Albert Bandura: Principles of Social Learning Theory

1. Learning occurs through observation. We learn by observing other people. They observe other’s behavior and the results of these behaviors. Remember the “bobo doll experiment”? Children learn especially from older ones and try to imitate their behavior. This underscores the significance of good role models for children to learn appropriate and positive behavior.  

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2. Learning doesn’t necessarily mean a change in behavior. Behaviorist theory connotes that learning should result to a change in behavior. For social learning theorists, learning can happen even without a change in behavior. People can learn just observation and does not certainly have to be represented in a change to their behavior. 

3. Social learning theory involves cognition for learning. Various cognitive factors are involved for people to learn such as attention, awareness and retention. Reinforcement and punishment also have an impact on the behavior people may demonstrate and exhibit. 

4. In relation to the above-mentioned principle, social learning theory can be considered a transition between behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories. It suggests the importance of cognitive process in learning like attention but at the same time acknowledges the role of behaviorist idea of reinforcement and punishment to strengthen learning and behavior. 

Principles of Teaching: Human Growth and Development

        The following are principles of human growth and development. These principles or facts help educators understand the nature and pattern of development. These principles are fundamental since each of these has significant implications to individual learners.As teachers, it is very important to know our learners' growth and development patterns in order for us to provide appropriate approach and methods of teaching and learning experiences to our learners.  

1. Early foundation are critical.  How the child developed in the first years of his/her life will bring great impact to the proceeding years of the child's life. This is so since early years of one's life serve as the foundation and can greatly determine if one will more likely to succeed in adjusting to life as they grow older.

2. Maturation and learning play important roles in development. Maturation is the unfolding of the individual's inherent traits while learning is development that comes from exercise and effort of an individual. These two factors are interrelated in various sense. First, individual differences emerged not only because of varied degrees of maturation by every individual but also because of the capability of human beings to learn. Patterns of behavior, interests and attitudes come not from maturation alone but from learning as well. Second, maturation  set limits beyond which development cannot progress, even with the most favorable learning methods and the strongest motivation on the part of the learner. Third, developmental readiness determines if an individual is ready to learn. There is a definite timetable for learning.

3. Development follows a definite and predictable pattern. There are orderly patterns of physical, motor, speech and intellectual development. For example, babies creep and crawl before they walk. Most of the time, attraction to opposite sex comes during puberty. Or failing health starts to happen as one reaches 60.

4. All individuals are different. Every person is biologically and genetically different from each other. No two people can be expected to react in the same manner to she same environmental stimuli. Bottomline: Never compare.

5. Each phase of development has characteristic behavior. Babies babble and crawl, school-aged children run, jump and play, adults find partners are just some of the examples.  

6. Each phase of development has hazards. It is essential therefore to be aware of and cope with these hazards, either be physical, psychological or environmental in origin, since these greatly affect on an individual's personal and social adjustment.

7. Development is aided by stimulation. Stimulation can be done so that development will reach its full potential.

8. Development is affected by cultural changes. Developmental pattern is most of the times based to conform to cultural standards and ideals. Girls and boys act differently in respect to the society's culture and expectations of what a male or female should act.

9. There is a social expectation for every stage of development. In every culture, there is a certain expectation for a member to master certain skills and acquire certain approved patterns of behavior at various ages during the life span.

10. There are traditional beliefs about people  of all ages. Stereotypes are widespread and greatly affect people's judgments of others and to oneself.

source: Hurlock, Elizabeth B. Developmental Psychology 5th Edition

image source: Google image search

Facilitating Learning: Children's Behavior

     

Children's behavior varies in one setting and the other. Teaching socially appropriate behavior to them (like behaving inside the church) is quite challenging depending on the set of children a teacher has.

     Behavior refers to the action or reactions of an object or organism usually in relation to the environment. This refers to the general trait, values or character that the child manifests. These behaviors may be explained by both hereditary and environmental factors.

      Behavioral genetics view development as the process through which one’s genotype, or the set of genes one inherits, comes to be expressed as a phenotype, or one’s observable characteristics and behavior. They claim that most behavioral attributes are the end product of a long and involved interplay between hereditary predisposition and environmental influences. Family studies and other longitudinal projects reveal that many core dimensions of personality are genetically influenced. For example, introversion and extroversion or the extent to which a person is shy and uncomfortable around others versus out-going and socially oriented, shows about the same moderate level of heritability as IQ does (Martin ad Jardine, 1986). Another important attribute that may be genetically influenced is emphatic concern, or the recognition of the need of others and concern about their welfare.

