Smoot 1 Charity Smoot Professor Dillihunt EDC 311 16 April 2013

Behavioral-vs-Cognitive Theories of Learning Behavioral Theorists and Cognitive Theorists view learning as two different processes. These individuals provide different answers to the fundamental question, what is learned when learning takes place. In Behaviorism, A.K.A. learns to, learning involves the formation of relations between specific actions surrounding the individual student while Cognitive, A.K.A. learns that, learning takes place inside of the mind and not through students behavior. It involves the formation of mental representations of the elements of a task and the discovery of how these elements are associated with one another. The Behavior Theorist places emphasis on the learners environment, believing that students are extrinsically motivated in what they learn. The Cognitive Theorist, on the other hand, places emphasis on the learners thought processes believing that students are intrinsically motivated to how they learn. Give examples of models that fit both theories The Behavioral Theory is prominent in the Student Teams Achievement Division model. In the STAD model students learn to work in partnership in order to accomplish a shared learning goal; with which Behaviorists would agree that the learning is taking place through the

Smoot 2 students behavior and their ability to work together. In the STAD model, students also have the chance to be awarded improvement points, which serves as an extrinsic motivator. The Cognitive Theory is visible through the Problem-Based Learning model. With this model students are presented with a real-world problem and are required to devise a solution to find the answer to the problem. Through the problem-solving process students are able to apply previous knowledge to new material, which allows them to mentally process the information, learning that strategies must be developed in order to solve the most difficult problems. How can Cognitive models accommodate diverse learners? Most of the models that we discussed in EDC 311 can be accommodated to fit the needs of all learners, regardless of age and race. Models such as Guided Discovery and Discussion are good examples because they give students the opportunity to express their personal views about certain topics. When students are able to personally connect to what they are learning, it actually helps them to attain more information than they would if being directly instructed by the teacher. Students get excited when they are able to actively participate in the discussion or even speak on a topic that their fellow peers may know nothing about. One model that I feel can be utilized when instructing diverse learners is the Guided Discovery model. The reason being is because, this model relies on open-ended questions which gives students the chance to say whatever they desire, knowing that there is no wrong or right answer. However, each model allows for accommodation in topics/lessons and activities/assessments, whether it be modifying the graphic organizer, as seen in the Integrative model, or providing the students with extra examples, as seen in Concept Attainment.

Smoot 3 How are these models being used in your observations? During my observations, Ive seen majority of the instruction taught through Lecture Discussion and Direct-Instruction. For example, during spelling, the teacher presents the students with all spelling terms as a whole-class discussion, she then allows the students to discuss what they think the terms mean and once she has gotten most of the students opinions, she goes back and reviews the true definition of the terms. By the time she feels that the students have gotten a full understanding, she distributes a hand-out activity which requires the students to fill-in-the-blank with the correct spelling word. For Math, the teacher models Direct-Instruction. First, she introduces the math skill that she wants the students to learn and then she pulls sample problems from different resources in which students practice solving on the SMARTboard. Next, she models ho w to correctly complete one of the math problems so that the students can see the skill, step -bystep. Once the students have become familiar with the skill, she haves them to complete a worksheet that allows them to independently practice using the skill with similar problems.