Learning+Model+Article

Tristan Wharton Christopher Cardenas Justin Young Joel Atwood Education 341 Wednesday Session Article  All of the models present information or a system to improve learner motivation, learning in general, and retention rates. Thus, all of the models are extremely useful to teachers. Just because we, as a group, chose two models, does not mean the others do not have merit. Additionally, each model possesses its own unique characteristics which provide creative means for educating today’s youth. For instance, inquiry teaching/learning uses a model of the well-known scientific method, which is a basic reasoning process all students can employ. Discovery learning is similar to Inquiry Teaching, but adds in various additional steps making it unique. Discovery learning asks the student to critically evaluate, search for more knowledge, and distribute expertise, whereas inquiry teaching involves solving one problem at a time. Keller’s ARCS is unique in that it is the only model which advocates for the information being presented to be relevant to the student. This is one of its four main points and without it, learner motivation cannot be entirely completed/fulfilled. Activity Theory, Cognitive Apprenticeship, and Generative Learning are all different in subtle ways, but for the most part, they all promote learning through interaction. Generative learning asks for conversational learning, Activity asks for a division of labor, and Cognitive Apprenticeship asks for scaffolded practice. Seeing these models allows a future teacher to establish a solid foundation for lessons. It would be useful for a teacher to use many of these and experiment with all of them in an effort to maximize learning. Although some of the models have the same underlying theme, they all have their unique characteristics setting them apart from the others. The most useful model/chart is the Cone of Experience, which gives information on retention rates, making it immensely useful. By understanding that students retain more information when they are involved, forces teachers to guarantee that social activities and assignments are given to take advantage of the beneficial results. As a whole, the chart we found most useful was Cognitive Apprenticeship. Although we are health and fitness majors who deal mainly with psychomotor skills, this model still directly applied. The model revolves around a cognitive skill, but when analyzing the chart we soon saw that a psychomotor skill could easily be substituted for the cognitive with favorable results. Thus, for our commercial, we transformed Cognitive Apprenticeship into Psychomotor Apprenticeship. The first and last steps of Cognitive Apprenticeship are already driven into us by our professors, because without a quality introduction, students will be unmotivated and less attentive. If the class is not ended on a high-note then students may leave feeling dejected or depressed if they were having a rough day on a particular activity. Furthermore, the middle steps of the Cognitive Apprenticeship almost directly lay with the principles we have already been taught. We have been instructed, as future health and fitness instructors, to engage the students in all aspects of learning (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) and this model provides a unique blueprint for engaging the student in all of the domains. The modeled application and scaffolded practice help the psychomotor, whereas the guided reflection helps meet the cognitive and affective domains. Being that we are already partial towards Cognitive Apprenticeship, we obviously believe it is the easiest one to follow. However, this surely cannot be the case for every subject. When looking at the various models it seems Vygotsky’s Activity Theory is the most challenging, because Activity Theory requires input from the community and various other school staff members. Trying to coordinate with principals, mentors, tutors, supervisors, and the community as a whole seems like a giant task to undergo for a lesson, but if accomplishable, then the results would obviously be favorable. Another tricky model to implement would be Keller’s ARCS. The model is very short and seems rather easy, but when actually analyzing the process, it becomes clearly difficult. One problem we saw with the model is that not every subject seemed relevant to today’s youth. Our main example was history. We may feel this way because we will not be teaching history, but it appears very complicated to make every history lesson relatable to the 21st century. We are sure there are a few teachers who could accomplish this task, but new teachers could easily begin to fail if this strategy is tried without proper practice and training.
 * Comparison Criteria ||  Cognitive Apprenticeship  ||  Cone of Experience  ||
 * Relative “Student-centeredness” || This is very student-centered because the skill being taught in the middle of the diagram, be it a cognitive, affective, or psychomotor, demands the lesson be based around the student. The style forces the instructor to teach around the student in a scaffolding practice, along with requiring the student to reflect upon his/her thoughts, actions, and/or feelings. Furthermore, if the scaffolding process is aided by the help of other students it creates even more of a student-centered environment. || This is harder to analyze completely, but the data on the chart would definitely argue and agree that student-centered practices lead to more retention. Rather than an instructor lecturing during the entire class, this model would argue that if a teacher wants students to retain information, then student-centered practices like discussion groups, practice by doing, and teaching others should be fully utilized.  ||
 * Assessment || Cognitive Apprenticeship provides an easy model for assessment, especially within the physical education realm. Being that physical education routinely calls for skills to be polished, this example provides ample time for students to improve upon any movement. They are first given a model to follow, and then given either peer or teacher help in a scaffolding process, followed by reflection and more practice. Thus, if a teacher utilized this model, assessment would come after completed stages. Our commercial is a great example: In the beginning of the commercial, Chris is introduced to the skill/movement of a free throw. Initially, Chris struggles with the movement, but after help from the teacher, along with outside reading and reflection, Chris is able to polish and master the movement and is then ready for assessment at the end of the video. || Rather than providing an example for assessment, this model demands the viewer to critically analyze. So, after a test is given, a teacher should think reflectively about what teaching styles were used during the unit and then compare it to the test scores. If scores on the test were low, then the teacher should probably input more student-centered projects to aid in retention before testing/assessing. ||
 * 21st Century Fluencies || Cognitive Apprenticeship clearly correlates with the 21st Century Fluencies. Using the example from our commercial it is clear that most of the fluencies can easily be reached. Chris and the instructor both assessed his free throw shooting problem and came up with a solution (practice and reading), which fulfills fluencies 1, 2, and 3. Chris also practiced at his home and was able to reach fluencies 5 and 7. Furthermore, being that Chris was reading an outside source on how to improve his form, he fulfilled fluency 8. So, it is clearly evident that this model promotes the fluencies and would be attainable in any subject due to the required reflection and scaffolding practices. || This model makes it hard to say whether or not it meets many of the 21st Century Fluencies, but again, when looking at the retention rates, it is apparent that some of the fluencies must be reached with the more student-centered learning tasks at the body of the pyramid. For instance, the base of the pyramid involves teaching others, which means that fluency 2, 6, and 7 are easily being met. Additionally, fluency 3 can also be met by the reading process near the top of the pyramid. ||
 * Ease of Use || Cognitive Apprenticeship is very easy to implement within a class. The teacher will have to take extra time to make sure a “compelling introduction” is used along with a “graceful exit,” but if these two features help make a lesson complete then it is really only a modest sacrifice. This is especially true in a physical education class when modeling and practice are mandatory and vital elements to the fulfillment of a unit. This is almost a natural guideline for physical education, but this is also a reachable blueprint for any class/subject. The instructor need only be willing to adapt his/her lesson plan to a teaching strategy involving scaffolded practice. || Again, looking at the retention rates, it seems many of the most prominently used teaching techniques result in the lowest retention rates. This could potentially lead to problems if the teacher is unwilling to adapt his/her lesson plans to adequately meet the needs of the students. However, implementing a system which includes practice and/or peer teaching seems reasonable for any class. ||