      On the other hand, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory emphasizes that the developing person is embedded in a series of environmental systems that interact with one another and with the person to influence development. In addition, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory perceives development in which children acquire their attitudes, values, beliefs and problem solving strategies though collaborative dialogue with more knowledgeable members of the society. Moreover, Bandura’s social learning believed that children acquire their behavior through observation and imitation. Complex behavior is the result of exposure to component models that display appropriate behavior in solving problems and up with the world.

      During the course of development, most humans arrive at a point at which they behave responsibly and to think of themselves as moral individuals. Psychoanalysts say that children are motivated to act in accordance with their ethical principles in order to experience positive affect such as pride and to avoid negative emotions such as guilt and shame. Cognitive developmental theorists also suggest that the ways children think about right and wrong may change dramatically as they mature.

       Behavior is very critical especially with children’s relationship with others. The patterns of behavior they display predict the statuses they will achieve with their peers. Children who have difficulties appropriately regulating their emotions like anger, are often rejected by peers and are likely to develop psychological problems, drop-out of schools or become delinquent. On the other hand, children who display altruism and express positive emotions have better relationship with their peers.

      The bottomline of the above-mentioned discussion imply the need for significant people such as parents and teachers to serve as role models for the children. Parents may pass on some traits to their children, but the importance of environmental nurturing in home, in school and in the community as a whole serve as a critical component in molding good behaviors among the children.

Facilitating Learning: Children's Social Interaction

    This is my second post on my discussion about elementary school children and this time, I would like to explain about their social interactions and how are these important in their development as children.

Scouting is one way in molding social interactions among children...

    Social interaction is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals or groups who modify their actions and reactions according to the actions by their interaction partners. In other words, they are events in which people attach meaning to a situation, interpret what others are meaning and respond accordingly.
    It may also refer to the acts, actions or practices of two or more people mutually oriented towards each other's selves, that is, any behavior that tries to affect or take account of each other's subjective experiences or intentions. This means that the parties in social interaction must be aware of each other, or have each other's self in mind. This does not mean being in sight of or directly behaving toward each other. Social interaction is not defined by type of physical relation or behavior, or by physical distance. It is a matter of mutual subjective orientation toward each other. Thus, even with no physical behavior is involved, there is social interaction.
    It is seen that humans by nature are social being. They have innate drive or motive for affiliation, or the need to be with other people and to have personal relationship (Larey, 2001).
    (What an introduction about social interaction..hehehe)

    Now going to the my point, social interaction among children plays an important factor in their development. Interactions with parents, teachers and other adults introduce children to important social standards and rules. These interactions produce knowledge and respect for the social order, including its principles of organizations and legitimate authority. Furthermore, learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relationships and communications with other people.
    Albert Bandura's reciprocal determinism describes the view that human development reflects an interaction between the person, the person's behavior, and the environment which includes other persons. This sees that development is a continuous reciprocal interaction between children and their environment. The situation or environment that a child experiences will surely affect him, but his behavior is thought to affect his environment as well. The implication of this is that children are actively involved in shaping the very environment that will influence their growth and development.
    Being appropriately social requires children to interact with others, and these interactions are more likely to be harmonious if they know what their social partners are thinking and feeling and can predict how these partners will likely to behave. This links to the idea of sociability that describes the child willing to engage other in social interaction and to seek attention and approval.
    In the middle childhood stage of development, sociability among peers is the most common and noticeable social interaction that children do. Also, peer interaction may be especially important for learning to regulate aggression and for understanding principles of loyalty, equity and important foundations of moral developement (Hartup, 1992; Keller and Edelstin, 1993). It introduces children to norms that direct reciprocity, and to standards of sharing, cooperation and fairness.

     Another reason middle childhood peer groups are important is because they challenge children to develop their interaction skills. Elementary school children must work to make the peer group understand what they are thinking and feeling. They must also struggle to see the points of view that other children hold. Through such efforts toward mutual understanding, children gain in social competence, that is, their ability to achieve personal goals in social interaction, while continuing to maintain positive relationship with others throughout elementary school years.

