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FACULTY OF EDUCATION
OEP 101
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Vincent I. Lema
OEP 101
Educational Psychology
Vincent I. Lema
Department of Psychology and Special Education
Assistant Lecturer
The Open University of Tanzania
All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of The
Open University of Tanzania.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OBJECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY.....................................................................3
iii
LECTURE SEVEN......................................................................................................88
COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN LEARNING: MEMORY FORMATION AND
RETRIEVAL................................................................................................................88
7.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................88
7.2 MEMORY............................................................................................................88
7.3 RETRIEVAL.........................................................................................................92
7.4 IMPROVING MEMORY....................................................................................96
LECTURE EIGHT.....................................................................................................103
THINKING SKILLS AND PROBLEM SOLVING..................................................103
8.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................103
8.2 THINKING AND REASONING.......................................................................103
8.2.1 Reasoning..........................................................................................................104
8.2.2 Critical thinking................................................................................................107
8.2.3 Developing students critical thinking...............................................................108
8.3 PROBLEM SOLVING.......................................................................................110
8.3.1 Stumbling blocks to solving problems..............................................................112
8.4
CREATIVITY...................................................................................................113
INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION..............................................................128
LECTURE TEN.........................................................................................................131
EXCEPTIONAL LEARNERS...................................................................................131
10.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................131
10.2
SPECIAL EDUCATION.................................................................................141
LECTURE ELEVEN.................................................................................................146
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING...............................................................................146
11.1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................146
11.2 EVALUATION.................................................................................................146
11.3 WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?..............................................................................147
11.4 INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES..................................................................149
11.5 TASK ANALYSIS.............................................................................................150
11.6 APPLICATION OF BLOOMS TAXONOMY................................................152
11.6.1 The Cognitive domain.....................................................................................152
11.6.2 The affective domain.......................................................................................154
16.6.3 The Psychomotor Domain...............................................................................155
11.7 TESTS................................................................................................................156
11.7.1 Validity............................................................................................................158
11.7.2 Reliability.......................................................................................................159
11.8 TEACHER DEVELOPED TESTS...................................................................161
11.9 TYPES OF TESTS...........................................................................................162
LECTURE TWELVE.................................................................................................167
MANAGING CLASSROOM PROCESSES.............................................................167
12.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................167
12.2 ISSUES ON CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT..............................................167
12.3 CREATING A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT...............................................170
12.3.1 Instruction as part of classroom management.................................................173
12.3.2 Physical environment of the classroom...........................................................174
12.3.3 Setting classroom rules and procedures..........................................................175
12.4 MAINTAINING A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT........................................177
12.4.1 Causes of misbehaviour in classrooms...........................................................179
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(ii)
Learning Outcomes
After taking this course you will be able to:
Describe the meaning of Educational Psychology and its relationship with General
Psychology and other branches of psychology
Explain how students behaviors change in respect of their physical, cognitive and
psychosocial development
Define learning and describe the key principles in different theories that explain
learning
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6. Successful teachers emphasize the fun in learning and in life. The teachers I
admire most create lighthearted fun out of serious learning. They aren't afraid to be
silly because they can snap the students back into attention at will - with just a stern
look or a change in tone of voice.
Assessment
The assessment of the course is as required by the regulations of The Open University
of Tanzania.
This includes Main Timed Tests and Examinations.
Study skills
This study material is used as a tool of studying Educational Psychology through
distance learning mode. Its material in the field of Educational Psychology is very
limited in scope and depth, thus you are required to search for more information and
recommendation from different sources. To grasp the material, you also need to
implement the study skills as directed to you in form of symbols in each lecture. Bear
in mind that assessment will strongly be based on the knowledge that you have
comprehensively followed the study instructions in this manual.
In the study material you will encounter a number of symbols that guide you to means
of comprehending the material. Please do not ignore them.
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LECTURE ONE
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the world of psychology. This course is on Educational Psychology.
However, knowledge on General Psychology is a prerequisite of understanding the
specialized field of Educational Psychology. As you know general psychology is a
course of its own. This lecture is just going to give you a broad view of the field of
psychology so that you can embark on Educational Psychology more comfortably.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
Define psychology;
business, health, industries and vocations have questions that are also addressed by
psychology.
TAKE NOTE
The above questions imply that behaviour is a very broad concept. Some behaviours
are manifested externally and can be observed directly e.g. walking, singing, writing,
and climbing a tree. However, some of behaviors are internal and can only be inferred
e.g. thinking, being happy and hating an object. As you will soon see in the definition
of the concept study is also very broad as it includes describing, understanding, and
predicting behaviour.
1.3 MAIN AREAS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Human behaviour is very broad with many components that are affected by many
variables. So, in order to be able to understand the content of psychology, we have
divided it broadly into four main areas: physical, cognitive, emotions and environment
aspects.
The Physical aspect is the body of the individual i.e. muscles, skeleton, glands and
sensory systems. This implies that biological processes have influence on our
behaviour. For example, hunger makes us to look for food to eat (behaviour); females
can bear children while males cannot, and writing involves coordination of eyes and
muscles in the arm.
The cognitive aspect in psychology focuses on mental activities that include memory,
thinking, problem solving and language (You know that brain is part of the physical
body, thus there is a connection between body and cognitive processes). The cognitive
component is responsible for the understanding of ourselves and the environment,
which results in capabilities and behaviours that we use to manipulate the
environment for development.
Emotions are the feelings that we have as our reaction to an object or event. These
feelings can either be pleasant or unpleasant. Pleasant feelings include being happy,
2
falling in love, laughing; and unpleasant feelings include being angry, sad, fearful and
unhappy. Emotions make us human (different from machines and innate objects) and
colour our lives (happy in a ceremony and sad when we lose a loved one) and affect
our behaviour (in form of reacting and acting on our emotions). There is a direct
connection between emotions and the brain, and between emotions and the physical
body.
The environment (physical environment) has effect on our behaviour - in that, it
provides us with the necessities to survive (air, food and water); it limits or enhances
our behaviours and potentials (think of learning environment). People around us
(social environment) have direct influence on us for they take care of the young ones
(who cannot look for food or fend off negative elements in the environment, babies
cannot survive without the support of the caregivers); on the language we acquire and
in shaping our behaviours through socialization processes.
These major areas of studying psychology are interrelated and do not act in isolation
of the other areas. For example, the environment affects us (emotionally, mentally,
physiologically, socially and behaviour-wise) and we also have some influence on the
environment - be it physical or social. When we see food we like we salivate, decide
to approach the vendor, buy the food, and then enjoy eating it. Such an act is simple
and yet complex as it affects the life of the vendor, food processing, production of
food and impact on the environment. These areas also indicate that psychology is also
related to other disciplines such as biology, sociology, economics, education,
environmental science, anthropology, medicine and geography. However, you must be
aware of the boundaries between psychology and the other fields.
1.4
OBJECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY
Predict: after describing and understand the causes of behavior we are able to
predict how one will behave under certain conditions.
As a teacher you may like to know what Bahati is doing and how he/she is doing it
(describe); then you may like to know why is s/he acting like that (cause); you may
also like to know if s/he will do the same in the future (predict)?; and finally what can
be done to maintain/eliminate the behaviour (control).
they in turn influenced the future perspectives. Each perspective has contributed in
psychology and consequently to better understanding of human development.
However, it is worth noting that no single perspective in psychology can explain all
aspects of human behaviour. In this lecture we shall only briefly mentioning some of
these perspectives. The impact of these perspectives on education will be discussed
later in more details in the relevant lectures.
1.5.1 Structuralism
The first school of thought in psychology is called structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt
(1932-1920) was trying to find the basic elements that form conscious sensations,
feelings and images. He was influenced by the advances in physical sciences of time
(the identification of atoms in physics and cells in biology). His main method of
obtaining these elements was called introspection i.e. self observation. He trained his
assistants to report verbally what they were sensing when presented with an object.
For example, an assistant will hold a banana and report what he experienced in term
of his sensation. The main limitation of introspection was lack of objectively in that
results could not be independently verified. The trained persons on introspection
frequently
gave
conflicting
sensations
on
the
same
object
leading
to
thoughts of his clients. He postulated that there is interplay between mental processes
and behaviour, thus the concept psychodynamics. He asserted that most of our actions
are controlled by our minds as result of the way we unconsciously think, feel and
wish. Thus, the unconsciousness component of us has more influence on us than the
consciousness component. Sometimes there is a conflict between the motives of our
feelings, thoughts and wishes leading into a conflict within us. He believed that these
conflicts have no physical basis but have a strong impact on the way we live. The
main contribution of this perspective is the acknowledgment of the importance of
childhood experiences on the quality of life in later years and the role of psychology
in treating people with psychological problems through therapy.
Search the following psychoanalysis concepts in psychology textbooks:
1.5.4 Behaviourism
This school of thought originated in the USA and was a modification of
functionalism. The behaviourists believe that one cannot objectively observe and
verify processes that take place in the mind of a person. They rejected introspection
and other methods used in psychoanalysis as not being truly scientific. Instead they
proposed that psychology should only focus on observable behavior and the
environmental conditions that have influence on how human beings behave. The
methods of research in psychology should be the same as those used in other sciences.
B.F. Skinner (1904 1990) is the best known behaviourist who observed that behaviour
of an organism can be controlled by the manipulation of the environment.
Behaviorists insist that behaviour is controlled by its consequences. If behaviour is
followed by reinforcement then it will be repeated under the same conditions.
However, if it is followed by punishment the likelihood of it reoccurring under the
same conditions decreases. Behaviourism was the major force in psychology between
1950 and 1970 and was adapted in approaches of learning and teaching. The main
limitation of behaviorism was that it ignored mental processes which are also very
important in influencing behaviour.
1.5.5 Cognitive Perspective
Gestalt
mental processes i.e. how we organize sensory information into meaningful state
through perception, memory and thinking. Based on a number of experiments they
proposed that brain automatically organizes sensory information into meaningful
wholes.
Gestalt perspective can be considered as one of the foundation of cognitive
perspective. Currently, more psychologists hold the cognitive perspective rather than
the behavioral perspective. Cognitive psychologists hold that psychology should also
include memory systems that have influence on how sensory information is received,
processed, stored and retrieved or forgotten. Also they believe that traits related to
mental functions such as emotions, memories, motivation and beliefs have effects on
our behaviours and learning. It is safe to say that this perspective has been influenced
by the development of computers.
TAKE NOTE
Gestalt portends that: The whole is different from the sum of parts.
Cognitive perspective
This perspective has evolved from structuralism and believes that most of human
behaviour is rooted in the mind. They focus on peoples understanding of the world
i.e. how they think, understand and think about the world around them.
1.6 BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY
As the psychology has being growing it has created many areas of specialization
within the field. There are several branches of psychology. However in this lecture we
are only going to focus on a few that are closely related to education.
1.6.1 Developmental Psychology
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Developmental Psychology studies the changes that occur as humans grow and
develop. It describes how human body changes and how we adapt in these changes.
For example, at which level of development do children recognize or become aware
of themselves? What is the sequence involved in walking and what do adolescence do
in response to the physiological changes (puberty) occurring at this stage? Also
developmental psychology describes cognitive and psychosocial changes of
individual. It looks on aspects in the environment that have effect on the individual as
she/he grows. Do children become aggressive or westernized because of watching
television?
1.6.2 Social Psychology
Social Psychology looks at the interaction of the individual and the society i.e. how
individuals behaviour is affected by social factors. Topics under this area include
socialization process, prejudice, peer pressure, mob justice and the way people view
themselves and how they view others.
1.6.3 Cognitive Psychology
Cognition stems from the Latin word meaning "to know". Cognitive psychology
investigates aspects of human cognition i.e. all our mental abilities and processes
including perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding.
It studies how people acquire and apply knowledge or information. It is closely
related to other cognitive sciences and it is influenced by artificial intelligence,
computer science, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, biology, physics, and
neuroscience.
1.6.4 School Psychology
School Psychology is a branch of psychology that applies principles of psychology to
the diagnosis and treatment of children's and adolescents' behavioural and learning
problems. School psychologists carry out psychological and psycho educational
assessment; counseling; and consultation; and also in the ethical, legal and
administrative codes in the teaching profession.
1.6.5 Experimental Psychology
LECTURE TWO
Go through the school curriculum and make a list of items that are
directly related to Educational Psychology.
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Based on the knowledge gained from above questions, Educational Psychology aims
at designing strategies for guiding learners in learning. Students possess learning
abilities and skills. Educational psychology guides students to use their existing skills
more effectively and/or develop new skills.
Among the major responsibilities of a teacher is teaching. Some people have a notion
that teaching is easy. The opposite is true; teaching is a very complex exercise. As
expected, educational psychology provides teachers with methods and specific skills
of teaching. These methods and skills are based on the outcomes of research findings
and facilitate learning. Students do, and can learn alone. However, in order to meet
the state educational goals, learners need teachers with effective teaching skills.
Every learner in the classroom is unique. So, there are individual variations among
learner in one single classroom, including learners being in different developmental
stages (cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally), with different abilities,
temperaments and learning skills. To master these variations educational psychology
provides the teacher with the skills to identify individual learner processes and traits.
An effective teacher creates a learning environment in the classroom that caters for
the individual variation so that each learner is motivated to realize his/her full
potentials.
The environment has great effect on learning process. Teachers can use the
environment to enhance learning. Educational psychology trains teachers to identify
and control these external factors. The external factors include the immediate
environment and conditions, teaching materials available, research findings and new
teaching skills and technological advances.
You might be interested to become an Educational Psychologist. To be an educational
psychologist, you need to have a graduate degree in educational psychology (it has
many courses). Educational psychologist work as consultants, teach at universities
and conduct research on cognitive, social processes of human development, learning
and education. So, this course alone will not make you an educational psychologist
but it will motivate you to strive to become one.
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I believe that if you meet the requirements of Educational Psychology, develop the
teaching skills and apply them in learning settings you will be motivated to be an
effective teacher able to tackle teaching challenges with confidence and with great
satisfaction. And who is an effective teacher? Several books on educational
psychology (Elliot et al., 2000; Santrock, 2004) point out that for one to be an
effective teacher s/he must master the following concepts and perceptions (all
included in this course):
2.3.1 Subject matter knowledge
This refers to having a conceptual understanding of the subject you teach. You must
work hard not only to acquire the knowledge of your subject, but also to be able to
organize this knowledge and be in position to include knowledge from other related
disciplines. Just knowing the facts is not enough. Too little knowledge leads to
teachers lack of confidence in the classroom. Remember that you dont have to teach
all what you know since you may cause harm to the class! Material presented in the
class should relate to the students abilities and to the syllabus.
2.3.2 Knowledge of students
As a teacher you must know your students. Its very difficult to deal with students
whom you dont know. As you spend time with them learn about them as a group, and
as well as each student as a unique being. They bring different backgrounds to the
class. Know about their physical, cognitive and psychosocial development. You will
come into contact with exceptional students who may need special attention and
approach in teaching.
2.3.3 Learning process
This is specifically a significant component in the field of educational psychology.
Knowing your students includes having knowledge on how they learn i.e. skills and
strategies students use to get new knowledge. Knowledge of this component will be
an asset in designing your teaching strategies since they have to be compatible with
learning processes of the respective students.
2.3.4 Instructional strategies
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Instructional strategies are more than just imparting knowledge to students on the
false assumption that they are passive in the classroom. Most effective instructional
strategies lead students to develop reflective skills, thinking critically and in exploring
their environment. Therefore, they make each student learn efficiently. You have to
set appropriate goals for teaching your students and organize a plan for them to
achieve such.
2.3.5 Motivational skills
Even with the best instructional strategies in place, some of the times students may
face obstacles in their learning processes. Learning is a natural phenomenon but in
school it can be discouraged or undermined by several elements (both within and/or
external to the student). To be an effective teacher you must deploy conditions that
will lead to students developing self motivation i.e. eager to learn and staying on the
task for personal satisfaction rather than as a way of pleasing others.
TAKE NOTE
14
List the above concepts, then observe teachers in one the schools
teaching and from the observations identify components that relate to
each of the concepts.
2.4 HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Lecture One gave us a brief history of psychology. In this part we shall look
specifically at the history of Educational Psychology.
In 1885 H. Ebbinghaus, a German, became the first person to do a scientific study on
memory which is related to learning process. However, educational psychology as an
independent field started just before the beginning of 20 th century in America. In this
section we are going to have an overview of important actors in the development of
the field and later on in this course we shall discuss their approaches more deeply.
William James (1842-1910) published a book and gave lectures on the application of
psychology in educating children. For research, he emphasized the use of direct
observation in the real classroom learning/teaching conditions rather than in
laboratories.
John Dewey (1859-1952) was a major figure on practical application of psychology.
He shaped the field of psychology by establishing the first educational psychology
laboratory in USA. His major contribution was the view that a child is an active
learner rather than the then held belief that children are passive learners. Also he
emphasized that the role of the teacher should be to train students on how to think and
adapt to the conditions outside the classroom. He was influential in making all
children get competent education regardless of their gender, socio-economic
background or ethnicity.
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16
SUMMARY
1. Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through
the lecture to verify your accurateness.
2. Take a piece of paper and list down what you expect to gain from
this course of Educational Psychology. Put the paper in safekeeping
and revisit it at the end of this course.
REFERENCES
17
LECTURE THREE
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Scientific approach is systematic since it has laid down procedures of carrying out an
investigation. The following are the main stages of conducting a research in
Educational Psychology:
3.2.1 Conceptualizing the problem
The first stage is to identify a problem that is researchable, i.e. research problem. A
problem is any issue that can be answered by doing a research. Some of the things we
may like to study cannot be explained through scientific approach. Scientific methods
cannot be applied in finding the existence of God, or Gods relationship with students
academic performance. Research problem can be a result of personal experiences in
ones professional field (e.g. teaching/learning experiences in school settings) or
developed from the findings of other researches (normally research findings raise new
questions that need to be answered through scientific methods). An example of a
research problem may be to find out why most students from area A are dropping out
of school and why the performance of most of those remaining in school is low. When
formulating the research problem one has to draw from theories and other materials
related to phenomenon under investigation. This knowledge gained shows what is
going on the area of research and also is used to formulate the hypothesis. Hypothesis
is a statement indicating the relationship of the variables of the research and indicating
the expected results of the study. Hypothesis of the above research problem may be
Students of parents with secondary education in area A are more likely to
complete schools than students whose parents have only primary school education.
Variables are the elements in the hypothesis. In the above hypothesis the variables are
parents with secondary education, parents with primary school education and
completing school. So, the main activity in this first stage is to identify and clarify
the research problem.
3.2.2 Data Collection
This stage involves determining instruments and mechanisms of obtaining
information needed in solving the research problem. In this step, information gathered
is used to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis is not determined as correct or incorrect,
but if it is rejected or accepted on the data obtained. There are several ways of
collecting data that are to be discussed in the following section.
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3.2.3 Conclusions
The raw data collected is processed through statistical procedures so that results can
be analyzed and interpretations made. Statistical analysis determines if the results
happened by chance or are the results of conditions created or that observed by the
researcher. The results are used to make conclusions that indicate the application of
findings in respective situations.
