Cognitive Psychology/Information Processing Case Study Analysis

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?

this is a great example of discovery learning. I think that the students would remember almost everything that occurred during the day they spent there. If I had been doing that experience I would have retained everything because it had context to the activity. It involved the motor skills to do, not just to think about what would have happened. There is the saying, "you learn from your mistakes", this encompasses the same thing. Having done it and performed a task the mind an retain it much easier. If a student only read it in a textbook the majority of the information was lost during sensory memory and working memory. The attention was not focused as much as the field work would accomplish.

2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?

the reenactment would cause great emotion being in a battle and actually having a mock war. This would get the adrenalin pumping and the emotions would flare. Being in the moment of war with bombs going off around you just watching it would cause emotions. The relationship between emotion and learning is in he amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions. If the emotions are already causing synaptic impulses in the brain to form the emotion, then the paths of learning have a much easier path to take through the brain into long term memory. Everything takes the path of least resistance right?

3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?

I would use Inquiry based learning in the classroom to help identify and resolve the thought provoking questions. By having a deeper thinking question to pull out the information an sink it deeper into the long term memory. Association between the two methods would create a deep learning experience.

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective.

Mr Richards provides much better instruction for the students he teaches. He demonstrates whole brain teaching. He is trying to reach as many students in his class and create a learning environment in his classroom. His test provide higher order thinking skills, which will also be retained better and more fully over long periods of time. Now if Mr. Dunkins did the same sort of instruction and added reading as homework, the students would retain the reading much better.

5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?

I would think that Mr. Dunkins' students would struggle with tests, only the analytical thinkers would do well on his tests. Mr.Richard's students would all do well because all of the bases were covered, he taught to all of his students not just the 5% of his analytical students. Not only would his test scores be good, but the standardized tests would get better as well. Emotion in learning is key to retaining information. How easy is it to get excited about reading the text day in and day out.

Brain Awareness Project

I had mentioned to you in class about how I wanted to do something on script I just learned about that in the reading this time. I have been very active in my life, I think I can make the project close to home. I want to demonstrate that in sports (golf swing maybe) we can have the general idea (script) of how to swing the club or maybe that we know what to do with the ball, however, I am thinking about going in that route by demonstrating script in some way that would make everyone feel embarrassed. Let me know what you think I could use a push to help me come up with some creativity. I'm a man I have none to begin with.

Special Needs Case Study Analysis

1. What classic symptoms of a learning disability does Nathan exhibit?

well we can see that when he was younger he had been diagnosed with some case of ADD or ADHD. He was showing some symptoms of it still as he was acting like he was somewhere he was not or he had thought he had done some things an actually did not. I am also wondering if he was a little bit gifted and did not feel like the work was really important to him to hand in. I think I would diagnose him with a combination of ADD and being talented, but without really understanding that he is gifted in a way.

2. What accommodations has Nathan received in the past?

Nathan had not received much attention other than medication. It seemed to me that the parents believed the medication would take it's toll and he would just get better. The father went as far as to say that he did it too. He made no inference that it was something much more severe in Nathan than what he had. It probably wasn't even the same thing at all. They just think he is fine and that he needs to put forth more effort. In school he was placed in a Resource Room to secure better study habits, but the medication was what saved the teacher then.

3. What strategies would you recommend to help Nathan work with his learning disability? Why?

I didn't see the need to put him in resource because he is learning the information in class. Nathans problem exists with turning the work in, he actually does the work when he is assigned it. I would show some interest in his work and ask to see the problems he was able to do the night before. It is obvious that he is distracted in some way so I would try and incorporate some activities that would keep his mind on task. I would also implement methods of self talk to help him remember to turn in assignments and stay on task during the test. I could try and place him in a different testing environment. Principles of reinforcement are definatly needed for him to stay on task.

4. How many students like Nathan will you likely have in your classes? Justify your response by summarizing the information from a link or reference (include the link/reference).

I know the answer is going to be a great number more than i could ever imagine. I see a trend happening with ADD and ADHD in schools. I don't know if it is being over diagnosed or perhaps it was never diagnosed before hand. I would say at leas 1 out of 4 but let me see how close I really was. There may be deficits in attention and impulse control without hyperactivity being present. In fact, recent studies indicate that as many as 40% of the ADHD kids may not be hyperactive. http://newideas.net/adhd/child/adhd-in-school So what I learned is that students may have ADHD but show no signs of hyperactivity, so what I said is correct. A student may not show it but more than 10% of children show signs of Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

Course Contract Review #2

What are you doing well?

I believe I am doing well in many different aspects of the course and it's requirements. I have made a special effort to learn what I can in class, this means I need to be to class on time and get all the information there that I can. I have learned that I am a kinesthetic learner so the information we learn with the interactive activities have been great for whole brain learning. I understand what is being taught in the classroom, and I enjoy what is being taught. I really believe that my motivation is an intrinsic motivation because I can see myself learning what I need to learn to be a teacher. I really don't need to self motivate anymore, it all seems to come naturally to me now that my goals are set. Motivation was the hard thing for me to do. I would wait and wait and then do a tear up job, hoping I would still be able to get a good grade. I see feel myself learning the content of my classes much better, and I feel I don't put it all on the back burner and wait until the last minute to remember an assignment. I think about the assignment all week and get it done.

What are you not doing well?

