Module 4: Misuses of Group Learning, Teaching for Robust Knowledge, and Technology

Module 4

Concept 1: Misuses of Group Learning

Summary:

In chapter 10, Constructivism and Designing Learning Environments, Woolfolk mentions a lot about the positive ways that cooperation and collaboration can be used within our classrooms. Cooperative group work when used the right way can be a great way for students to interact and work together. Woolfolk states that “Without careful planning and monitoring by the teacher, group interactions can hinder learning and reduce rather than improve social relations in classes” (Gilles & Boyle, 2011). If students are grouped together to complete a task without much guidance, oftentimes students will care more about finishing up the task quickly than doing any learning at all. Deanna Kuhn sums up the situation “It is not enough to put individuals in a context that allows collaboration and expect them to engage in it effectively. Intellectual collaboration is a skill, learned through engagement and practice and much trial and error” (Kuhn, 2015).

Reflection:

After reading this section that discusses the ways that cooperative learning can hinder student’s learning, it is clear that this has occurred in almost every single classroom I have been a part of. When thinking about the misuses of group learning, socialization comes to my mind. In all four years in high school, I have had to do many group projects. These projects required us to work as a group to get all of the research and put together a number of items including power-points, speeches, posters and more. Throughout these group projects it was evident in most cases that I would be doing all the work. My teachers would give us the project with no instruction or roles. In these cases, teachers would sit at their desks with no follow up questions or guidance. Without guidance, students would begin to chat with other peers or look on their phone. Within the group, most would look to the one person they know would do all the work. “Students may shift dependency from the teacher to the “expert” in the group: learning is still passive, and what is learned can be wrong” (Woolfolk, Pg. 401). This is an example of a misuse of group learning. Teachers need to ensure that students are cooperating and working together efficiently without all of the work landing on one or two students. The point of group work is to discuss all of the possible ways to do the assignment or project. “To insure successful cooperative learning, teachers have to plan before: monitor, support, and consolidate learning during: and reflect on learning after the activity” (Woolfolk, Pg. 401).

In many of my younger field placements, when students are given group work, they tend to argue on who is in charge and give each person roles. Breaking up the work can be a great idea, but not all of the students are learning throughout this process. They tend to try and finish before other groups and hope that they will be praised for this type of action. Oftentimes, this is a result of the teacher’s choices. These teachers gave little to no guidance and grouped them by table. Most teachers will give an assignment and expect students to cooperate. This is rarely the case, students need the teacher to help guide them in the right direction and help them understand what cooperation really means. Students need to learn how to be patient, and work well together without letting socialization take over. Students will get off track quickly if the teacher is not around supervising these group projects or assignments. Arguments arise and students begin defending why their ideas are the best. This happens too often and teachers need to pick up on the fact that students need to learn how to work together before getting thrown into groups.

Concept 2: Teaching for Robust Knowledge

Summary:

In chapter 9, Complex Cognitive Processes, Woolfolk talks about the idea of robust knowledge. “The study of expertise points to three important characteristics of robust knowledge, it is deep, connected and coherent” (Woolfolk, Pg. 372). Deep knowledge is knowledge about underlying principles. Connected knowledge means many separate bits of information are linked- problem-solving steps are linked. Coherent knowledge is consistent and has no contradictions. “Experts can recall from their long-term memory many important details about the problem domain (such as math and physics), but novices rely mostly on what they can hold in their working memory, and they often get overwhelmed (Woolfolk, Pg. 373). We want our students to have robust knowledge on a handful of topics to make it easier to solve future problems.