ACTIVITY
Identify five issues in the field of education that you can use to develop
a research problem.
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wrong answers. If the number of wrong answers increases the test score decrease,
when the number of wrong answers decreases the test score increase. A score close to
+1 means a positive relationship i.e. if one variable increases the other variable also
increases. When the number of correct answers increase also the test score increases.
The strength of the relationship can be used to make predictions. However, finding
that there is a relationship between the variables does not mean there is cause-effect
relationship i.e. one cannot say either of the variables is the cause of the relationship.
The number of correct or incorrect test answers is not the cause of academic
performance of a student but rather due to other factors such as mental ability, study
skills or level of difficulty of the test.
3.3.4 Experimental Research
Educational psychologists use experimental research to determine cause-effect
relationship between variables i.e. to find out if a certain variable is the cause of
behaviour or condition. Experimental research is conducted in a laboratory or
controlled environment whereby conditions or factors thought to cause/influence the
respective behaviour are carefully manipulated. The factor that is manipulated is
called the independent variable while the behavior being observed or measured is
called the dependent variable. So independent variable is the factor considered to be
influential, cause or has effect on the dependent variable. If the dependent variable
changes due to manipulation of the independent variable then we say there might be
cause-effect relationship between the two variables i.e. independent variable has an
influence on the dependent variable.
In many experimental researches two groups of individuals are used i.e. experimental
group and control group. At the beginning of the research both groups are equal in all
aspects. Random sampling is used to form these groups. This technique gives each
individual of the study an equal chance to be selected in either group and eliminates
the biases that the researcher may have. Experimental group is the one manipulated
while the control group is treated the same way as the experimental group with the
exception of the manipulated factor. The factor manipulated in the experimental group
is the independent variable while the behavioural outcomes of the two groups are the
dependent variable.
3.3.5 Time span researches
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engages in data collection. The teacher records when and how many times s/he makes
commotion and through interview deduce why s/he makes commotions. Also s/he
may record when and how many times the other students support him/her. Then next
follows the data analysis. The findings from the analysis may reveal that Bahati and
his/her colleagues are not motivated learn the teachers subject. Based on the findings
the teachers makes an action plan on how to make students motivated to learn his/her
subject.
TAKE NOTE
ACTIVITY
For each of the methods of collecting data mentioned above identify its
advantages and limitations.
3.4 ETHICS IN RESEARCH
When conducting a research study- inclusive action research, there are several ethical
issues you have to bear in mind. If these are ignored the processes and the findings of
the research might cause harm to participants, be rejected, and/or can lead to legal
actions against the researcher.
The first precaution is to maintain the wellbeing of the participants. Make sure the
research does not harm any of the participants physically, mentally or emotionally.
Just gain consent from the participants and permission from responsible
authorities before embarking on collecting data. If the participants are too young
to make decisions then you are required to seek consent from their parents or
teachers.
In case animals are used in the study make sure they are treated humanely.
SUMMARY
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EFERENCES
Santrock, John W. (2004). Educational Psychology (2nd Edition). McGrawHill Higher Education, New York, USA. Chapter 1
LECTURE FOUR
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In this lecture we look at students as they grow and develop in relation to learning.
Remember that you need to have knowledge of your students so as to be an effective
teacher because you cannot teach students whom you dont know. Child development
knowledge equips you with an understanding of your students who are at different
stages of development so that you can appropriately teach them. Also, you may stay
with the same students for a long period of time in which some developmental
changes will definitely be occurring. You need to notice these changes and respond to
them accordingly.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
(ii)
26
that the brain has changed but rather some reorganization has taken place that account
for the differences between the stages.
In this lecture we look at the development of the students in three main areas i.e.
physical, cognitive and psychosocial. These areas develop simultaneously and are, as
mentioned before, interrelated. As you have noticed on the development of students
there is quite a variation in rate of development. In a group of students of the same
age and in the same class and all still growing you find some of them are taller while
others are shorter for their age, some heavy and others not so heavy, some have
language that is well advanced for their age while for others their language is below
that of the normal age group. Also, there are developmental variations within the
individual himself/herself. Some may grow fast in terms of weight but more slowly in
height. The implication is that students of the same age are similar in some aspects
and different in others.
The periods of child development are classified by psychologists into four periods.
Notice that, as mentioned above, there is variation on the onset and end of the periods.
These periods are:
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As a teacher, you are part of the environment and your aim is to enhance
learning and the full development of the students abilities, and you need
4.4
We all know that the brain is the major organ of cognitive processes. The brain is
divided into different parts that are involved in different aspects of cognition and
learning. Here we only identify some of the major parts. Before that, bear in mind that
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we dont fully understand how the brain functions and there are debates going on
about the biological bases of learning.
The brain has two halves, called cerebral hemispheres, which are connected by corpus
callosum. The two spheres appear to be identical but there are some differences in
their functions. Cerebral lateralization is the specialization of the functions of each
sphere of the brain. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body while the
left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. So if you are right handed you are
left lateralized, if left handed you are right lateralized. For most people, speech is
localized in the left hemisphere. Nonverbal processes such as spatial perception,
visual activities, and emotions are predominantly localized in the right hemisphere.
However, studies show that the brain is more complicated than that since both
atmospheres to some degree are involved in all activities. Complex functions such as
logic and creativity involve both spheres of the brain.
The brain has four lobes. Frontal lobe has functions for motor activities and thinking;
temporal lobe has functions for hearing; parietal lobe has functions for body
sensations; and occipital has functions for vision.
The development of the brain is not fully understood. Neurons, (nerve cells) grow by
increasing in size and in number. A process known as myelination, whereby the
neurons are covered by an insulating material, increases the size of the brain and the
speed at which messages travel through the nervous system (Santrock, 2004).
Myelination in the areas related to focus and attention is not complete until the end of
late childhood, explaining why students below this stage have problem remaining
focused on one task for a long time.
In describing cognitive development we will use the theory proposed by Jean Piaget
(1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist. Originally he was trained in the field of biology
and philosophy. While working with the results of IQ tests of children he noticed that
young childrens answers were qualitatively different from those given by older
children. He believed that children are actively constructing their world as they
respond to what they see, touch, or test. For him the way we human respond to the
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Equilibration. Encountering a situation that does fit into our mental structure
creates disequilibrium i.e. a conflict in trying to understand the new situation. The
process of resolving the conflict through assimilation and accommodation is
known as equilibration.
The above processes are fundamental as regards how children understand their world
and adapt it in their mental structures. With this knowledge we now look closely at the
four stages of cognitive development. These stages are in a specific sequence, each
indicating children as having a distinct way of thinking. The differences between the
stages are qualitative in nature rather than being quantitative i.e. differences are not
based on what or number of ideas a child has but on how a child thinks. So, in the
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sequence of cognitive development in the following stage the thinking process is more
complex and accurate than in the previous stage. These stages are called sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Let us look at these stages
one after the other.
TAKE NOTE
himself/herself (secondary circular reaction) e.g. holding an object (use of hand and
the object). Then they coordinate several actions to achieve something. Between 12
and 18 months a child starts to experiment with things e.g. deliberately dropping
things to see what will happen (Tertiary circular reaction).
So, it is during this stage that the child forms the first schemas through assimilation
and accommodation in adapting to his/her world. It is the beginning of the
organization process. Development of language (associating sounds with objects or
events) is another important aspect in this stage. Also, they develop the sense of
object permanence i.e. objects continue to exist even when out of sight. Before then
children do not look for objects that are removed or obstructed out of visual field,
cannot be seen, heard or touched. The sense of object permanence is very significant
31
since the childs world becomes organized and predictable. Furthermore, in this stage
the child becomes aware that s/he can be the cause of an action. Also, due to
development of mobility the child is able to explore objects that are far and
consequently new mental abilities.
In this stage they learn to walk, meaning they gain the ability to access the
environment around them. Before walking they had to depend on others to bring items
to them, now they can move around to the object and explore their surroundings. So in
sensorimotor stage children learn through use of senses, actively exploring their
environment.
Touch the palm of child less than 12 months old and observe his/her
reactions.
32
of the object as himself/herself (the childs view). Ever heard of a child saying that the
moon is following him/her? Because of this characteristic child at this age may need
company of other children but normally each engage in his/her own play and
monologue.
TAKE NOTE
Do not waste your energy forcing a child in this age to see things from
your point of view.
Centration refers to childs tendency of concentrating and focusing on only one aspect
of an object and disregarding the other aspects although they are important features of
the object. Give a child in this stage a collection of similar objects but with different
colours and shapes and tell her/him to put them in groups. Most likely s/he will form
groups by focusing only on the colours of objects and ignore their shapes. Children in
preoperational stage also lack conservation i.e. the ability to realize that properties of
an object remain the same although its shape might change. For adults a volume of
liquid remains the same even when put into a container of different shape or size. Due
to lack of conservation a child thinks that water poured into a narrow container is
more than when it was in broad container. This is caused by irreversibility i.e. the
child being unable to reverse mentally the procedures or his/her thinking.
So we have seen that in preoperational stage children learn by experiencing real
objects in their surroundings. They use symbols and images in constructing
knowledge about their world. Children are egocentric and cannot understand other
peoples point of view.
4.4.3 Concrete Operations stage
This stage extends from 7 to 11 years. In this stage children overcome the limitations
of the preoperational stage by using reasoning that involves concrete operations i.e.
they can deal with real concrete situations but are unable to deal with abstract
situations. The child now has established conservation since s/he can reverse mental
actions and take into account several aspects of the object or event instead of focusing
only on one aspect. Egocentric thinking diminishes too. A child in this stage makes
addition by counting real things, mostly fingers. The problem comes when the sum is
33
more than ten and they are wearing shoes! I think you have seen children of this age
carrying small sticks, or bottle tops in a string to school for making calculations.
One of the characteristics of this stage is classification i.e. to sort out things from a
big group and put them in sets or categories based on their similarities. Also, they
have the ability to know that an object can be classified into different groups, e.g. one
woman at the same time can be a daughter, mother, sister, wife and grandmother.
In this stage a child can arrange things according to their relative sizes e.g. from
shortest to the tallest or from the smallest to the largest or vice versa. Given ten sticks
of different heights they are now able to arrange from the shortest to the tallest. This is
seriation, an ability lacking in the preoperational stage where children cannot
compare more than two objects at the same time. Due to seriation they can reason
about relationships and come up with logical conclusions (transitivity). They can
conclude that object C is taller than object A upon realization that B is taller
than A, and C is taller than B.
ACTIVITY
34
Piagets theory implies that children are mentally qualitatively different from
adults and among themselves, depending on their cognitive stage of development.
They are always adapting to their world, and the environment is also affecting
their mental structures. The role of the teacher is to understand the mental
functioning of students and create an environment that facilitates assimilation and
accommodation.
We need to recognize and understand that childrens answers are not wrong or
weird but statements indicating the state of their mental functions. Just imaging
your reactions to students answers before being introduced to Piagets theory!
The curriculum and learning tasks for the children should be based on the
cognitive developmental stages of the students. Teaching should make the students
move on to the next stage gradually. According to Huitt (1997) in teaching
preoperational pupils, teachers have to use concrete properties, and visual aids to
illustrate lessons; instructions should be short of using combination of words and
actions; give them physical practice with facts and skills and encouraging them to
manipulate objects that can change in shape while maintaining a constant mass.
For those in concrete operations the above suggestions should be continued, but
for children at a higher levels teachers, should include activities requiring students
35
to deal with more than two variables at once, and also giving them opportunities to
classify and group objects and ideas on increasingly complex level; and present
them with problems which require logic, analytical thinking to solve. For those
beginning to use formal operations give them an opportunity to explore many
hypothetical questions and always encouraging them to explain how they solve
problems.
4.6 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Language is significant in the learning process. It is used in storing information in the
memory; communicating between learners and teacher and among learners; and also
in demonstrating that learning has taken place in form of writing, reading and
speaking. In short, language is paramount in teaching and learning processes.
Language changes in an individuals development have to be taken into account when
dealing with students. Development of language makes it possible for a child to
interact with the people around him/her.
Just what is language? Language is more than verbal communication. All languages
have three main properties, namely semantic, displacement, and productivity.
Semantic means the words represent an object or event, displacement means the
words represent objects that are not present in space and time; productivity implies
that language has limited vocabulary but can make an infinite combination of words
to present ideas.
In developing language one also needs to eventually adhere to the following rules:
Phonology is the system of using sounds to make words. It determines the way
sounds are combined in a sequence that has a specific meaning.
Syntax refers the way words are combined to make meaningful phrases. In the
statement the lion ate the zebra you know who ate who or who was eaten by
whom. Rearrangement of these words makes the statement to have a different
meaning or sometimes meaningless. Have you ever heard of a zebra that ate a
lion!
36
Pragmatics involves the use of language in a socially correct way i.e. knowing
how to participate in conversation using proper language that takes into
consideration the social context prevailing.
So, language
37
Newborn babies use crying and fussing as means of communication i.e. conveying the
message that s/has a need that needs to be attended. Between 3 months and 6 months
babbling develops when the child makes sounds that resemble speech. By age of 12
months they produce sound patterns that indicate the child has started to associate
certain sounds and objects. Between 12 and 18 months first words are spoken
referring to specific objects or event. Normally the first words are nouns that may
refer to many objects and actions related, for example the word mama in one
situation means presence of mother, in another mother come, and while in another
setting it means where is mother?
By the end of two years the childs vocabulary increase to more than 200 words and
uses two-word combinations, a sign of acquiring morphology rules. In the beginning
of third year they use plural, past tense and some prepositions. The use of rules is not
yet perfect since they apply some rules incorrectly, e.g. by overgeneralization when
they say mama instead of lady. Also in the third year they can talk about things
that are not around in terms of time and space (displacement). Now they can talk
about things that happened before or that are expected in the near future.
Language develops rapidly between 3 years and 11 years. By the age of 6 a child has a
vocabulary of more than 10,000 words. In this period they develop ability to ask
questions beginning with yes/no questions.
Loh (2010) has suggested some of the simple ways and methods that help to facilitate
language development in children:
Reading nursery rhymes helps the child to listen and later understand the flow of
language.
Name different objects and patterns and describe their colours, size, format and
shapes.
about their day activities/special occasions and describe the actions there are
doing.
How many languages can a child learn at the same time? Why do
Swahili speak Kiswahili and the English speak English?
39
active force in constructing these settings. Recently this theory has been called BioEcological Systems Theory because ones biology is considered part of the
Microsystems.
(ii) Mesosystem refers to the linkage between the Microsystems. The students make
connections between their experiences at home and the experiences in school; and this
- to some degree, have influence on learning. If the school gives value and success to
hard work and the family has the same expectations then we can expect a student to
perform quite well; but if the teachers and the family do not value education then we
expect the student not to perform well. A child can take church or mosque experiences
to school/home or vice versa.
(iii) Exosystem is based on experience of settings that the student is not directly
involved with but has some influence on him/her. There is no direct link between the
student and parents work. However, the parents work may have effect on the
experiences of the student, e.g. salary used for fees and other school materials. For
example there is no direct connection between teachers salaries and students
academic performance. In Tanzania there was a time when councils did not pay
teachers on time. Some of the teachers were demoralized or spent days chasing their
salaries and this had influence on the learning process of students. If someone donates
textbooks to a school this may lead to acquisition of more learning materials and
hence better students performance. In both cases the students is not directly involved
but s/he may be affected by the decisions and actions of others.
(iv) Macrosystem refers to the broad culture of the society. Culture includes gender
roles, socioeconomic structure, teachers and students lives, attitudes, ideologies,
sports, ethnicity, values and customs. Some societies do not value sending girls to
schools while others deliberately encourage and expect girls to excel in school.
Children from poor families, who are not sure of the next meal, may be affected by
this condition and we will not be surprised if they cannot concentrate on their
learning.
(v) Chronosystem is the existing social and historical conditions of the student. Do
you know that many students today in Tanzania have access to computers while15
years ago there were very few computers in the country? The same can be said of
41
television. In addition many secondary school students do not have to walk for many
kilometers to school every day nowa days. Before 1980 nobody had ever heard of
HIV /AIDS. All these developments have a bearing on students learning experiences.
Based on Chronosystem describe the conditions of students in
Bronfenbrenners ecological theory has shown us that social settings have major
influence on the development of the students. It tells us that we should look on
different social settings when determining or want to improve students performance.
For example, when considering students performance we have not only to rely on
classroom or school conditions but rather we have to think about and involve the
significant others. Whats the point of a teacher giving homework when the parents do
not value it; or at home parents will not give the student a chance to do homework?
4.7.2 Eriksons stages of development
Erik H. Eriksons (1902-1994) psychosocial development theory articulates eight
stages that human passes in forming ones personality (Erikson, 1950). The theory
describes the role of social environment on the emotional development. In each stage
an individual faces challenges and conflicts that need to be resolved. If these inner and
external conflicts are resolved positively a healthy personality emerges. However, if
these conflicts are not successfully resolved they create crisis that may lead to
maladjustment behaviours in the future. This theory helps to acknowledge that crises
manifested in life may have their roots in the earlier stages of development. Also, it
can be applied to guide teachers on the best practices of rearing students for a healthy
emotional and cognitive wellbeing.
The stages of psychosocial development
There are eight stages; however we are only focusing on the first four stages which
correspond to the ages of students in most schools.
(i) Trust versus Mistrust (Infants, birth to one year)
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This is the first stage and focuses on how the basic needs are met by parents. In the
first year of life all basic needs (food, water and security) are met with the help of
parents, and without this help none will survive. In this stage attachment is established
i.e. the emotional bond between child and parents (especially mother). Children are
actively reacting to the social environment by a process called reciprocal interactions
whereby they react in a particular manner. When you smile at them they normally
respond by smiling back and if you are angry to them they respond accordingly. If
parents create a regularly warm, caring and secure environment the child will develop
sense of security and also trust his/her world. If the parents are neglectful or abusive
when meeting the childs needs or ignore them, the child will learn to mistrust the
world believing that it is undependable, unreliable, and unpredictable; and a
dangerous place (Wikipedia, retrieved 2010).
(ii) Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (Toddlers, 2 to 3years)
In this stage children gain muscular coordination and mobility leading to ability to
physically explore their surroundings. Also, in many cultures children are required to
gain self control through toilet training. If the parents encourage and create safe
environment for exploring the environment, and encourage self-sufficient behaviours
in such things as dressing, eating and washing themselves, the child develops sense of
autonomy and confidence that s/he can deal with many things by himself/herself. On
the other hand if parents are very restrictive (excessive control) or ridicule a child
when trying to exercise self-control s/he develops feeling of being shameful and
doubting his/her abilities to control himself/herself and in solving problems. In this
stage the main conflict to the child is whether s/he can do things for him/herself or
s/he must always rely on others.