   Moreover, social scripts or special rules about particular form of social interactions change with age, not just because the children's cognitive skills change but also simply because that these rules change from social setting to another.

 

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory: Application in Teaching and Learning Process

1. Students can learn by observation. As teachers, we need to expose our students to good role models for them to exhibit positive behavior. Observational learning can as well be applied across various subject areas. Demonstration method is perhaps the most common example in which a teacher model or demonstrate a certain skill while students learn by observe and follow. 

2. Discuss to the learners the reward and consequences of certain behaviors. This can effectively make students be driven to exhibit appropriate behaviors while reducing the occurrence of inappropriate ones.  

3. Modeling can be used to teach new behaviors. It gives another way of molding certain behaviors aside from reward and punishment. By exposing students to certain models and the consequences of their certain behavior, it provides a more efficient way for teaching new behavior.  However, the teacher has to take into account that the four important conditions exist to make modelling effective. These are attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation.

4. Teachers and parents must be an exemplar of appropriate behavior. This highlights that we teachers, together with parents and adults, first and foremost be a good role model for our students. We must be careful with our own actions since what we do, being adults, is most of the time considered right in the eyes of the students.

5. Present students with different models. We should not limit modelling to typical examples rather exposed students with a variety of other models. This way, students avoid stereotyping and labelling certain groups of people. 

Application: Gestalt Psychology

      I don't know what to do with the work that I need to accomplish.And I don't know why but there is something telling me to update this blog. And now without further ado, here are the applications of Gestalt theory to the teaching and learning process.

1. Make your lesson holistic. The word Gestalt itself is almost synonymous to the word "whole". And for this, Gestalt psychology proposes education to be an integration of affective and cognitive domains of learning. As teachers, we can actually do this by setting the objectives that does not only focus on the cognitive (and psychomotor) domains of teaching and learning but also on the affective domain as well.

2. In relation to above application, the fulfillment of the cognitive-affective integration is not only limited to instruction rather also related to the experiences of the students inside the classroom. This can be done when teachers maintain an emotionally harmonious and non threatening atmosphere during the teaching and learning process which consequently caters exchange of ideas and learning. Teacher behavior is a critical factor, and if necessary, should be changed in order to maintain good relationship between the teacher and his/her students, and relationship among and between students. This can be realized through teacher development programs, trainings or seminars.

3. Gestalt psychology is a proponent of discovery or insight learning. This takes place when learners forms relationships of the elements around them then integrates and organizes these elements to form insight (Remember Sultan?). Hence, teachers must make use of discovery approach in learning. Teachers can use experiments, laboratory and inquiry-based strategies.

How About the Gestalt Principles?

These are implications of the Gestalt principles in the teaching and learning process. Now you know that Gestalt principles are not just mere principles of visual drawings or illustrations.

1. Law of Proximity
        Related concepts or lessons should be taught aligned or closely to each other. This is the reason why subtraction is taught after addition, multiplication after subtraction then division after multiplication. Imagine teaching addition then jumping directly to polygons.

2. Law of Similarity
        Similar lessons or contents should be grouped together to make learners develop understanding more efficiently and effectively. This is the reason why lessons are grouped into units: Unit I is for human body, Unit II is for energy and motion, so on and so forth.

3. Law of Closure
       When a concept or topic is incomplete thus isn't "closed", incomplete information may make learners want to discover what’s missing, rather than  concentrating on the given instruction. If students find a math algorithm confusing because a certain question is left unanswered or a step isn't clear, they will tend to concentrate on that confused part of the process rather than the total process as a whole. This is why students get "lost". Thus, make the lesson complete. Present it clearly, simply and always be ready for students' clarifications.

4. Law of Good Continuation
        Lessons should be presented in such a way that learners will see these as connected and continuous. Now you know why we have the "Review" part of the lesson plan. This way, students will realize that their new lesson actually has continuity and is related to what they already know or to the previous lesson.

5. Law of Pragnanz
        Pragnanz states that when things are grasped as wholes, the minimal amount of energy is exerted in thinking. In short, make your lesson holistic, complete and most of all simple.

