Student-Centered and Constructivist Approaches to Instruction

Question 1

In student-centered learning there are three key components required. These include how learning is viewed, as well as where the learner is ‘situated’. What are the three components?

Answer 1

• grounded in cognitive views of learning
• places learners at the center of the learning process
• teacher as guide (on the side), rather than sage (on the stage!)

Question 2

If you are giving your learners a task and getting them to “figure out” or “discover” the formula or process, you are using ____ _____ Instruction

Answer 2

Top Down

Question 3

What are four key principles for student-centered learning?

Answer 3

1. Social Learning- social nature of learning.
2. Zone of Proximal Development- students are engaged in tasks that they could not do alone but can do with the assistance of peers or adults
3. Cognitive Apprenticeship- learner gradually acquires expertise through interaction with an expert (adult or peer)
4. Mediated Learning – Scaffolding

Question 4

According to the APA, learners actively seek out knowledge by:

Answer 4

• Reinterpreting information and experience for themselves (rather than being told what to think or do).
• Being self-motivated by the quest for knowledge rather than being motivated by grades or other rewards.
• Working with others to socially construct meaning (not all alone on a worksheet!).
• Being aware of their own learning strategies and capable of applying them to new problems or circumstances, rather than always needing to ask for help.

Question 5

What is reciprocal teaching, and what types of learners does it help the most?

Answer 5

An approach that allows the learners to build within a teacher-scaffolded procedure. This approach was designed primarily to help low achievers in elementary and middle school with reading comprehension, but works with students of all ages, and is especially effective with students with learning disabilities.

Question 6

Reciprocal teaching employs four unique cognitive strategies, usually in a particular order (which can then become flexible). What are they?

Answer 6

• Questioning
• Summarizing
• Clarifying
• Predicting

Question 7

Reciprocal teaching is always teacher-led. (T/F)

Answer 7

False. Initially, teachers take the primary role in modeling the instructions to the students. Then they ask students to demonstrate the strategies, giving them support as they learn them.

The purpose of reciprocal teaching is to get all students actively involved in using the strategies.

Question 8

Cooperative Learning fosters individuality and isolation in learners. (T/F)

Answer 8

False, it is a strategy that fosters group co-operation and interaction among students.

Question 9

List the 6 key features of Cooperative Learning

Answer 9

• Small groups (no more than 6 students in each group)
• There is a group goal; the goal directs the groups’ activities.
• Emphasis on social interaction
• Individual accountability: learners must depend on each other to reach the goals (positive interdependence or reciprocal interdependence)
• Equal opportunity for success
• Task specialization
• Adaptation to individual needs

Question 10

Rules for collaborating should be designed with the learners. (T/F)

Answer 10

True. The rules should focus on positive feedback, participation, and cooperation. Review the rules with the students before beginning the cooperative learning assignment.

Question 11

Before beginning a cooperative learning assignment, the teacher has several responsibilities and tasks they should have completed ahead of time. These include how groups are formed, what sort of skills you are going to practice, and knowing how you are going to assess them. List the 6 most important responsibilities according to our notes on cooperative learning.

Answer 11

• Pre-Select groups – this will avoid exclusion or the anxiety that some students feel when they are asked to choose partners.
• Introduce your students to cooperative learning with short, simple tasks. (If you begin with a large assignment, students may find it overwhelming and become frustrated.)
• Have students practice moving into and out of groups quickly.
• Give students a clear and specific task to accomplish in the groups.
• Specify the amount of time students are allowed to accomplish the task and keep it short.
• Require that students produce a product at the end of the cooperative learning activity.
• Monitor the groups while they work.

Question 12

Constructivist learning has positive impacts on self-esteem, attitudes toward school, and acceptance of children with special educational needs for children and adolescents in grades 2-12. (T/F)

Answer 12

True