(iii) Initiative versus Guilt (Preschool, 4 to 6 years)
In this stage the child learns a lot about the world. They are more curious, have
mastered some principles about the world, can count and language skills have
advanced a great deal. They try doing new things and sometimes engage in dangerous
behaviour. So, they want to plan, initiate and engage in purposive actions that if
carried out end in childs satisfaction. If the child is encouraged to initiate doing
things it develops sense of initiative. If the child is frustrated and fails to reach the
expected goal s/he feels guilty which may lead to the development of unacceptable
43
behaviours. The main focus is trying to find out if they are good or bad in regard to
the outcome of their actions. The answer to this conflict brings positive or negative
emotions to the child
(iv) Industry versus Inferiority (Childhood, 7 to 12 years)
Most of children in this stage are in primary/elementary schools. They gain a lot of
new experiences in the new school environment e.g. in interacting with many more
children and teachers with different experiences. According to Allen and Marotz
(2003) children in this stage have a logical understanding of the concepts of time and
space, they gain better understanding of cause and effect relationship, are eager to
learn and accomplish complex skills such as mastering knowledge and engaging in
intellectual skills. Due to spending more time in school, the school environment and
activities are used to prove ones competence. If they are successful they feel being
industrious, but if they fail constantly they develop a sense of being inferior. In this
stage a child wants to find out if s/he is successful or worthless.
(v) Identity and Role confusion (Adolescence, 13 to 19 years)
Many of the secondary students are in this stage. They also develop sexual identity
and are much more concerned on how they appear before others. This is a transition
period of moving from childhood into adulthood. A student wants to identify his/her
roles in the future as an adult in relation to the many roles and chances available,
which initially may lead to confusion. In this stage they are figuring out who they are
(identity) and where they are going in respect to their future (pondering roles). If they
resolve this conflict they develop self identity. If they dont then they may remain
confused about themselves and their future roles as adults.
Based on some aspects of your personality do you agree or disagree with
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Promote industry in primary school children. The teacher should capture the
students abilities and eagerness to learn by creating a climate that promotes self
learning based on intrinsic motivation. The students should have a feeling that
they can accomplish tasks.
45
competence since they have not been given chance to make their own choices (ERIC
Digests, Retrieved 2010).
(ii) Authoritative parenting
This refers to parents who allow their children to operate independently but within
some limits on their actions. They provide the rules and guidance without overbearing
the children. The parents are supportive and verbal communication is used to reason
out in making decisions, even when using punishment (Santrock, 2007). Children
reared in such an environment tend to have high self esteem, are self reliant, socially
competent, happy and successful (Van Wagner, 2010).
(iii) Neglectful parenting
These are parents who neglect their children by not getting involved in their childrens
lives. They do not care where their children are or what they are doing. They
disregard the children, only focusing on their personal interests. Children raised by
such parents tend to exhibit same behaviors as that of their neglectful parents, lack
self-control and motivation to achieve, and are less competent than their peers (Van
Wagner, 2010).
(iv) Indulgent parenting
These are parents who are highly involved in the lives of their children by giving them
too much freedom i.e. very few restrictions if any. They allow children to do whatever
they wish, including responding to all the needs and wishes of the children. In short,
the parents want to please their children at all times. Children from such families grow
up developing less self control on their behaviours since they have not learnt to
control their behaviours (Santrock, 2007).
Identify a number of families in your community and determine
parenting style in each of the family. How about starting with your own
family?
Children want to be in a group of other children. Peers are children of the same age
who interact in same area. Even in the playground children of the same age play
together. They play a major role on the psychosocial development of the child. They
interact in the neighborhood and school through play and classroom activities and
46
consequently share their attitudes and interests. Although most of their conditions are
similar, each has different characteristics and backgrounds which influence their
relationships and interactions. Peers are source of information and a yard stick of
making comparisons among themselves.
Peer relationship can lead to a positive or negative development. A child is under
pressure to conform to the norms of the peer group so as to be accepted, and is always
in fear of being rejected by his/her mates. Positive peer pressure may energize a child
to engage in healthy behaviours while negative peer pressure may lead to engaging in
risky behaviours. Some students are introduced to using drugs (Jenkins, 1996) or
participating in unacceptable behaviours such as bullying weak peers or younger
children. On the other hands peer pressure can contribute to individuals learning in
school (Johnson, 2000) through study groups and/or encouragement when facing
challenges. I think you know peers who help mates from exacerbating bad situation,
and others who make bad situation even worse.
In any human group each member has a status accorded to him/her by other members.
The way a child is held among peers indicates his/her status. There are four types of
peer status:
Popular children are mostly liked by their peers and normally get nominated as
leaders.
Neglected children are liked by their peers but are unlikely to be nominated as
leaders.
Controversial children are likely to be both seen as a best friend but also as being
disliked.
Make a reflection on peer groups you have belonged to when you were
Santrock (2004) suggests that teachers use the following strategies to improve
childrens social skills:
47
Help rejected students learn to listen to peers and hear what they say instead of
trying to dominate them.
Help neglected children attract attention from others in positive ways and hold
their attention.
Provide children low in social skills with knowledge about how to improve these
skills.
Unnamed source (Retrieved 2010) also suggests that parents (I think this applies to
the teachers too) can encourage healthy and positive relationships among peers and
showing support by:
48
sex and kind of clothes worn. Academic self-concepts refer to the level of ones
performance in school and ability to learn. One can at the same time have a positive
self-concept in some aspect of personality and negative on others e.g. feeling that one
is good in academics but poor in athletics.
Self-concept is dynamic. It is not innate but rather learned; at birth we do not know
about ourselves or have a picture of ourselves. As the child develops cognitively it
learns about itself as a separate entity in the environment and in this process develops
self-concept. Self-concept is shaped through personal reflections on perceived
experiences, especially with significant others (Purkey, 1988). Children acquire sense
of self at around 18 months. As they develop cognitively they understand themselves
better and by the age of six years they include abstract ideas when describing about
themselves, e.g. being happy or angry.
Self-concept is relatively permanent i.e. long period of time held perceptions that are
resistant to change. This aspect gives consistency to individuals personality;
otherwise s/he will lack consistency. Although self-concept is resistant to change, one
can learn and modify his/her self-concept over a period of time (Franken, 1994). The
changes are a result of self-reflection based on his/her interaction with the
environment.
An individual can have ideas on his/her future self-concepts, termed possible selves.
A student in secondary school can see himself/herself in the future as being a tall
handsome/beautiful married person holding a high position in an institution and
having all the best gadgets of the day. Also the possible selves can be of what one is
afraid of being in the future e.g. being drug addict or failing in life. These possible
selves have effect on the current and future behaviour of the individual. Franken
(1994) believes that the self concept is the basis for motivated behaviour that leads to
rise of possible behaviours that in turn create motivation for behaviour.
The evaluative and emotional aspect of self-concept is self-esteem. It is how a person
views himself/herself.
positively and has confidence. The one with low self-esteem rates himself/herself very
low, looks down upon himself/herself. Periods of low esteem come and go, and their
49
duration varies. However, if the period persists for a long time it may lead to low
achievement, depression and delinquency (Harter, 1999). There is a relationship
between self-concept and school achievement (Marsh, 1992; Hamachek, 1994).
However it is not yet clear if self-concept produces school achievement or it is the
school achievement that produces aspects of self-concept.
Identifying the causes of low esteem and the areas of competence important to the
self.
Help students set high goals that relate to motivation and help them to move from
dependency to independence and self-sufficiency. At the beginning of the year
help them to set academic goals and steps necessary to achieve them.
SUMMARY
In this
50
Baumrind,
Di.
(1971).Current
patterns
of
parental
authority.
Eric
Digests.
http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-
LECTURE FIVE
52
53
Law of exercise. It states that the connection between a stimulus and response is
strengthened depending on how frequently they (stimulus and response) are used
together. It implies that if one is continually exercising (read practicing or
repeating) the chances of response following the stimulus are high; however lack
of exercise decreases the chance of responding when a stimulus appears.
Law of effect. This one states that the strengthening or weakening of the
connection between stimulus and response are the results of the consequences of
the response. A response that is followed by a reward or positive satisfaction
increases the connection between the stimulus and response, on the other hand if
the response is followed by punishment or something aversive the connection
between stimulus and response is undermined. Normally we respond to conditions
that bring satisfaction and ignore those conditions that bring pain.
Law of readiness. It states that the basis of individuals response depends on the
extent of his/her preparedness to act. When someone is ready to perform an acts to
do so is satisfying. When someone is ready to perform an act, not to do so is
annoying. When someone is not ready to perform an act and s/he is forced to do
so, it is annoying. Interference with goal directed behavior causes frustration.
Also, causing someone to do something s/he does not want to do is also
frustrating. If a student wants to learn and s/he gets the chance to learn s/he will
get some satisfaction in the act of learning. Preventing him/her from learning will
lead to frustration. If a student does not want to learn and the teacher does not
appear in the class it is satisfying, and if on the contrary the teacher appears and
the student is forced to engage in learning s/he will get annoyed.
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?
5.3.1 Classical conditioning
Classical learning is also known as Pavlovian conditioning. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936),
a Russian psychologist, was the first person to describe this type of learning based on
a number of experimental studies he conducted on dogs. In these experiments he
paired a sound of metronome (bell) with presentation of food powder. The sound was
presented just before supplying or providing food powder to the dogs tongue. After
repeating this sequence a number of times he observed that the dog salivated when the
sound of metronome presented alone in the absence of food powder. The dog had
established an association between sound of metronome and food provision. That is,
learning (conditioned) to salivate on just hearing the sound of metronome. In this case
learning had taken place. The dogs did not salivate on hearing the metronome before
the experiment.
TAKE NOTE
This is a neutral stimulus that naturally does not produce a response but after being
paired several times with the US produces a response. The metronome was a neutral
stimulus at the beginning that did not make the dogs to salivate upon hearing it.
However the sound eventually, after being paired with food powder several times,
could alone make the dog to salivate. So, CS is a neutral stimulus that after
56
This is an unlearned response produced by UCS. The dog naturally salivated when
food powder was placed on the tongue. We normally salivate when we taste
something delicious. UCR can be counted as reflex action.
This is a response that is elicited by CS alone. Before pairing CS and UCS there was
no response, but after pairing an organism makes a response on CS in the absence of
UCS. So, UCR and CR are same responses (in the Pavlovs experiment salivating),
the difference is that UCR is produced by UCS while CR is produced by CS.
Based on your own experiences, identify 5 UCS; 5 CS and 5 CR/UCR
Food Powder
2. NS (Neutral )
Salivating
Metronome
3. NS + UCS
UCR
No Response
Not Salivating
UCR
CR
Metronome
Salivating
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Based on the experiments Pavlov also made the following observations on classical
conditioning:
Extinction: if one stops pairing the CS and UCS, the CR will cease in response to
CS. The dogs stopped to salivate if the bell was presented alone several times in
absence of placing food powder on the dogs tongue.
Although Pavlov did the observations on dogs it also true that classical conditioning
explains some of human behaviours. There are several things that we are conditioned
58
Experiments like the one on poor Albert have adverse effects on the
individual. Thus, they are unacceptable and unethical.
The above experiment implies that students in school can acquire fear/liking to neutral
things or events in the classroom or school. The way we teachers respond to students
answers or react to their actions can unintentionally induce fear that can negatively
affect learning processes and consequently academic performance. If the teacher is
frequently too harsh to students answers, that student may be conditioned to fear the
teacher and/or his/her subject. Also conditioning can account for test anxiety (fear of
tests and examination) among students. I think you may know students who miss
some classes due to their fear of a teacher or skip school all together because of fear
of failing exams.
Just as students learn to fear neutral things they can also learn not fear the same things
through extinction process. Remember extinction is stopping giving a response to CS.
One can learn not to fear teachers or other objects in school. If the teacher stops being
harsh to students responses and alternatively have positive approach the students will
learn anew to have sense of security when with the teacher or learning the subject.
Also it is important to remember that spontaneous recovery will take place if the
teacher resort to his/her previous reactions to students.
TAKE NOTE
objects or events.
Response
Reinforcement
A stimulus indicates when to give a response. In the above illustration students raise
hands after the teacher has asked a question. They raise hands as a response expecting
to be selected to answer. Reinforcement is being selected to answer. Bus approaching
is stimulus for us to wave hand (response) and the bus stops and we board
(reinforcement). A stimulus indicates where/when/how to give a response that will be
reinforced. So, a response given before the stimulus cannot get reinforcement, and for
reinforcement to be effective it must be received after giving a response and not
before.
Actions that lead to positive consequences are repeated and those that bring negative
consequences are avoided. Remember that repeating or avoiding are both responses.
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Reponses that do not get reinforcement eventually become extinct. Extinction means
an organism stopping giving a response in presence of stimulus after learning that it
will not be reinforced. A student will stop raising a hand to a teacher whom s/he
knows will not select him/her to answer questions. As teachers we should stop giving
reinforcement to students misbehaviour so that these behaviors become extinct.
Just as in classical conditioning there is stimulus generalization and discrimination in
operant conditioning. Sometimes we give a response to a stimulus that is similar to the
one that usually leads to reinforcement. Waiving to a bus expecting it to stop only to
realize after it has passed, that it is a private bus and not a public one (stimulus
generalization). After a while we can differentiate between public and private buses.
So, for a private bus we do not wave, if it is a public bus (stimulus discrimination) we
wave knowing that our response will get reinforcement.
In some occasions it takes time and through trial and error to make an association
between stimulus, response and reinforcement i.e. to establish new behaviour through
a process known as behavioural shaping. Behavioural shaping involves giving
reinforcement to responses that lead to the final required response, and ignoring the
other responses, until the individual learns the association between the stimulus and
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the desired response. If you are training a child to write you only give reinforcement
to steps (inform of responses) that lead to holding the pen correctly and making the
correct shapes of letters. The child is required to master each step (responses) until the
whole sequence is mastered. The role of the teacher/parent is to give reinforcement to
appropriate responses in each step.
TAKE NOTE
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From our own experiences we know that not all of our responses are given
reinforcement immediately. Some responses are reinforced immediately while others
are not reinforced immediately i.e. the reinforcement is provided latter. In most cases
when we pay cash to the shopkeeper we get the object we want. However, sometimes
we have to go to several shops before we find the desired object at the right price.
Schedules of reinforcement refer to a system that indicates which response get
reinforcement and which will not get reinforcement. In continuous reinforcement
every response is followed by reinforcement. Every time a student gives a correct
answer in the classroom the teacher nods in recognition. In the long run this schedule
is not very effective since some people and organisms stop responding to enjoy the
reinforcements that have been accumulated.
Continuous reinforcement is very effective in establishing new behavioural responses.
Once the intended behavioural response has been established we can now move on to
partial reinforcement schedules i.e. not all responses get reinforcement, but rather just
some of them. Partial reinforcement schedules have been known to be more effective
in maintaining an established response than the continuous reinforcement. Partial
reinforcement schedules can be in various patterns. Here we are going to discuss
interval schedules and ratio schedules.
In the interval schedules presentation of reinforcement is based on time factor. In
fixed interval schedules a response is reinforced after a fixed amount of time has
elapsed since the last reinforcement. The time period between reinforcements is
constantly the same. An employer can decided to give reinforcement to his worker
after five days of work i.e. paying the worker at the end of every fifth day. In
classroom situation a teacher may be giving a test on the last Monday of each month
(I know you like doing tests!). In variable interval schedules the amount of time that
elapses between the reinforcement varies. The individual (organism) knows that s/he
will be given reinforcement but does not know when. The employer may pay his
worker after five days this time, next payment after seven days and the following
payment after four days. A teacher may decide to give a quiz after five days, then after
six days and the next one after three days. Note that an individual has to give
responses to get reinforcement within the respective period of time. The main
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limitation of fixed interval is that some people stay idle and only give response just
before the time the reinforcement is expected.
TAKE NOTE
I hope you are not one of the people who only perform their duties close
to pay day!
describe them by citing five real life examples for each schedule.
Premarks principle
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I am sure you are aware of this principle although it may sound new to you. This
principle was described by David Premark. Actions that are more desirable to the
individual can be used as reinforcers for less desirable actions. Desirable actions are
those done by an individual more often and much longer in terms of time relative to
the less desirable ones i.e. desirable actions have high frequency activity. In life every
person has actions that s/he likes more and other actions s/he likes less. Many children
(and adults too) like to watch television and dislike homework (or washing pots).
Premarks principle says that watching television can be used as a reinforcer for doing
homework or washing pots. A child is required to complete homework or washing
pots before being allowed to watch television. In schools sometimes students have to
complete their class work before being allowed out to play. (Do you remember your
mother telling you to first finish taking porridge before being allowed to go out to
play with others?).
As a teacher it is advisable to identify desirable actions of your students and then
make a reinforcement hierarchy i.e. listing actions of the student with the most
desirable action at the top and ending the least desirable action at the bottom. To
obtain the list you can tell students to write what they like or you can observe them
during their spare time. A less desirable action cannot be used as reinforcer to more
desirable actions. Washing pots cannot be used as a reinforcer to doing homework.
Make a list of activities in the classroom that students like most and
those that they like less. Based on Premarks principle describe how you
will use the activities for effective learning.
can sting and we should be careful with it. We do not need to be stung personally to
learn this. In school sometimes, punishment (or reward) is applied before other
students so that they avoid actions that led to the punishment (maintaining the
rewarding behaviour). We also learn by imitating other people. Just observe how
small children imitate our actions and also develop many skills by imitating adults.
Later they use imitated skills to deal with the demands of the environment. Also, we
learn from other people through modeling i.e. other peoples behaviour serves as a
guide to us when we are learning that behaviour. We expect children to observe us
writing so that they can perform the same. I think modeling is easier than shaping, for
the teacher and students alike. Learning through symbolic modeling i.e. learning by
watching other people on the television or from reading or listen to stories involving
people (is this not one of the main functions of literature?).
In behavioural approach learning is associated by a permanent behavioural change.
Learning by observation means that sometimes we learn through observation alone
without a change in behaviour occurring.
TAKE NOTE
As a teacher, make sure that you are a model for positive aspects of
students development. Plan your actions well for easy imitation by
students.
Social learning theory identifies the following factors for effective modeling:
Attention: the person has to pay attention to the modeling when making
observations. There are several factors that have influence on the amount of
attention paid to the model by a student.
Retention: one has to retain what s/he has observed (in the memory) and later
retrieve it (remembering) in form of responses. It is important to rehearse our
observations for effective learning.
Reproduction: based on what is in the memory one must have the ability to
reproduce the behaviour that was demonstrated by the model. Reproduction can
be in form of motor activities (physical activities) or symbolic (images).
Sometimes children are unable to reproduce actions of the model due to level of
their physical development.
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Motivation: the individual must have a reason to imitate the model and for
demonstrating what s/he has observed. Getting reinforcement (both positive and
negative), and external factors (promised reward) or internal factors (just pleasing
oneself) can be motivating factors for learning and making a response.
The above factors and social learning theory in general indicate that the environment
(especially the social context) and the cognitive processes are both critical in learning.