6. Law of Figure/Ground
      For a figure to be perceived, it must stand out from the background. Emphasis should be done on important aspects of the lesson. For example, teachers should vary the tone of their voice or write boldly or underline the important key words of the lesson.

       Furthermore, aside from what I have discussed above, Gestalt principles are also very useful in preparing and presenting instructional materials. I will not discuss these further because I think these are easy enough for you to think of.
       As I always say, these are just some of the applications. Again and again, there are a lot of ways in which you can imply Gestalt psychology in the teaching and learning process. I hope that you yourself could reflect on these.

Gestalt Psychology

        Hello... It has been a while since I posted about education  and LET-related topics. I honestly lost my drive updating this blog since I was banned from my advertising provider because of a simple and honest mistake. I was a bit frustrated by the fact that I could have earn even just a small amount of bucks through page views and impressions. Nevertheless, upon reading some comments I have just read, I am inspired to write more education topics just for the sake of helping future teachers to survive college life and even pass(or top) the LET. Just recently, I am hooked into physics (as if...) and I am really inspired by physicist Brian Greene and his book entitled The Fabric of the Cosmos. Aside from fantastic and splendid things I learned about the cosmos, I am really awed and amazed (and a bit jealous) by how Brian Greene explains the mind-blogging topics of cosmology and physics. I am in one way or another (as if...) shared his style and intention to explain things as simply as possible. His book is a must-read even for a math-o-phobic people and is not into science. I tell you, you will turn your view about the universe and reality upside-down.
     Now going back to my usual education topics, let me explain to you one of my favorite theories in learning and psychology---Gestalt Psychology. From the name itself, I really find the theory mysterious and enigmatic. Some education students wonder how this theory applies to education when in fact most of the classroom practices most teachers do are rooted from this theory.
      Gestalt psychology is a holistic approach to learning that emphasizes the entirety rather than individual parts (The whole is greater than the sum of its parts is the cliche of this theory but the original phrase is "the whole is other than the sum of the parts"). According to this theory, the brain thinks in whole, in parallel, in analog, and with self-organizing tendencies. This implies that learning is consists of the grasping of a structural whole and not just a mechanistic response to a stimulus. Learners are viewed as active participants, restructuring information they perceive in order to understand it.
     Gestalt psychologists suggests that learners' perception is guided by principles or laws. These are:

Law of Proximity

Law of Pragnanz

Law of Similarity

Law of Continuity

Law of Closure

Law of Figure/Ground

Foreground tend to be perceived and paid attention first. A stimulus will be perceived as separate from its ground.

Now, the question is, how can we apply these principles to teaching? Hmmmm... Watch out for my next post about the application of this theory in the teaching and learning process.

Images retrieved from:  http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/gestaltlaws.htm

Specific Learning Disabilities

         
          There are pupils that no matter how hard we taught them really find the lessons very very difficult. Teaching these kinds of pupils poses a great challenge to teachers that it seems all the teacher's effort is useless. This is the reason why teachers resort to "label" these pupils as dull, dumb, numskull, idiot and other derogatory words. However, some teachers actually don't know that there are predisposed conditions that hinder a pupil's ability most especially in learning Math, Reading and in other academic areas. These conditions are termed as Specific Learning Disabilities.

          What is a Specific Learning Disability?

          According to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA in USA, "specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. This "does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage."


        Since these are "learning disabilities", parents can't easily identify that their child has one of these conditions until the child enters school. And sometimes, people ended up labeling the child as having a low intelligence. We have to keep in mind that children with specific learning disabilities has more or less normal intelligence (in fact some of them may have a superior intelligence), it just so happened that their brain's "wiring" towards a specific learning area like Reading or Math is somewhat "tangled" or "disconnected".


          What are the common learning disabilities?

·         Dyslexia – a language-based disability in which a person has trouble understanding written words. It may also be referred to as reading disability or reading disorder.

·         Dyscalculia – a mathematical disability in which a person has a difficult time solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.

·         Dysgraphia – a writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form letters or write within a defined space.

·         Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders – sensory disabilities in which a person has difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing and vision.

·         Nonverbal Learning Disabilities – a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing functions.

       To learn more about Learning Disabilities, you can visit LD Online for various resources about these conditions. As teachers we have to keep in mind how diverse our pupils are, and before judging any pupil, we have to think the possibility that our pupil may have at least one of these conditions. 

