Social Cognitivism Case Study - Elementary

1. The strategies that Mr. Corbet uses to teach his students appropriate school behavior are most consistent with which two theories/theorists that we have learned about so far this semester? Justify your response.

I noticed that Mr. Corbet used Kohlberg's preconventional reasoning as well as Behavioral theory. As for Kohlberg, his students are showing little internalization dealing with their moral values. The kindergartners obey all of the rules. They are always in search for pleasing the teacher and is tyring to stay away from being punished. When Mindy broke Jonathon's crayon, he thought it was something that she should be punished for. He did not know the difference between an action that needs punishing and actions that do not. He was following the theories idea of "following the laws".

I also think classical conditioning is being used by Mr. Corbet which is behavioral theory. He uses a whistle to get the attention of the students. He is trying them to behave the way he wants and with this is teaching his students classical conditioning. If his students hear the whistle, it means they are doing something wrong. Another thing that follows this theory is when the students hear about recess, they automatically get excited and behave the right way. Many teachers use similar strategies, so the students had prior knowledge and experience of the whistle and recess.

2. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious reinforcement. Explain your reasoning.

The students use vicarious reinforcement when they are to get in line to go outside. Mr. Corbet encourages his students to walk to the line instead of running. When the students are being called to come to the line, Mindy observes the behavior she should be using. Also, the students all notice which tables got to line up first because of their behavior. This would be considered positive reinforcement. These students that were able to line up first are more likely to show this behavior again because they know what happens if they do and they are also pleasing their teacher.

3. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious punishment. Explain your reasoning.

An example of this type of punishment happens when Mindy observes the teacher blowing the whistle at some students misbehaving. From Mindy's observation, she is less likely going to misbehave on the playground because she saw the consequence of the students misbehaving by getting talked to by Mr. Corbet. She doesn't want that to happen to her.

4. Do you think Mindy has low or high self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior? Justify your response with examples from the case.

I think that Mindy has a low self-efficacy regarding to her kindergarten behavior. Mindy didn't know what was happening in the class and would follow the behavior of her classmates to react to something. She only know what recess was by observing others. The class showed excitement about recess so in return Mindy became excited and curious of what caused this enjoyment. In order for Mindy to do something is follows what others are doing. She is unsure of what is really happening and what she is suppose to do. This comes in handy for her by having an understanding of how not to act. She noticed in order not to get the whistle blown at her, she has to be good and stay out of trouble.

Behaviorism Case Study

1. Is Haley's fear of men most likely due to classical or operant conditioning? Justify your response (yes, it will all be hypothetical as we do not have enough information in this case) using terminology, definitions, and examples.

I would say that Haley's fear of men is most likely due to classical conditioning. Haley's reaction is an emotional reaction any time she is around men or has thoughts of men. Haley's conditioned stimulus is she is afraid of men. Her conditioned response is she becomes hysterical. Her unconditioned stimulus is also she is afraid of men and her unconditioned response is she will not go to violin lessons (or anywhere she knows there will be a man there).

2. How might you explain Meredith's aggressive behaviors from the perspective of operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is voluntary and so with that said, Meredith knows the outcomes of her behaviors. So when she becomes aggressive she knows what will be the ending result. Meredith always beats up on Haley and she continues to do that because she knows that Haley will do whatever she wants her to do. She has the control. Another example, is when she was throwing a fit because she wanted to wear her pop star outfit. Her mother gives in and will not say no, so again by acting out, Meredith gets her way. Growing up, Meredith has observed in order to get what she wants she has to act out and misbehave. She has learned and realized nobody will stop her and so she will always get her way.

3. What strategies from Behavioral theory might a teacher use in working with Haley? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used.

Haley is a very complex girl and is experiencing a difficult situation. One of the best things that would work for her is shaping. Since this is a difficult task we are working with we would want to take baby steps instead of trying to solve this problem at full force. I also think the positive and negative reinforcers could work. I would try the token economy for the positive reinforcer. When she accomplishes a goal or a task she would get rewarded. For instance, you could mix that in with negative reinforcement by taking away a part of an assignment if she goes to her violin lessons. In this case we are taking away something she doesn't want to do which is negative and encouraging her go to her music class. Haley and her teacher could also fill out a contingency contract where Haley and her teacher will sit down and Haley will agree on certain behaviors, which the teacher agrees with and then the teacher will agree to provide what is necessary. There are several different roads you could experience with Haley.

4. What strategies from Behavioral theory might a teacher use in working with Meredith? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used.

I believe Meredith is lacking something in her personal life, maybe the feeling of love. Some children act out because there is something missing and they are trying to replace it or get noticed. This pertains to Meredith. I believe the best strategy that would work for Meredith is following the schedule of reinforcement. I would start out with continuous reinforcement by smiling at her and letting her know when she is doing something right. This will allow her to feel good about herself. I would then gradually change the schedule. Meredith likes having her way and so she would eventually realize this is something she wants and she will seek for that approval.

Another thing that may work with her is a contingency contract. I would do both a group contract as well as a individual contract. This will allow the class to show management and will place more pressure on the students to do what is right. As for the individual, this is great because Meredith likes having what she wants. The teacher and her will be able to sit down and come up with tasks she is willing to work on and the teacher can put that into action. This will allow her to feel a part in her development and will help the teacher to hopefully see change.