Reflection:

After reading this section, Woolfolk gives several options on how to teach students robust knowledge. Woolfolk gives the examples of practice, worked examples, analogies, and self-explanations. These are some of the best way to embed information into our student’s brains. When reflecting on robust knowledge, I never knew this existed. I do know for a fact that I have material embedded into my brain probably for the rest of my life because of the way’s teachers have taught us certain concepts. When thinking about robust knowledge, it is clear that most of my ‘expert’ knowledge is in math. Almost all students leave elementary knowing all of their basic math facts. All leaving middle school remember fractions and decimals. Most leaving high school remember how to solve equations and which principles to use for solving problems. The first example, practice, is the most valuable item in this section. For example, in elementary school, all of us had to practice our multiplication facts in a variety of ways. This continued on throughout our years because our teachers want this to be something we remember for our future. “Overlearning, or practicing even after you can do a skill or procedure; makes performance smooth, fact and automatic” (Woolfolk, Pg. 374). This can be shown as well through the eyes of sports teams. Many already have the skill to complete the activity but they still practice every single day so that they can keep it. In the future, after a lesson or topic, I will continue to test my students. I want to make sure that my students walk out of my classroom remembering specific concepts, whether it be math or another subject.

Another example that Woolfolk gives is using self-explanations. “To build robust knowledge, the big winner is self-explanation. Explaining each step in a worked example, drawing a model, explaining to a peer and providing evidence.. (Woolfolk, Pg. 374). I love the idea of self-explanations because it shows that the students understand the concept enough to talk about it. They can act as the teacher and teach it to peers or explain how they solved the problem to the class without any help or guidance from the teacher. In my experiences, whenever I am studying for a test, I like to help others in my class as well. I find it effective to explain concepts to others in order to embed the information into my head. I usually do this with peers but have also done this with family members. Whenever I have a presentation, I use my family members as my first audience. I will have my students use the skill of self-explanations in a number of different ways. I want them to be able to explain how they solved a problem in front of the class or to their table. It strengthens their ability to remember what they have learned. I will be using and supporting robust knowledge in my future classroom.

Concept 3: Technology

Summary:

In chapter 10, Constructivism and Designing Learning Environments, Woolfolk describes technology as “complex and surprising” (Pg. 410). Many classrooms have the opportunity to use computers or smart boards. Students can take trips to the computer lab if they are not supplied with individual iPads as well. “Computers are more likely to increase achievement if they support the basic processes that lead to learning: active engagement, frequent interaction with feedback, authenticity, and real-world connection, and productive group-work” (Graesser, 2013, A. Jackson, 2006). Woolfolk stresses that technology is rising and with all that is available today, teachers can efficiently use these tools to teach students even more in an engaging way.

Reflection:

In my past educational experiences, I have had access to the computer lab. Many of us got super excited and could not wait to see what lesson we had waiting for us. Technology is widely used around the world. It gives us the ability to learn new techniques and skills that we may need in our future. After reading this chapter, it is apparent that technology seems to be taking over the classic textbook, pen and paper type of teaching. Students are highly motivated to grab an iPad and explore their resources than sitting down to listen to a lecture. When enrolled in Technology in Education at Trinity, I learned and got to use many different resources that I can use in my future classroom. In many of the classrooms I have observed, their students are given iPads right at the beginning of the year. They are able to use this for projects including power-points, videos and games. In my kindergarten placement, they went to the computer lab twice a week to work on valuable games. The students would use the computers to complete virtual games that worked on recognizing sight words and much more. The students were so eager to complete these tasks and would call the teachers over to show them their scores at the end. Each time they were in the lab, they would focus without a sound and make sure to listen carefully to each prompt during their game. I think technology plays a huge role on how teachers prepare lessons. Teachers want their students to be engaged and motivated. Many decide to play videos and have the students come up to the smart board, playing interactive games with them as well. I have also seen Google Classroom used in many of my placements. Students are able to pull up their assignments as well as the resources and complete them in class or home. Teachers can post practice problems for the students to complete when they first walk into the classroom or give them silent reading assignments. I believe that when teachers use more technology, students are quite eager to learn and listen. They find it so fascinating and engaging. Technology provides us with unlimited resources to use with our students. There are also many different applications that I will be able to use with my special education students. For example, there are Google Chrome Extensions that they can download and use to make their learning easier. A couple of these include Beeline Reader and Read & Write. It can make it simpler for students who have dyslexia or students who have difficulty reading long passages. Technology gives us so many different options on how to help students while accommodating and modifying their work.