We discussed about the cognitive domain.Basically it is about how you process information.Mr Wan told us about Jean Piaget.I have remember him briefly from a topic I studied during my foundation days but as I got to know more about him today,I have a higher respect for Jean Piaget.
The picture above is him,for those of you who do not know.He had pretty cool glasses.
He is actually a pretty cool guy.He believes that we human beings learn through experience specifically through assimilation and accommodation and that is true experience means everything to me.Experiences makes people who they are.I shall use myself for an example,not to brag but I do think that I am somewhat pretty good in public speaking.This is not something self-proclaimed,quite a number of people have told me this.I think it is because of my background,although I went to a Chinese primary school and a secondary school which majority of the students spoke mandarin,I received sufficient training in my English Language skills at home.My mother came from a mission school,so she has is really fluent and proficient in the language.She does not speak to me the way most Malaysians speak English.There were no two-word phrase such as 'Can lay' or 'okay la' in our house.My mother took language pretty seriously and I owe her a lot because she has planted the love of English in me.Hence,I am here in Unitar University,studying to become and English teacher.That is one of my experiences which has build up my confidence and competency in public speaking but other experiences include being in a youth ministry in church.When you actively serve in a ministry,communication is the key for activities to run and at many times we were asked to give our reflections on bible verses or give a testimony during a gathering.It has helped me and taught me to learn from my mistakes and make amendments to be able to get the audience's attention.
I am not quite done.Experience is the key for doing well in anything.Now that I have mentioned what I am good at,I shall now mention what I am terrible at to not seem like an arrogant person.For your information,the above example was not to boast about my skill.Now I shall tell you about my cooking skills.I am not a good cook.I can cook very simple food.To me,it is more like survival food but do not get me wrong,I am not a spoiled brat who cannot even cook a packet of instant noodles or cook an egg,I can cook enough to survive but my food is not something you would find in a restaurant.I cook food that is convenient to whip up.This is because I was too focused on my studies in secondary school to the extent that I did not bother cooking and because I almost rarely step foot in a kitchen,my cooking skills are not good.This proves Jean Piaget's theory that people learn through experience and I think he is right.
Piaget also talked about the four stages of human development.My lecturer has explained in very detail about the stages but I wanted to know more from the Internet.So,I went on Youtube to look for some videos.
This theory really makes sense now that I think about it.I was honestly pretty skeptical about this theory till I watched the second video and I then I tried to remember my childhood.I had a little flashback and when I was around the age of the children in the video,I most probably could not have given the right answer and a lot of my thinking was very illogical when i was in the pre operational stage(age 2-7 years old) and I did only think about myself without much empathy or compassion for other people.I was egocentric child at most times.Moving on the the concrete stage(age 7 to 11) is when the child can think logically.Recalling back,at this age I started to care more about other people and not just myself.My mother told me this was the age when I started to change and become a more well behaved child.Jean Piaget must really knew what he was doing when he did this research.Lastly the formal operational stage(age 11-16 years old),in the second video,it states that around this age children are able to think about the future and we have more rational,flexible and systematic thoughts.We have more complex thinking.I cannot stress how true this is to me because I am a person who likes to plan ahead and when I tried recalling when did I start being this way,it traces back to when I was 11 years old.At 11 I was already dreaming of studying in a top university in a foreign country and being a English teacher or a lecturer and till this day I still have that dream.