Erik Erikson' Psychosocial Theory

                                        ERIK ERIKSON PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY   
A picture is worth a thousand words... And so are videos. So just visit the video link above from youtube to explain about this theory....How I wish God grants me the time to post more...Busy mode again....

Bloom's Taxonomy of Objectives: New and Revised

      Back in college, when we discussed about Bloom's Taxonomy, I was skeptical why is it that "Evaluation" is higher than the "Synthesis" level in the taxonomy. I thought that synthesizing requires a lot of thinking and creativity than just evaluating among the alternatives. I was a bit shy to ask my teacher that time because I was afraid that she can't answer my question and might sound arrogant.(To be honest, one of my weaknesses is that I'm afraid to ask questions like this because of fear that I may sound arrogant or will be mistaken as a student who "tests my teacher's competence". Until now, I have the same weakness in my graduate studies. hehehe. Perhaps this is because when I was in high school, I am very inquisitive to my teachers that I ended up being scolded and be labeled as "pilosopo" or philosophizer.) However, when I was preparing for the Licensure Examinations of Teachers, I was very grateful that one of our review lecturers at University of Iloilo presented a new Bloom's Taxonomy in cognitive domain. And to my mixed surprise and expectation , Evaluation is no longer at the top of the hierarchy.
        As a sort of background, this newly revised taxonomy was published last 2001. Benjamin Bloom was already in the advanced stage of his Alzheimer's disease during the process of revision and died before the new taxonomy was published. However, David Krathwohl, one of the original contributing authors of the taxonomy (specifically on the affective domain which is the reason why the taxonomy of affective domain is commonly referred to as Krathwohl Taxonomy of Affective Domain), was one of the two editors of the new version. By the way, Lorin Anderson, one of students of Bloom, inititiated the changes.
        Here is the new taxonomy of cognitive domains retrieved from this site.(If your the owner of this image, kindly inform me if you want your image to be removed). The most obvious changes that were made are changing the names from nouns to verbs and interchanging the upper two levels in the taxonomy.

For a more comprehensive explanation of the new taxonomy, this pdf file can surely help.

Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy

          Benjamin Bloom's name is never absent in our college textbooks in most of, if not all, professional education subjects. Who doesn't know Bloom? His name with his taxonomy is always there especially if we are talking not only about instructional objectives but as well as in different dimensions of learning like questioning, assessment and many more. As education students we always repeatedly saying his six levels of objectives or just saying KCAASI as an acronym. Just like Piaget, his name is already a "cliche" in the Licensure Examinations for Teachers. But most of all, it cannot be ignored how significantly Bloom and his taxonomy has contributed to the field of teaching and learning.
          The taxonomy tells us that we must teach in an hierarchical order, emphasizing on the HOTS or higher-order thinking skills. However, this doesn't mean that the lower levels are frivolous, rather are important foundations to achieve the upper levels of the taxonomy. We cannot apply, analyse, evaluate or create if we cannot remember or comprehend in the first place.
        One thing that must also be noted is that Bloom's Taxonomy is not only for the cognitive domain of the objectives. There are also for both the psychomotor and affective domains.
       The following tables summarizes the taxonomy on the three domains: cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. The tables were retrieved from Big Dog and Little Dog's Performance Juxtaposition. (If you are the owner of this site, kindly inform me if you want your image to be removed.)

Cognitive Domain

Category	Example and Key Words (verbs)
Remembering: Recall previous learned information.	Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from memory to a customer. Knows the safety rules. Key Words: defines, describes, identifies, knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines, recalls, recognizes, reproduces, selects, states.
Understanding: Comprehending the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words.	Examples: Rewrites the principles of test writing. Explain in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Translates an equation into a computer spreadsheet. Key Words: comprehends, converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives an example, infers, interprets, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes, translates.
Applying: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.	Examples: Use a manual to calculate an employee's vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written test. Key Words: applies, changes, computes, constructs, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses.
Analyzing: Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.	Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information from a department and selects the required tasks for training. Key Words: analyzes, breaks down, compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates.
Evaluating: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.	Examples: Select the most effective solution. Hire the most qualified candidate. Explain and justify a new budget. Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends, describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes, supports.
Creating: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure.	Examples: Write a company operations or process manual. Design a machine to perform a specific task. Integrates training from several sources to solve a problem. Revises and process to improve the outcome. Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes.

