in ways we could never do before. Behaviorism’s elements are spread far and wide within the educational setting. We need  to take what we like from Behaviorism and expand on them. Technology tools can help us in the areas of improving student input and output, engagement, responsibility, and achievement.

Electronic Education Report; 11/28/2011, Vol. 18 Issue 23, p1-3, 3p, retrieved January 15, 2013.

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008).Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.).Retrieved January 15, 2013, Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Pitler H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007).Retrieved, January 15, 2013, Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!

Welcome to my graduate class blog.On this blog I will extend and utilize new learning, as I put theory into practice. My new class will provide me with the theory behind the practice and help me to further integrate technology into my classroom model.