Bloomology: Group Q7: Theory to Practice

Our group watched http://timssvideo.com/45 on polygons. The following are our responses to question 7.

P1: Two elements of instruction that relate to the theory of behaviorism

1) Positive Reinforcement --> Operant Conditioning

2) Classical Conditioning

Reflection:

1) According to Skinner (1953), the only defining characteristic of a reinforcing stimulus is that it reinforces" (p.72). Positive reinforcement is seen in this classroom. For example, the instructor poses a question to the students, a student comes to the board, responds to the question by drawing on the board and the instructor responds with, "Okay, very good" after a student successfully completed the task of drawing a polygon. The positive reinforcement establishes that the student's actions were done correctly by praising the student, which exemplifies operant conditioning.

2) Classical conditioning is seen a couple of times within this video. One example is when the instructor enters the classroom. The students all stand and respond to the students' greeting in unison. The students then sit down and the class begins. The second example of classical conditioning is when the teacher says, "Class dismissed." The students response is to stand-up and say goodbye, sit down and collect their belongings to leave.

~Renee Kaufmann

P2: Two elements of instruction that relate to the theory of cognitive constructivism.

According to cognitive constructivism, knowledge is built through experience from which schemas are formed. Piaget believed that schemas could be changed through assimilation and accommodation. Under this theory, the role of the teacher is to provide exploration activities. In this video. after a teacher led discussion of the definition of polygons, students were asked to complete a series of drawings to determine the similarities and differences between different types of polygons. By using this instructional activity, the teacher provides a directed way for students to explore the characteristics of polygons. As noted by Piaget, the students exploring and categorizing the shapes by characteristic enables schema to be constructed.

Reflection: Due to the nature of the content, cognitive constructivism is a viable theorectical support for geometric instruction. By exploring the theorems and relationships in geometry, students are able to construct their own knowledge.
~Ellen Bloomfield

P3: Two elements of instruction that relate to the theory of social constructivism.

In the polygons lesson, the best example of social constructivism in practice are the two one-minute discussion with a neighboring student. The first one considered the difference between two kinds of polygons, and the second asked students to discuss how to find a pentagon. Each student discussed the concept with a partner. After the discussion, some students were asked to come to the board to demonstrate their findings through drawing the appropriate type of polygon. The important part is the social aspect--the students work in groups to learn.

~Stacey Greenwell