Download LEARNING PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO INSTRUCTION

LEARNING PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO INSTRUCTION
EDF 6215
SUMMER, 2014
_________________________________________________________________________
Instructor: Terry Davis, Ph.D.
Telephone: 941-685-2987
E-mail:
[email protected]
_________________________________________________________________________
Course Description
Welcome to EDF3122. This section of EDF6215 is presented in a 100% online format. While I
have taught similar courses at an online university for several years, this is our first effort to
offer EDF6215 completely online at USF. If you are having difficulties navigating the course, I
encourage you to contact Kendi Judy at 359-4638, [email protected]. She is the expert on
Canvas and the structure of this course.
The purpose of this course is to connect traditional learning theories with their application in the
classroom. Schunk (2012) has structured our text so that each chapter will proceed from the theoretical to
the practical. The basic assumptions and concepts of each theory will be presented from both a theoretical
perspective as well as the application of the theory in a classroom. Each theory is explicitly related to
basic beliefs about learning. Schunk will discuss the fundamental tenets of the theory, and each chapter
will end with educational applications. It is my hope that you will adopt this strategy in the course,
working from the theoretical to the specific.
In all of the material that you submit for this course, please make a conscious effort to combine the
theoretical with the practical. I believe strongly that master educators should have a firm grounding in
what we understand to be true about human learning. You should be able to take a theoretical position and
defend it with facts and literature. However, we do not teach in a theoretical classroom. The value of a
learning theory is, in part, measured by its utility to understand human behavior and facilitate human
learning.
In the past when I have taught this class, it has been structured as a seminar and the class has worked to
develop a list of “learning nuggets” that can be used in classroom settings to increase student learning and
performance. This, obviously, is a personal thing. What one person considers as a valuable technique
might be seen by someone else as irrelevant. In everything that you turn in for this course, I am looking
for you to identify knowledge and techniques that you feel will be valuable to you in the classroom. Each
of these “nuggets” should be presented theoretically and practically. For instance, I love the Premack
Principle, which states that pairing a low frequency behavior with a high frequency behavior increases
the former. An example of this follows: You may have 30 minutes on your computer after your homework
is successfully completed. Each assignment should be useful as you solidify your understanding of the
knowledge that you want to take with you from this class. You will be asked to write your thoughts,
informally, weekly in a discussion board that will serve as a blog of your experiences with the course.
This material will be available for comment to all class members. Your final assignment will be to submit
your “nuggets”, knowledge, concepts, and insight that you have gained during this course that you will
apply in your classroom and your life.
The course has a two-fold purpose: (1) to develop basic understandings about principles of learning
derived from major psychological theories and (2) to orient students toward the application of these
learning principles to the design and delivery of instruction. In addition to familiarizing students with
theoretical frameworks and empirical findings from basic and applied research on cognition and
learning, the course will emphasize the need for systematic conceptual frameworks to guide the
translation of theoretical and empirical work in experimental settings into practical applications in
naturalistic learning environments, such as classrooms.
Required Textbook
Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Goals and Objectives
1) Define learning, identifying the two major schools of learning theorists and thought, differences
between them with respect to various issues in the study of learning, and instructional principles
common to many learning theories.
2) Discuss how the work of Wundt, Ebbinghaus, the Structuralists, and the Functionalists helped to
establish psychology as a science.
3) Define and exemplify key operant conditioning concepts: reinforcement (positive, negative),
punishment, generalization, discrimination, shaping, and Premack Principle. Explain some key
educational applications of operant principles to education.
4) Discuss some of Thorndike’s contributions to educational practice.
5) Define key terms and provide examples of Thorndike’s connectionism, Pavlov’s classical
conditioning, Watson’s behaviorism, and Guthrie’s contiguous conditioning.
6) Explain the process of learning as described by social cognitive theorists.
7) Define and exemplify three functions of modeling and discuss how features of models affect selfefficacy and learning.
8) Describe the major components of a cognitive information processing system, explaining the
major factors that influence encoding, retrieval, and forgetting.
9) Explain why conditional knowledge is important for learning, discussing variables affecting
metacognition and self-regulation.
10) Explain the major components of Gagne’s instructional theory, Carroll’s time model, mastery
learning, inquiry teaching, and the Instructional Quality Profile.
11) Describe effective teacher practices in planning and instruction, citing research supporting your
statements.
12) Describe the key features of constructivist learning environments and discuss the major
assumptions and various types of constructivism.
13) Explain the key principles of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, explaining the functions of private
speech and self-regulation.
14) Compare and contrast historical and current models of motivation.
15) Sketch a model of motivated learning and explain its major components.
16) Distinguish between general and specific skills and discuss how they work together in the
acquisition of competence.
17) Explain developmental issues relevant to learning and major perspectives on human
development.
18) Describe patterns of computer use in education, relating different patterns to different learning
theories.
Course Requirements
Grades are based on your engagement with and mastery of concepts underlying learning theory and its
application in practice. The following tasks will comprise the assessment of how well you engaged with
and mastered the material offered in the class.
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Read the required and recommended readings as they are assigned, including the Schunk
textbook. Students will be expected to read the text, prepared to discuss concepts, issues, and
trends.