Moving on,we learnt about Lev Vygotsky.The Russian psychologist and I have never heard of him before.NEVER but he seems like another awesome person.His theory is that people learn through socialisation and that is true.I am in extrovert.I learn joining activities,clubs or any social event to learn from people.Some people may believe that you can only learn from someone who is more intellectual than you but has a higher academic background but I say this is false.First of all,it would be a lie if I said that everyone is intellectually equal.I do not believe that but I do believe that everyone is capable of many things if the put their minds to it.Some people just learn things at a slower pace but that does not mean they are dumb but even if someone does not learn things as quick as you or does not have as many diplomas are certs as you,you can still learn from them because I believe everyone has something to teach you.I have a friend who enjoys travelling very much and he recently came back from South Africa where he made many new friends who do not have any university qualifications or whatsoever but he learnt so much from them because despite being so poor living in South Africa,they are still so filled with joy.They are so grateful for what they have which is contrary to us Malaysians because we Malaysians complain about EVERYTHING.When you listen about stories of the poor from the poor themselves,it changes your outlook about life and it will make you feel really guilty about constantly complaining about what you do not have.Another one my philosophy is to try to meet as many people as you can because you can learn from them.Some people rather have a small number of friends than a large number of friends but the term friends is very subjective.To some people those two people are friends but to some they may just be acquaintances but I believe getting to know more people is important because we need to grow.So many people often stay away from having many friends because they do not want to tolerate with any drama but let me tell you something,when you grow up and work in the working world,you have to tolerate a lot of drama and conflicts because you are going to deal with people from all walks of lives.Learn through socialisation,it helps build you to be more ready for the world.
Furthermore,we learnt about Bloom's Taxonomy.We actually were taught about this during the first semester by another lecturer.I went to Youtube to find out more about Bloom's Taxonomy and it really helped me a lot.I will have the video posted below.
It really gave me a lot of clarification and guided me on the stages of how our brains learn new things.I have been learning my whole life and I never knew that there were stages to learning.I really had an epiphany when I learnt about the Bloom's Taxonomy.After reflecting upon Bloom Taxonomy,I really do learn according to that stage.Let me give you an example.I will talk about the cognitive domain,since our lesson covered a lot about cognitive domain on the fourth week.There are 6 stages and the example I am giving you to prove that this theory is correct is the stages of how I learnt mandarin.I rarely spoke mandarin at home but I went to a Chinese school where everyone spoke mandarin and the teachers taught mandarin and spoke in mandarin.Let us go through the process of how I was able to learn mandarin step by step.
1.Knowledge
I received the knowledge about new mandarin words everyday from my friends and teachers.My teacher explains it on the blackboard and shows us how to write mandarin characters.
2.Comprehension
I tried my best to comprehend those words even though I was young because a lot of the subjects in Chinese school were in mandarin so I had to try to understand those words.I tried finding out the meaning of those words from my friends and family members.I found a video on Tedx about a woman associating mandarin words with drawings and pictures.Take a look.Many people are able to use her method during their comprehension stage.
3.Application
I began speaking mandarin everyday in school and with my father so that I can practice at home.Slowly,my mandarin speaking skills improved.
4.Analysis
After having a certain proficiency in mandarin,I was able to make an analysis on my own between what is a good mandarin essay or a bad mandarin essay or a fluent speaker in mandarin and a not so fluent speaker in mandarin.
5.Synthesis
Using my mandarin knowledge that I have now I am able to write mandarin essays on my own without the guidance of anyone.
6.Evaluation
I am now able to evaluate not only my own essays but essays of other people who are not as proficient as me in the language and give them constructive criticism on how they can improve.
That is the end for Topic 2.I know it is a lot but we covered a lot of chapters today and now I shall give you my reflection on Topic 3.
In this topic we learnt about the famous scholars of behaviourism.Behaviourirsm is a reward and punishment theory.We have learnt about this before.I have actually already given my reflection about this topic but it is good to have a recap in class about this topic.I do believe that behaviourism molds the thinking of children.It reminds me of the time I scored straight A's for PMR.The reason why I wanted to get straight A's was because I wanted people especially my friends to praise me and respect me and see me as their equal.Hence,I worked really hard to get good results and eventually I did manage to get straight A's.
Other than that,we learnt about psychoanalysis which is more towards the unconscious motivations of human behaviour which has brought to our lecturer explaining about the Maslow's hierarchy of needs which I have learnt during my foundation days but can barely remember till my lecturer brought it up.
I reflected on this hierarchy starting from the bottom which is the most basic needs.Let me break this pyramid into parts so that it is easier to understand.
1.Physiological
Reflection:This is definitely the number need of all human beings.Without food,water or sleep we will not be able to survive.We are designed this way and without it we would die.
