Module 5

-Motivation in Learning and Teaching, Teaching Every Student, & Classroom Assessment, Grading, and Standardized Testing-

          Chapter 12 looks into motivation in learning and teaching.  In this chapter, we learn how to arouse curiosity in the work a student does, how to establish value in the learning of material, what we need to know about students in order to motivate them and well as what we need to know about motivation itself to solve these problems. Woolfolk defines motivation as being either intrinsic or extrinsic.  Intrinsic motivation is associated with being influenced by internal rewards for motivation, whereas extrinsic motivation is motivation by external factors, such as rewards or punishments. (p. 431.)  Motivation is a key factor for all students, and as teachers we need to find out what motivated each of our students in order to help them become engaged in a subject and succeed.  Woolfolk goes on to describe five approaches to motivation: Humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, social cognitive and social cultural conceptions.  She also goes on to explain Maslow's theory, goal orientations, beliefs and perceptions, motivation to learn and school, as well as interests, curiosity, emotions and anxiety. For me personally, anxiety plays a huge part in my learning, as I have a large amount of anxiety in my life, in regards to not only education but also socially. Learning more about Maslow's theories has given me new perspective on my disorder. Woolfolk goes on to identify several dimensions of Epistemological beliefs: structure of knowledge, stability/certainty of knowledge, ability to learn, speed of learning and nature of learning. "Student's beliefs about their knowledge and learning affect the goals they set and the learning strategies they apply" (p 442.)  I found this particularly interesting, and thought that these will be useful to incorporate into the classroom to aid students.

Teaching every student is the theme of chapter 14.  In it, Woolfolk begins by describing the characteristics of effective teachers. She details what makes an expert teacher as well as what it is that expert teachers know.  Woolfolk next goes into the specifics of teaching; starting with planning, teaching approaches, differentiated instruction and teacher expectations. The section on planning was very interesting, as I think of myself as an efficient planner.  That being said, I found the information presented extremely helpful.  Apparently I have a lot still to learn about planning! Woolfolk's explanation of explicit versus active teaching had me further solidifying my preference that active teaching is best. (p. 519) Rosenshine's six teaching functions were also really helpful, and I can see using them as a checklist for teaching basic skills in my future classrooms. (p. 520) Differentiated instruction is a flexible approach to teaching that matches content, process, and product based on student differences in readiness, interests and learning needs. (pg. 531) In this passage I found the passage detailing making adaptions quite captivating. Finally, teacher expectations.  In this section, Woolfolk explains how a teacher's expectations can effect students. Some of the sources of these expectations, such as intelligence test scores, gender, notes from previous teachers, previous achievement and ethnic background among others, can sometimes have a negative effect. These sources may influence a teacher's views of the student and either cause them to motivate the student to do better, or consequently to further continue to have low expectations for a student causing them to continue to be less motivated to perform. 

Chapter 15 is on classroom assessment, grading, and standardized testing. To me, this was not the most engaging chapter, other than providing important information that I will be able to use in a future classroom while assessing the progress of my students. In the basics of assessment, Woolfolk emphasized the difference between measurement and assessment., as well as formative and summative assessments.  Measurement is an evaluation expressed in quantitative terms, compared to assessment, which is the procedures used to obtain information about student performance. Additionally, a formative assessment is ungraded testing used before or during instruction to aid in planning and diagnosis, whereas summative assessment is testing that follows instruction and assesses achievement.  Further in this chapter, I found the sections on grading and standardized testing helpful, as I do not have much experience with implementing them from a teaching perspective.   I further enjoyed when Woolfolk described the effects that grading can have on students.  I agree with her, that oral or written feedback with specific comments that "balances this criticism with suggestions about how to improve, along with comments on the positive aspects of the work, increases learning.  (pg. 584) By giving a more thorough explanation of incorrect answers, I believe it allows students the chance to really learn from their mistakes and learn the material correctly.  

Module 4

-Complex Cognitive Processes, The Learning Sciences and Constructivism,
& Social Cognitive Views of Learning and Motivation-

Module Four's focus was different aspects of learning, understanding, as well as the learning sciences. 

In Chapter Nine, Woolfolk explains the role of metacognition in learning and remembering. Metacognition is "knowledge about our own thinking process" (Woolfolk, 318.)  Metacognition has three skills that are used to regulate learning and thinking and they are: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Woolfolk then goes on to explain that there are differences in our metacognition capabilities as we age and develop, and it is also shaped by life experiences (p. 319.) Much of the information on Metacognition was extremely valuable.  By teaching students (especially at a younger age so they can develop their abilities,) how to reflect back on the work that hey have done as well as think about what they already know can by immensly beneficial to helping them gain a sense of personal accomplishment. If a student feels good about themselves and their abilities their self confidence will grow and they will be more likely to try as well as to succeed at other tasks.
This chapter goes onto discuss different learning strategies as well as some suggestions for their effective use and application. As an educator, I will need to use the strategies not only to help my students, but also to keep myself on the ball. Hopefully, by incorporating these into my own use I won't feel so overwhelmed as a first year instructor.

Chapter 10 is about the learning sciences and constructivism.  There are some basic assumptions that are made of the learning sciences, which are: "that experts develop deep conceptual knowledge, learning comes from the learner, creating learning environments is the responsibility of the school, students' prior knowledge is key, and reflection is a critical component of learning." (Woolfolk, 356-7)  These beliefs aid researchers from many different fields to study similar issues in learning, allowing collaboration and research.  Following this, Woolfolk describes the two kinds of constructivism, psychological (first wave constructivism) and social (second wave constructivism)(p.360-1.)  She then goes on to distinguish between constructivism and constructionism. While constructionists are mostly interested in how "public knowledge in academic disciplines is constructed" (p. 361) and constructivism is the "view that emphasises the active role of the learner in building understanding and making sense of information,"and while they have many different views, the two ultimately agree that “learners therefore, are not empty vessels waiting to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking meaning" (pg. 363.) Further through the chapter, I found the section on collaboration and cooperation to be quite informative and engaging. Delving into all the different ways that students can help themselves and each other learn in groups as well as in cooperation made me rethink how some teachers in my past handled different learning situations.  In school I have had instructors with many different styles of teaching, and I believe some of the best learning experiences that I had involved classrooms where all the students were able to collaborate and cooperate together.  When I am a teacher, I will undoubtedly apply the information that I learned here as to prepare my students for this method of learning .

Finally, chapter 11 explains the social cognitive views of learning and motivation. In social learning, one observes another being either reinforced or punished and it can have similar effects on the observer's behavior. Expanding on that, social cognitive theory broadens social learning theory to also include: beliefs, expectations, and self perceptions. Woolfolk next delves into self efficacy, self concept and self esteem.  I found this section quite interesting.  Self-efficacy is "a person's sense of being able to deal effectively with a particular task" (Woolfolk, p. 404,) and is "concerned with judgements of personal competence; self esteem is concerned with judgements of self worth.  There is no direct between self- esteem and self-efficacy." (p. 405) Further into this section, Woolfolk details teacher's sense of efficacy and she mentioned that teachers with a higher sense of efficacy tend to be more motivated, willing to work harder and be more persistent in order to help even difficult students to learn.  However, there can be problems with having high efficacy in new teachers, an example being that "excessive optimism of beginning teachers that interferes with their ability to accurately judge their own effectiveness" (Woolfolk, p.409.)  Additionally, "Overconfident efficacy may quickly be followed by giving up if the task proves more difficult than first thought" (p. 404.)  As a new teacher, I will have to make sure to not become overconfident, but still do my best to make a difference and help my students build their confidence.