Module 1 : Activity 3 - Social Cognitive Theory

Looking back at activity three question, 'What have your learners' reactions taught you about learning and teaching?', this question set me to reflect on the past and the present  in my teaching career. I remembered as a young teacher I too had many challenges that I was unsure about and I even became overwhelmed and discouraged at times. Today, as I looked at my teaching and learning strategies and how my learners’ reactions have helped me, I can truly confessed that I have come a long way. I have learnt that they model what I do and say and if I want a positive reinforcement I have to set the pace for them to follow.  I began by being a good listener, I listen while my student speaks and never talk out of turn. I gave my students the opportunity to be the teacher where they expressed their point of views and shared their opinions as a teacher. I continue to model good mannerism and attitude because I expect them to develop these traits.

Today, looking at my students’ reactions I can tell if my teaching strategy is working or if I need a different approach to reach them. Therefore, as a teacher I have to possess the qualities I expect my students to follow and model from. Hence, what I do and say determine the outcome of my learners.

Module 1: Activity one (What is learning?)

In activity one we look at what is learning and, from my stand point, learning is never ending because every day we live, we learn. It may be as simple as tying one’s shoe to building on a new word. In the classroom I look at learning as the receiving of information and building of what is received to develop oneself. However, a teacher’s job goes beyond what is expected of him or her because she has to learn the information and then present it to the class and in turn help students to be creative, open-minded, critical in their thinking and motivated to go beyond what is expected of them.

During my teaching career I have learnt so much from my students and the things I have learnt have helped me to be a better teacher. I have learnt that students have diverse backgrounds and abilities and knowing what each student is like helps the teacher to relate to each child. Continuous learning takes place every day and we can never be too old to learn.

Module 1: Activity 2- Information Processing

Activity 2 readings are centered on the work of Piaget, Atkinson and Shiffrin. The ideas about schema, and Piaget’s introduction of the processes of assimilation and accommodation. These theories are all useful concepts in the information processing approach. Hence, the information processing theory is based on comparing the functioning of the mind to another, for example, a computer. Like-wise what we store in the mind will be recalled at one time or another. The theory proposes that people process information in much the same way as a computer does. It uses ideas about the input of information, the manipulation of it, and the nature of the outputs to help us consider ways in which we can improve thinking. Information is taken in from the environment, and then changed into some form so it can be stored in memory, and then it is later retrieved from remembrance so that the learner can make a response.

It is better if we understand how we learn, and then we will be in a better position to understand how learners learn. In order for learners to develop the critical thinking skills necessary for problem solving, they need to learn how to learn. In other words, they need to become more aware of their own cognitive processes. Thus, the role of the teacher is to help learners understand their own cognitive processes. Learners will then be better able to regulate these processes in order to achieve specific learning goals. Learners also need to monitor their own learning so that they can recognize when certain strategies are ineffective and modify them to suit the needs of the learners.

Understanding the information processing components below will help us better identify how learning occurs.

• Stimuli- smell, hear, see, taste, touch, (the surroundings)
• Sensory register - the information is processed temporarily in the short term memory.
• Short term memory and working memory- majority of the time we process information in short term memory unless it’s something that stands out most; like an accident or something unforgettable. The information can be an instant one or it can be retrieved from the long term memory in order for us to make sense of the world around us. However, the working memory is the present information we use to respond to the stimuli.
• The long term memory is use to store information for a long time. This information must be encoded. When this happen we say learning take place.

• Attention/ perception – In our everyday lives there are numerous stimuli which may arouse our senses. These stimuli may take place by the second, hour or day. At times we may forget them because they are not important to us but those that will affect our end result we pay attention to. However If the result is a memorable one we won’t likely to forget it, we would process it and send it to the long term memory. 
• Encoding – according to Piaget encoding is associating new information to already existing one or rearranging information in order to make sense of it.  Learners of mixed ability would use different brainwashing strategies which may include things like; linking new information to something they already know or reorganize the information to make it meaningful to them.

I was asked in the self activity to examine my on learning strategies by commenting and completing the three tasks given.  My comments are given below.

Task 1: I was able to draw the head of the queen of England on my blank coin, and write the inscriptions that are on the head of the coin, which I recalled from memory.

Task 2: For task 2, I looked at the letters for 10 seconds as suggested but then I can only remember the first 8 letters which is JSISHPHS. My mind went blank on the others.

Task 3: Now I am able to remember more letters which is CEGSEG. I memorize the first set of letters and then concentrate on these six letters. Overall, I learnt JSISHPHSCEGSEG. Nothing else is clear. I have to keep memorizing these letters in order to remember them. I then continued to learn the 5 words within 10 seconds as was suggested, they are FASHION EGG DRESS SHEEP WHICH. It was much easier to remember these words compared to the letters because they were things to which I could relate and recall much quicker and simpler.

Task 4: First I was able to see the information, and then processed all the details asked. After processing the information it was recorded in my short term memory. Even though the information was processed I could not remember all the details especially the activity with the letters. This activity has caused me to look and reflect on my teaching style especially where it deals with students of mixed ability. I definitely will have to use Piaget, Atkinson and Shiffrin theories of information processing to help better my teaching/learning process.