Learning Profile

What?
Results from quiz

B-43
C-34
H-42


Piaget's Cognitive Development-I like Piaget's ideas about the different stages, but believe that he was incorrect about the ages; each stage is reached at a different age for different people.
Vygotsky's Cognitive Development- I really like his idea of the ZPD. I think it is true for all learning.
Erikson's Psychosocial Development-I like his ideas quite a bit, about the different stages, but believe they are not always in order.
Kohlberg's Moral Development-He had some good ideas, but I think there are more things affecting them than what I read in the book.
Goleman's Emotional Intelligence-I think that if all people were at a higher level of emotional intelligence the world would be a better place. I really like this idea of emotional intelligence.
Information Processing-I like that this talks about getting the students attention and then reeling them in.
Knowledge Construction and Higher-order thinking-I liked spiral organization on this one.
Behaviorism-I think some things would work well here, e.g. reinforcing incompatible behaviors.
Social Cognitivism-
Group and Individual Differences-We need to be able to try and look at things from more than one perspective.
Motivation-I like how it talks about mastery goals and performance goals. We want to try and get our students to have mastery goals.

So What?

I believe people learn the best when they struggle and have to work a little bit. They learn better when they have to do something rather than just listen about something. They can learn from those around them.

Now What?

My learning theory will affect how I teach in that i will want my students to struggle a little bit, but will be there to help them. We will "do" things and not just listen to lecture. I will show them good examples, and will demonstrate them myself.

I would like to learn more about the ZPD and how best to find that for each student. My whole class will not be the same and so I will need to work it out for each student. That will be a hard thing to do, but it can be done.

Course Contract Review #4

Some things I will need to change for next semester is to make sure I stay on top of things. I will be taking more classes next semester and so need to not be lazy or procrastinate. I can do this by making a plan and sticking to it, by checking my progress each week, and by staying positive and believing I can get everything done. I like to write down at the beginning of each semester when things are due in my planner for each class. I do this so I can look at it and know when things are due. I will continue to do this for next semester.

Ch 11/12 case study analysis

1. Does William have a mastery goal or a performance goal in his art class? Justify your response.

William has a mastery goal for his art class. He has no desire to make a good impression the only thing which he cares about is if his artwork is perfect. He wants to master it before he will let anyone see it.

2. How would you best characterize William's attribution? (Internal/External, Controllable/Uncontrollable, Stable/Unstable) Use specific examples from the text to justify your response.

I would characterize William's attribution as Stable/Unstable. He is like the example in the book of "you have trouble making friends because you're overweight."
He believes he is not good at art because he has to work hard at it.

3. Are Mr. Mercurio's teaching strategies likely to promote performance goals or mastery goals? Justify your response. What more might Mr. Mercurio do to help William and other students like him?

Mr. Mercurio's teaching strategies are likely to promote mastery goals. This is because he wants the students to practice, let him give them feedback, and he wants his students to do their best and to improve. Mr. Mercurio could give them credit for partial work, they were trying to finish it, but have too high of expectations and so if Mr. Mercurio gave them credit for that, they wouldn't fail his class.

4. Describe some needs that William seems to have. How might those needs be better met in Mr. Mercurio's classroom?

William needs friends. He mentions that all the other kids are laughing and enjoying themselves, but it sounds like he works by himself and doesn't want any of the other kids to see his work. Another need he has is to gain self-confidence. He mentions more than once that his artwork is stupid or that no one will like it. His needs might be better met if Mr. Mercurio had a group project where he chose the groups. This could help William meet new people and gain friends. Mr. Mercurio could also find part of William's artwork and show it to other people to see if they like it. If they do he can let William see this.

Course Contract Review #3

So far so good. I am doing better at staying on top of things. I have been getting all of the class work done. I still procrastinate, but I am getting things done. It is not exactly like my contract from the beginning of the semester, but everything is getting done. I have worked well with my group for the assessment inventory and got my hours done for the field response journal. The end of the semester has been busier for me than what I was used to for my undergrad. I am used to taking a lot of tests and maybe having one or two projects, but this semester has been different. I have had a lot more projects and presentations to do. It is going okay with all of the projects so it is not too bad.