3. Which is the most important contribution made by Piaget with respect to cognitive development?

A) Cognitive development at any stage is limited by earlier sensorimotor experiences.

B) Children are actively engaged in constructing their understanding of the world. (29% of a previous class got this one)

C) Children pass through each stage of cognitive development in a fixed sequence.

D) The intellectual development of children has four broad age-approximated stages.

4. Jerome, who is five years old, happens to see a complex mathematical proof in his mother’s old university textbook. After he looked at the mathematical proof, it would be most likely that

A) both assimilation and accommodation have occurred.

B) neither assimilation nor accommodation have occurred. (76% 0f a previous class got this one.)

C) accommodation has occurred, but not assimilation.

D) assimilation has occurred, but not accommodation.

6. Which statement best reflects Piaget’s position on the issue of speeding up cognitive development?

A) Speeding up cognitive development is a teacher’s role.

B) Acceleration is both inefficient and useless. (76% of a previous class got this one)

C) Keeping cognitive development “on track” is a teacher’s role.
D) Acceleration is effective for only the brightest students.

7. An application of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development concept would include

A) requiring the student to work completely independently, regardless of success or failure.

B) making new tasks slightly beyond the student’s current level of ability (76% of a previous class got this one)

C) not introducing new tasks until prerequisite tasks are satisfactorily mastered.

Appendix 

Notes on Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development

According to Erik Ericson, the children taking part in this class (early adolescents) would be at the “Identity vs Role Confusion” stage of their Psychosocial Development.  Typically during this stage that teenager is achieving his identity in occupations, gender roles, politics, and religion.

It is the belief of this group that the most common reason for bringing a weapon to school for this group would be ‘peer pressure’.  It is believed that many of the students guilty of bringing a weapon to school would be doing so to gain social standing amongst their peers or to “look cool”.  While these students must be reprimanded for their offence (according to provincial regulations) it is our belief that they should be reprimanded in a kind, discrete, and understanding way.

Notes on Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, the children taking part in this class would be in either Stage 4:  Law and order Orientation or Stage 5:  Social Contract Orientation

Due to the seriousness of this topic it is important that the teacher recognize what level his/her class is at when approaching this topic.  If the class is at stage 4 then a “black and white” approach to weapons in the school should be used.  If the class is clearly at stage 5 then a more abstract approach should be taken.

Showing media literate thinking

1. Which stage of Erikson’s psycho-social development does Bart seem to be in?
   1. Initiative
   2. Industry (71.2% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Identity
   4. Intimacy
2. Which stage of Erikson’s psycho-social development does Martin (the tattler, and the one who reminds the teacher about Bart’s desk arrangement) seem to be in?
   1. Initiative
   2. Industry (22.9% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Identity
   4. Intimacy
3. Which stage of Erikson’s psycho-social development does Homer, the father, seem to be in?
   1. Initiative
   2. Industry
   3. Identity
   4. Intimacy(59.3% of a previous group got this one) Difficulty
4. When Bart cheats on the test, what level of moral reasoning is he showing?
   1. Stage 1
   2. Stage 2 (82.2% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Stage 3
   4. Stage 4
5. When Martin reminds the teacher about Bart’s required seating arrangement, what level of moral reasoning is Martin showing?
   1. Stage 1
   2. Stage 2 (5.9% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Stage 3
   4. Stage 4
6. When Principal Skinner has the opportunity to send Bart to a private school for the gifted what level of moral reasoning is he showing?
   1. Stage 1
   2. Stage 2(94.9% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Stage 3
   4. Stage 4
7. When Bart repents, what level of moral reasoning is he showing?
   1. Stage 1
   2. Stage 2 (33.9% of a previous group got this one)
   3. Stage 3
   4. Stage 4
8. Who showed the highest level of moral behaviour in the video?
   1. The bright and gifted kids (like Martin, Ethan, Sidney, Sophia)
   2. The school personnel (principals, psychologists, teachers)
   3. Homer
   4. Marge (84.7% of a previous group got this one)

Teacher as Orchestra Conductor

By: Group 404

            Teacher as orchestra and students as musicians---If this were the metaphor that informs the teaching, then a few aspects of education would be depicted. 