Course Contract Review #3

1. What are you doing well?

I am doing well with keeping track of my assignments and setting apart time to accomplish them. I am writing in my calendar and have started to use a time tracker to help me really schedule time to work on Ed Psych. I am also really understanding the information presented in class and am connecting it to things I have learned before. I am also doing well at attending all class meetings and making my learning meaningful.

2. What are you not doing well?

I am still struggling with not reading the entire chapters and if I do read the chapters it is still crammed in right before a test. The study guides really help me so at times if I am running short on time, I will focus on reviewing the study guide only and not reading all the material to help me.

3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

I feel I am making sufficient progress with my goals. I have done well on all of the tests because I have really tried to succeed in this class and take more time to prepare for it. I have been using tools to help me remember the information which in return I have seen the outcome. I have learned that my calendar is my new best friend. I am very lost without it and I would not know what to do or where to start without it. This class and taught me that. Time management is key and that has also helped me to progress with my goals.

4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I would still state that I need to change my reading habit and patterns. I need to not let things bombard me or push out what is important. I am planning on reading the chapters ahead of time as well as review the past chapters. I know our last test is comprehensive so in order for me to meet my goals I will have to dedicate and manage my time better. I will also continue to use graphic organizers because I believe those help me the most.

5. How is your motivation? Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? Does anything need to change?

I feel my motivation is still strong and very much still there. I really want a good grade in this class but most importantly really want to understand and retain what I learn in this class. That has been a huge motivation to me as I attend class, study, and prepare for my tests. I have seen what we have worked with and I know that I will witness these theories and problems in the classroom. I have really enjoyed the case studies because it gives me real life situations and pushes me to use what I have learned over the course of time. That is motivation to me. I would say I am still working on mastery goals but at times see myself looking at the performance goals because it is closer. I can see the end. I would say that is what I need to change is not looking forward to the end but focusing on how I feel when I truly understand a concept and put it into action.

Constuctivism Case Study

1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above. What are two differences?

Two similarities among the two different forms of teaching are first, they were both learning about measurements and measuring a large object whether it was a whale or a boat. Another similarity was that both lessons were interesting and entertaining. The teachers were able to keep their students attention as they were doing the measurement activities. Both teachers also allowed their students to work as a class, not individually or in small groups but all together.

Two differences were the way in which the teachers taught the measurement lessons. The traditional teacher told the students what to do and what measuring device to use wherefore the constructivist teacher allowed her students to figure it out on their own. They were practicing discovering learning. Another difference between the two teaching styles is one felt very defeated and knew her students didn't come out of the lesson learning anything. The constructivist saw a rewarding and successful outcome. After her students worked hard to understand and come up with the measurement answer they all were able to recognize what should be used when measuring and the impact it makes on the answer.

2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.

Two benefits of the the constructivist approach was one, the students really had to teach themselves and others by working together. They learned how to communicate and were open to all ideas. Another benefit is they were using real-life experiences by using themselves as the measurements. They were able to reason what could fit and what could not.

Two drawbacks of the constructivist approach was, the students sometimes got frustrated and doubted if they could accomplish this task or not. Also, those students who are shy are not going to participate but will sit back and not do anything and thus the teacher can not assess them and the progress or their understanding of the subject. Another is the misconceptions that happened, for example, when they measured using Mark's hands they thought they definitely had the answer. If the teacher would not have asked Sue to measure the other side they would have never known that what you use to measure makes a difference.

I think in order to be successful you have to take risks and try different things. The benefits in this case allowed the students to take those risks and in return was learning more than they would have if they wouldn't have taken those risks or if they would have done it alone. Communication is an essential tool in succeeding and they practice using this tool and achieved in doing so. The students are drawing personal connections from experiences and retrieving prior knowledge they had learned from before. Also, using real-life authentic activities makes it more meaningful to the students and they are able to connect to their learning better. It draws on their emotions, which in return allows them to achieve things they may have not been able to do without it.

3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study and include a definition of critical thinking to support your response.

Critical thinking is the process of systematically examining available information and coming up with conclusions that are based on evidence.It promotes critical thinking because they are having to think outside the box. It presents a problem and then the students individually as well as together explore all the different options and steps they need to take. They are not having any guided instruction on what to do and so they are having to come up with ideas and theories on their own.

There were many examples of critical thinking for instance, each student that came up with a different idea of how to measure the boat was using their critical thinking skills. When Tom was brave enough to state what he thought and what he knew to be true, it allowed every student in the classroom to understand and therefore really think about how to come up with the right conclusion. They all visualized it in their head and from that came up with different ideas to test their solution. For example, Mark suggested using his hands, Al suggested using feet, and the rest of the class worked off of their initial ideas. Each example tested their process and showed evidenced by physically being the measurement device.

4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?

This would most definitely be an authentic activity. An authentic activity is learning by doing (real-life experiences, problems, or activities). It is also not something that comes out of textbooks. The students are working with measurements which is something we do in real-life. They are also using solutions that involve working with the information they knew such as Tom knowing the boat was bigger than him and he was just measured at four feet. They were also able to connect that using the same object to measure, such as a hand or foot, will produce different outcomes because nobody is exactly the same size.