Given the choice to pick any topic for this week’s blog post I decided that I would pick psychology and the men who came up with all of the theories we are now taught today in intro to psychology classes. The four men that we learn the most about are Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotski. These men all have different theories that students need to memorize if they plan on being a psychology or education major. So using DLT and SLT to teach the theories to them could be very helpful when trying to get the information across.
When using DLT to teach them about these men I obviously could not give them a complete concrete representation, because the concrete representation would be to actually have the men in my classroom. However, we all know that they are all dead, and therefore could not be present during the lesson. Professor Kruse said that next to the real thing would be a video and picture. So I think I would split my students into groups and supply them with four pictures, one of each theorist, and their four names. Then I would give them a few minutes to try to match the picture and name correctly without giving them any background information on any of them. Then I would pick one theorist after the other to teach and go down the DLT spectrum. After getting through all four theorists and their theories I would then try to review in the most concrete terms possible, in order to try to get the information I just taught to stick in my students heads. Of course I’m sure just doing so wouldn’t be enough for my students to remember everything after one time of talking about it, so multiple lessons of reviewing the information would be necessary.
When using SLT to teach my students about the Theorists and their views, I would be considered the “more knowledgeable peer.” This means that I have / know all of the information I want my students to learn and retain. Therefore, when teaching I would need to put emphasis on the language I use and how I use it to construct my lesson. I would also need to interact with my students by walking around the room, answering any questions they have, and finding ways to help them understand my information in terms that they can relate to and already understand. Hopefully by doing so, some of my students will retain the information I teach them, and also become more knowledgeable peers to their classmates. If so, then the students who understand can help the students who don’t better than I can.
In a perfect world using DLT and SLT to teach this lesson would go smoothly, but we all know that doesn’t always happen. I really hope that when I have to teach those four theorists someday my students catch on quickly, or at least some of them do so that way they can help me teach.
I think your idea for using SLT to teach about the theorists was good, in that you would act as the most knowledgeable peer. You also acknowledged the key components to SLT, such as language. Another way I had thought about is having them discuss in groups so they would not entirely rely on you and could share their previous knowledge with each other. Group work would make it less of a typical lecture, and could be another component of your idea of teaching using SLT.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that teaching your students about these theorists is a challenge because you cannot use the most concrete example, however I would like to know what other specific examples you would use as you work towards concrete to abstract? I think you elaborated well on SLT, but in my opinion that learning theory is a lot easier to grasp.
ReplyDeleteI like your thought out lesson plan. It seems like it would be a very effective way to teach. You mention that it might be hard for some students to understand all this in one class so you might have to go over it again. I think it might be easy to cover just one of these people in a day. That way there is no confusion and students will begin to understand that person better and will be more capable of comparing that particular philosopher to another. I also agree that it may be hard to have complete understanding of the whole classroom so it is nice to have some students who understand. That way they can maybe word something different than you to help others understand.
ReplyDeleteEmily, I agree that these people are very important understand. Though I don't think it's all that beneficial to simply memorize facts about these people and there theories. It's interesting to note that many of these theorists pioneered many ideas behind DLT and SLT. I believe learning the theories are probably more important than understanding the people themselves. For example, Piaget was known for is developmental theories. Why not show some representations or videos of some of his more famous experiments in the classroom (use DLT to teach about DLT). Whereas Vygotsky was very influential in providing ideas for SLT. You could incorporate a ZPD style lesson plan that forces students to realize situations that they can only complete with the help of a more knowledgeable peer. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.
ReplyDelete