2.Safety
Reflection:We all want to be healthy.We need a sense of security to be at peace with ourselves.We need to know that our families are safe and that we are safe to move on with our daily activities.
3.Love/belonging
Whether we know it or not,we all want to be loved.It is the deepest desire of every human being.But this stage of the pyramid also covers the desire of friendship.As for me,I do not believe that EVERYONE wants to have a lot of friends because there are people who prefer having a small number of friends.There are introverts in this world and maybe they like having a smaller social circle but it is no doubt I believe everyone desires friendship but the extent of it is very subjective.
4.Esteem
We all want to be respected by others.No one wants people to look down upon them.We human beings need good self-esteem to be able to chase our dreams and aspirations.I used to have really low self-esteem till I started joining church activities and there are times when I still do feel so insecure but with my new found confidence which is more constant that before,I believe that I am able to chase my dreams but there is a difference between being confident and being boastful.Be sure not to cross the line.
5.Self-actualization
This is when people learn to accept certain facts about themselves.It is when people realise what they want to do with their lives and chat their passion and fulfil their intellectual or creative dreams.I believe that we need this in our lives.We all have dreams and aspirations and we need to realise what our passions are,the challenges we have to face to get there and try our best to succeed.
Hope you are not getting too bored with this long post because I am now going to touch on humanistic approach and human psychology which was touched in class this week.
Humanistic approach is important because it promotes
a)value clarification
We all need positive value clarification because values are what makes our life worth living.For example,having hope that things will get better is a good value to have.Helping those who are less fortunate is a good value to have.If there was no value clarification,there will be no advocate for world peace or advocate for ending world hunger.The world is still a broken place but we do have many people who are filled with compassion for a better world.
b)moral and character education
We need moral education so that students will be able to differentiate between right and wrong but my sentiments are that the Malaysian education system has a very bad approach when it comes to teaching moral especially for the upper secondary school students.Students are told to memorise 36 moral definitions instead of focusing more on practicing those 36 moral values themselves.I remembered having such a hard time memorising those values during my upper form days and I do not think it has made me a better person.I believe I became a better person although I am still working towards being an even better person was when I was taught in church and brought by my youth leaders to visit those who are less fortunate like the cancer patients and people in the old folks home.This is what moral education should be about.
c)multiethnic education
It is important for a students to know about their roots and the sacrifices the people in their ethnic group has made for the country so that they are able to continue maintaining the culture.There are many cultures that have died in this world but through knowing the uniqueness of their own ethnic group I am sure they will be more motivated to maintain their culture so that future generations with appreciate and keep the culture alive.
Humanistic psychology has many strong points.It focuses on a person's potential and growth.It also removes some of the stigma of going for therapy.We live in an asian culture whereby a lot of people are against going for therapy because they think it makes them seem weak or crazy but let me tell you something,everyone has problems and when someone has a problem they should speak up about it if not how would anyone know how to help them.When I become a teacher I will encourage my students to ask me questions if they had any problems,so that I will know how to help them.It is important for teachers to know humanistic psychology because it applies to their students because their students are human after all and they will be able to create a better learning environment for their students with their knowledge of how the students minds work.For example,I know for a fact that we human beings cannot absorb facts as efficiently for more than 30 minutes.So if I were to teach,I make sure there is a break every 30 minutes for students to rest.
We are now half way there.Our lecturer discussed about Topic 5 which is cooperative learning.Like many chapters it started with the definition of learning.The five elements of learning were touched on as well which were
1.Knowledge
2.Behavior
3.Skills
4.Values and preferences
5.Synthesizing of different types of information
When my lecturer reached to the point about skills,it reminded me about what my younger brother had asked me.My brother asked me that if I were to have no qualifications at all right now what would I do for a living.I asked the same question to Mr.Wan.He said that the chances of getting a job would be pretty tough and my friend mentioned about Oprah Winfrey,who did not even go to college but is a multimillionaire.As for me I think that there are certain jobs that do not require certain qualifications if you are extremely skilful and super motivated to learn by yourself.People like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg do not have qualifications but they are really smart and creative people.Not everyone are like them.