(Remember that behaviorists insisted on only focusing on observable behaviours and
ignoring mental processes). The models and some of the motivation are part of the
environment while attention, retention and motivation are part of the cognitive
processes. So, social learning theory is seen as the bridge between behavioral learning
theories and cognitive learning theories.
learn about the layout of objects without expecting any reinforcement. Later on the
information acquired can be used to give a response that leads to reinforcement.
5.4.1 Gestalts psychologists
Psychologists in gestalt perspective were against behaviourism by emphasizing that
mental processes are important in explaining learning. Among the basic ideas of this
theory is that we perceive things in whole and not in segments (stimulus and single
responses) and the perception formed can be different from the reality. Past
experiences predispose people on how they organize information in particular way
and in relation to their environment (Ormrod, 1999). So in explaining learning we
must include the overall experiences of the individual. Gestalt psychology has been
instrumental on our understanding of thinking, problem solving and perception.
5.4.2 Cognitive constructivism
Constructivists hold that a learner is actively constructing and inventing his/her own
knowledge from his/her past experiences. Rather than just receive and absorb what
s/he gets from others (teachers included) a learner modifies his/her understanding in
relation to the new information leading him/her internalizing concepts, rules and
principles that are later applied in future encounters.
The main ideas of cognitive constructivism have been summarized as follows (Elliot
et. al., 2000):
We only know subjective reality and not the object reality since the knowledge we
have is based on our own subjective experiences.
The knowledge of two people are said to be taken-as-shared to the extent that
their constructions seem to function in the same way in given situation. Since
every one constructs his/her own knowledge, the knowledge shared cannot be
exactly the same.
Knowledge is constructed through the process of adapting to events and ideas one
experiences. This idea is very much related to Piagets concept of disequilibrium
in which people tend to be motivated to solve mental problems they encounter.
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Later on in this course we will discuss the implications of the above theories on
teachers and their applications in teaching/learning processes. However, according to
Ormrod (1999) cognitive theories have the following implications on education:
New information is most easily acquired when people can associate it with things
they have already learned.
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There are other cognitive theories and concepts that you are compelled to know about.
These include Cordons cognitive style typology; meaningful learning as described by
David Ausubel; and constructivist theory of Jerome Bruner.
SUMMARY
1.
2. Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through
the lecture to verify your accurateness.
REFERENCES
Elliot, Stephen N., Kractochwill, Thomas R., Cook, Joan L. & Travers,
John F. (2000). Educational Psychology: Effective Teaching,
Effective Learning. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York,
USA.
Good, T. L. & Brophy, J.E. (1990). Educational Psychology: A realistic
approach. (4th Ed.) White Plains, N.Y: Longman
Ormrod, J. E. (1999). Human learning (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
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Prentice-Hall.
Santrock, John W. (2004). Educational Psychology (2nd Edition).
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, USA
Watson, J.B. and Reynar, R (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions.
Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14
LECTURE SIX
71
(ii)
Increases effort and energy; increase imitation of, and persistence in activities; and
enhance cognitive processing;
Improves performance.
Before moving on let us clear some misconceptions about motivation. One of them is
that one can directly motivate someone else to do something. This is not accurate.
What we can do is only create conditions that make someone to be motivated to do
something. Later on, based on this condition the person will develop motivation
towards that behavior. No amount of a pay increase can directly make an incompetent
and lazy teacher improve students academic performance by his/her teaching. We
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also hear people saying that students lack motivation to learn a certain course when
they avoid it (e.g. science subjects). If they lack motivation to learn science subjects
it means they are indifferent to science subjects. However, in this case of the students
deliberately avoiding science subjects it means they are rather motivated not to learn
science subjects. Also punishment cannot be used to make people motivated. Beating
students who dislike mathematics will not make them like or be motivated to learn
mathematics. Recall that based on classical conditioning principles the student will
also be conditioned to hate the subject and/or the teacher and this can be generalized
to other subjects/teachers.
TAKE NOTE
Instinct approach believe that humans and other organisms have inborn tendencies
that lead to engaging in behaviours that are essential for survival. Sex urge is
considered as an instinct for maintaining the existence of the organism. This approach
does not account for motivations to engage in voluntary behaviours and psychologists
have been unable to come up with one definition of instinct and the scope of instincts.
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Drive-reduction theory was, among others, proposed by Clark Hull. The theory
points out that when a person lacks a biological requirement a drive is produced that
needs to be satisfied. The basis of this approach is homeostasis, a process which
strives to maintain a stable, balanced internal state of the body. When there is a
deficiency in the body i.e. a need. A need leads to purposive activities (drive) aimed at
the goal of removing the deficiency. Need of water in the body creates thirst drive that
activates behaviour of drinking water, lack of food produce hunger drive that is
reduced by taking food. Other drives include sex and sleepiness. The main limitation
of this approach is that it does provide explanations on responses that do not originate
from biological needs.
TAKE NOTE
74
another person. Many psychologists acknowledge that intrinsic motivation, rather than
extrinsic motivation, is more effective in making an individual work harder and
persevere on the task that is goal oriented. In some studies provision of extrinsic
motivation adversely affect ones intrinsic motivation. Later in this culture we will
look at conditions that facilitate intrinsic motivation.
TAKE NOTE
75
The main limitation of this approach is that it takes for granted that all human beings
have same needs arranged in the same order. In some situation security matters more
than food, and for others sex is not at all important to some individuals.
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and intensity of their learning. We say Some since we cannot identify all of the
factors relate to motivation.
6.4.1 Student Attributions to Success and Failure
In describing this influence we look at Bernard Weiners attribution theory. People,
including students, are always motivated to figure out the reasons and causes of their
behaviours and successes or failures they experience in life. An individual gives
logical explanations to causes perceived by the person to describe the outcomes of
his/her behaviour. These explanations are called attributions. These attributions are
based on an attempt to use individuals past experiences to describe possible causes
and consequences of events. Student always try to find out the basis of their academic
performance i.e. the causes of the grade they get in different courses. The causal
attributions we make have influence on how we engage in our future behaviours.
Clarification on attributions is provided below.
Wiener (1990) stated that people (including students) attribute success/failure to one
the following attributes:
(i) Ability
Some students attribute success/failure to their ability or lack of it. Normally, a
student who fails consistently feels s/he lacks mental ability to be successful in the
task; while another student who is frequently successful may believe that s/he is
endowed with the ability to undertake the respective task. Those who perceive lacking
ability develop sense of incompetence that consequently undermines motivation to
learn. A student who believes that s/he does not have ability to understand science
subjects will not even try to study these subjects. Why? Because ability is perceived
as being stable and unlikely to change, and as such future failure is seen as more
likely than future success. On the other hand if s/he feels she has ability for arts
subjects s/he will be motivated in future to study arts subjects.
(ii) Effort
There are students who believe their grades are positively correlated to amount of
effort they put on studying i.e. success depends on how hard they try. If they pass they
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attribute success to studying hard and when they fail they attribute failure to lack of
studying hard enough. Those who are successful are motivated to work even harder in
future which in turn increases more success. Why? Because effort is internal to the
individual and is seen as unstable factor that is under his/her control. This belief
motivates a student to study hard since success increases effort, and effort increases
success.
(iii) Luck
When a student is unable to see a direct relationship between behaviour and
attainments s/he attributes this to luck. Students who believe they should have scored
low grade but pass the subject they attribute this to luck rather than ability or effort.
Such students will not be motivated to work hard on that subject since they know they
have very little control over luck. Success in task is perceived as if playing lottery
where once you buy the ticket there is nothing you can do win, you only wait for fate.
(iv) Task difficult
In case many students are successful in obtaining high grade some students say
(perceive) the test as being easy, if many fail they say (perceive) the test as being
difficult. A student with such perceptions may not be motivated to learn the subject
since task difficulty is external to him/her and not under his/her control.
The above attributes are mostly based on Western culture. I know some students in
our culture who attribute their behaviour outcomes to God, superstition and personal
beliefs or rituals. All these attributes are external to the individual. People perform
rituals that they belief lead to positive outcomes and avoid objects/events suspected to
have negative aspects.
In summary Weiner (1992) points out that luck and task difficulty are both external
attributes to the student. Ability and effort are both internal attributes. Ability is seen
as being stable i.e. it will remain the same and not change in the future. Effort is
perceived as being unstable and under the control of the individual. When a student
ascribes success/failure to ability s/he will expect to succeed/fail in the future.
Students who attribute ability and effort to outcome of behavior have internal locus of
control, while those who attribute performance to luck and task difficulty have
external locus of control. Thus, what one attributes as cause of outcome of behaviour
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has motivational impact on his/her future undertakings. Students with internal locus of
control are internally motivated and belief performance is in their hands. Those with
external locus of control believe external forces determine their fate and have little
they can do. I think you know people who believe that the government has to meet all
their demands and blame failure on other people.
In many instances when people (students included) attribute internal forces in case of
success and attribute external forces for failures. I have experience of many of my
students who perform poorly blaming me or the test for being too difficult but when
they perform well attribute success to their abilities and effort.
What do you attribute to your success and how about your failures?
TAKE NOTE
Attributions to consequences are beliefs that may not be the real causes of
performance, so the theory may explain why some students who seem
able sometimes perform poorly.
6.4.2 Expectancy
We are aware that one specific incentive has different values to different people. For
one student a C grade in History is enough while for another a B grade in History
is not good enough since they want an A. Expectancy-value theory explains this
phenomenon by stating that students goal directed behaviour is determined by two
factors i.e. expectancy and incentive value. Our expectations tell us that our specific
behaviour will make us reach a certain goal. Also we have the value attached to that
goal - namely, incentive value. If a student has high expectations and values are also
high s/he will be motivated to study hard. Why? Because s/he believes studying hard
will lead to a high grade. On the other hand if expectations are low and the value
attached is low the motivation to study that subject will also be low. Sometimes
students who aspire to be lawyers attach high value to Art subjects and low value to
Science subjects, so they are more motivated to learn Arts subjects and have low
motivation to learn Science subjects although they could have gotten a higher grade in
these subjects too.
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main functions of emotions are: preparing for action; shaping our future behaviour;
and act as mechanism to regulate social interactions. As you can see the first two
functions are closely related to functions of motivation i.e. initiating and sustaining
actions. The link between emotions and motivation is strong, we are happy when our
motives are satisfied and feel threatened or angry when our motives are frustrated
(Lazarus, 1991).
The aim of this section is to see how emotions influence motivation, so we will not
elaborate the functions of emotions. Also we will not list all the emotions that we
experience but only focus on some that seem to influence student motivation to learn.
Anxiety (high feeling of fear) is one of emotions that affect motivation. Students
experience different levels of anxiety while learning in school. They worry about their
academic performance (Will I pass the test?), and the challenges they face in school (I
am late to class! Will I be punished? I dont have time to complete all my
homework!). Other sources of anxiety can be significant others expectations and
demands on the student.
Levels of anxiety and the task difficulty have influence on students performance.
Students experiencing high levels of anxiety for a long time have problem
concentrating on their studies. Some students perform poorly in tests because of test
anxiety i.e. intense fear of preparing for and taking tests. According to Sarason (1980)
the main characteristics of test anxiety include perceiving test conditions as being
difficult and threatening; one seeing himself/herself as being inadequate in doing
tests; focusing on adverse consequences of test, anticipating failure and loss of regard
from others. This undermines their academic performance and consequently
motivation to learn. However, it is important to note that boredom also undermines
motivation. So, a certain level of emotions is required to be motivated to learn. Too
high or too low undermines motivation.
6.4.5 Classroom atmosphere and motivation
Classroom atmosphere include the social interactions and physical setting of the room
where school learning takes place. If the students feel relaxed, encouraged to learn
even when they fail or face challenges, and perceive the main emphasis of instruction
81
is on individual improvement then the student feels motivated to learn. If the focus in
the classroom is too much competition and only few students get rewarded in the
expense of others then most students will be motivated not to learn. Competition is
not all bad since it can be practiced between groups, thus more students experiencing
winning feelings and rewards widely distributed. Also remember that rewards are
extrinsic motivation that can undermine intrinsic motivation which has more value in
maintain learning.
Classroom is mostly composed of peers who affect individual motivation. Students
judge themselves (academically and socially) by making comparisons with their
peers. According to Harter (1990) students with positive comparisons have high selfesteem and those with negative comparisons have low self-esteem. Students accepted
by others do better in school and have high level of motivation to achieve in school
(Wentzel, 1996). I think we are aware of students study groups that encourage
(motivate) their members to study hard. So, peers in the classroom have some
influence on motivation to learn.
Later in this course we will look at how classroom management techniques influence
student expectations.
6.4.6 Need for achievement
Need for achievement refers to the desire/motive to perform at the highest standards
of excellence. This motive is one form of intrinsic motivation and it is acquired in the
process of development. Students with it have high motivation for success and are
thrilled when they succeed. They focus on mastery goals and performance-approach
goals (Elliot and Church, 1997). This means they are more interested in having deeper
meaning of things they are learning and be competent in skills rather than competing
or comparing with others. Students with high need achievement work hard to succeed
as they see themselves as responsible for the outcomes; are ready to take some risk of
not succeeding when there is an opportunity to receive performance feedback
(Koestner, and McClelland, 1990). They also know how to weight the task facing
them and selecting the level that they know it is challenging (not too easy or too
difficult) but achievable. Students with low levels of need of achievement select tasks
that are either too easy or too difficult. Easy tasks since they are assured of success
82
and difficult tasks so that when they fail they blame that the task is so difficult it is
impossible to succeed.
6.4.7 Self-efficacy
Albert Bandura introduced this concept which refers to ones ability to cope with the
situation and produce desired outcomes. Self-efficacy is related to intrinsic
motivation. Student with high self-efficacy believe that s/he has the ability to
accomplish the task/challenge facing him/her. The one with low self-efficacy believe
that s/he cannot undertake the task/challenge ahead. Relate this concept to inner voice
that says Yes I can learn and pass this subject (high-efficacy) or I cannot
understand this subject (low-efficacy). So a student with high-efficacy is motivated
to learn while the one with low-efficacy is motivated not to learn. Self-efficacy also
influence on deciding which tasks to address and which ones to avoid.
Self-efficacy is a result of ones past experiences and also a product of observational
learning i.e. performance of others may influence our beliefs on our ability to perform
that task. Also what teachers communicate to students influence their self-efficacy.
Students who fail consistently and perceive themselves lacking control of their own
behavior develop what is called learned-helplessness. They have learned that there is
nothing they can do to improve their performance, so they are motivated not to learn.
List the characteristics of students with need of achievement and those
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As shown above, we have only mentioned a few factors that influence student
motivation to learn. Remember there are other factors, including unsatisfied basic
needs (hunger can definitely affect motivation); gender, family and culture influences
that have effect on motivation., As a teacher, you are required to identify as many
factors as possible, especially those relevant to your students. One can categorise the
factors as some being internal to the individual and others as being caused by external
influences (teachers included).
TAKE NOTE
Manage the classroom effectively. Remember you are the principle factor in
determining classroom atmosphere. Much of your actions influence students
motivation. It is very possible for a teacher to be the main agent of creating
students motivation to learn.
Make sure the classroom is physically and psychologically safe. Students should
feel having sense of security based on the behaviours of all students. Too much
use of punishment creates anxiety among students.
Create an atmosphere that is open and positive. All students should feel free to
interact in classroom learning.
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to learn your subject. Be aware that if they are not motivated you are wasting your
time and undermining the objectives of having schools. Below are some suggestions
on how to develop student motivation to learn. Note that you must look for other
recommendations and also devise your own.
Remember that in learning, intrinsic motivation is more effective and persevering than
extrinsic motivation (extrinsic motivation wears down soon when the external element
is withdrawn). It is impossible to avoid using extrinsic motivation completely (grades,
prizes, certificates and medals) in our schools and community. However, you
personally can do something. Always aim at students developing intrinsic motivation.
To start with, minimize giving extrinsic motivation by making an effort to arouse and
sustaining interest in your subject (studies have shown that extrinsic motivation
undermines intrinsic motivation). Young students increase their intrinsic motivation
when they contextualize material and feel the material is significant to them (Cordova
and Lepper, 1995). So, avoid presenting material in abstract form.
Biehler and Snowman (1982) make the following suggestions:
Learning:
Beneficial
Effects
of
Contextualization,
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Ericksen, S. C. "The Lecture." Memo to the Faculty, no. 60. Ann Arbor:
Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, University of
Michigan, 1978.
Harter, S. (1999). The Construction of Self. New York: Guilford.
Koestner, R. & McClelland, D.C. (1990). Perspectives on competence
motivation. In L.A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality theory
and research, New York: Guilford Press.
Marshall, H.H. & Weinstein, R.S. (1984). Classroom Factors Affecting
Students Self-Evaluations: An Interaction Model. Review of
Educational Research, 54, 301-325.
Lazarus, R. (1991). Progress on a cognitivemotivational-relational
theory of emotions. American Psychologist, 46, 819-834
Ormrod, J. E. (2003). Educational Psychology Developing Learners (4th
Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hal
Patriarca, L.A. & Kragt, D.M. (1986). Teacher Expectations and Student
Achievement: The Ghost of Christmas Future. Curriculum
Review, 25, 48-50.
Sarason, I. (1980). Introduction to the study of test anxiety. In I.G.
Sarason (Ed.) Test anxiety: Theory, research, and applications, 136. Hillside; N.J. LEA
Weiner, B. (1990). History of Motivational Research in Education.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (4), 616-622.
Weiner, B. (1992). Human motivation: Metaphors, theories, and
research. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
Wentzel, K. R. (1996). Social goals and social relationships as
motivators of school adjustments. In J. Juvonen & K.R. Wentzel
(Eds.), Social Motivation. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
LECTURE SEVEN
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7.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we look at a very important human component used in learning. In
learning one must receive information from the environment and have mechanism of
retaining it. We are talking about memory and learning. Learning involves storing
information in the memory; memory is involved in learning. The two are related.
Academic performance or competence can only be demonstrated when the retained
information or potential is retrieved by the individual. Thinking and the addressing of
challenges we face depend on the content we posses. Our lives depend on memory.
Your performance in this course and the fate as a graduate teacher is significantly
dependent on your memory. I am sure that your performance in this course will
improve as a result of this lecture
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
(ii) Describe information processing and identify factors that affect the
retaining and forgetting of information;
(iii) Distinguish between episodic, semantic and procedural memory;
(iv) Define "cognitive teaching" and identify strategies teachers can use
to make learning relevant to students' prior experience.
7.2 MEMORY
Memory is that ability we have of encoding, retaining information around us and the
experiences we encounter over a period of time and then retrieving that information
from our memories. So the first part of memory is on how we store knowledge in the
memory (input). There are structures and processes involved in storing information in
the memory. Memory structures are part of the functions of the brain. Each structure
has its own characteristics in term of its capacity and duration of the stored
information. As you can see memory is mostly about sense organs, brain and mental
functions. So the structures are not physical chambers in the brain but processes
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involved in forming memory. The main structures are sensory registers (SR), shortterm memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
Most of the information we have in the memory has emanated from the environment.
