Cluster 9 Social Cognitive and Constructivist Views of

Cluster 9 Social Cognitive and Constructivist Views of Learning Anita Woolfolk’s Educational Psychology Social Learning Social Cognitive Theories Constructivist and Situated Learning

Key Terms: ØConstructivism- emphasis that individuals learn best when they are constructing knowledge and understanding ØSocial Learning- learning from observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of those behaviors ØObservational Learning- learning by observation and imitation of others ØVicarious Reinforcement- reinforcement that occurs through the observation of another being reinforced for that behavior Parents, Peers and Teachers • Steinberg’s Study of 20, 000 adolescents – 40% are just going through the motions of learning • Parenting styles have an influence on students’ values • Teacher support is also important

Social Learning Theory/Social Cognitive Theory Albert Bandura------ Bandura: §aggression is learned through behavior modeling §originated social learning theory (SLT) that has now developed as Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) §Originally SLT was based on behavioral principles of reinforcement and punishment, social behaviors. More recently, he added cognitive factors such as beliefs an self-perceptions, self-efficacy and expectations to his theory, referred to as SCT. §individuals do not actually inherit violent tendencies, but rather model them §argued that individuals, especially children, learn aggressive responses from observing others either personally or through the media and environment §Bobo doll experiments

Social Cognitive Theory and Learning • Enactive Learning and Vicarious Learning • Observation/Modeling – Attention – Motivation and reinforcement -Retention -Vicarious reinforcement -Reproduction • See table 24. 1, p. 308—Factors that Affect Observational Learning – – Developmental level of learner -Status and prestige of the model Similarity of models -Vicarious consequences Outcome expectations -Value of the goal Self-efficacy • Observational Learning and Teaching – Directing attention – Strengthening/weakening inhibitions – Arousing emotions -Fine-tune already-learned behaviors -Modeling • See Guidelines, p. 310 -Using Observational Learning • Reciprocal Determinism – Internal and External forces are important components of social cognitive theory – Reciprocal Influences • Social Influences • Achievement Outcomes • Self-influences

Constructivism and Situated Learning • How is knowledge constructed? – realities and truths of the external world direct knowledge construction. Information processing – Internal processes direct knowledge construction-Piaget – both internal and external processes direct constructivism-Vygotsky See Table 25. 1, p. 317 and Table 25. 2 -, p. 321 -4 Views of Learning • Situated Knowledge – notion that much of what is learned is specific to the situation – adopting norms, behaviors, skills, beliefs, language and attitudes of a particular community (such as a work environment community) • Common Elements of Constructivist Perspectives-Implications for Teachers – complex learning environments and authentic tasks – social negotiation to encourage development of higher mental processes through social interaction. – multiple representations of content—multiple analogies, examples, metaphors – understanding the knowledge construction process-make students aware of the influences that shape their thinking – student ownership of learning

Applications of Constructivist and Situated Learning Perspective • Inquiry Learning-many forms – – – teacher presents puzzling event, question or problem formulate hypothesis to explain the event or solve problem generate and collect data to test hypotheses draw conclusions reflect on original problem and thinking processes needed to solve it • Problem-Based Learning – – real meaningful problem may not necessarily be a “right” answer use current events, social issues Anchored instruction • Orient students to the problem • Organize students for study/research—tasks • assist independent and group investigation—research techniques and resources, experiments • develop and present in form of artifacts, reports, videos, models • analyze and evaluate problem-solving process

• Dialogue and Instructional Conversations – provide necessary opportunities for student to operate within their zones of proximal development (mastery of a task can take place with appropriate guidance/help/support) – reduction of dominance of teacher talk in the classroom See Table 26. 2 -Elements of the Instructional Conversation, p. 329 • Cognitive Apprenticeships – students observe and expert model (teacher) of the performance – students get external support through coaching or tutoring – conceptual scaffolding is provided and gradually removed as the students become more competent – students continually articulate their knowledge – students reflect on their progress through comparison with the expert and with their own earlier efforts – students are required to explore new ways to apply what they have learned, for example, reciprocal teaching (a modeling based method used to teach reading comprehension strategies) – math example-What are you doing? Why are you doing it? How will success in your strategy help you find a solution to the problem? – Examples of Critical Thinking Skills- see Table 26. 3, p. 333