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Running head: EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Exploration of a Variety of Learning Theories in an English Language Arts Classroom Weston Fellows Towson University

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Description of Class: These lessons would take place in a 9th grade GT English class, in which the majority of students are high achieving and have adequate access to technology-computers, internet- at home. For those students who do not have access to the technology outside of the classroom I will make sure they are aware of available times to work on the project in school. Lesson One: Topic of Lesson: Students will be introduced to The Odyssey. Rationale: For this first lesson I will be using Meaningful Reception Learning. Driscoll (1993) notes that Ausubel (1961) stated, in reception learning the entire content of what is to be learned is presented to the learner in its final form. Reception learning is essentially the same as expository instruction where learners are told information rather than discovering it for themselves (Driscoll 1993). This is essentially what students will be completing for this lesson; they will be looking through a textbook for information that is already there. The students will gain an overview of background of Greek epic Poetry and life of the characters in the poem. State Standards: Indicator 1 .1: The student will use effective strategies before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening to self-selected and assigned materials. ECLG 1.1 Objectives:

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Objective 1.1.1: The student will prepare for reading, viewing, and/or listening to a text. ECLG 1.1.1

Procedure: Students will brainstorm what they already know about The Odyssey ( it probably wont be much.) Students will read through the textbook and find answers to their assigned section Introduction, Epics and Values, The Wooden Horse Trick, The Ancient World and Ours, and Relationships With the Gods. Following the prescribed time students will get into groups and jigsaw their findings.

Assessment: Students will be assessed based on the information presented to peers: do they grasp the main ideas presented in the text?

Lesson Two: Topic of Lesson: The lesson will require students to read two bible stories depicting archetypes and present the story to the class while making connections to various other archetypal characters. State Standards: Indicator 1 .1: The student will use effective strategies before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening to self-selected and assigned materials. ECLG 1.1

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Indicator 1.2: The student will comprehend and interpret a variety of texts, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and informational texts (e.g., articles, editorials, essays, speeches, literary criticism). ECLG 1.2 Indicator 3.1: The student will compose written, oral, and multimedia presentations in a variety of formats and for a variety of audiences and purposes. ECLG 2.1 Objectives: Objective 3.1.5: The student will create effective media presentations that use visuals and/or sound and appropriate technology to present a particular point of view on a topic or idea. ADP C, G Objective 1.2.1: The student will determine the contributions of literary elements in classical and contemporary literary texts. ECLG 1.2.1, ADP H Objective 1.1.4: The student will apply knowledge of word meaning, context, structure, and origin to define unfamiliar words. ECLG 1.1.2, 3.2.2; ADP A Rationale of Lesson: This lesson is designed to ask students to draw connections between a variety of literary works from a variety of cultures. Students should be able to identify the primary literary archetypes within the assigned Bible stories and present their connections to their peers. The presentation in MovieMaker is intended to be visually appealing for the viewer and the application of the software for the creator is designed to challenge their critical thinking and problem solvingMovieMaker can sometimes be difficult to use. Watson and Greeff (2004) note that: schema theory (Janoff-Bulman, 1992) postulates that beliefs that people hold about other people, things or events are structured in such a way that people tend to resist change to their existing ideas. For this reason, new information will be assimilated into peoples consciousness in such a way as to

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

confirm, rather than challenge, these existing ideas (Watson-Greeff 2004). This is the perfect learning theory for this lesson because it speaks to the very idea of archetypes; in that people dont like to change their ideas or believes and perhaps this is why we have archetypes. It is also a good theory for this lesson because the idea is that students will reinforce the concept of archetypes that their peers already have. Students will already have an idea of what archetypes are and this lesson will simply reinforce that. Procedures: Introduce the concept of archetypes to students by asking them what Simba, Luke Skywalker, William Wallace, and King Arthur have in common. Discuss. Show video clip on archetypes in movies. Distribute archetype handout and discuss the variety of archetypes as they relate to The Odyssey Assign Bible stories and distribute the readings and directions for project. Discuss directions and expectations for students. Go to computer lab and run through MovieMaker tutorial. Make sure there is sample footage on the shared drive for students to play around with so they can become familiar with editing and importing. As students are doing this circulate to ensure students grasp key concepts. While in the lab also walk students through Literature Resource Center so they can access the database from home for help researching their project. Check in with students as their work progresses to address any problems they might be having. If one student is having an issue, it is likely others are having the same problem. On the due date have students share video clips of their findings.