That is why I still believe that the vast majority of us need to go to school.Mr Wan also said once we have better education our preferences change.We want better things.I believe this is true but I also have this philosophy that once I have better qualifications I still want to remain humble and not spend so lavishly on unnecessary things.
Next,my lecturer talked about the four dimensions in learning.I heard about these dimensions during the semesters before but it was good to do a recap to remind ourselves.Mr Wan said that if we are left handed we use the right side of our brain but if we are right handed we use the left side of our brain more.I do not know how true this theory is because I read somewhere that we actually use both sides of our brain just as much.There is a saying from the theory that a person who is left-brained think more logically and analytically.There are more good at subjects like Mathematics but I am right handed which is assumed by the theory that I am left-brained but I am not as good as Mathematics as I am in English.My conclusion for the theory is that I am not sure how true it is.This theory I mentioned about above is from the physiological dimension of learning.
As for the psychological dimension of learning it covers about self-concept,locus of control or whether you are an introvert or an extrovert.There are people who like learning in groups and there are some who like learning alone.I like them both but I do think it is important to mix around with a lot of people to learn from them and improve communication skills.So a person cannot always learn by themselves,although it is much easier now due to the many resources of the Internet but it is just not the same when it is compared to talking to someone face-to-face.As for doing revision,I believe that at most times it is better to study on your own to avoid distractions.
Moving on to topic 5 which is about cooperative learning,we are half way there.I used to be someone who thought that I did not need much help from people and I did not like cooperative learning because I did not want people to know what I knew.I did not like sharing information with others because I did not want them to be better than me.I feel ashamed of how I was before and I now an advocate for cooperative learning.Cooperative learning helps students learn from each other.Some people may say that those who perform academically well do not have much to learn from those who do not perform as well but that is not true.There is so much in life that we can learn from other people.Cooperative learning also helps students with communication skills and teach them how to work as a team.As the saying goes,no man is an island.The forms of cooperative learning were also touched on.There are all great forms of learning which helps students with their interpersonal communication skills which is highly important.
We were also taught the elements of cooperative learning.
I reflected upon the many times I was taking part in cooperative learning with cooperative team members of course.We all agree to rely on each other.Hence there was a positive interdependence.There were some face-to-face interaction but now most of our conversations and discussions were using WhatsApp because sometimes we find it difficult to meet up.We learned to be accountable for each other whenever something went wrong and also for our own work when tasks were divided.We sharpened our interpersonal and small group skills whenever a conflict or problem arises.At last,we as a group look at each other's strengths and weaknesses and we process all the information we have to improve ourselves as a group.I think it is highly vital for us to work in groups in university because we have to work with other people once we are in the work force and sometimes with people we do not like but cooperative learning in university trains us for these types of situations.
Our lecturer even taught us Chapter 6 which was about discovery learning.We touched on the purpose,characteristics,the forms of discovery learning and what made an effective discovery learning.As for me,discovery learning is a great tool.I do it all the time especially in university.In university,lecturers do not spoon feed you with all the information.Hence,I use the Internet to help myself gain more knowledge.I watch videos on Tedx to help myself improve my communication skills and get more ideas for my presentations.To me,discovery learning promotes independency and curiosity and when we discover things on our own,we are able to form forms of discovery learning like generalising,getting to know facts,concepts and rules and laws.
Discovery learning is not solely about the students.Teachers have to do their jobs and facilitate as well.That is why there are steps that guide them for effective discovery learning.When preparing for the discovery learning,a teacher needs to think critically the purpose of the lesson and find as many resources as possible to help them hunger for knowledge.During the lesson,give students a challenging situation that promotes discovery learning like games or quizzes.You can even having your own Amazing Race competition in your school and to pass each level,students have to answer questions based on school curriculum or discover the solution to any problems by themselves.Teachers have to monitor students at all times to make sure they know what they are doing or just in case they are completely lost but if a teacher wants to have an activity like the Amazing race,I suggest she get help from other teachers or senior students who have been guided about the agenda of the competition.Lastly,teachers need to organise whatever information the students have learned and give them opportunities to use their information.For example,in a test or quiz because when information is applied,it stays longer in their brains.
