Learning Theorgies and Teaching Methodologies for O&M

1. Learning Theorgies and Teaching Methodologies for O&M Vol. 1 Chapter 7

2. Behavioral Learning Theory • Classical conditioning • Involves reflexive actions • Innate: Humans are born with reflexes • Most environmental stimuli are neutral therefore do not automatically elicit a reflexive response • BUT Humans may LEARN to respond reflexively in circumstances other than those biologically designed. • Conditioning can be used to change behavior

3. Desensitization • Fears and phobias can result from classical conditions. (pairing can result in maladjusted behvaiors.) • Example: bumping and jostling in the hall resulting in stomach tightening may result in anxiety, even when traveling with no one present • Deconditioning • Involves: demonstrating that the situation contains no negative consequences and • Producing in the student contradictory biological impulses Classical Conditioniong What does it mean for the Orientation and Mobility Specialist

4. Operant Conditioning • The use of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to change behavior • Reinforcement and Punishment • Reinforcer is any consequnce that strengthens or increases frequency of a behavior. • Punisher reduces a specific behavior. • SO what is a punisher for one student may be a reinforcer for another • For Example: removing a student from a classroom for misbehaving

5. Primary reinforcers: • Innate pleasurable stimuli; satisfy built in biological needs • Food • Water • Secondary reinforcers: • Conditioned Stimulus • Praise • Grades • Rewards Reinforcers Can be both positive and negative

6. The use of secondary reinforces as a means of helping students learn patterns of behavior. • Commodities • Toys, clothes, recreational materials • Fun or Interesting Activities • Music, park, games • Social Reinforcers • Praise, approval • Feedback • Useful informtionaobut performance • Token Reinforcers • Grades, certificates, actual token to exchange Secondary Reinforces and the O&M Tricks of the Trade!

7. Cognitive Learning Theory Gestalt Learning Theory Cognitive Theory • Humans have an inherant capacity for making sense out of one’s environment • Describes world in meaningful wholes rather than isolated stimuli • Motor learning: Individual goes from learning small parts of a task to performing entire task • Swimming: Person can learn the breathing, proper strikes and kicking but still sink until the gestalt (new awareness) is reached and components are integrated • Touch Technique: similarly when all the components come together it results in smooth movement • Humans build schemes of connected facts and concepts • The learning is an active pariticpant in the process of learning • Instructors need to connect new understandings and new facts to the learner’s current network of facts and concepts. • Advance organizer: initial statement or visual abouthte subject to be learned • Analogies • Insertion of questions to help student assess their own understanding • Asking students to point to a landmark

8. Social Cognitive Theory • Learners are active in the learning process AND they are conscious processors of information about themselves the their context • Learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to particular behavioral change • Behavior is directed toward specific goals • Learning gradually become sef-regulated

9. Self-Efficacy • Humans are more likely to engage in particular behaviors if they believEthey will be able to exectue those behaviors successfully • Self-Regulated Learning • To become self dircted, self-regularedlearners, students need to reach a point where they establish their own learning goals; monitor and evaluate their own behaviors toward that goal Social Cognituve Theory Continued

10. Goal setting and planning: • Articulate what the goals are and how they plan to make those happen • Attention control, self-motivation, self-monitoring: • Stay in the moment • Concentrate on details • Stay relaxed and use kinesthetic and emotional feedback • Self-instruction • Remind themselves of the appropriate actions • Self-evaluation • During and after the learning activity What does this mean for your students? Ideally we would like our students to get the level of indepdendence that they are able be actively involved in instruction through self-regulated learning. Ideally students will:

11. Memory and Information Processing • The Memory System • Memory and cognitive processing are necessary components of O&M • 3 Components of the Memory System include: • Sensory register • Short-term memory • Long-term memory

12. SENSORY REGISTER: External stimuli enters the sensory register where it is Forgotten (Sometimes that is what we want with extraneous sensory input) OR IMMEDIATELY processed…… And goes to SHORT TERM MEMORY: Storage system with limited amount of information for a LIMITED amount of time (up to 30 seconds!) and is crowded out by new information. The information is OR it must be CODED to move it to: LONG TERM MEMORY: Coding is easier with a visual….see a problem here? Long term memory is believed to be QUITE LARGE ….YIPEE! Memory is stored in three ways!

13. Types of Long Term Memory • Episodic Memory • Individuals memory of personal experiences • Impression of things seen or heard • Stored like a script for a movie: beginning, middle and end • Details of a frequent experience (i.e. being in your home) can be easily recalled • A “snippet” of information can cause a total recall (i.e. chorus to a familiar song) • Procedural Memory • Recall how to do something; especially a physical task • Stored as a kind of stimulous response pairing (cane + walking = smooth unconcious action of cane movement) • A sequence of actions that also have a beginning, middle and end • Semantic Memory • Information learned in school • NO natural beginning, middle or end • Organized into schemes (networks of connected ideas)

14. Successful Long-term Memory Storage High Salience Common Experience Vivid Sensory Imagery Multiple potential paths for making connections

15. Guided Learning vs. Discovery Learning Guided Learning Discovery Learning • Especially important for novice learners • Actively engages learner • Variation in extent to which instructor provides demonstrations and structure • Set up the task so the learner is motivated • Engage the learner to find out how well he or she has followed the lesson • Efficient when student needs to show the same behavior repeatedly, Material is presented largely in “final form” (i.e. cane skills) • Good in predictable environments • Careful structure to the learning task along with coaching and feedback Self-directed discovery of key concepts Increasing value once basic O&M skills have een consolidated Allows students to engage in the learning task at their preferred style of learning Requires instructors to provide sufficent information regarding goals of the problem solving task and directions The instructor must continue to provide an appropriate level of guidance for a productive discoery exercise.

16. GOOD COACHING • GUIDED Practice DISCOVERY Learning • GOOD COACHING • GOOD O&M INSTRUCTION