            Firstly, it would be important for the teacher/conductor to realize the individual differences. Just as there are many strings and many woodwinds in an orchestra, so there will be a variety of students in the classroom, such as children with different cultures or with exceptionalities.  Whereas the traditional method of teaching would impose a strict vision of treating all students the same (an orchestra of violins), the constructivism approach would embrace the differences and use them to its advantage: group activities (grouping strings with strings), peer teaching (first chairs).  Additionally, being constructivist, the teacher would be sure to create many different groups throughout the year, making a point to have the students participate with other students who might be very different from them.  The students could develop some enlightening social skills in this way.  Looking at the conductor, this could be seen as grouping different instruments together for small individual bands.  Similar to an orchestra of various instruments, a classroom embracing differences would have more depth.

            Secondly, it is essential to know that the students/musician play a central role in mediating and controlling learning. The teachers/conductors serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators. The focus should be students/musician (constructivism), NOT teacher/conductor. The teacher would simply aid in the direction of the students (conducting) and in setting the guidelines (pulse), however it would be the students who would be creating the learning atmosphere (the music itself).  This is not to say that the role of the teacher/conductor is unimportant, without the conductor’s guidance, harmony would quickly turn to cacophony.  This attitude would fly in the face of the teacher/jug and student/mug idea of teaching; this constructivism model would have the emphasis on students learning for themselves while the teacher would have the crucial role of guide or leader. The teacher/conductor can always expect effort from the students/musicians.  Empowering the students/musicians, the teacher/conductor would encourage the students/musicians to solve their problems through discussion, trial and error/practice, and inquiry.  The teacher/conductor would assist in the problem solving when needed. The teacher/conductor however should not try to show each individual student/musician how to play their instrument/learn, as this would consume far too much time and energy.  It would be the role of the teacher to listen for the occasional discord and then focus attention on that specific student when the time comes.  For the most part, grouping together students with similar learning patterns/instruments of varying levels would be useful, especially when dealing with assignments, both inside and outside the classroom.

Thirdly, collaborative and cooperative learning are important in order to expose the students/musicians to alternative viewpoints and to improve their social skills. Assigning work to groups in which there are varying levels of aptitude would create an atmosphere ripe for peer teaching as well as socialization. The teacher/conductor could even distribute sections of the lesson/score to the various groups of students/musicians who would then come together as a class/orchestra in order to put everything together.  This could be done for both in class and out of class assignments.  However, as always the teacher should be ready for guidance and in the case of true discord, to take a firmer hand and become more active.  Even individual assignments could be done in the same manner; students/musicians must study/practice on their own in order to prepare for the big show.

            Fourthly, a good conductor/ teacher should know “How is each individual student/ musician smart?” NOT “How smart are they?”(Multi-intelligence). The teacher/conductor would have to realize that not every student/musician would excel at every learning pattern/instrument.  It would be up to the teacher/conductor not to force a pattern/instrument on the student/musician but to accept their limitations and help them to find the pattern/instruments in which they excel.  The teacher/conductor should also realize that not every student/musician will excel at every subject/composer and should be aware of the limitations of each individual.  It would also be important for the teacher/conductor to realize that not every orchestra/class plays/understands the same topic/music in the same way, nor should they.  There should be room for creativity, but this within the guidelines set forth by the teacher/conductor.

Mistakes Reflection (Group 401)

Mistakes are used as a powerful resource, which leads to valuable life lessons.  Mistakes are made by everyone, and depending on the environment, they can be useful or harmful.  An important aspect to learning is “trial and error”. Wrong answers are the heart of the scientific discovery process.  By discovering what’s “wrong”, through exploring and examining what doesn’t work, we eventually figure out what does work.   Children readily learn from hands on experience, and these experiences develop skills which are honed through error. Mistakes are viewed as a tool of analysis, and teachers play a key role in defining a mistake.  

             Mistakes can provide insight into a child’s thought process.  Mistakes can show how the child is approaching a problem, and where the mistake is being generated in the thought process.  An example would be the math problems shown on the CD.  In some instances the first computation was correct but the process broke down in the second step.  This aids the teacher in targeting the area in which the student need help.  There can also be a great deal of difficulty in finding the “root problem”.  As a teacher, it is important to talk to the child, to understand the child’s thought process.  Using the constructivist method of teaching, a teacher can make a discussion about a mistake rather than a harmful statement. 