It is received through the sensory organs i.e. eyes (vision), ears (audio), skin (warmth,
cold, pressure, pain and touch), nose (smell) and tongue (taste). The information from
the stimuli has to be encoded i.e. stimulus is converted into the form that can be stored
in the brain. Sometimes we encode meaning and imagery. During discussions we
process the verbal information and encode its meaning. As an example think of some
Swahili sayings. Encoding imagery involves the forming of mental pictures. It is not
rare to have in the memory pictures of past events that cannot be easily described in
words (for those who love football remember the scoring of a special goal). In
classroom teaching the teacher uses pictures to aid students to learn a specific object
or event. Echoic memory stores audio sensations like tone of a nice piece of music or
voice of your beloved teacher. Iconic memory deals with visual sensations from the
environment. Episodic memory concerns events in relation to time and location of that
event, for example remember the day you graduated or the day somebody in your
family wedded. Semantic memory has a record of facts and concepts we have formed
overtime. Tulving (2002) has postulated that semantic information is based on the
content in the episodic memory. Procedural memory is involved in learning the
sequence of motor skills, for example the sequence of writing letters or riding a
bicycle).
The most crucial factor in the acquisition part of the memory is attention, i.e. the
ability to focus on one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention
known as sensory gating enables us to focus on the information entering through one
sensory organ while putting a damper on the other sense organs. Selective attention
helps us to focus only on one aspect of information among many that are being sensed
by one specific organ. In the classroom the student is bombarded by a number of
stimuli at any one moment. S/he can ignore all or pay attention to one stimulus, likely
on the teachers instructions that will then be processed for storing. In classroom
learning we use sensory gating when we only use our ears to listen to the teacher
while blocking information from entering in the other senses. We use selective
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attention to attend only to the voice of the teacher while ignoring all other sounds
around.
TAKE NOTE
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recall the taste of food you liked when you were a child, or names of your primary
school friends.
LTM is significant in our lives since it holds all that we have learned and experienced.
Information in LTM includes emotions, opinions, attitude and expectations that
influence our behaviour. Just think of relearning about everything each day due to
lack of memory! LTM connects previous experiences and new information, thus
making us able to adapt to new challenges. Due to LTM students are able to
accommodate new learning to the previous knowledge. We always prepare our lessons
fully aware that all that is in a topic cannot be covered in one lesson, so we know that
the content of the new lesson will be connected to the information of the previous
lesson.
TAKE NOTE
Transfer
memory--------------
short-term
memory------------------long-term
memory
Rehearsal
Retrieval
The above model is not very definitive since the memory system is obviously more
complex with more process involved in storing and retrieving information.
7.3 RETRIEVAL
The memory system is not only on storing information but also on the mechanism of
retrieving the information in the memory when it is needed. When conscious we are
constantly in the process of retrieving information, messages and skills in the
memory. Think of any situation when you will not need the use your memory.
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Retrieval is a process just like encoding i.e. processing input and processing output.
This process involves sorting out and transferring information from LTM to STM for
use. Sometimes it is so instant that it seems like automatic for example recalling your
name or that of your country. Other times we deliberately search for the information
in the memory and it may require a lot of effort and time to retrieve it. We all know
that there are occasions when we are able to retrieve the information (remember) and
in other occasions we are unable to retrieve it even when we are sure that it is in the
memory (forget). This becomes really bad when attempting an examination or
introducing someone we know. Think of your memory as a big box containing many
things that you have put yourself there. Remembering is like sorting out and finding a
specific object in the box; while forgetting is searching for an object in the box
without success.
TAKE NOTE
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TAKE NOTE
I expect you to spend less time when making revision of this course
material relative to when you learned it first. Expect the same from your
students.
Now let us see why we forget i.e. unable to retrieve information in the memory. A
student cannot forget something s/he has not learned. Forgetting involves information
in the memory but due to some reasons it is inaccessible to the individual. We learn a
lot in the course but we forget some of the information when doing tests and
consequently get a lower score. After the examination we retrieve the information
(when it is not helpful), thus proving that we have more information in our LTM than
we can retrieve. Most of the forgetting happens just after actively stopping the
learning of the respective material (Elliot et al., 2000).
As noted earlier most of the information entering SM and some in STM is forgotten
since it fades away due to lack of attention. This is a natural phenomenon that takes
place even in LTM in the form of decay whereby we forget unused information in the
memory. Note that you may forget information you encoded a long time back but at
the same token remember information encoded at the same time that has been used
regularly. Now this is between you and me. There are tests which I scored very
highly when I was in college, but if given the same test today I will perform
miserably! Why is this so? It is because I have never revisited the material since last
preparing for the test. So, information encoded in the LTM long time ago and not
constantly used will naturally decay.
Sometimes we forget because of interference when learning. A number of studies have
shown that new learning interferes with previous learning i.e. new learning impairs
the retrieval of the material of the other learning. In proactive interference prior
learning inhibits the retrieval of new information while in retroactive interference new
knowledge inhibits the retrieval of the previous knowledge. This usually occurs when
the materials in both situations are somewhat similar. If one is given list A to
memorize and then immediately given list B to memorize, the chances of memory
interference increase. Learning of list A will make one to forget some items in list
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B i.e. proactive interference. Learning of list B will lead to forgetting some items
in list A i.e. retroactive interference. Forgetting would have been minimal if one
had not followed the other or the interval between the two learnings had been greater.
TAKE NOTE
I think you can recall about extinction whereby the response is forgotten due to the
lack of reinforcement. This type of forgetting depends on schedules of reinforcement
used on maintaining the response. You also are aware that spontaneous recovery is
similar to relearning.
Position of the material in a list has some influence on memory based on phenomenon
known as the serial position effect. If you read items in a list you are more likely to
remember items at the beginning and at the end of the list, and more likely to forget
items in the middle of the list. I think you have heard young pupils learning to count
saying the numbers at the beginning for example one, two, three and then jumping the
middle numbers to say the last ones, nine, ten.
Ones state of emotion during the retrieving process may lead to forgetting. In an
examination situation, if a student is preoccupied with fear of failure s/he will not be
able to concentrate on retrieving the information in the memory. Also, if the student
has developed learned helplessness s/he will not be motivated to retrieve information
since failure is expected.
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TAKE NOTE
Attention is the key to processing information in SM to STM and then to LTM. Avoid
any situation that distracts attention.
(ii)
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(iii)
You can make your memory as a well-organized library or it can be a mess of lots of
books. In an organized library it is quite easy to locate a book. But it is difficult to find
a book in a room where books have not been arranged in good order. Organize
information in the memory by grouping similar terms and concepts together.
(iv)
(v)
Take time to think about the relationship of the new information and what is in your
memory and then make connection of the two. The key word here is deliberately
making (thinking) the connections.
(vii)
Pay close attention to diagrams, charts and photographs in your textbooks. If they are
not available try to construct your own when making personal notes. In some cases
you can highlight some parts to draw attention to their importance or in organize the
material into related groups.
(viii)
Most of us want to gain more information from other persons. However, in improving
memory it is better to teach another person the knowledge you have just encoded.
This approach involves practicing recalling the information and thus enhancing your
understanding of the new material. If you can teach another person definitely you can
easily retrieve the material in the future.
(ix)
Yes, there are relatively easy parts and difficult parts in the material you study. It is
also true that the position of information has some effect on retrieving information in
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the memory; remember serial position effect. Spend more time and energy by
rehearsing and memorizing difficult parts.
(x)
One way of improving recall is to occasionally change your normal routine in terms
of time of study, location and duration. You can review your study at different time of
the study e.g. if you are accustomed to study in the evening try to make review in the
morning.
Put the above suggestions into practice. There is a difference between knowing about
something and the actual skills involved. Also in addition be relaxed when studying
and retrieving from the memory. Anxiety and stress block access to memory; develop
techniques for relaxation. Above all look for more information from other sources on
how to improve your memory. How about learning metamemory i.e. knowledge on
your storage and retrieval process. It will help you know about your abilities and the
approaches you use to retrieve information from the memory.
Identify and develop cues that will help you to retrieve materials
learned.
As a teacher you should help your students to enhance their memories. What is the
point of teaching if the material presented is forgotten by your students? Bear in mind
that all students can be trained to improve their memories. The word improve
implies that students use their memories at all times, what you do is to make them use
it more effectively and efficiently. Remember that encoding, retention and retrieval
processes are equally significant in students academic performance. Studying should
all be about deliberately processing memory into LTM and retrieving it when needed.
Below are some recommendations for enhancing a students memory from different
sources:
(i) Help students to develop intrinsic motivation towards your lesson
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Remember that there are two ways of processing memory i.e. automatic processing
and effortful processing. Intrinsic motivation is both significant in these two
processes. From the beginning the student will be relaxed and motivated to process
the subject material.
(ii)
You already know that attention is critical in processing information to the LTM.
Where there is no attention, there is no memory. Sometimes it is not easy to focus on
the material being presented since there are many variables that distract attention i.e.
paying attention to other things rather than the material presented! As a teacher you
can be of help by making your lessons interesting and not boring, meaningless or too
difficult to the students.
(iv)
(v)
Once a student realizes that the material is significant to his/her life s/he will strive to
understand it, thus relating it to his/her life and consequently retrieving it relatively
easily.
(vi) Students should be encouraged to take some time to relate the new
information with material already in their memory
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This will lead to the good organization of the material in the memory easy to retrieve.
The essence here is that enough time is required for a student to deliberately connect
the new knowledge with the previous one.
(vii) Encourage students to use as many senses as possible when encoding the
material
Material stored in different forms is not easily forgotten. Also they should be
encouraged to develop elaboration strategies whereby a student personally adds more
information on what s/he is learning. Remember that elaboration cannot be done by
anybody else besides the respective student.
(viii) Urge your students to use imagery
Encourage students to form their own pictures of the material being presented. For
example, in learning geography encourage them to form pictures of location or
activity; in history give them a chance to form pictures of the sequence and settings of
the event. Imagery can be used in all the subjects and concepts.
(ix) Encourage your students to verbally describe concepts they have been
learning
In study groups each student should be encouraged to teach. The student should be
made aware that s/he is teaching others for improving his/her memory processes. In
short, it is one way of making a student active in his/her own learning. Cajoling
incorrect descriptions or the use of punishment should not be entertained when a
student is teaching.
(x)
Students should know that learning once or twice is not enough to solidify material in
the LTM. Remember that we earlier said that most of the forgetting takes place just
after learning the material for the first time. Rehearsing the material many times until
one can reproduce it perfectly several times is necessary for easy retrieval. To
minimize fading and decaying regular revision of the material should strongly be
emphasized.
(xi) Encourage students to develop their own cues and mnemonics
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Cues used when encoding are very important in retrieving learned material. Cues
developed should be those that can easily be present when retrieving the material.
Sometimes one is forced to form mnemonics when memorizing related material. It
may take time but it is worth doing it. Chunking should be encouraged since it
increases memory capacity and makes it easier to retrieve a large amount of
information. Developing cues, mnemonics and chunking make a student active rather
than passive in his/her learning.
(xii) Students should practise retrieving information
Retrieving involves some deliberate effort to search material in the LTM and transfer
it to the STM, the working memory. A student should be encouraged to construct
questions and then practise answering them. This practice will make student realize
whether s/he has learned and has the ability to retrieve it. Regular class tests should be
used by students as a mechanism for learning to retrieve material and as well as a tool
to determine academic performance.
(xiii) From Santrock (2004) we advise teachers to be aware of individual
differences in students attention skills
As we will see latter there are some exceptional children with problems on paying
attention. I think you are aware of students who are always restless. You need to
devise means of helping them to focus on learning tasks so that they can encode
information and skills.
(xiv) Motivate students to remember material by understanding rather than by
rotely memorizing it
Memorization is good in rehearsing material for STM but not efficient in retrieving
information in the LTM.
SUMMARY
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Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through the
lecture to verify your accurateness
REFERENCES
Miller, G.A. (1956). The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two:
Some Limits in Our Capacity for Processing Information.
Psychological Review, 63, 81-97.
Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic Memory: From Mind to Brain. Annual
Review of Psychology 53: 1-25.
Elliot, Stephen N., Kractochwill, Thomas R., Cook, Joan L. & Travers,
John F. (2000). Educational Psychology: Effective Teaching,
Effective Learning. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York,
USA. Chapter 7.
Santrock, John W. (2004). Educational Psychology, (2nd Edition).
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, USA. Chapter 8
LECTURE EIGHT
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how your students think and what you can do to develop and improve their thinking
skills. That we can ask these questions is an indication of having a unique ability that
is only found among humans. In our daily experiences we encounter novel situations
that pose as problems that need to be solved. We use thinking ability to solve these
problems. Solving problems is core to human development. Think of any other
creature with the ability of thinking that can do things that humans do. Thinking and
problem solving are very much a component in the learning/teaching process in the
class.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Mental images. These are visual images in the mind representing objects or
events. When asked about your worst teacher you see his/her image and
sometimes his/her actions. See is in quotation marks because you do not need
eyes to access and/or retrieve the images in the memory. What we have in the
brain are encoded visual sensations. Students use mental images when drawing
maps or performing science experiments. When planning a study tour you use
visual images in making some of the decisions.
Concepts are basic units of semantic memory organized in categories that share
common characteristics. The units can be in the form of objects, events or people.
Concepts enable us to organize complex information into a simpler form; classify
new objects into existing concepts; and to adapt behaviours to new different
situations.
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8.2.1 Reasoning
Reasoning is a logical thinking of processing information with the aim of reaching a
conclusion. Reasoning helps us to make decisions, acquire new knowledge and solve
problems. Logic i.e. the science or method of reasoning enables us to develop
solutions to the problems we face without having to rely on trial and error method
which is time consuming and inefficient in complex situations. If one wants to build a
house one will first reason on the type of house one wants to build, what materials to
use and where the house will be built before building it. In solving a mathematical
problem a student has to have stages of solving the problem before starting to write.
Just imaging making decisions without first forming possible solutions to the
problem! Sometimes it will be very dangerous and time consuming too.
Most of the reasoning in reaching a decision is done by two approaches, namely:
deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. In deductive reasoning we reason from
general or universal principles to a conclusion regarding a specific case. The general
principles are assumed to be universally true based on human experiences; and then
they are used to determine their implications on a specific situation. In solving
mathematics deductive reasoning is the one mostly applied. The best example is the
proposition that if X then Y i.e. if x occurs then it implies y. If all females are human
beings and Bahati is a female, therefore Bahati is a human being. Thick clouds are
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followed by rain, and water makes dry clothes wet. I can see dark clouds, so it is
going to rain soon and I have to collect my clothes hung outside into the house.
In inductive reasoning, one starts with several specific facts and from them one
develops a general principle. Induction is used to develop theories and laws in the
scientific fields. Remember that B. F. Skinner made several observations in the
Skinner Box to come up with the operant conditioning learning theory; and Sir.
Isaac Newtons law of gravity is based on observation that all objects fall to the
ground. Both these scientist made specific conclusions based on a number of
observations.
In our daily life we use both inductive and deductive reasoning to make decisions and
solve problems. Which one is best for reaching a conclusion depends on the
situations. However, it is worth noting that results based on deductive reasoning are
more accurate than those based on inductive reasoning. That is the reason why in
psychology most of conclusions based on observations are taken with caution when
making generalizations. One is liable to find one specific situation that does not fit the
conclusion.
I have heard many teachers encouraging students to respond by saying think hard.
The implication is that teachers also want their students to use thinking skills when
learning; they should not just transfer information into the LTM. Now let us look at
the strategies used in thinking. Remember that students and you use these skills in our
daily encounters. The aim is to be aware of them with the intention of improving
them.
The Bloom Taxonomy
Taxonomy as used by Benjamin Bloom et al. (1956) refers to a classification system
in a hierarchy. The aim of taxonomy is to provide educational objectives as related to
the level of thinking involved. The objectives are in three main sections, namely
cognitive domain (cognitive functions); affective domain (emotional response); and
psychomotor domains (motor activity that may require coordination of different parts
of the body). Education objectives as expressed in the curriculum include the three
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(ii)
Synthesis. The ability to rearrange the parts of ideas or objects into a new
whole. Sometimes existing ideas are combined to form a new idea like using
parts of Arusha Declaration and Human Rights to make a New Constitution.
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schools, such as in setting and marking of examinations; teachers mental setup of not
accepting alternative responses to their questions and punishing incorrect responses
(sometimes the responses are correct but labeled incorrect by teachers); and
curriculum demands, students are forced to give only one acceptable response. Many
textbooks in our schools, especially those geared at preparing students for national
examination have no component of engaging the reader into reflective thinking. This
leads to students being encouraged to memorize instead of being taught to develop
critical thinking.
TAKE NOTE
Open-mindedness
(iii)
Furthermore Adsit, Ed. (1997) based on special issue of Teaching of Psychology 1995
Volume 22 on critical thinking identified the following strategies of teaching critical
thinking:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
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quite simple while others are very complex. Note that we all, teachers and students
included, solve some of the problems correctly but sometimes we fail. The point is
that in this section you are only being made aware of the processes involved in
problem solving with the belief that we can develop and improve strategies of solving
problems. Problem solving means finding the best way or strategy for reaching a goal;
for example finding a cure for AIDS, raising peoples awareness of the effects of
corruption or teaching students the best strategies of solving a problem. Problem
solving is the crucial component of humans development.
Life without problems/challenges has never existed and never will. Life
without challenges is very boring!
Finding and defining the problem. Before one can embark on problem
solving one must recognize the problem. A student (or a teacher) who always
comes to school late and does not recognize this as a problem will not even
start thinking about addressing it. After recognition follows the understanding
of the problem by defining it. Sometimes teachers and students can recognize
the problem but fail to understand it. To solve the problem correctly one needs
to understand the nature and the specific facts of the problem including its
causes. According to Feldman (1999) there are three kinds of problems,
namely arrangement problems requiring group of elements reorganized or
rearranged to meet a certain criteria; problems of inducing structure whereby
one is needed to identify relationships among existing elements with the goal
of establishing new relationships; and transformation problems which consist
of changing the original state into the new goal state. Only after understanding
the problem then one can move on to the next stage.
(ii)
Problem presentation. This stage refers to the way we represent the problem
to ourselves by making it meaningful to ourselves. Problem solving is a
personal internal process and working for the solution depends on problem
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(iv)
Evaluation of the solutions. This stage involves two sub-steps. The first is to
ensure that all important factors are in the plan and each has the essence of the
problem. It also evaluates all the possible solutions by considering all the
advantages and disadvantages of each solution before the implementation of
the plan. Sometimes modification is required. The final step is to make
evaluation if the strategies used were effective in achieving the goal. Feedback
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Identify one problem you are currently facing and indicate at which
stage you are, in solving it.
Lack of motivation. Even if one has the ability and strategies to solve
problems one must be motivated to use the strategies to solve problems. I have
heard teachers telling their students, I know you can do this sum but you are
intentionally not attempting it because you are lazy or not interested!
(ii)
(iii)
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(i)
(ii)
Belief bias. This is similar to fixation but different in that we abandon logical
rules and base strategy on our own personal beliefs. This happens when we
start with a wrong premise. Can you believe that some individuals kill people
with albinism with the expectation of solving business related problems? This
strategy is based on a very wrong premise.