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Assessment/Evaluation: Assessment will be in the form of the videos students produce. Do they meet the objectives? Part of the assessment will also be whether or not other students in the class are able to learn from the presentations, which will be assessed by students having to draw connections between archetypes other than their own in a written essay.

Lesson Three: Objectives: Objective 2.1.3: The student will analyze connections between and among themes, ideas, and/or styles of two or more texts. ECLG 1.1.3, 1.2.4, 1.2.5, ADP H Objective 3.1.5: The student will create effective media presentations that use visuals and/or sound and appropriate technology to present a particular point of view on a topic or idea. ADP C, G Standards: Indicator 1 .1: The student will use effective strategies before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening to self-selected and assigned materials. ECLG 1.1 Indicator 3.1: The student will compose written, oral, and multimedia presentations in a variety of formats and for a variety of audiences and purposes. ECLG 2.1 Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is to have students analyze information online and compare two people. E-Learning is the learning theory focused on during this lesson. The European Commission characterizes E-Learning as the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services as well

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

as remote exchanges and collaboration (European Commission 2011). E-Learning is an important aspect of integrating technology into the classroom which is an important curriculum issue in todays 21st century learning environment.

Procedures:

Students will have read up to Book VIII of The Odyssey Students will log in to Edmodo and view the clip of Muhammed Ali http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrfV7kzxxmE&feature=fvwrel

This link will be posted on edmodo along with a prompt asking students to discuss what Ali and Odysseus have in common.

Students will post to Edmodo as a brainstorming session: If Odysseus were to brag as Ali did what would he say in his speech?

Using discussion in Edmodo write a compare/contrast essay of the two.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students will be assessed on their comments on the video and on their knowledge of The Odyssey. Students should be able to draw connections between the two men.

Lesson Four: Topic of the lesson: Students will peer review essays written from the brainstorming in the previous lesson. State Standards:

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

Indicator 3.2: The student will compose texts using the prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing strategies of effective writers and speakers. ECLG 2.2 Objectives: Objective 3.2.3: The student will revise and edit texts for clarity, completeness, and effectiveness. CLG 2.2.3, 3.2.1, 4.3.2; ADP C5 Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is to have students use Gagnes Nine Events in creating an essay. The image below is taken from Kim Chews webpage: http://eunisim.blogspot.com/2010/08/qualitymatters-in-e-learning-5.html (2010).

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

The purpose of using this learning theory for the essay lesson is that students will use the Gagnes Nine Events to create their essay. They will begin with gaining the readers attention (hook); inform learners of objectives (thesis, what are you going to tell the reader); Stimulate recall of prior learning (explain thesis); present the content (support for thesis); provide learning guidance, elicit performance (further explain support); provide feedback, assess performance and enhance retention (conclusion). The idea behind this is that students will be able to apply this learning approach to writing their essay and it also serves as another way for students to think about writing an essay. Procedure:

Students will bring their essays to class Essays will be switched and students will go through the peer review process with which they are familiar.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on the final essay as to whether or not they took advantage of the feedback they received.

EXPLORATION OF A VARIETY OF LEARNING THEORIES

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References Chew, K. (2010, August 3). eUniSIM: Quality matters in e-learning - 5 (Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction). eUniSIM. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from http://eunisim.blogspot.com/2010/08/qualitymatters-in-e-learning-5.html Driscoll, M. P. (1993). Psychology of learning for instruction: learning and instrucional technology. Boston [etc.: Allyn and Bacon. European Commission (2011)-from e-learning presentation BB Week 8 WATSON, N., & GREEFF, A. (2004). An analysis of schemata theory and learning theory as explanations for variance in adolescent adjustment to divorce. American Journal of Family Therapy, 32(5), 437-448

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