Class Critique

When it comes to the way Professor Kruse runs class I can't say that I really have any complaints (and I'm not just saying that because I know he will read this). I like the way that Professor Kruse introduces us to new topics without always specifying that we are moving on to a new topic. I feel that sometimes when a teacher starts off a lesson with "And now we're moving on to...." it leads to the students feeling anxious about the new material and can hinder their learning because they are so worried about not missing out on important information. Professor Kruse, however, let's us decide as students what is important out of his lectures.
Sometimes I can feel a little overwhelmed in class but I think that is simply because the way Education 107 is run is so much different than anything I am used to. I am being required to change my schema because this way of teaching conflicts with my previous schemas about class and teaching.
I am also not sure about the not being graded system, but this is also probably only because once again it is requiring me to change my schema and previous idea about the concept of a grade. This way of being assessed requires that we actually learn the material instead of simply being able to regurgitate it on the test or "BSing" our way through 10-page paper.
I think that by the end of this class I will be more accepting of this new way of teaching and I will be able to go into other classes that I may have with Professor Kruse with a more open mind. I definitely know that I am learning a lot more than I do in normal classes because of the fact that we are asked to actually understand the material, not just learn it.

Utilizing the Learning Theories:Questions to Ask Myself

Trying to comprehend the learning theories is complex enough, but thinking about utilizing Developmental, Social, and Constructivist Learning Theories takes understanding the learning theories to a whole new level. I'm really starting to like the fact that Professor Kruse has been having us write blogs about how we would implement the learning theories into our lesson plans and teaching strategies. We can sit in class and discuss the learning theories for as long as we want but to be able to fully understand them it is important that we practice them (for a more concrete example)

To ensure that I am using the learning theories in my teaching I would ask myself the following questions:

Developmental Learning Theory

• Have I shown them the best example I can find of the topic I am teaching?
• Could my example get anymore concrete?
• Am I moving up the concrete to abstract continum?
• Once I have reached the abstract side of the continum am I going back down it as necessary to ensure my students are learning to the best of their abilities?
• Have I taught the material enough to allow the students to be familiar with it?
• Am I assessing my students in a way that will allow them to understand the concepts taught to the fullest of their ability?

Social Learning Theory

• Do I have plenty of group/partner activities or discussions planned throughout the section?
• Have I found the classes approximate Zone of Proximal Development and am I teaching within the majority of the classes ZPD?
• Am I teaching and assigning articles/reading that the students are able to fully comprehend? (I really wish professors would think more about the language used in the articles they assign, I never understand them! Just throwing it out there)
• If I feel that one of my students is struggling can/did I use a more knowledgeable peer to try to bridge the gap for the other student between concrete and abstract?

Constructivist Learning Theory
(I don't understand this one as well, so bare with me, and feel free to share your opinions!)

• What are my students current schemas coming into my class?
• How can I best break down my student's previous schemas and enforce the correct ones?
• Can I use other students to help me change their classmates schemas?

Psychology, DLT and SLT

I am a secondard education major, so hopefully by the time students get to my class they will have a fairly good understanding of learning in abstract ways. When I was in high school I took psychology through my school and then I also took a second psychology class online through a local college. My psychology teacher wasn't the greatest and I feel that I learned just as much, if not more, from my online class than from my actual psychology class. To try to avoid having my students feel this way I would try to implement ideas from the Developmental Learning Theory and Social Learning Theory into my teaching to be able to give my students a better grasp on the subject.
If I were teaching a lesson on obsessive compulsive disorder I would have my students watch a short documentary of a person who lives with OCD so that they can have a concrete representation of what OCD consists of. I would also try to get someone who has OCD to visit the class, but I feel that a documentary would have a similar if not better effect because the students would be able to learn more about the disease than the person. I would then teach about OCD and all the different types of OCD. After the students have learned about OCD, instead of giving a test I would seperate the class into groups and have them make a project based on what they learned in class about OCD. By having the students utilize the knowledge that they learned by talking about it in front of the class (and with the members of their group) I hope that they would retain the knowledge longer than if I had simply testing them over it.
By seperating the class into groups for the project I would be implementing SLT into my teaching. I would also use SLT on a daily basis by having the students review what was taught the day before with a partner.