Psychomotor Domain

Category	Example and Key Words (verbs)
Perception: The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity.  This ranges from sensory stimulation, through cue selection, to translation.	Examples:  Detects non-verbal communication cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball. Adjusts heat of stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food. Adjusts the height of the forks on a forklift by comparing where the forks are in relation to the pallet. Key Words: chooses, describes, detects, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates, relates, selects.
Set: Readiness to act. It includes mental, physical, and emotional sets. These three sets are dispositions that predetermine a person's response to different situations (sometimes called mindsets).	Examples:  Knows and acts upon a sequence of steps in a manufacturing process. Recognize one's abilities and limitations. Shows desire to learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This subdivision of Psychomotor is closely related with the “Responding to phenomena” subdivision of the Affective domain. Key Words: begins, displays, explains, moves, proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.
Guided Response: The early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and error. Adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing.	Examples:  Performs a mathematical equation as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a model. Responds hand-signals of instructor while learning to operate a forklift. Key Words: copies, traces, follows, react, reproduce, responds
Mechanism: This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex skill. Learned responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some confidence and proficiency.	Examples:  Use a personal computer. Repair a leaking faucet. Drive a car. Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.
Complex Overt Response: The skillful performance of motor acts that involve complex movement patterns. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of energy. This category includes performing without hesitation, and automatic performance. For example, players are often utter sounds of satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a tennis ball or throw a football, because they can tell by the feel of the act what the result will produce.	Examples:  Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and accurately. Displays competence while playing the piano. Key Words: assembles, builds, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches. NOTE: The Key Words are the same as Mechanism, but will have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the performance is quicker, better, more accurate, etc.
Adaptation: Skills are well developed and the individual can modify movement patterns to fit special requirements.	Examples:  Responds effectively to unexpected experiences.  Modifies instruction to meet the needs of the learners. Perform a task with a machine that it was not originally intended to do (machine is not damaged and there is no danger in performing the new task). Key Words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges, reorganizes, revises, varies.
Origination: Creating new movement patterns to fit a particular situation or specific problem. Learning outcomes emphasize creativity based upon highly developed skills.	Examples:  Constructs a new theory. Develops a new and comprehensive training programming. Creates a new gymnastic routine. Key Words: arranges, builds, combines, composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiate, makes, originates.

Affective Domain

Category	Example and Key Words (verbs)
Receiving Phenomena: Awareness, willingness to hear, selected attention.	Examples: Listen to others with respect. Listen for and remember the name of newly introduced people. Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, follows, gives, holds, identifies, locates, names, points to, selects, sits, erects, replies, uses.
Responding to Phenomena: Active participation on the part of the learners. Attends and reacts to a particular phenomenon. Learning outcomes may emphasize compliance in responding, willingness to respond, or satisfaction in responding (motivation).	Examples:  Participates in class discussions.  Gives a presentation. Questions new ideals, concepts, models, etc. in order to fully understand them. Know the safety rules and practices them. Key Words: answers, assists, aids, complies, conforms, discusses, greets, helps, labels, performs, practices, presents, reads, recites, reports, selects, tells, writes.
Valuing: The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. This ranges from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment. Valuing is based on the internalization of a set of specified values, while clues to these values are expressed in the learner's overt behavior and are often identifiable.	Examples:  Demonstrates belief in the democratic process. Is sensitive towards individual and cultural differences (value diversity). Shows the ability to solve problems. Proposes a plan to social improvement and follows through with commitment. Informs management on matters that one feels strongly about. Key Words: completes, demonstrates, differentiates, explains, follows, forms, initiates, invites, joins, justifies, proposes, reads, reports, selects, shares, studies, works.
Organization: Organizes values into priorities by contrasting different values, resolving conflicts between them, and creating an unique value system.  The emphasis is on comparing, relating, and synthesizing values.	Examples:  Recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsible behavior. Accepts responsibility for one's behavior. Explains the role of systematic planning in solving problems. Accepts professional ethical standards. Creates a life plan in harmony with abilities, interests, and beliefs. Prioritizes time effectively to meet the needs of the organization, family, and self. Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes, defends, explains, formulates, generalizes, identifies, integrates, modifies, orders, organizes, prepares, relates, synthesizes.
Internalizing values (characterization): Has a value system that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive, consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner. Instructional objectives are concerned with the student's general patterns of adjustment (personal, social, emotional).	Examples:  Shows self-reliance when working independently. Cooperates in group activities (displays teamwork). Uses an objective approach in problem solving.  Displays a professional commitment to ethical  practice on a daily basis. Revises judgments and changes behavior in light of new evidence. Values people for what they are, not how they look. Key Words: acts, discriminates, displays, influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves, solves, verifies.

