General Assumptions:

1. General Assumptions: • We learn the most when we are actively* involved in the learning process • Learning is the process of combining new information with prior knowledge • Knowledge is organized • Learning theory will not explain every occurrence • Learning theories evolve

2. Definitions of Learning • Formal: Learning involves the formation of mental representations/associations not necessarily reflected in behavior change. • Operational: Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by instruction.

3. The Cognitive/Mediated Model Behavioral S1----R----S2 Cognitive/Behavioral expectation S1----R----S2 perception

4. Components Function Receptors Sensory Register Short-term memory Long term memory Response generator Effectors Read environment Initial storage and coding Working memory Storage Decodes Act on environment

5. Attention Memory Working memory Metacognition Motivation Affect ??? Arousal, focus & Selection Storage & Recall/retrieval Conscious thought Self-regulation Attribution and expectation Feelings Executive Processes Functions

6. Some things to keep in “mind”. • These processes, components and functions can not be isolated from each other. • They only exist for us in the context of some sort of task, so they are content dependant. • Knowing about them will not always tell us how to teach or explain all failures to learn. • Our ideas about learning change.

7. Capacity view Fixed Ability Avoid weaknesses Past view Strategy view Fluid Skill Remediate weaknesses Current view Capacity vs. Strategies

8. The Danger of Attributing learning problems to the lack of capacity: • Failure to perform or progress is seen as evidence that the student has reached the ceiling of his or her ability • The belief is that there is nothing that can be done to increase the capacity so • The teacher writes the student off.

9. Within Student Desire to Learn Strategies for Learning Prior Content Knowledge Skills Self-Efficacy/helplessness External To Student Quality of Curriculum Quality of Instruction Pedagogical Knowledge Teacher’s Content Knowledge Quality of Evaluation Quality of Learning Environment Quantity of Time/Content Variables Related to Student Achievement: Alterable

10. Within Student Race Genetic Potential Gender Birth Order Disposition Health Physical Differences IQ Disability Category Personal History External To Student Family Income & Resources Family Housing Parent Years of Schooling Mobility Members of Family Family Values Peer Socio-Economic Status Family History Variables Related to Student Achievement: Unalterable

11. Key Ideas About Learning Problems • As a group learners with mild disabilities perform worse than “regular learners” on memory and attention tasks – but the same as “remedial learners.” • There are no differences among the mildly disabled on these tasks. • Results of LD studies tend to be more inconsistent. • Problems are thought to be the result of poor strategy use. • Currently available tests do not do a good job of describing the cognitive or perceptual information processing characteristics of individual kids.

12. Key Ideas About Learning Problems:Attention • Students with mild disabilities remember more of both central and incidental information as they get older. • They have a 2-3 year developmental lag in selective attention. • This shows up during the acquisition stage of learning. • They may be “overselective” meaning they focus on only one attribute of a task. • Minimizing stimuli in the environment does not help!

13. Key Ideas About Learning Problems: Memory • Recognition (knowing what is familiar) develops immediately and is stable across ages and categories of kids. • Mnemonic strategy use (e.g. rehearsal or chunking) develops with age and instruction. • Metamemory strategies develop with age and instruction. • Students with mild disabilities lag in the use of both of these categories of strategies. • Semantic (conceptual) knowledge is necessary to code, or decode, information meaningfully, e.g., to chunk or analyze. • Therefore, advanced strategy use depends on prior conceptual knowledge, much of which is academic. And this is where these kids are weak.

14. Why don’t they know how to use Strategies? • It is a Curriculum failure. • Students are uninformed or misinformed about effective strategies • They hold non-adaptive task-related beliefs • They think what they are already doing is correct (feedback doesn’t overcome practice effect).

15. Why don’t they know how? • Students lack prior knowledge of the subkills needed to use the strategy. • Classroom work often does not require advanced strategies. • The Student’s goal may not be the same as the teacher’s (task completion vs. learning).

16. Why don’t they know how? • The students think that sophisticated learning strategies require too much effort. • The strategies have not been taught to a high enough level of proficiency.

17. Given: We are limited capacity processors Implications: • We have mechanisms to protect our information processing system (e.g. selective attention & automatcity). • We must know how to break tasks into small steps and/or organize complex material in order to avoid overloading or confusing our systems.

18. Given: We must be active learners Implications: • We often need to elaborate, review and rehearse material in order to learn it (although we may be able to do these covertly). • Because elaboration comes about by combining ideas, people with limited prior knowledge often are not prepared to be active learners. • Because we must “work” to learn, the cluster of skills and dispositions we call motivation is important to maintaining a necessary level of activity.

19. Example: Teach Attention Skills Don’t make general references to attention. Tell the student what you want her to attend to: Wrong. “Pay attention to your work.” Right. “Look at this problem and notice the operation sign.”

20. Example: Teach Attention Skills • Utilize verbal mediation for task specific strategies: Teacher“Here is a shape I want you to name. How do you name shapes?” Student “First I think about these steps. Are there corners? If there are, how many? Are there sides? If so, how many and are they straight?”

21. Promote recall/retrieval Link current lessons to previous lessons. “Today we will learn more about mammals. Remember that we have already learned that mammals have hair and give birth to live young.”

22. Teach Memory Skills: Help students develop realistic ideas about their memory skills. They must be able to recognize difficult to remember material if they will be expected to select more powerful strategies to remember the material: “I want you to remember all of the elements in the human body. Will you be able to just remember them or should we devise a plan to help you remember?”

23. Learning ‘Myths’ • Myth of ‘Developmental Delay’ • Myth of Practice • Multi-sensory Instruction • Remediation of Cognitive and Perceptual Processes • Homogeneous grouping (ability, disability) • Aptitude X Treatment Interaction (Learning-styles) • Fixed Ability/Capacity

24. Constructivism The processes of active involvement and combining old and newinformation to construct new learnings lead to the idea of “constructivism”.

25. • Romantic • Fuzzy • Postmodernist • Unrealistic VS. • Reductionism • Drill-and-kill • Dogmatic • Unauthentic Dueling Paradigms

26. Constructivist Student Centered Generative Developmental Top down Holistic Authentic Meaning based Teacher Directed Direct instruction Supplantive Teacher directed Mastery learning Task analytic Competency-based Effective teaching A comparison of teaching approaches

27. Constructivist When learning is contextualized, students will identify what they are ready to learn and what they need to learn. Learning is “socially constructed”. Students link new information to prior knowledge when provided opportunities to observe or experience. Learning is developmental and occurs “naturally” in much the way early language is acquired. Teacher Directed Educators can identify the skills and knowledge that students need to learn. Teachers are an important part of the environment and learning can be promoted through instruction. Learning can be facilitated by using sound instructional strategies and it should not be delayed while waiting for students to “develop” or mature. A comparison of teaching approaches

28. Constructivist Teachers take a “hands-off” approach and seek to provide a meaningful context in which important learnings will occur naturally. Teacher Directed Teachers take a “hands-on” approach by structuring lessons and providing explicit direction to guide students to important outcomes. A comparison of teaching approaches

29. How do you decide which approach to use? Look at the characteristics of: • The student • The task being taught • The learning context