8.4
CREATIVITY
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(i)
(ii)
(iii) Willingness to take risk. Creative people are willing to risk in the venture that
may bring high payoffs (Sternberg and Lubart, 1996). They believe that in the
long run other people will find their ideas and inventions valuable. They have
the ability to suspend judgment when new ideas come rather than condemning
the results outright looking for what is good in outcomes that may seem bad.
8.4.32 Fostering students creativity
Although in the above paragraphs we said it is difficult to determine the causes of
creativity, it is quite possible to teach your students to be more creative than they
really are. We say more creative since students have elements of creativity that they
utilize in their normal encounters outside the classroom setting. Based on different
sources the following are strategies for fostering creativity among students:
(i)
In addition to above, Nickerson (1998) further proposes that the teacher should create
conditions that are:
(i)
Building basic skills. Basic learning skills are essential for critical thinking and
more so for creativity. These skills are fundamental in creativity since lacking
them leads to deficiency in learning processes in classroom setting.
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(ii)
(iii)
Building intrinsic motivation. Students should enjoy looking for answers for
quenching their curiosity rather than on getting external rewards. Learning
need not be based on being watched by the teacher.
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
1. Make a list of strategies you can use to make yourself more creative.
2. Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through the
lecture to verify your accurateness.
REFERENCES
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LECTURE NINE
117
In the previous lectures there is an assumption that all students are similar. Students in
one class may appear similar but we all know that there are variations in some of their
aspects. Even children of the same age differ in terms of their height, weight and
mental ability. Many students will be of average height, weight and mental abilities,
but a few of them will be in the extremes of the normal. In this lectures we focus on
students variations on some of the factors that have an influence on learning in school
namely intelligence, learning skills and personality. One individual can be of average
weight but be shorter/taller than his/her age mates.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
(ii)
Intelligence is one of the most difficult terms to define since we know that it is there
but we cannot touch it. It is safe to say that psychologists know that intelligence is a
function of the brain. Beyond that even very intelligent psychologists cannot have one
acceptable description of intelligence. It is an abstract concept that is not directly
observable and it is too broad to have one definition that encompasses all of its
aspects and be accepted by all. Intelligence is associated with, but definitely not
restricted to, problem solving skills, learning, and the ability to adapt to new
experiences.
Psychologists have been debating if intelligence is a single general ability applicable
in different situations or a variety of abilities of which each applies in a specific
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situation. So, there are different approaches in discussing the nature of intelligence. In
psychometric approach intelligence is seen as a general factor (Described by Charles
Spearman, 1863-1945) and specific
119
visual relationships in problem solving. The central point in all these perspectives of
intelligence is that it is very much involved in solving problems.
TAKE NOTE
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TAKE NOTE
There are controversial issues in regard to intelligence test. One of them is the naturenurture issue. On one side some say nature i.e. biological inheritance has more
influence on the development of intelligence than that of nurture, i.e. environmental
experiences. They believe that intelligence is determined by genetic factors and the
environment has little influence. Those on the other side claim that environmental
experiences rather than inheritance have greater influence on the development of
intelligence. Both heredity and environment contribute to intelligence and both
interact in various ways. Currently most psychologists believe that nurture has more
influence on the development of intelligence than those on the nature proclaim.
Another issue is the influence of culture and ethnicity on the students performance on
intelligence tests. This is a controversy in countries with students of different ethnicity
in their school systems such as USA. This issue is also to some degree related to the
nature-nurture controversy. When debating this issue one has to take into
consideration that intelligence tests are geared towards students in western countries,
and mostly to children raised in the middle class and living in urban areas. What we
believe is that genetic factors and environmental factors have influence on intelligence
development and as such teachers have some role to play in enhancing students
intelligence development since they are part of the environment.
TAKE NOTE
As implied by the different perspectives of intelligence and the intelligence tests, there
are variations in the level of intelligence among students and in other aspects related
to intelligence. Also in our normal encounters we observe that some of the human
behaviours and responses indicate variations in intelligence. This can be inferred from
behaviours of humans in different locations and of different cultures. Among them,
solutions are related to problem solving and creativity. Thus, we believe that there are
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students who are more intelligent or bright students while others are less intelligent or
dull. In our school system we have in one extreme students who are mentally retarded
and in the other extreme the gifted ones who will be discussed in the following
lecture. Most students in primary schools are in between these two extremes.
However, due to screening done when selecting students who proceed to secondary
schools we can safely state that students at this level are those average or above
average.
Also in one individual student we observe varying levels in abilities related to
intelligence. A student can be performing better in verbal tasks and less so in
numerical tasks or the other way round. The above imply that a teacher, in planning
and teaching, has to put into considerations the variations among students in the class
as well as ability variations in individual students intelligence.
Do you really need an IQ test to know your level of intelligence? How
will you feel if you discovered that your IQ is lower/higher than you
expected.
before deciding the correct answer. According to Santrock (2004) impulsive students
tend to do well in remembering structured information; reading comprehension and
text instructions; and in problem solving and decision making. Reflective students are
better in setting their own learning goals and in concentrating on relevant information,
and have high standard of performance. Jerome Kagan also identified analytical
styles i.e. tending to focus on details and thematic styles i.e. view the pattern as whole.
Other styles identified include deep style i.e. try to understanding the meaning of the
material by actively constructing and giving meaning to what they want to remember
and surface style i.e. passive learners and only interested to know what needs to be
learned (Marton et. al. 1984). Students who approach learning in deep style have
intrinsic motivation while those using surface style are extrinsically motivated.
Categorizing a student into a certain style does not imply s/he uses that style in all
situations. A student may use deep style in one subject and surface style in another
subject.
TAKE NOTE
(ii)
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(v)
In your class you will have students of the above personality traits. In classroom
learning interactions these types will be manifested by students, e.g. in the same
conditions some students will be anxious while others will be calm; some will be
trusting while others will be suspicious. Bear in mind that an individual does not
portray the same traits in all conditions. S/he might be anxious in one condition and
calm in a different condition. Santrock, (2004) says that the best way to characterize a
students personality is in terms of his/her traits and situation involved. As a teacher
you need to know the personalities of your students so that you understand their
reactions, avoid creating conditions that lead to negative aspects of students
personality, and be in position to encourage the reactions or help the student to cope
with the prevailing conditions.
TAKE NOTE
Easy children. These are children with a generally happy temperament, regular
biological rhythms, and readiness to accept new experiences. Most of the time
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they are cheerful, calm, eat and sleep at regular times. In school setting they are
in positive mood, adapt quickly to new experiences, routines and rules; and
accept frustrations with little fuss.
(ii)
(ii)
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(iii) Be aware of problems that can emerge by labeling a child as difficult. Some
teachers focus too much on students they believe are difficult and sometimes by
actually telling them they are difficult and expecting trouble from them. This
may lead to student believing that s/he is difficult and act in the expected
manner.
9.5 AT-RISK STUDENTS
Who are at-risk students? For some Tanzanians this might be a new term. Up to now
we have observed that there are quite a number of factors, both internal and external
to the students that lead to students poor performance. The next lecture focuses on
exceptional students needing special education. However, there are students who do
not fall into this category of needing special education since they do not have any
disability but are in danger of underperforming academically or have a high
probability of dropping out of school. Donnelly (1987) points out that, at-risk
students are students who are not experiencing success in school and are a potential
dropout. Also it includes students who are in danger of failing to complete their
education with adequate levels of academic skills (Slavin and Madden, 1989).
Students in this group come from low socioeconomic families, of parents with low
level of education, broken families, and orphans. It is now common to see street
children in our cities, hear about child labour, students engaging in petty business or
prostitution to supplement family income. Most of these students are supposed to be
in school learning but their school attendance is very low and concentration as well as
participation on school learning is minimal leading to poor performance. In many
circumstances they lag behind their fellow students in academic progress and low
expectations from teachers and society undermines their self-esteem and expectations.
In short, experiences in school for them bring negative feelings.
It is a difficult to identify students at-risk, and one should exercise caution. The
following are some of the characteristics of students at-risk from different sources:
(i)
Avoid labeling these students and be aware that some of them may be getting
inadequate diet, lack access to medical services and have limited exposure to
matters related to education. It is inappropriate to condemn these students due
to their existing conditions based on how we approach them in the teaching
processes.
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(ii)
Low grades. Low scores are indicators that a student is experiencing problems.
This can be in the form of having low scores at the beginning of the year or
scores declining as academic year progresses. They are low achievers who
exhibit low self-esteem (Donnelly, 1987). A conversation with the students may
indicate the source(s) of the low performance. The reasons are numerous and
some can be complex. However, if left unaddressed it may lead to more
problems and putting the student at risk of not participating in learning
activities.
(iii) Lack of participation in school activities. Students at-risk tend not to participate
in school activities and have minimal identification with the school (Donnelly,
1987).
(iv) Lateness or absenteeism. If a student is always late or s/he is not attending class
regularly it is an indication of a problem. Have a conversation with the student
to find out the reasons for missing classes.
(v)
(vi) Drug addiction and pregnancies. These are definite indicators of students atrisk.
(vii) Family problems. If there are problems in the family of the student they may
affect his/her attendance and performance.
(viii) Disruptive behaviour. If a student is being too disruptive in the class it is the
opportune time to seek the causes of this behaviour. One has to be careful with
these students since they can also adversely affect other students.
(ix) Disadvantaged students with low aspirations. These are students from groups in
the society that are considered as disadvantaged i.e. students whose society does
not expose them to education offered in the countrys educational system.
Disadvantaged students include those raised in nomadic tribes; girls in societies
that consider educating women as against their traditions or is a wastage of
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(iii) Continually monitor progress of your students. Situations that may lead to being
at-risk arise during student life in school. The author is aware of students losing
parents and sudden family problems like parents divorces or becoming
unemployed that affect students life and consequently putting them at-risk.
(iv) Have a positive attitude towards students at-risk. Avoid making students at-risk
feeling alienated from you and other teachers. As a teacher create an atmosphere
that make students at-risk feel at ease with you. Make them believe that you
128
have high expectations on them controlling their destiny or coping with the
problem while actively participating in school activities. The student at-risk
should be encouraged to participate in school activities.
(v)
INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION
Pace. This is the amount of time given to a student to learn the content. Time to
be spent on learning the material can either be controlled by the teacher in one
extreme or by the student in the other extreme. Most of the students in Open and
Distance learning have great control of the pace of learning.
(ii)
and
theories
that
are
appropriate
to
individual
learners
characteristics.
(iii) Content. This is the material to be learned. The materials can be uniform to all
students; however, high-achieving students can define their own objectives and
pursue learning depending on their own interests.
SUMMARY
1. Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through the
lecture to verify your accurateness
2. Go through the school curricula of your country and identify the
means
suggested
for
identifying
student
variations
and
130
LECTURE TEN
EXCEPTIONAL LEARNERS
131
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lecture we looked at individual variations among students considered
to be normal. The teacher can address these variations in normal class and within
his/her repertoire. This lecture focuses on exceptional learners. In any society there
are children who cannot function properly in normal conditions as normal children do.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
(ii)
Exceptional students include learners with disabilities and those classified as gifted
and talented. The next question is what a disability is and why gifted and talented
students are classified as exceptional students. Disability is defined as limitation on
individual functioning that restricts the individuals ability. Currently it is
acknowledged to say students with disabilities rather than disabled students. This
acknowledgement is based on the fact that the second one is on specific conditions
rather than implying the individual is disabled to function in any condition.
Another term confused with disability is handicap which is impediment imposed on a
person with disability. In many public areas in Tanzania the toilets are built without
considering the conditions of persons with physical disability, so these toilets are a
handicap to such people. It is not proper to address people with disabilities as
handicap. It is expected that the society will minimize or eliminate conditions that
make people with disabilities be handicapped.
Before categorising a student as having a disability, one has to assess the functioning
ability of the respective student before determining it as less than normal. The main
functioning
areas
assessed
are
social,
emotional,
physical,
learning
and
132
prevent a student with disability to function at the same as other normal students. A
normal teacher can observe without any special aid some of the characteristics of a
student with disability. However, only a specialist can determine the level of the
disability and provide recommendations on plan of action to help the student.
It is imperative to know that one same condition of disability is characterized at
different levels of severity. Each level has corresponding effect on the respective
student and as such requiring specific educational needs. Lamping students with
similar disability in the same category and treating them the same may lead to more
complications instead of assistance.
There are number of disabilities each with its own characteristics, each being caused
by a number of factors. Here we discuss some of them briefly starting with the
sensory disorders i.e. related to seeing and hearing:
10.2.1 Blindness and Visual Impairments
These are students who are legally blind (cant see at all) and those with mild vision
problem that has not yet being corrected or still have vision problems even with
correction. Characteristics of visual impairments including holding books very close
to eyes, difficulty in reading small prints, rubbing eyes frequently, red or inflamed
eyes, watery eyes, headaches and complaints related to vision.
As a teacher you refer such students to eye specialists for diagnosis purposes and also
for corrective measures; and most will be helped. For students with low vision sitting
in front of the class can be of help. A student determined as blind cannot access
materials needing vision and can be referred to schools which can cater for his/her
condition. Also students with good vision can read to the students with visual
impairments.
133
Be patient.
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
Face the student when talking to him/her since they need to read your lips and
gestures.
List down strategies you will use to make changes in schools in your
Monitor the speed with which you present information. Slow down and go back to
check with the student for understanding.
Recognize that the student has trouble responding orally. So consider asking the
student to do written work rather than oral report.
135
Let the student know ahead of time what question might be asked so that s/he can
have enough time to prepare an answer.
TAKE NOTE
Acknowledge the problem. Take the student aside and discuss his/her disability
and allow him/her to explain how s/he if affected by it. This will make the student
feel s/he is valued by the teacher and that you have recognized the problem. Also,
develop consistent behaviour expectations and set limits and boundaries (Watson,
2011).
136
Create a silent signal. Work out means of silently communicating with the student
so that you do not have to call him/her in front of others. Avoid confrontations and
power struggles; and establish cues as reminders for inappropriate behaviour
(Watson, 2011).
Reward frequently. To avoid making these students angry easily when corrected
reward them instead of punishing whenever possible. In developing his/her selfesteem you reward more than you punish. Also give frequent feedback and
acknowledge and reinforce acceptable behavior so that they see their efforts are
appreciated (Watson, 2011).
Communicate with parents and others teachers so that strategies are consistent at
home and school. The disruptive behaviour displayed in your class is also
displayed at home and in other classes.
Remain calm and aware of body language when addressing the student.
TAKE NOTE
137
expected, with this level of intelligence they have difficulties in learning in school
settings and are unlikely to be selected for secondary school education. Also included
in this group are students with deficit in adaptive behaviours that are indicative of
problem with mental functioning. They cannot conduct things that normal students
take for granted i.e. they have difficulty in such simple things like dressing, feeding
and self control.
Mental retardation is classified into four categories, namely:
(i)
(ii)
Always keep in mind the childs level of mental functioning. Their performance in
academic matters is below that of normal students in the class.
Put into consideration students other needs, and help him/her in improving selfmaintenance and social skills.
138
139
Teachers may use the following strategies that are considered successful for teaching
students with learning disabilities:
When preparing lesson put into consideration the needs of a student with LD. S/he
will need more time to complete assignments and other tasks.
140
Break learning into small steps. Make modifications when teaching to encourage
self-confidence and success.
When introducing new concept, first discuss what they know related to the
concept and then introduce it.
Marching to their own drummer. They learn in qualitatively different way from
other students. They are creative by being independent thinkers; and exhibit
original thinking in oral and written expressions; creates/invents and formulate
abstracts. They learn rapidly without much assistance from teachers and parents.
141
Although students who are gifted have an advantage over their classmates, in normal
classroom setting this can be very challenging to themselves and to teachers too. To
beginning with the above characteristics of gifted do not fit into lesson preparations
geared towards normal students since they comprehend school material quite rapidly.
So they spend less time than peers and this can lead to problems to themselves and to
the rest of class. According to Peterson and Medaris (2006) gifted students find it
difficult to fit in with schoolmates; and pressures from others can have a significant
negative impact on their emotional development. In short normal class setup is not
conducive for gifted students learning capabilities.
Teachers with students who are gifted/talent are advised to use the following
strategies in teaching:
Enrichment. Since they take less time to cover school material modify
assignments provided to regular class by giving them extra work at an advanced
level.
Self-pacing methods. Use flexible practices that allow students to advance at their
own pace.
?
10.3
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Some students with disabilities need special education services since they face
challenges with learning in normal classroom settings. As already noted some students
have communication challenges, others have behavioural disorders, physical
disorders, mental retardation or learning disabilities. In order for a student with
disability to get the same education as normal student s/he might need individualized
teaching procedures, equipment and materials adapted to his/her respective needs,
142
rearranging learning setting for easier access, and if need be, be placed in special
environment. Special education refers to education of students with disabilities that
addresses their special needs and taking into account each students individual
differences and needs.
To be categorised for special education the first thing to do is to diagnise the disability
in order to determine the students weakness and strengths in learning. Students
needing special education have different needs, even if they have the same type of
disability the level of the disability varies among them. After diagnosis the teacher
makes intervention by modifying his/her teaching processes and assesses the response
of the respective student. If the response is not effective there might be a need to refer
the student for special education. Special programme identified for the student should
be tailored to address the needs of the individual student and also taking into account
his/her strengths. According to Goodman (1990) special education should be
individualized so that it addresses the unique combinations of needs in a given
student.
TAKE NOTE
There are different approaches and institutions offering special education to students
with special needs, especially in developed countries. Each approach has it merits and
limitations and none is perfect. In deciding which approach is appropriate for a
student with special need on has to consider the nature of the disability. Some
disabilities, such as conduct disorder can necessitate the respective student to be
excluded from class. You have to identify institutions available in your country and
learn more about special education in course offered by the Faculty of Education.
Here we identify some of the approaches:
Mainstreaming. In this approach, part of the day students with special needs are
educated in regular classes with non-disabled student and in other time segregated
in separate special classes for students with special needs.
143
Inclusion. Students with disabilities and with a need of special education spend
most of their time in a normal school with students who do not have special
education needs. Such schools make modifications to cater for the needs of special
education and also have resource rooms with specialized equipment for more
intensive instruction secessions. Schools practicing inclusive approach need to
have regular teachers trained in planning, and offering support to students with
special needs. Inclusive approach taking into consideration the needs of normal
students by sometimes segregating students with need of special education e.g.
special room for students with hearing disability to minimize disruption.
Elliot et al., (2000) suggests the following guidelines for including students with
special needs in regular classes:
Students should be able to function socially in the regular class and profit from the
appropriate behaviour of classmates.
The physical setting of the classroom should not interfere with the student
functioning.
The classroom teacher should have adequate support to serve the needs of all
children placed in the classroom.