The class seems to interest me a lot and I seem to get a lot out of the class time. I know I had said that I would make more of an effort to be self motivated. I don't know if I was the one who made the motivation easier or if it just happened because I am enjoying the class. I feel I am learning the material, and I feel like I have been trying to incorporate some of the study habits we have talked about to ensure better retention. I try not to study when I am tired, and I make sure I am reading and understanding what I read in the chapters. I did really badly on the last test we had, I felt like I understood all the content in the chapters and the information in class felt clear to me. When I sat down to take the test I felt everything leave my head. The testing center is difficult for me not to lose it, so the test turned out horrible. I don't usually lose it as badly as the last one though, I can not remember some things usually not all of it leaving my head as I sat down. I guess I am studying the wrong way to retain the information and I guess I am experiencing bad anxiety. I really need some help to be able to retain the information. I don't think I am doing anything else wrong other than retention and long term memory focus.

Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

Here I am talking about how badly I did on the exam and I have failed to realize that I am fulfilling all of the goals I have set for myself. I said I was going to become more motivated; which just happened I don't know what I did to make that happen. I set a goal to use better study habits, I think I have tried to do what I said I was going to do. I feel I have made progress.

List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I don't think I need to change anything having to do with my goals, however I do need to take more time to reflect and more time to review the work that I do. I will need to take more time to study and hope it stays there for the tests. I think after having done so poorly on the test I will have to make a greater effort to stay motivated. I need to stay intrinsically motivated and not think about the here and now. I know what my long term goals are and I need to fulfill those.

How is your motivation? Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? Does anything need to change?

I think I have answered this question many times throughout the blog, but I will try to expound. I get down really easily when I do poorly and my motivation seems to slip a little. This is the reason I need to make an effort and keep my eyes on the main goal. I have performance goals set so I am working toward those, I have to remind myself that one test will not affect that goal. I am learning and I will be a good teacher some day that is my main goal right now, but I also can't have to much anxiety trying to perform and reach that goal.

Social and Moral Development Case Study

1. The second paragraph lists a number of strategies that Ms. Knowles and Ms. Brophy have tried to teach social skills. Which one do you think might be most effective and why?

Even though a child leaves the 1st state of Erickson's model, there is always a need to be trusted. These students are young and need to be trusted by others around them. If a child feels self-worth it can be easier to trust others. In this case the teachers are trying to engage the children in Social Development, they are giving tasks to help the children interact between the environment and emotions, even if some children's emotional growth is stunted. This is why asking those children who are more advanced socially will ask a less advanced child to play. This activity only strengthens both parties being discussed. The more socially apt child is going to have a great Sense of Self and will not be uncomfortable asking the other student to play. If the opposite were to happen, the Self-Worth of the first child would inhibit social interaction, he or she would not feel comfortable in asking the other child to play. Having the psychosocially developed ask would help the other in turn develop just by the interaction between the two children socially.

2. The teachers occasionally use storybooks to promote discussions about social skills and making friends. How might children's literature also help them resolve one of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development?

A child has the ability to be shamed very easily due to the lifestyle he or she lives. Each child has a different temperament that affects the way they engage social interaction. Using children's literature a child can learn that characters in the story had to confront a situation and how that character learned and developed from the situation, they can bring imagination into play to aid in problem solving. In hearing the story and seeing the story develop a child will develop schema, schema will eventually aid in social development at a later time as they are confronted with a similar situation in real life. This could all be summed up with Marcia's Theory of Identity Development, it is an identity achievement when the child takes on the commitment to explore the realistic option and choose to pursue it. It could have all started from hearing a story when he or she was in the first years of school.

3. How might children's literature help them develop moral reasoning?


So many children's books have a moral to the story. Think for example: Where the Wild Things Are, A child is mad at his mother so he hides from her in the closet. He falls a sleep and goes to a land where he sees monsters and interact with them in a fairytale land. The Moral of the story is, Mom knows what is the correct thing to do and children should follow what parents tell them to do, even if it is something the child does not want to do. Children's books are the best way to enter into a child's imagination, but entering in the mind through a story, a child can develop morally without knowing what has taken place. Morality intertwined and weaved within each of us everyday without us knowing what is actually right and what is wrong. This is an heteronomous morality discussed by Piaget, in which a child views morality as rules set by others, Kohlberg believes this to be Moral Internalization; a process of gradually incorporating external moral codes as our own, this drives moral development. The external moral codes are given to the child in a book as it internalizes and grows into moral development.

4. The teachers read the children a letter they claim has been written by their friend Mr. Stone. What are potential cognitive, social, and moral advantages of this strategy? Incorporate ideas from Chapters 3 and 4 in your response.

Accomodation and Disequilibrium can be demonstrated in this situation. Children can't think logically about the situation so they have to search for schema they have already experienced in their lives to help solve the issue of the girl not having any friends. It is interesting what some of the students said to help solve the issue. Some said she needed to be nice, this is a typical answer for a young child because this is how they make friends, being nice is an assimilation, it just makes sense. It is a good way of helping a child reach Disequilibrium by forcing the child to understand different issues in life. A child forms an assimilation in assuming that by asking someone to play they will find friends, but if the child still doesn't have friends by following this schema then an accommodation occurs which will lead to disequilibrium which will force a cognitive growth. These students who are mentioning the things that Mr. Stone should do are most likely those who have passed the trust vrs. mistrust stage of Social development becuase they trust that by being nice to another child will undoubtably turn into a friendship. They are most definately learning the iinciative vrs. guilt stage of Erikson's theory in setting goals to be accomplished in obtaining friendship. We can see that the interaction between the teachers and the children are helping these children to grow and develop in many ways, they are forcing a cognitive development while mentoring the children in social growth.