Finally,the last chapter.Chapter 7 is about teaching and learning styles:Constructivism and theory based instruction..I actually told my lecturer to stop at Chapter 6 and give us a break to avoid us from having a breakdown.Basically this chapter talks about the definition of teaching which is molding behaviour you wish students to reflect.
We learnt about constructivism and what a constructivism learning environment requires students to do.I think a constructivism learning environment is a good environment for students to use the knowledge they have and apply them because it shows a teacher whether a student really understands a topic to the extent that they are able to form their own theories and concepts.Teachers have to be there at all times to facilitate.
Sir Wan even mentioned the founders of constructivism which are John Dewey,Jean Piaget,Mia Montessori and Lev Vygotsky.I especially agree with Mia Montessori's theory at a child's mind is like a sponge,it absorbs information and tries to make sense of the world around him or her.At a young age children are able to pick up languages,sports and musical instruments much quicker than many adults.If I were to have children in the future,I would speak many languages to them and ask them to attend music lessons so that they will be able to master them as an adult.
The purpose of constructive learning was also mentioned and so were the characteristics.So,I have reflected upon the times I have been in a situation when constructive learning was present.According to the slides,active learning is one of the purposes and yes when I construct any new concept,I try to use the information needed and apply that to create a new concept.Secondly,I think more concretely than abstractly which is also in the notes.Concrete thinking is very important especially when you work in a company that is very particular about details.In the slides it is also stated that one of the purpose of constructive learning is to help students bridge thoughts and new knowledge and information.This is important not just for teachers who need to relate their topics with information that students are familiar with but also for people in the technology industry or media industry.People like Steve Jobs,Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have high constructive thinking,using the information they already know to create amazing products.This is because they are able to link what people in this generation wants with the knowledge they have about technology.
The last part of the lesson was about theory-based instruction which describes how teachers put to use with what is known about learning to help students learn academic content in a straightforward way.There two types are mastery learning and direct instruction system for teaching and learning.
Mastery learning was something I learnt before from Mr Wan but I am not sure whether I have written about it on my blog.Hence,I shall tell you more about it and what I think about it just in case I did not state my reflection about this type of teaching.Basically it is about checking the understanding of students,giving them guided practices and if they do not understand try teaching them again.This is something like progressive learning which is really good but I think this should be done with a small class with students of an equal academic ability level or one-to-one tutoring which to me is the best choice for mastery learning.This is because when a student is slower than another student,a teacher will not be able to progress because of the slower student.They will be stuck helping the slower student till the student has mastered the topics and I advice teachers to always reflect on their teaching methods when students do not understand the lesson delivered.Ask yourself questions like,'Where did I go wrong?','Was I being too fast?' or 'Was I being very boring?'.
As for the direct instruction system for teaching and learning(DISTAR),this system according to my notes is more for weak students or special needs students.Basically the concept of DISTAR is that no child is left behind.It is carefully strutted,high verbal,patterned drill and practice.In my notes,it is said that any teacher can use it and obtain the same result.Teachets teach them following principles of learning theory.I did not know much about this type of teaching because we did not cover much about this and it was my first time learning about this type of teaching.
I came across this video which helped me understand DISTAR more and it has changed my concept about DISTAR.This is really an amazing way of teaching.There are so many children in this world with disabilities like dyslexia,autism and down syndrome.The very famous Daniel Radcliffe who acted in Harry Potter has dyslexia.People who have disabilities are able to achieve anything normal people can achieve.If you do not believe this statement of mine.Take a look at this video.
Still skeptical?Then here is another one.
All people with disabilities need is a different method of teaching to help them and teachers are responsible to help them.Teachers who teach students of special needs should always encourage them to chase their dreams and tell them to never let their disabilities as an obstacle.They too are capable of many great things.Let me remind you of this famous person.
Just in case you do not know who he is,he is Stevie Wonder,25-time Grammy Award Winning artist.
That is all from me.I hope you liked this week's reflection.
References
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