In reflecting on Bates’ exploration of epistemology and learning theories, the ones that speaks the most to me are the theories of Cognitivism and Constructivism. This does however bring to light the idea of “What is good in theory, is not always good in practice”, or vice versa. In my opinion, in most educational settings, learning, or lack thereof often comes down to implementation and the presence or absence of differentiation. Although I “connect more” with the tenets of Cognitivism and Constructivism, as a Grade 7 Junior High Science teacher, I have undoubtedly fallen numerous times into the Behaviorism (Input/Output) learning theory trap this year, and at various times throughout my educational career.
Feeling pressure to get through the curriculum, and wanting everyone succeed, I have on more than one occasion, laid information out on a silver platter for my students to take and eat at will, even knowing beforehand, with all good intentions of pleasing the masses, that some of my students weren’t going to eat because of allergies or an aversion to food. 😉 Nevertheless, there too have been moments of great constructivism through facilitating scientific investigations and fostering the development and completion of hands-on, collaborative building challenges utilizing raw materials and educational technology tools. I am also pleased to report, that I have been utilizing various aspects of dual-coding.
While I was previously aware of the theory by Paivio, that our brains have a specific “cognitive load” that impacts the amount of information we can hold in our working memory before our brain becomes saturated (Culatta, 2018). What I found to be absolutely fascinating in watching the What is Dual-Coding video, however is the premise that while we can technically hold 5-7 concepts in our working memory at one time, that load number decreases significantly with a lack of interest and attention (Pastore, 2011). As a teacher, this instantly brings to mind issues surrounding student engagement. As a parent, this instantly brings to mind my son who has been diagnosed with ADHD Combined and two separate Specialized Learning Disorders in Reading and Written Expression and I question how is his cognitive load being impacted? What is his magic number?
I have often discussed the benefits of dual-coding and the theory of multiple intelligences with my students, highlighting to them the idea that, the more ways we can actively engage our body in learning, the more connections we will make. For example, when it came to studying symbiotic relationships in Science, I used emojis as a way to help my students remember and personally connect to the concepts. This dual-coding premise was very successful and when it came to writing their unit exam, almost all the students drew the pictures as a point of reference.
While I did not originally use this APP in the classroom, now that I know it exists, it would be fun to have the students create and “construct” their own emojis to visually represent any of the concepts we are investigating. The APP that I used to create these is free online and very easy to use. 😉
Angel Emoji Maker: https://emoji-maker.com/designer
**If you have never heard of or studied symbiotic relationships, I would be very curious to hear what you “think” the concepts mean by looking at the emojis! Please leave your comments, thoughts, or suggestions below.
References
Culatta, R. (2018, November 30). Dual Coding Theory (Allan Paivio). Retrieved from https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/dual-coding/
Pastore, R. [Ray Pastore]. (2011). What is Dual-Coding? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/SwHaq3xlNdA
Hi Keri,
I love how you used emojis to help your students in Science! I also agree with you that in theory there are certain theories that sound lovely but in practice it is not always as easy to incorporate. There are certain concepts where the behaviourism theory may be necessary to use, especially for some students. For example, if students are having difficulty recognizing letters of the alphabet, I usually do suggest for parents to play games with flashcards to help students memorize some letters. I usually try using the theories that I know will help my students.
Gurreet
Thanks Gureet!
I think with all aspects of education it comes down to balance. It also comes down to recognizing what our students need one day and in one moment, might be quite different the next day.
I remember a time early in my career when I was trying to be so innovative and engaging by integrating technology and Project-Based Learning into ALL aspects of my curriculum. I thought, Wow! I’m rocking this, the students are engaged, they are learning so much, they are collaborating, and problem solving, researching answers to thought provoking questions, but what I failed to notice is some of them they were getting burnt out. It was too much for them. It took one student saying, “Mrs. Cyr, instead of doing all this work, can you just tell us what we need to know”.
I think sometimes as educators we are good at assuming what the kids want, but I have learned over time, that sometimes it is also good to ask. Just this year, coming into a new school, as part of my Administrative assignment, I also needed to teach Science. The first thing I planned on doing was to rearrange the large (2-person) desks in the JH Science Lab into larger pods, to foster collaboration and group-work. Prior to doing so, I decided to do a quick exit-slip survey and ask the students their preference instead.
To my surprise, they overwhelmingly wanted to stay separate. They just weren’t there yet 😉 To accommodate for the few who did want the “larger” more collaborative space, I made one pod in the middle of the room.
#lessonslearned 😀
Keri
I definitely agree with your point that as educators sometimes we assume what students want! It is surprising when we ask our students what they want and it is opposite from what we were assuming. I think some students are comfortable with some traditional ways and it will take time and practice for them to become comfortable with new ways, so your exit slip idea was the perfect way to get students’ opinion and cater to it.
Hello Gurreet and Keri,
I also believe in knowing what students want rather than imposing the changes on them. Regular feedback or prior feedback as Keri mentioned about the Exit Slip survey could be helpful in engaging students. If students do not like the newly introduced tech-based methodology, then it is not worthy to use it. So it is important to make them friendly and comfortable with tech being used prior to using it. Another thing which I Liked is “making connections with reality for engagement.” I also believe in this. This can be done by giving them exposure and providing experience through “learning by doing” which would also assist in keeping them interested in learning.
Rajman
Hello Gurreet and Keri,
I also believe in knowing what students want rather than imposing the changes on them. Regular feedback or prior feedback as Keri mentioned about the Exit Slip survey could be helpful in engaging students. If students do not like the newly introduced tech-based methodology, then it is not worthy to use it. So it is important to make them friendly and comfortable with tech being used prior to using it. Another thing which I Liked is “making connections with reality for engagement.” I also believe in this. This can be done by giving them exposure and providing experience through “learning by doing” which would also assist in keeping them interested in learning.
Rajman