Constructivism Learning Theory

In the Educational Leadership article entitle “The Boss of My Brain”, authors Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers examines the explicit instruction in metacognition. Researchers stated that “explicit instruction in metacognition puts students in charge of their learning.” It was also stated that “meta-cognition supports learning by enabling us to actively think about which cognitive strategies can help achieve learning, how we should apply those strategies, how we can review our progress, and whether we need to adjust our thinking.” I believe this a unique teaching tool for teachers to implement with their students. With the use of metacognition, students whether they are struggling learners or gifted can learn how to use a variety of cognitive strategies to help improve their learning.

Numeracy is skills within mathematics, and involves all aspects, not just numbers. The ability to be numerate involves having the skill to work with numbers, and be able to understand all aspects of mathematics that help with practical demands, in all features of everyday life (State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2015). Numeracy bridges the gap between the maths that we learn in school, and the contexts it is used in, in everyday life. It can be argued that students develop numeracy as a result of all the mathematical experiences they learn in and out of school. Success in early mathematics has lifelong significance in students.

This allows the students to be productive with students of a different culture. Students performed math problems with students who may have learned certain things differently than them. This acknowledges the progress of students learning from each other and working as one. The mathematics teacher also provided his students every opportunity to ask questions and tackle any problem that they needed help with. The diversity of the group brings out different approaches to confront any math problem.

1.5 Kohn’s Student Directed Learning Theory Kohn’s student-directed learning theory is an approach to the classroom management which may be particularly effective in the modern classroom environment. Student-directed learning will keep students motivated and teaches them to cooperate with each other sharing responsibilities and functions within their community. Kohn believes that the ideal classroom emphasizes on curiosity and cooperation above all, and that the student’s curiosity should determine what is taught. "Skillful educators tap students ' natural curiosity and desire to become competent. In a learning environment, teachers want to help students engage with what they are doing to promote deeper understanding" (Kohn, 1997c).

“One obvious purpose of effective questioning is to minimize teachers’ and students’ errors by focusing on a particular fact, issue, skill, belief, or whatever” ( Wragg & Brown, 2001, p.27). Hence, questioning effectively can make students become more curious and actively participate in learning process (Fusco, 2015). There are some tactics that teachers need to use in order to question

Firstly, the questions in the numeracy test rely heavily on the student’s prior experiences in mathematics. So, instead of testing the mathematical understanding of the student, it tests how well the student has been taught mathematics. This became apparent to me when I was completing the test, because I found the questions that I had previously been exposed to at school a lot easier to answer. In comparison, I found the questions that I had never come across a lot more difficult, even if the actual mathematics involved was at a similar complexity level. This notion reduces the validity of NAPLAN due to the fact that it assesses how well the students have been directly taught for the test, rather than the mathematical ability of the students.

An interesting discovery by Wittrock was that motivation by a teacher is only helpful when a child can link their comprehension of a new concept to their own efforts. The added praising following a student’s understanding of a new concept creates a continues interest in learning (Wittrock, 349). If a teacher does the opposite of this study and praises a child for times when they fail to fully grasp a concept but instead just repeat information they do not fully understand the child will be less likely to have future meaning-based learning. The issues brought forward regarding motivation and the generative learning theory highlight the importance of a teacher to regularly check that students are truly comprehending the information presented in class prior to giving them praise. Some great strategies to teat comprehension include asking the student to elaborate on the topic or give a unique personal created example for the

The Effects of Perspective-Taking on Perceptual Learning 1. Introduction The perspectives that we adopt when interacting in the world play an integral role in the processes of thinking and learning. This notion is implicit in the way people speak informally about learning, such as when a tutor says to a struggling student "Maybe it would help if we approached this from a different perspective." In some areas of education, such as in history or literature, understanding perspectives is an explicit focus of the curriculum. And in everyday contexts, it has been suggested that perspective-taking is the primary mechanism with which humans are able to learn from others.

Lessons are designed according to students learning difficulties. Students’ prior knowledge is assessed through the pre-tests and interviews as assessment tools to inform the content of the lessons. According to Hodge (2010), the key component of an effective lesson is when the teacher understands and knows about the topic. As Variation Theory using learning study is collaborative in its nature, teachers gain more knowledge on the topic as they discuss and meet to share their past experiences about teaching the topic before proceeding to the

As I have mentioned earlier that any form of knowledge is essential and helps us in life. Theoretical knowledge which includes textbook information or a deep explanation regarding something put down in words stimulates our intelligence,sharpness and memory and it can develop understanding in the long term. Studies also prove that repeated reading or studying theoretical information leads to agility in the brain which increases its sharpness consequently. This does not occur to this extent in practical knowledge. For example, a school boy who is studying for a mathematics exam will tend to succeed and obtain a better understanding to the subject only if he practices the mathematics portion required and perfects it.