    I hope these summarize everything. On my next post, I will discuss the new Bloom's Taxonomy of Objectives. The bottom line is, as teachers we need to emphasize more on the HOTS of the taxonomy. This way we will produce learners who are critical and creative.

Robert Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction

Robert Gagne

         

          After how many months of moratorium of education topics, I am back at my usual postings. And to break the ice, may I present you Robert Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction. These are just simple steps on how to discuss or present a lesson in which I suppose, most teachers are familiar with. Perhaps most of the teachers are not aware that classroom practices that we usually do came from this instructional design. 

          

          Gagne's theory can be considered neobehaviorist-ic, taking into consideration both behaviorist's and cognitivist's perspective. As you read the events of instruction, you will later realize that the conditions can be divided into internal (cognitivism) and external (behaviorism) conditions.

          The nine events of instruction are as follows: (Notice how are these related to the parts of the lesson plan and the actual classroom teaching practices.Take note also that these events can be design variously depending on the subject matter and the learning goals or outcome intended by the instructional process.)

        

1. Gain attention. This is the so called "Preparatory Activities" in the lesson plan. At this stage of instruction, teachers must gain the attention of the students and motivate them as well by the use of  games, pictures, an interesting question or any attention-getting activity. 
2. Describe the goal. Present the goals or the objectives of the lesson. Explain to the students how will these be achieved.
3. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge. These includes review questions and drills related to the previous learning of the students.
4. Present the material to be learned. This can be done in numerous ways depending on the subject matter. Teachers can also use advanced organizers to provide a global perspective of what will be learned.
5. Provide guidance for learning. Teachers guide the students to the whole learning process. Teachers accommodate questions, demonstrate steps and facilitate learning in general. Of course, this can be done through various activities like experiments, groupwork, reading activity etc.
6. Elicit performance "practice". This is the "Exercises" part of the lesson. Teachers give the chance for the pupils to do or apply what they learned by themselves. This can also be a trial-and-error phase wherein students are open to mistakes on the process of developing their newly-acquired learning.
7. Provide informative feedback. Very self-explanatory. Teachers provide feedback that is constructive in nature. Teachers give corrections, alternative solutions, etc.
8. Assess performance test, if the lesson has been learned. Also give sometimes general progress information. This is the "Evaluation" part of the lesson. Teachers can give a short quiz that can be formative or summative in nature. Formative to check what the learners have learned so far and summative to check the overall learning of the learners.
9. Enhance retention and transfer. This can either be the "Applications" part of the lesson wherein learners must apply or "transfer" what they have learned in different situations related to them. Or the "Assignment" part that enhances retention through extended practice or activities to be accomplished by the students.

image source: google search (If you are the owner of the images, kindly inform me if you want your image to be removed.)

Applications: David Ausubel's Subsumption Theory

1. Integrate or link the new lesson to the previous lesson. Relate what the new lesson is all about with the previous lesson by compare or contrast (finding similarities and differences, giving examples, analogies/metaphors,etc). This way, learners can have a foundation to the new learning that is about to take place. This is the reason why we have "reviews" or activities related to the previous lesson before we present the new lesson, or teachers' cliche like "Do you have an idea about...What is your idea about...Do you know about..."

2. Utilize advance organizers when presenting a concept. This should be done preferably at the beginning part of the lesson that will guide the learners throughout the learning process. Through this orderly and logical fashion, learners can easily keep on track with the lesson. Don't forget to indicate short descriptions of the key concepts as well as the learning objectives.