Instructional strategies for students with special needs in inclusive setting can be
classified as either being accommodation or modification. An accommodation
approach refers to providing the same material to all students in the class but changing
the delivery mode so that students with disabilities can access the material ( Pepper,
2007). This can be in form of providing texts with large prints or using recording
devices for students with visual impairments, listening to audio tapes, or student with
144
physical disabilities sitting in front of the class for easy movement. In modification
the material is changed to make it simpler depending on the mastery level the student
is expected to reach; sometimes the school can make modification on the way the
student is assessed e.g. during test one might read the questions to visually impaired
students (Busuttil-Reynaud and Winkley, 2007). Modification may also include skipping
some of the text, giving simplified or shorter assignments, providing extra aids and/or
providing extra time to complete learning task. In some circumstances the school
might provide both modification and accommodation to some students.
Exclusion. This refer to students with special needs but are excluded from school
and as such do not receive any instruction. In some communities in Africa there
are parents with children with disabilities but do not want to enroll them in any
school. Also some of these students are in hospitals/institutions for children with
emotional disabilities or some of them are far away from schools with facilities
special education.
Special schools. A special school is officially designated to cater for students with
specific needs that are so severe they cannot be offered in other institutions. These
schools provide individualized education that addresses specific needs of the
students. The teachers in these schools are specifically trained to be professionals
in teaching students with severe disabilities.
SUMMARY
1.
Identify services near your location that are available for students
with special needs
2.
Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through
the lecture to verify your accurateness.
REFERENCES
145
[www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_
documents/eAssess-Glossary-Extended-v1-01.pdf
e-Assessment
international
comparison.
UK:
Ofqual's
Qualifications
and
146
LECTURE ELEVEN
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
11.1
INTRODUCTION
To be effective a teacher has to make decisions that will facilitate effective student
learning. The decisions depend on a number of factors; some have already been
discussed in the previous lectures e.g. age, mental ability, and appropriate teaching
strategies based on the condition of individual student in the class. In this lecture we
take an overview on assessment of learning in the classroom context. Details of
concepts described here are available in detail in the Test and Measurements Course.
Assessment is part and parcel of instruction.
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
147
objectives of the curriculum have been realised. The information obtained indicates
success and failures that form the bases of improving the curriculum.
11.3 WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
It is not that easy to differentiate evaluation and assessment. Sometimes these two
terms are used interchangeably. However, for most educationists evaluation is broader
than assessment since it is used to make judgment on the merit of something.
Assessment is part of evaluation. Assessment in education is the process of gathering
information about a students abilities or behaviour for the purposes of making
decisions on the student (Elliot, et al. 2000). The definition has three main points i.e.
assessment is not one off act but rather a process of gathering information about the
student. As a teacher you have to know the student well before you determine your
plan of action. Wrong information or personal biases can have detrimental effect on
students performance and undermine effective teaching e.g. labeling a student as
mentally retarded while s/he is a student at-risk. The second point is, assessment in
school setting mainly focuses on students abilities and behaviour as related to
education matters and learning. The third point, assessment has an objective of
making decision on the student. We do not assess just for the sake of assessing. Some
of the feedback may validate the strategies that are successful and identify those
needing to be improved. Teachers use the information gathered (feedback) to make
decisions that have positive effect on the student and the society.
Assessment is an integral part of the teaching process. Before preparing instruction for
your class you need to know your students in terms of their abilities, background and
previous academic performance i.e. pre-instruction assessment. My tutor used to tell
us that before preparing a lesson, as teachers, we need to have answers for the
following questions: Who am I going to teach? What material am I going to present?
How am I going to present the material? After having the information on these
questions the teacher can embark on preparing a lesson. Results based on assessments
of the student and the learning materials determine the instruction part of teaching.
A teacher is continuously making assessment during instruction i.e. formative
assessment. The aim is to assess activities of the ongoing teaching so as to improve
the processes of teaching and learning. Formative assessment is generally not graded.
Assessment during instruction is done through observing students faces and reactions
148
when they are listening; listening to students answers and questions or lack of
questions/answers. Information gathered during teaching indicates the progress of
students in understanding the material and if need be make some modification to
facilitate learning. It is ineffective to wait till the end to make assessment.
After the instruction is completed a teacher has to determine the performance of the
students in regard to the objective of the lesson i.e. summative assessment. These are
activities to find out the level of performance of students against the objectives of the
curriculum. Normally this assessment is done at the middle of the term/semester;
and/or at the end of semester; and/or at the end of academic year. Summative
assessments are generally graded. Thus an effective teacher is constantly making
assessment in all processes of teaching. Assessment is used to set learning goals, as
strategy for reaching the goals and as mechanism for determining if the goals have
been achieved. A teacher lacking assessment skills or not using assessment in the
teaching processes cannot be called a teacher.
Assessments have other functions more than just for making decisions. Assessments
are used as diagnosis tools for determining students with learning problems. Parents
and other stake holders use results of assessment to know the performance of students
and consequently use it in regard to their specific needs e.g. selecting students for the
next level in the academic ladder or for recommending them for specific professions.
Also, assessments make students active in learning by engaging in answering
questions, and as a mechanism for motivating students to learn (both extrinsically and
intrinsically). Some students study because they know the significance of assessment
in determining their future life, while others just want to have good performance
based on assessment. However, assessment can cause anxiety among students and
undermining their performance.
TAKE NOTE
149
and the performance criteria i.e. level of performance acceptable to demonstrate that
student has learned.
Educational objectives include expected learner outcomes (ELOs). Normally, ELOs
are established by official institutions and are intended to facilitate communication
between the school and parents; and between school and responsible organs of the
education system of the society. Learning outcomes are derived from needs
assessments that indicate the gap that exists between the students existing conditions
and the desired state. ELOs consist of objectives that can empirically assess students
level of performance in cognitive and behavioural aspects of the curriculum i.e.
knowledge, skills and/or attitudes a student has to demonstrate as a result of
instruction. ELOs have the following three specific characteristics: the specific actions
of the learners must be observed; the actions must be measured; and the specific
actions must be done by the student. So, in making preparations the learners outcomes
make the teacher to focus on the students behaviour that is going to change; serve as
guidelines for content, instruction, and evaluation; to be specific on what should be
learned; and to convey to learners exactly what is to be accomplished. To achieve the
above, ELOs statements have to avoid unclear verbs (know, become aware of,
appreciate, learn, understand, become familiar with, like) and rather use active verbs
that clearly indicate what the student will do (state, show, explain, define, describe,
predict, recognize and criticize).
Go though the school curriculum and analyse the objectives and ELOs.
151
must be connected as they lead to the general objective. The relationship can be in
form of:
Iteration, the sequence of the task is repeated until a certain level of performance
is achieved.
Selection, there are some tasks that require some inputs in form of making
selection among several choices. The student has to make correct choice to realize
the objective of the task.
(ii)
Define and describe in detail the tasks and the subtasks that the student will
perform.
(iii) Specify the knowledge type (declarative, structural, and procedural knowledge)
that characterizes the task.
(iv) Select learning outcomes that are appropriate for instructional development.
(v)
Performance analysis.
Learning analysis.
Activity analysis.
152
Thus, in instructional preparation the teacher indicates these sub-tasks and their
respective objectives. Citing several sources Santrock (2004) points out that in
making analysis a teacher can proceed in the following steps:
Determine what skills or concepts the student needs to have to learn the task.
List any materials that will be required in order to perform the tasks.
List all the components of the task in order in which they must be performed.
Knowledge level
This is the lowest level in which the objective is to determine if a student has acquired
specific information in the lesson. Knowledge can be in form of specifics, knowledge
of ways and means of dealing with specifics, and knowledge of the universals and
abstractions in a field. The assessment is on the ability of the student to remember
information. The questions that are commonly used in assessing include words like
tell, list, label, give definition, name, recall, state, write, record and outline.
153
(ii)
Comprehension level
This level is achieved after mastering the previous level by giving meaning to the
information. Instead of just recalling, the student processes the gained knowledge in
terms of interpreting the facts to show degree of understanding. Comprehension
includes translation, interpretation, and extrapolation. The student can give
explanation in his/her own words. Questions for assessment in this level use describe,
contrast, discuss, formulate, interpret, summarize, classify, rewrite, measure and
predict.
(iii) Application
Application implies a student using knowledge and principles gained in concrete
situations that s/he encounters in real life e.g. solving problems. A student may boil
drinking water to avoid water borne diseases.
interpreted inaccurately. For example asking, Demonstrate how you will apply the
Blooms taxonomy as a teacher. If you narrate what has been described in this course
you are only recalling information (knowledge level) rather than application of
knowledge. Application in this regard, involves having a lesson plan based on the
taxonomy and mechanism of assessing the objectives. Words of assessment used for
this level include apply, solve, demonstrate, change, compute, manipulate, use,
employ, modify, predict, produce, relate, assess, operate, verify and illustrate.
(iv) Analysis
A student goes beyond application by breaking down the knowledge into parts, seeing
its patterns and relating the information into new information. Question related to
analysis use words like analyze, explain, investigate, evaluate, break down,
differentiate, diagnose, categorize, question and infer.
(v)
Synthesis
With synthesis student uses gained information to form new knowledge, putting parts
together into a whole, create new theories and make predictions. In this level the
student creates something new that did not exist before integration. Synthesis
questions include words like invent, imagine, create, organize, plan, formulate,
account for, alter, argue, derive, revise, suggest, prepare, design, propose, relate,
arrange, modify, construct and compose.
154
(vi) Evaluation
This is the highest level of Blooms hierarchy. In evaluation a student is required to
assess previously learned knowledge against a designated standard and make a sound
conclusion or judgment. Questions use words like judge, select, debate, discriminate,
invent, appraise, value, question, determine, assess, evaluate, conclude, criticize,
contrast and recommend.
TAKE NOTE
Some of the words used in the level of synthesis also apply to activities
giving evidence of creativity. In the list of activities of creativity add
originate, begin, initiate, devise, generate and engender.
11.6.2 The affective domain
Affective domain includes the manner in which students deal with things emotionally,
such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasm, motivation and attitudes
(Krathwohl et al. 1973). The affective domain is significant in teaching since students
attitudes towards learning and the subject, and motivation to learn have a bearing in
their academic performance (think of the poor performance of students who have
negative attitudes towards mathematics and science subjects and as a result have
rejected these subjects completely). Teachers teaching methods, nonverbal
communications, and management styles should encourage students interest in their
respective subjects.
This domain has the following five steps starting from the very basic (as described by
Krathwohl et al., 1964) showing the intensity of feelings and attitudes:
(i)
Receiving
This objective refers to a student willingly attending stimuli. The student becomes
aware of attitudes and a value determined in the instruction, and selectively and
actively attends specific experiences. Examples of learning objects include: to
differentiate to accept, to listen for, and to respond to.
(ii)
Responding
155
Value characterization
This occurs when a value becomes a way of life of the student e.g. a student
increasingly values the history course as part of his/her professional development in
law. Examples include: to revise, to require, being rated high in value, to avoid,
resisting, to manage, and to resolve.
16.6.3 The Psychomotor Domain
This domain includes physical movements, and use of the motor skills (Simpson,
1972). The developments of these skills depend on practice and are assessed in terms
of speed, duration, precision, distance, procedures or techniques in execution
(accessed from www.nwlink.com 2007). Examples of courses in our schools
demanding
psychomotor
activities
include
handwriting,
reading,
fine
art,
Reflex movements
156
Responding to stimuli by movements that are involuntary i.e. actions not under the
control of the individual. They include blinking the eyes.
(ii)
Basic fundamentals
Students make basic voluntary movements that are directed towards a particular
object. Examples include switching a switch correctly or holding an object
appropriately. The key here is student being capable of correctly making movements
on things considered basic in normal life.
(iii) Perceptual abilities
Students are capable of using sensory cues to guide motor activity. They may use
seeing, touching or/and touching to guide their skills e.g. properly adjusting a science
equipment as a result of directions from the teacher; or in domestic science course a
student adjusting heat of the cooker based on the smell of the food being prepared.
The sensory stimulation is used as a cue to act. Words used in this level include a
student: chooses, describes, detects, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates,
relates, and selects.
(iv)
Physical abilities
Skilled movements
Students perform complex physical skills with degree of proficiency. The overt
response of the student indicates skillful performance of motor acts that involve
complex movement patterns. The initial stages of learning may include imitation and
by following instructions leading to habitual movements performed with some
confidence and proficiency. Performance is achieved by practice. Examples of this
level include effectively making a sketch.
(vi) Non-discussive behaviours
Students communicate feelings and emotions through body actions. Student may use
body movements in dancing or drama to express certain emotions. Words used to
157
Based on tests used in your country determine which ones are norm
referenced tests, are criterion referenced tests.
160
Provide information on students progress. They indicate areas where the student
is proficient in or weak at; and determine if one can graduate or not. Graduation
leads to getting a certificate that is recognized nationally.
Provide information for planning and improving instructions. Results are used by
the nation as a mechanism for determining quality of education in its institutions
and where necessary make changes on the way material is presented.
In some circumstances standardized tests have legal basis that apply in specific
country(ies) and recognized by several institutions (in respective country or/and other
countries). A good example is the examinations of The National Examinations
Council of Tanzania administered at several levels of Tanzanian education system. As
you are aware these kinds of tests are widely used (whole of Tanzania), meant for
students at the same educational level; have the same level of difficulty and in same
format; administered at the same time (at a particular day and hour) and in predescribed conditions. Depending on the examination body the test can be
administered by the class instructor or by another authorized person. The results can
161
be used to compare the performance of the student with others covered by the
examination body. In many countries the standardized tests are used to manage quality
of education and institutions.
In some countries like Tanzania it is compulsory for all students at a given level to
take the recognized standardized test (there are no options for these tests!). Normally
the results are crucial in students life. Results determine who graduates and/or
whether one to progress or not to progress to the next level in the academic ladder.
The significance of these tests can be measured in terms of the amount of national and
parental resources devoted to preparing students for the tests; anxious moments
waiting for the tests to commence; reactions of the way they are administered; another
anxious moments waiting for the results; and finally the individual and public
reactions when the results are released.
TAKE NOTE
test does not imply that they are failures, or that failing any test is the
end of the world. There is life after failing a test.
162
A course has objectives that are achieved through a number of topics which are
further divided into several lessons, each having its own specific objectives. In
realizing the objectives of the course there is classroom teaching, use of textbooks,
references materials, practical work and other relevant learning activities. All these
approaches of teaching/learning form part of learning at different levels of the
Blooms cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.
The process of developing a test varies based on the objectives and significance of the
test, type of questions to be used, time needed to develop the test, time allocated for
students to do the test, duration of the test, time needed to derive the scores and
released to the stakeholders, class size and students proficiency in test taking.
11.9 TYPES OF TESTS
Non-standardized tests, compared to the standardized tests, are more frequently used
by teachers. As one way of assessing students learning, teachers construct tests that
are administered at different times of the academic year. In Tanzania some schools
have a policy of having tests at the end of month for all subjects. So, teachers spend a
lot of time on matters relating to test i.e. constructing tests, preparing students for the
tests, invigilating, marking the questions and grading the scores and finally giving
feedback to the students; other stakeholders and to the teacher himself/herself.
There are several formats used to develop tests and each has its merits and limitations.
The developer decides which format to use depending on the objectives of the
assessment. One test may contain different formats. Below are some of the widely
used formats of tests in most schools:
(i)
In this format a student is given a number of set answers for each question in form of
statement and s/he has to choose which answer/group of answers is correct. The
statement can be a direct question, an incomplete statement, and/or in some
circumstances a student has to choose One-Best-Answer since some or all of the set
of statements is correct. The incorrect statements are known as distracters. Multiple
choice questions require little time to answer; are easy to score and grade; provide
great coverage of the material; allows a wide range of difficulty; and can be used to
163
detect students problem with certain concepts or areas of the course. In providing
feedback the student learns from the teachers description why some of the answers
are wrong and why one is correct. On the limitation side multiple questions are
difficulty to develop if one has to use meaningful distracters; a student does not have
an opportunity to demonstrate his/her level of understanding beyond the answer that is
provided; sometimes the student may guess the correct answer (hiding students lack
of understanding); and this format does not test students feelings towards learning
and the course.
(ii)
True/False questions
A question statement with binary choice is presented to a student i.e. s/he has to
indicate if the statement is true or false. A student is required to identify if the
statements, opinions, facts or definitions of concepts are correct or not correct. This
type of question can cover a wide area of material but it has the same weaknesses as
multiple choice questions and more seriously, it is susceptible to guesswork and it is
restricted to the lowest levels of taxonomy of objectives of the cognitive domain. It is
quite possible for a student passing the test by just guessing the answers.
(iii) Matching item questions
In matching item questions a student is provided with pairs of terms/characteristics
that are required to be associated. It has the same advantages as the above type of
questions and furthermore they can easily be written on the chalkboard and a student
just records the answer on sheet of paper. Its main disadvantages include restricting
itself to the lowest levels of taxonomy of objectives of the cognitive domain.
(iv) Fill-in-the-blank questions/short-answer questions
A student is provided with a question that requires a brief answer in form of a name,
phrase, word or symbol. These type of questions are easy to develop, is more
demanding cognitively than matching item questions and true/false questions, and
guessing is highly minimized. Main limitations include getting unexpected but
plausible answers.
(v)
Essay questions
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This type of question requires a student to write an answer in form of an essay to meet
certain requirements. The questions are easy to construct, demand skills of high levels
of taxonomy objectives in the cognitive domain, require demonstration of writing
skills (transferable skill which are needed in many professions and occupations), and
it is very difficult to guess the correct answer. Limitations include being time
consuming and tedious in marking and grading, getting poorly written answers since a
student does not have enough time to make corrections, subjectivity of the marker can
influence marking and grading (a teacher may give substantially different scores and
grades to different students with similar answers or to the same answer if remarked at
a different occasion), also students handwriting and spelling can influence
score/grade, and it is limited to cover only a portion of the course and may not assess
all the objectives of the course.
(vi)
Mathematical questions
Most questions in mathematics do not fall in the types of questions mentioned above;
although they were times multiple choice questions were used in Tanzanian primary
school level examinations. Maths questions require a student to solve it and score is
given based on correctness of the answer and steps used to solve the problem.
Have a discussion with teachers in your area and find out which type of
questions do they mostly use in the tests they construct. Also enquire the
reasons for their choice of questions.
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The number of test items for each goal and level of learning.
Heading.
Course title.
Subject matter
It shows what will be taught and tested. It provides the limit of subject matter that will
be covered in relation to the stated objectives. This helps in guiding the test and
focusing on the topics.
It is possible to list all learning of objects of all lessons of the course. Each objective
should be operationalised. Also should indicate the level of domain expected for each
objective.
This is based on time devoted on teaching each concept and types of materials to be
learned. Normally all concepts and materials are important however they differ in
their levels of importance and this also taken into consideration in developing the
table. Also indicate weight of mental activity relative to different levels of the
cognitive domain. The weight can be expressed in terms of the percentage (%). If the
topic has not been taught it should obvious have 0% i.e. no questions relating to this
specific topic.
