Q1: Knowing, Understanding, Applying (Lower Level)
Explain construction in your own words, and think of a time when you have used construction in your learning. What is one way that you can help your students use construction skills and methods to better solidify their learning and understanding?
Q2: Analyze, Create (Higher Level)
Analyze the nine tips the book gives on distributed learning on page 221-222 and discuss the importance of at least three of them in creating an environment conducive to learning. Do you think that distributed cognition is something you will use in your classroom or do you prefer students work individually? Then, create a quick classroom activity where students use distributed cognition effectively and discuss the criteria that it meets (based on pages 221-222).
Let me first start off by saying that I think your questions (lower and higher level) are labeled correctly according to Bloom's taxonomy.
ReplyDelete1) In my own words, construction is how bits of information collected over a long period of time come together. When all of the information is finally pieced together, we are able to understand an entire concept. One example that came to mind was the concept of reading. For example, when I was a child, I began the reading process by learning how to sound out various words. Next, I had to attach meaning to these words. After I could say the words and knew what they meant, I had to work on my fluency. Finally, I had to learn how to comprehend what I was reading. I started off reading short stories and worked my way up to large novels. By the end of this process, I had a clear view of what reading actually was. Therefore, as you can see, I had to learn the building blocks before I could understand the entire concept. I think repeated exposure to the material and continual practice are great ways to solidify students' learning. In addition, students learn best when they can relate the material to personal experiences. So, hopefully I will find a way to connect the material to the real world, which will help them solidify their learning and understanding.
2) Discovering how people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds interpret information is always important because this is something students will you in the real world. For example, you might be forced to work with someone from a different country, and it is important to be able to work and communicate with each other. This tip specifically relates to my situation since I am in the Urban Multicultural cohort! Next, students need to elaborate on what they learn. They need to time share the information and talk about what they learn. By doing this, students will gain a better understanding of the presented material. Finally, students can learn something new or come across the correct answer to a problem through group work. This happens to students all the time, which is why it is important for them to share their knowledge with each other.
I will 100% use distributed cognition in my classroom. However, there is a time and a place for it. I feel that both distributed cognition and individual learning are equally important and should be implemented into the school system on a daily basis.
I think distributed cognition would really come in handy when discussing story characters. For example, if the character feels multiple emotions, there is more than one right answer to the question. In fact, there are multiple answers, and students will be able to work together to solve the problem. This activity would give them a chance to clarify and organize their ideas well enough to explain and justify the ideas to others. They would be able to elaborate on the different emotions by giving examples in the story. They will have a chance to hear others opinions and compare their answers. Students will be able to model effective ways of thinking. Students will be able to see how different cultures view various emotions, practice their arguing skills, and could potentially discover flaws in their own thinking.