3. According to this theory, it is advised to teach the general idea of the lesson then progressively differentiate (LET alert. This comes out in the exam) this by specific topics. This can be done by pointing out the similarities of the topics as well as how are they different. For example in teaching Science like the topic about Weather and Climate. Instead  of teaching first "all" about Weather, then proceed to "all" about Climate,  a teacher might discuss first the general or the overall  ideas about these two topics. As the lesson progresses, the teacher can elaborate and the discuss comprehensively the particularities and details of each topic; how are they similar or different.

4. Avoid rote learning. Rote learning, in contrast with meaningful learning, is a "non-substantive incorporation of new knowledge into cognitive structure". In short, avoid making the learners memorize all the facts and terms without making them realize the essence of what is being learned. Emphasize more on the concepts and ideas rather on isolated information.

5. Don't forget to wrap up the lesson by giving summaries or giving them reviews of the major points that were discussed in the lesson.

5. The last but not the least, to sum up all these applications, from David Ausubel himself, " Tell them [the learners] what you are going to tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them."

David Ausubel's Subsumption Theory

Ausubel receiving (or giving?) an "i dont know" award...hehehe...He is wearing glasses...

     
          It is a consensus among educators that experiential learning or hands on approach to learning is a very effective teaching strategy. John Dewey's "learning by doing" phrase had been used gazillion times especially by education students if asked what the best teaching strategy is. However, I just would like reiterate that to use this approach in teaching requires preparation and materials. And we can't just utilize this on everyday basis, as well as on simple objectives that do not necessarily require "experiential" activities. This is where expository teaching comes in.
          Expository Approach in teaching is the most common teaching strategy wherein the teacher explains the lesson to the pupils. This is different from Discovery Approach where the pupils discover for themselves what the concept is. Some refer expository approach as teacher-centered, traditional and "spoon-feeding". That this kind of approach is just giving the students everything and does not give them the chance to think. Perhaps this approach is sometimes blamed with low mastery and academic level of pupils.

        On the other hand, David Ausubel presented an idea that makes expository approach more meaningful using verbal or textual presentations. He proposed the use of?....of?...of?...any guess? hehehehe...Advance Organizers to aid for a more meaningful learning (LET alert: This always comes out in the exam). "These organizers are introduced in advance of learning itself, and are also presented at a higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness; and since the substantive content of a given organizer or series of organizers is selected on the basis of its suitability for explaining, integrating, and interrelating the material they precede, this strategy simultaneously satisfies the substantive as well as the programming criteria for enhancing the organization strength of cognitive structure." (1963 , p. 81).Tsk tsk tsk,,,why do I have to quote this, I'm having a nosebleed...hahaha... Seriously, in simpler terms, advance organizers are used preceding or prior to teaching/learning a new content that can be used by the learner to learn and understand the new content. It is a means of preparing the learner's cognitive structure for the learning experience about to take place. It is a device to activate the relevant schema or conceptual patterns so that new information can be more readily "subsumed" into the learner's existing cognitive structures.
      This is where "subsumption" comes in.David Ausubel's  Subsumption Theory is a theory which suggests that learning "is based upon the kinds of superordinate, representational, and combinatorial processes that occur during the reception of information." When new knowledge is created that is substantive and non-verbatim, and is related to existing knowledge, retention and learning are primed. Forgetting occurs when new knowledge becomes integrated into existing knowledge, and loses its individual identity. (Ausubel, 2010). Again, in simpler terms, subsumption theory is incorporating a new material to one's existing cognitive structure (sounds familiar uhuh? yes the answer can be found below), from the word itself "subsumption" or to "subsume". And order to do this, there has to be an existing material that provides a framework into which the new learning is related, to the previous information or concept the learner has. In simplest term, it represents learning as somewhat like a ladder. In order to learn a new material, there are prerequisites. You can't learn how to write if you don't know what the letters are. You can't cook sushi if you don't know about Japanese cuisine in the first place ( I included this because I'm hungry..hehehe). If no previous knowledge is available, advance organizers are presented in order to give learners a framework in order for the new information to be meaningful and be retained for recall and transfer.
          This theory is somewhat similar with some known concepts like Piaget's "schema" as well as Bruner's "spiral curriculum". 
        Ausubel is a proponent of deductive and expository teaching methods. That is why this theory is also called as Meaningful Verbal Learning.
        On my next post I will discuss further about advance organizers and specific examples of these organizers as well as the applications in classroom teaching and instruction.