There may be numerous reasons why a mistake is made.  A child could be unmotivated, may have received insufficient instruction or may not have reached the proper cognitive development level.  Mistakes can provide a teacher with insight into a child’s development, and possibly other factors such as home environment that are affecting the child’s learning.  Listening to child’s errors both verbally and in written work will provide the teacher with critical insight regarding the child’s learning environment outside of school.

As a teacher, we can teach students, how they deal with their mistakes is more important than the fact a mistake was made.  As a leader in the classroom, it is important to model that mistakes are manageable, and to demonstrate to students how to learn from your mistakes.  Tell your students what they can do after making mistakes  For example, talk with someone who knows more about the particular subject area, or just reflect on the mistakes by themselves, try to figure out the reason, and avoid it next time.

Students should be encouraged to try new things knowing they will not be ridiculed for making an error.  Acknowledging a mistake is a hard task to accomplish, but very worthwhile.  Even as a teacher/leader, we all will make mistakes, and students will recognize how we deal with these mistakes.  As a professional we need to model that mistakes are manageable.  Owning up to our mistake and figuring out a new way to approach the problem, gives our students an incredible statement of optimism.     

 Group 404

Chad Brown

Baojuan Ji

Steven Burns

Jason Leili

Denise Mayor

Managing Behaviour

Group 401

Increasing Behaviour

Scenario 1

Shaping could be used by a teacher with a class to increase and improve the study habits/behaviour of the students. Although not typically done by teachers, encouraging students to study would work better if someone did it with them. "Task analysis" should begin on a small scale by preparing students first for individual tests: chapters, diagrams, persons covered, and concepts. This would need to occur several times so that the students could see the value/reward in the behaviour. Later "task analysis" could be provided on a more macro level by breaking down studying into chunks, time management, study notes, reading, weekly note review, etc. This would be time well spent by a teacher because it isn't something many students are helped with at home. It worked with my teenage son and me.

Scenario 2

Positive Practice is used to replace one behaviour with another.  When students make a mistake, they must correct it as soon as possible and practice the correct response.  An example could be one in regards to classroom rules.  If the students have a certain way of going into the class such as lining up by the door and walking into the class at the teachers cue, and for some reason or other they do not do that, then the teacher should make them line back up outside and walk in the way they normally do.  Another example dealing with a student individually could be one seen in many schools if not all, children running down the hallways.  This kind of behaviour can be solved using this practice.  The student should be stopped, and should be sent back to his/her original location and allowed to correct that behaviour by walking to their destination.

Scenario 3

The Premack Principle increases both learning and positive behaviour by using reinforcers (privileges and rewards) that are readily available in the classroom other than teacher praise.  High-frequency behaviour (a preferred activity) can be an effective reinforcer for low-frequency behaviour (a less-preferred activity).  To use the Premack Principle effectively, the low-frequency or less-preferred activity must happen first.  For example, the students want to do a particular activity or read a fun book, but first they must finish their math or grammar lesson, if the students are attentive and productive, their reward will be to spend the time the way they would like, reading the fun book or participating in an activity.  This principle is also known as "Grandma Rule":  We do what I want first and then you may do what you want.

Decreasing Behaviour

Scenario 1

"Response Cost" could be used in a situation wherein students repeatedly talk while the teacher is talking, to discourage the behaviour. Despite a warning several students have not stopped talking. The next and final warning advises that the students who continue to talk will have their names recorded on the board and will owe time to be repaid after school, at recess or at lunch. Alternatively, they could lose privileges such as computer time. In my limited experience, this appears to work better with junior level students. It seems that intermediate level students are simply physiologically unable to stop talking.

Scenario 2

“Social Isolation”, though it is a controversial method, can be quite effective.  The following example is a little different from the 5 to 10 minutes of isolation stated in the text, but the desired outcomes are similar. If a class is given a set of rules whereby points are awarded and taken away for completing or not completing certain tasks within a given month and the rules state that the students are required to have at least half of the set amount of points for the month or they will not be able to participate in "fun" school events such as a monthly class party, the threat of social isolation could work as a deterrent for negative behaviour.  If a student is constantly misbehaving, forgetting supplies or doesn't complete their homework and loses too many points, they will not be able to attend the class party.  Further more they would have to go to an empty room and do work while their classmates were having fun back in the classroom.  This punishment could create a sense of responsibility in the student thereby having the positive effect of the student wanting to correct his/her negative behaviours and try harder to maintain his/her points for the next class party.

Scenario 3