As mentioned above there are several types of tests. A test can solely have short
answers or essay or combination of short answers and essays. One should indicate if
the instrument is based on one type of test or different types of tests (number of
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questions of each type of test e.g. 30% matching items, 30% multiple choice and 40%
essay).
This depends on the purpose of the test. A test designed to assess comprehension
should not have too many aspects of application while the one assessing application
should have many items assessing application. Sometimes the student is given ample
time to respond while in some occasions the aim of the test is to determine the speed
at which a student can perform a task.
SUMMARY
EXERCISES
REFERENCES
Elliot, Stephen N., Kractochwill, Thomas R., Cook, Joan L. & Travers,
John F. (2000). Educational Psychology: Effective Teaching,
Effective Learning. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York,
USA. Chapter 11 & 12
Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom, B.S. & Masia, B.B. (1973). Taxonomy of
educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goal
Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Co. Inc.
Mager, R. (1962). Preparing instructional objective. Palo Alto, Cal.
Fearon.
Messick, S. M. (1989). Validity. In R.N. Linn (Ed.), Educational
measurement (3rd Ed.). New York: Macmillan.
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Notar, C. E., Zuelke, D. N., Wilson, J.D., & Yunker, B. D. (2004). The
Table of Specifications: Insuring accountability in teacher made
tests. Journal of Instructional Psychology, June, 2004.
Santrock, John W. (2004). Educational Psychology, (2nd Edition).
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, USA. Chapter 15 & 16.
Simpson, E.J. (1972). The classification of Educational Objectives in the
Psychomotor Domain. Washington, D.C: Grypton House.
Thissen, D. & Wainer, H. (2001). Test Scoring. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
LECTURE TWELVE
Classrooms are settings of both cognitive and social activities. The students are
simultaneously demanded to understand the content while interact with others in a
given schedule. Students have to learn an appropriate way of functioning in this
situation. The teacher has to be in position to monitor all what is going on in the
classroom and at the same time facilitate learning of academic and social skills.
Many activities occur at the same time. Some students may be concentrating on
learning while another group of students are having their own discussion, one student
is looking outside the classroom, others are seeking permission to enter and a big
number looking indifferently to the instruction and whatever is happening in class.
One can never be sure about the number of activities that can take place in a
classroom at the same time.
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The school activities are supposed to be planned from the beginning of the year and
teachers always plan for their classes beforehand. However, the above identified
occurrences not only happen quickly but they were also unpredictable. Also the
teacher can be pressured to change what had been planned by school management.
Sometimes with all well preparations a teacher cannot anticipate what will happen in
the next moment.
Whatever actions occur in the classroom they happen in clear view of most students.
The students observe what the teacher is doing in terms of interacting with students
and his/her reactions to the events taking place. This situation may make a teacher
uncomfortable in the classroom. Teachers actions and emotional state form students
perceptions on the teacher and have some influence on the classroom
teaching/learning process.
Classroom life is daily influenced by what happened in the classroom on the previous
days (or a year if a cohort and with the same teacher). Students have memories and
remember how the teacher treats/mistreats students, and his/her emotional reactions to
different occurrences. They also remember what/how they (individual student) and
fellow students reacted on teachers actions. In short a classroom has got its own
personality. It is imperative for a teacher to be aware what s/he does today will have a
bearing on classroom atmosphere in the future.
Reflect on your previous classrooms and identify aspects of above
complexes. Try to cite a real life example of the each.
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?
Adding on the above complexities it is important to observe some characteristics that
are specific to the situation in schools in our country. Some of them include:
Overcrowded Classrooms
Some classrooms lack desks and as a result the teachers are not in position to observe
the whole classroom and their movement is restricted to just in front of the class.
Students who lack desks find it very difficult to engage in writing activities related to
learning. Just imaging students taking notes on their laps! The situation becomes more
complicated during assessment sessions.
Some of the rooms are exposed to outside elements such as leaking of the rain and
wind/cold due to lack of windows.
Welfare of students
Some of the students in the classroom lack adequate basic needs such as coming to
school hungry and low prospects of getting nutritious meal. Classroom atmosphere in
the afternoon may be affected in schools that do not provide lunch to students.
Based on the above observations what is the situation in schools in
your area? Discuss with respective teachers how these conditions affect
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?
12.3 CREATING A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The objective of classroom management is to have an environment that is conducive
for learning. According to Everton (retrieved 2011) classroom management includes
teacher actions to create, implement, and maintaining a learning environment within
the classroom. She further points out that everything a teacher does has implications
for classroom management including creating the setting, decorating the room,
arranging the chairs, speaking to students and handling their responses, putting routine
in place, developing rules, and communicating those rules to the students. This
implies the teacher is the significant factor in classroom management in several
interwoven aspects. Teachers have to know how to create safe (intellectually,
emotionally, and physically) and productive learning environments i.e. classroom
environment whereby all students can learn.
The classroom learning environment does not come into existence naturally but it has
to be created by the teacher. We say to create since this environment in the classroom
is a result of teachers style of management. You are aware that learning environment
of the classroom differs in relation to the respective teachers of that classroom. With
one teacher the classroom is always harmonious while with another teacher the same
classroom is in state of chaos with little learning taking place.
There are several teacher management styles and each of the systems indicating to the
students about teachers beliefs on content and learning processes. Students
perception of the teachers style of management have influence on the way they
approach learning, the content being delivered and some aspects of their personalities
in the future.
The management styles are identified in terms degree of control and level of
involvement. Baumrind (1971) and Phelan (2005) describe these management styles
as follows:
acceptable and others not acceptable. It is a relatively hard style to establish and
maintain. Students under the teacher with this style know s/he is positive, kind,
supportive, and they know when s/he serious. They trust him/her and the
classroom atmosphere has more time for academics. This style helps to produce
students who are socially competent and responsible.
The indulgent style. Under this style there are no demands of any sort on students.
Here the teacher cares more about the students emotional well-being than his/her
behaviours. The students are actively supported in their efforts to seek their own
ends at any reasonable means. The teacher is detached from the ongoing learning
activities by doing something else e.g. instead of supervising students working on
assignment in groups s/he might be marking or engaging on something else
outside the classroom. Such teachers miss important signs from students
indicating having academic or behavioural problems. This style produces students
like those under the permissive style.
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Balanced
style. As
described
in
kabbalawww.kabbalah.com/Free-Teacher
List all of your previous teachers and determine the management style
of each.
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Some aspects of teaching (the content and the way it is delivered) have a direct impact
on the learning environment in the classroom. The teacher has to make the content in
the curriculum relevant, interesting, meaningful, and/or enjoyable. Presenting a lesson
in an interesting way is a mechanism of managing the classroom since it keeps the
students in the learning process and they have little room for engaging in the other
irrelevant activities. We have already discussed on how to make pupils be motivated
to learn. In managing student academic work an effective teacher-led instruction is
free of ambiguous and vague terms; unclear sequencing; interruptions; and students
must be held accountable for their work (Kizlik, 2010). In citing several sources
Santrock (2004), for increasing academic learning time the teacher should:
Minimize transition time i.e. the time used to move from one learning activity to
the next one. If the transition between activities is too long this provides for an
opportunity for students to engage in disruptive behaviour. The teacher has to
maintain flow of instruction by develop skills of moving students smoothly from
one activity to another, both physically and cognitively.
Hold students accountable for their work and use of class time.
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(i)
(ii)
Draw up a floor plan before you actually move the desks and chairs.
Permit the teacher to observe all the students at all the times and to monitor work
and behaviour.
Frequently used area of the room and traffic lanes should be unobstructed and
easily accessible.
Students should be able to see the teacher and presentation without undue turning
and movement.
Commonly used classroom materials, e.g. books and student reference materials
should be readily available.
While good room arrangement is not a guarantee of good behaviour, poor planning
in this area can create conditions that lead to problems (Kizlik, 2010). Many
classrooms in our country have all the desks arranged in rows facing in front and the
teacher (all students facing the teacher and the chalkboard). In developed countries
this referred to as the traditional classroom setup or standard classroom
arrangement. This arrangement implies that the teacher and the lesson are centre of
learning processes. This setup is appropriate if the lesson is being presented in a
lecture mode. Although the teacher has access to any part of the room the students are
limited to communicate among themselves. In this setup the teacher arrange walk
ways for easy movements (for the teacher and students too) but the desks should not
be too far apart. In the front the teacher and his/her table should be out of way and not
blocking students view of the chalkboard or materials; and/or interfering with
learning activities taking place at the front of the classroom.
The teacher can rearrange the traditional setup to enhance instruction depending on
the size of the room, number of students in the classroom, availability and types of
desks in the classroom. In face to face style students sit facing each other; for
cooperative learning use off-set style whereby three or four students sit around
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arranged tables together (in form of a circle or squire) forming a learning group; and
for collaborative learning use seminar style where a large number of students sit in
desks arranged in U-shape, squire or circle.
12.3.3 Setting classroom rules and procedures
A classroom, like a society, needs rules and procedures to function properly. A
classroom devoid of rules becomes chaotic. So, in classroom management the teacher
has to establish and enforce rules and procedures to have an effective learning
environment. Rules focus on expected standards of behaviour while procedures
indicate the expected routine of specific activities in the classroom. The objectives of
rules and procedures are for classroom as a group to function smoothly with the aim
of achieving something. Rules and procedures pre-describe how, where, who and
when one is expected to function in the classroom. Very rarely do rules change but
procedures can and do change. To appreciate their significance in determine learning
atmosphere just imaging a school/classroom without rules and procedures where
anything goes at anytime.
Some of the rules relate to explicit behaviours such as fighting, making noise and
running in the classroom as unacceptable. Other rules relate to implicit behaviours
like when is one allowed to go out or what to do when feeling uneasy. So, in
managing the classroom the rules and procedures have to be clearly defined through
discussion with students. Rules on addressing implicit behaviours should have
specific procedures to be followed by all. For example, in many circumstances, a
student has first to raise his/her hands to draw teachers attention before asking a
question.
The process of establishing the rules and procedures starts on the first day of the
academic year. They are planned to last for the whole year. It is advisable whenever
possible to involve students in establishing the rules and procedures of the classroom.
Students sometimes do not understand the functions of having classroom rules and
subsequently do not respect them, especially adolescents (DesSpain, 1996). In
discussing the rules the students are in position to think about the need for rules in the
classroom and consequently in their lives. It has been observed that where students
were involved in establishing rules they came up with similar as those intended by the
teacher; and in some circumstances they suggest tougher ones relative to the teachers
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rules. Students are more likely to succeed when they understand the rules and have a
supportive teacher who leads by example (Savage and Savage, 2010). In the same
vein the consequences of breaking the rules and procedures should be stated clearly to
the students. In the discussion on rules and procedures the students and the teacher
can make a list of consequences for breaking any of the rules.
When establishing the rules and procedures, consideration should be on cognitive
space necessary for a learning environment (Everton, Retrieved 2011). They should
facilitate learning rather than undermining creativity and motivation to learn. The
rules and procedures have to be appropriate for the level of students development.
Rules for young children cannot be appropriate for high school students learning
environment, and the vice versa. Also the rules and procedures have to revolve around
the learning activities of students in the classroom.
In addressing this concern Elliot et al., (2000) based on several sources suggest the
following steps in formulating meaningful rules for classroom activities:
(i)
Define the class activity. Specific activities require specific rules e.g. rules for
laboratory have to be different from those for theatre class.
(ii)
Santrock (2004) in citing Weinstein (1997) advances the following teaching strategies
for establishing classroom rules and procedures:
(i)
Rules and procedures should be reasonable and necessary. There must be good
reasons for having the rule. Avoid making unnecessary rules and the class
should have few rules so that students remember them.
(ii)
(iii) Rules and procedures should be consistent with instructional and learning
goals. Effective rules are those that teach students acceptable behaviours. In
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(v)
Zorigian (2009) adds that the rules should be stated in positive terms i.e.
students should know what the teacher wants them to do, not what s/he doesnt
them to do.
Planned activities. Learning activities should be paced to make sure that students
have enough activities in relation to their level of attention span and interests.
Instruction should include a variety of activities and the way they are to be
conducted.
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Attention. Some students feel that the only way they can get attention and noticed
is through misbehaving. These are students who constantly talk in the class or
make noise to draw attention. There are positive ways of getting attention but
misbehaving students draw attention by making other students and teacher
annoyed.
Power. Student in need for power argue a lot and refuse to follow rules. For them
following rules is taken as sign of weakness and admitting defeat. They feel more
power will be an answer to their problems. When as a teacher you feel threatened
by act of a student then know power seeking is behind the misbehaviour.
Revenge. In case of failure they want to regain power, attention and personal
satisfaction by being mean or violent against their fellow students or the teacher.
Sometimes revenge is expressed by writing in prohibited places, through
vandalism or/and beating other students.
Self-confidence. Students who lack confidence believe that they do not have the
ability to function in the classroom and as thus expect to fail. However, you find
that they have self-confidence in activities not connected to instruction. Such
students escape participating in classroom learning by engaging in play or other
disruptive acts. Teachers feel angry about this type of student since the teachers
are aware that the student is capable of participating in learning but decide to opt
out. Such students are very frustrating when encouraged to learn.
Feeling inadequate. Students who feel are bad, act bad. They rarely try new things
but rather engage in bragging, boasting or fighting. They believe they are
unpopular and cruel and as a result mistreat other students.
Boredom. Linsin (2009) pointed out that boredom is one of the leading causes of
misbehavior in the classroom. Some teachers present material in very small pace
and in monotonous tone that can make a student to sleep. Boredom makes a
student to engage in acts of misbehaviour like playing silly games and chatting
with other bored students.
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If one cannot control his/her class s/he does not fit to be a teacher
As implied in the previous sections of this lecture teaching style determines how the
teacher controls the classroom. According to Savage and Savage (2010) in the long
run it is better if a teacher empowers students and enables them to learn and gain selfcontrol and develop their own characters, since both the teacher and students gain. So,
effective classroom management begins with teaching students how to control
themselves. Also you have already realized the significance of establishing classroom
rules and procedures classroom management. Most of your control will relate to them.
Now we look at other significant components related to classroom control.
Effective teachers behaviour is very significant in classroom control. Teachers
behaviour is a concept that is very broad and also complex to describe. Here we only
explain it in segments for easy understanding and also as means of teachers
developing aspects of behaviors and characteristics that are effective in classroom
control. The list of effective behaviours identified here is not exhaustive in any
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measure. However, you should bear in mind that anything you do (or you do not do)
and how you are perceived as a teacher by your students has a bearing on how you
control the classroom and consequently the learning environment (either positively or
negatively). Also be aware that effective behaviour can be developed by the individual
teacher as s/he progresses in his/her professional development.
TAKE NOTE
There are several things a teacher can do to establish positive environment before
entering the classroom. The first is the teacher believing that s/he has the capability to
have a complete effective classroom control. One must have self-confidence in
handling students and eventualities in the classroom. Also s/he must have more
proactive approach to classroom management by establishing clear rules,
expectations, and consequences to make improvements in academics and increased
instructional time (Zorigian, 2009). We have already discussed rules and procedures;
now let us look at teachers expectations and other aspects as related to teachers and
classroom control.
Teachers expectations should be clear to all students in the classroom. They need to
know from the first encounter the behaviour that you as their teacher expect of them.
McKinney (2011) strongly suggests discussing the norms and expectations on the first
day; telling students you expect them to act appropriately. The students should fully
be aware that the teacher expects them to be accountable for their academic
performance and actions in the classroom. Have a system in place to reinforce
expectations since it is unwise to believe that just having rules and expectation is
enough to control all students. So, clear teacher expectations from the beginning are
preventive and eliminate (or minimize) future possible problems.
Elliot et al., points out that as a teacher you should not cause any problems yourself
by:
(i)
Being unfair. Avoid being unfair by treating all students equally. Show that you
respect all your students since those feeling they are not liked are more likely to
cause you problems. Treat each with respect that you want accorded to you as a
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(iii) Being boring. You must be conversant with subject matter of your lesson and be
in position to deliver it in an interesting way.
(iv) Being hot tempered. Do not perceive all students actions as directed to you.
However, some of the students unacceptable actions may be directed to you
personally and you have to respond in a controlled manner. Savage and Savage
(2010) says a teacher has to remain calm and speak to students in a respective
way; not to act in anger or wrath, but deal with issue that occur in the classroom
with as much care and concern as possible.
Santrock (2004) in controlling the classroom effectively he suggests that:
The teacher should develop positive relationship with students. The students have
to sincerely believe that you genuinely care about them as individuals. So show
caring attitude.
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Create an environment where students care about and respect one another.
185
Attributes student success to effort and ability, implying that similar success can
be expected in the future.
Milder punishments are often as effective as more intense forms and do not
arouse as much negative emotion.
12.5
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remember that some of the minor misbehaviors are caused by teachers themselves by
boring the students or having the transition between activities being too long. The
control procedures for minor issues include:
Act to stop the appropriate behaviour so as not to interrupt the instruction activity.
Also handling it promptly keeps it from continuing and spreading to others.
Moving closer to the student misbehaving, making an eye contact and giving a
nonverbal signal to stop the disruptive behaviour.
In minor issues always try not to interfere with the flow of instruction. However, some
of the misbehaviours are quite serious needing a stronger intervention. The first thing
to do is to stop continuing with instruction whenever classroom rules are being broken
until you have the attention of the students misbehaving. In citing Everton et al (2003)
Santrock (2004) suggests the following moderate interventions:
In dealing with students who are really disruptive McKinney (2010) suggests to do the
following:
(i)
Walk over to the talkative students and conduct class standing next to them
whenever possible.
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(ii)
Stop whatever you are doing and wait as long as it takes for the students to
quiet down while you look at the disruptive students. Then begin again.
(iii)
Note who the disruptive students are and speak to them after class or ask them
to your office hours.
(iv)
Discuss the disruptive behaviour in private outside of class with some of the
non-disruptive students.
(v)
Sometimes break the students into groups for some work. Call on these and
other students to come forward and lead the discussion.
(vi)
(vii)
Spend some time in class discussing the whole situation openly and honestly
with all students. They should know that their disruptive behavior does not fit
your criteria for participation in learning and that they are being unfair to other
students.
(viii)
For students involved in very serious offences like aggression and bullying use the
school guidelines.
Behaviour modification
SUMMARY
EXERCISES
Elaborate the summary with your own words and then go through the
lecture to verify your accurateness
REFERENCES
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Baumrind,
Di.
(1971).Current
patterns
of
parental
authority.
This symbol tells you that this is an activity. An activity helps you to
find out if you have understood what you have just read in the lecture.
An activity may ask you relate what you have read real life situation, or
lead you to think about what is coming in the next paragraph.
190
This symbol tells you that the text you read is a summary of a section,
lecture or any portion of the unit.
Some activities may take the form of self-tests. Self-tests are practice
exercise which enable you to test how well you have understood the
content of a section. Make sure you try the entire question in each selftest. Be honest with yourself so that you can find out what you know
and what you dont know. The answers may be found at the end of the
unit or through reading the text.
This is the symbol which you will find beside a list of books for further
reading. You should try to obtain and read as many books as possible
in the suggested list of essential and recommended reading.
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