Students will introduce themselves to the class writing one or two paragraphs about themselves,
their previous experience with this material, and their goals for the course.
Students will respond to weekly prompts, successfully completing a series of written tasks on
Canvas. These tasks are designed to solidify your learning of the concepts of the course.
The assignments are posted in weekly modules. Note that these assignments must contain
APA references that may be from your textbook or additional resources used to respond
to the prompt. The prompts are lengthy and contain several parts. You must respond to
each part of the prompt in order to receive credit for the assignment. Gross writing errors
will also lead to a lower grade on this assignment.
Students will complete three out of class application papers utilizing concepts presented during
the class in real-world settings.
Periodic course reflections in the form of a journal. These course reflections are also
found in a module. Given the many learning theories that exist, you are likely to find
some more appealing and plausible than others. As we explore various theories and topics
associated with learning, develop a reflection paper where you can write your thoughts
about your theoretical likes and dislikes. As you study issues, theories, and concepts that
you find particularly appealing or inadequate or incorrect, record these in your journal.
As you learn more throughout the course, you can revise your opinions, noting research
that supports your changing views.
Course Evaluation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Attendance and participation
Six-word autobiography
Out of class application projects (n = 3)
Weekly written assignments
Course reflections (n = 10)
Total
25
15
120
200
40
400
A point system will be used to establish your letter grade as follows:
A+ = 388 - 400
B+ = 355 - 366
C+ = 319 - 330
D+ = 283 - 294
F = 258 or less
A = 379 - 387
B = 343 - 354
C = 307 - 318
D = 271 - 282
A- = 367 - 378
B- = 331 - 342
C- = 295 - 306
D- = 259 - 270
Out of Class Application Paper
Students will apply three of their instructional design plans in real-world (classroom) settings. In each of
these cases, you will apply what you have studied to teach someone something. What you teach may be
academic, e.g. how to factor a polynomial, or not, e.g. how to make a collage. You will write a report of
this experience, noting how the concepts were applied, what worked, what didn’t work, and what you
have learned from the experience. Each application paper should include at least two resources in addition
to your textbook. Each student will receive valuable peer review feedback on the presentation. (120
points)
Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism can be defined as “literary theft” and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words
of a published text, or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text.
On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, or oral
sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally known to the public at
large, must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Plagiarism also
consists of passing off as one’s own, segments of the total of another person’s work. Citations must be
made within the body of the text according to APA. Canvas automatically submits all work to Turnitin, a
site that matches papers against previously digitized material. Each of your papers will automatically
show the percentage of what you have turned in that is not your own.
ADA Statement
Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with the Office of Student Disabilities Services in
order to receive special accommodations and services. Please notify the instructor during the first week
of classes if a reasonable accommodation for a disability is needed for this course. A letter from the USF
Disabilities Office must accompany this request. Additional resource information is available through the
College of Education Guide for Undergraduate Students (Pathfinder).
USF Policy on Religious Observances
All students have the right to expect that the University will reasonable accommodate their religious
observances, practices, and beliefs. Students are expected to notify the instructor in writing by the second
week of class if they intend to be absent for a class or announced examination, in accordance with this
policy.
Weekly prompt rubric
All papers submitted in this course will be scored using the following rubric:
16-20 pts
The paper…
11-15 pts
The paper…
10 pts or less
The paper
is of appropriate length
is of less than appropriate length
is of less than appropriate length
deals with subject matter from
each day’s readings, in one’s
own words.
may deal with subject matter
from each day but is not
expressed in one’s own words
may deal with subject matter
from each day but is not
expressed in one’s own words
connects the reading to some
aspect of the student’s
experience in a profound way.
may connect the reading to
experience but in a surface way.
may connect the reading to
experience but in a surface way.
may not pose questions that
arise from the reading.
may not pose questions that
arise from the reading.
is written well in terms of
grammar and expression and is
organized well. Generally
follows APA format.
is not written well in terms of
grammar and expression and/or
is not organized well. Does not
follow APA format.
poses questions that arise from
the reading.
is written well in terms of
grammar and expression and is
organized well. Follows APA
format.
Tentative Schedule
Date
Topic
Assignments Due
May 12
Chapter 1: Introduction to
of Learning
the Study
Weekly Prompt
5/15
Six-word
autobiography
5/13
May 19
Chapter 2: Neuroscience of Learning
Weekly Prompt
5/22
May 27
Chapter 3: Behaviorism
Weekly Prompt
5/29
Application
Paper
6/4
June 2
Chapter 4: Social Cognitive Theory
Weekly Prompt
6/5
Application
Paper
6/14
June 9
Chapter 5: Information Processing
Weekly Prompt
Application
Theory
6/12
June 16
Chapter 6: Constructivism
Weekly Prompt
6/19
June 23
Chapter 7: Cognitive Learning
Processes
Weekly Prompt
6/26
June 30
Chapter 8: Motivation
Weekly Prompt
7/3
July 7
Chapter 9: Self-regulation
Weekly Prompt
7/10
July 14
Chapter 10: Development
Weekly Prompt
7/17
Paper
6/24