Question: Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) mentioned in their chapter that using familiar information can be harmful to a person in the long run. How can this be changed for those people who constantly make the wrong decisions, based on their past experiences?
Passage: “Prior knowledge provides a tool to structure the information in the problem, allowing the individual to apply a familiar scaffold to the information, regardless of how helpful or harmful it might be. Prior knowledge mediates an individual’s ability to represent the problem in the most efficient fashion” (p. 13).
Connection: I am in a field where I have learned about many psychological disorders. I have studied the multiple components of particular psychological disorders and ways to help these particular disorders. More recently, I was asked to do behavior observations on a student where I do my practicum. When observing in the classroom, the student was extremely hyper. During all three observations, the student was off-task, running around the room, and very jittery. I continued to think that the student may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have done multiple ADHD evaluations and observations in classrooms, so my past experience inhibited my performance in determining what was going on with the child. I continued to look for all of the confirming evidence of ADHD, but I failed to see the disconfirming evidence. As it turned out, the student drank coffee every morning with his father before coming to school. Someone who wasn’t as familiar with the disability may have been open to other factors other than ADHD a lot sooner than me. This stresses the importance that no two children are alike and that even though a student may act like another, that they are a completely different child.
Outside Connection: I was constantly reminded of Piaget while reading this chapter on how prior knowledge can often be dangerous. Piaget agrees that individuals strive to be in a state of equilibrium. He further argued that when people are not in their realm of understanding that they fall into a state of disequilibrium. Once disequilibrium is encountered, then people look for ways to reduce their cognitive conflict. Piaget explained that people organize incoming information through the two processes of assimilation and accommodation. Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) are suggesting in their chapter that in order for people to understand new problems, they tend to assimilate new information into their own knowledge structures that are already formed. Since situations can be harmful by using assimilation, it is important to use accommodation instead. This can be extremely difficult to do, but accommodation allows a person to see the information in a different way. If only we could teach people how to view situations without other situations affecting decision-making. Is it even possible?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
R10
Question: The job I do as a school psychologist expects me to be able to multi-task. For example, I will be working on a report, and then am required to respond to email, while also having to be available to consult with teachers that stop in my office. I feel as though multitasking is the only that school psychologist are able to successfully do the job, for there are so many different tasks that must be done in a day of work. If Rosen argues that multitasking is not an effective strategy to use, what would he suggest a typical day look like for a school psychologist?
Passage: In the article Rosen quotes Dr. Edward Hallowell. He states his ideas
about multitasking by stating, “Never in history has the human brain been asked to track
so many data points . . . and this challenge can be controlled only by reatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health. Limiting multitasking is essential” (p. 106).
Connection: During a typical day as a school psychologist, there are many tasks that I am required to do: testing children, consulting with teachers, writing reports, answering email, planning for counseling sessions, conducting counseling sessions, and attending ARC meetings. While at practicum, I will have a report on my laptop that I am writing, talking with other staff in the room, and have my email account open to answer questions and consult with teachers. I think that there are certain places and times that multitasking is relevant, for I would probably not have a job if I was not able to multitask. Rosen (2008) does have a good argument in stating that multitasking can affect learning. For example, this past week I tried to listen to the power point for this course again in order to master the information. When trying to do so, the television was on and my phone was next to me. When I first attempted the task of learning the material on the power point, my brain could not focus and grasp all of the information the power point presented because I was also checking my cell phone. I became much more effective when I turned my phone on silent and put it on the charger, in addition to also turning off the television.
Outside Connection: In the article, Rosen (2008) discusses Meyer’s thoughts, which Rosen summarizes that “with training, the brain can learn to task switch more effectively, and there is some evidence that certain simple tasks are amenable to such practice” (p. 107). Most students in our school are taught to not multitask, but I think that students should be taught appropriate ways to multitask. For example, I think an important skill to be taught is organization. If students are more organized and receive actual study skills training, then they will be able to switch topics more quickly and to multitask. If taught right, students would be able to be more efficient by learning proper ways to study and to learn appropriate ways to multitask.
Passage: In the article Rosen quotes Dr. Edward Hallowell. He states his ideas
about multitasking by stating, “Never in history has the human brain been asked to track
so many data points . . . and this challenge can be controlled only by reatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health. Limiting multitasking is essential” (p. 106).
Connection: During a typical day as a school psychologist, there are many tasks that I am required to do: testing children, consulting with teachers, writing reports, answering email, planning for counseling sessions, conducting counseling sessions, and attending ARC meetings. While at practicum, I will have a report on my laptop that I am writing, talking with other staff in the room, and have my email account open to answer questions and consult with teachers. I think that there are certain places and times that multitasking is relevant, for I would probably not have a job if I was not able to multitask. Rosen (2008) does have a good argument in stating that multitasking can affect learning. For example, this past week I tried to listen to the power point for this course again in order to master the information. When trying to do so, the television was on and my phone was next to me. When I first attempted the task of learning the material on the power point, my brain could not focus and grasp all of the information the power point presented because I was also checking my cell phone. I became much more effective when I turned my phone on silent and put it on the charger, in addition to also turning off the television.
Outside Connection: In the article, Rosen (2008) discusses Meyer’s thoughts, which Rosen summarizes that “with training, the brain can learn to task switch more effectively, and there is some evidence that certain simple tasks are amenable to such practice” (p. 107). Most students in our school are taught to not multitask, but I think that students should be taught appropriate ways to multitask. For example, I think an important skill to be taught is organization. If students are more organized and receive actual study skills training, then they will be able to switch topics more quickly and to multitask. If taught right, students would be able to be more efficient by learning proper ways to study and to learn appropriate ways to multitask.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Module 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_HfSnQqeyY
Above is my video that I found. I think the most interesting thing that I found out about this video is that it describes how information becomes transferred into the long-term memory. This video is a lecture from Stanford University. I also like how the presenter uses real life examples to explain the concepts of memory (such as using numbers). Although we have covered information on learning and memory, I think it helps my understanding of the content by hearing someone else present the information as well. On a side note, I also enjoyed the fact that he incorporated particular disorders that are related to memory, and how people with those disorders are affected in areas of their brain and learning new information.
Above is my video that I found. I think the most interesting thing that I found out about this video is that it describes how information becomes transferred into the long-term memory. This video is a lecture from Stanford University. I also like how the presenter uses real life examples to explain the concepts of memory (such as using numbers). Although we have covered information on learning and memory, I think it helps my understanding of the content by hearing someone else present the information as well. On a side note, I also enjoyed the fact that he incorporated particular disorders that are related to memory, and how people with those disorders are affected in areas of their brain and learning new information.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
R9
Question: So many times I here students say that they wished they had photographic memories. How do we make students aware that it is not whether or not you have an average memory, but how you use your memory? Memory is something that is best utilized when strategies are in place. A lot of students in the classroom have similar memories and it is how they use the information and categorize it that makes the information stick. Memory is like a treadmill; if you have a $5,000 Life Fitness treadmill you can have lots of capability, but if you don’t how to work the device or strategies to stay on the device then you will make it nowhere. On the flip side, you could have an average Walmart purchased treadmill, and if you are able to work it you can make it the same distance as if running on an expensive treadmill.
Quotation: “What you have to understand is that even average memories are remarkably powerful if used properly” (Foer, 2011).
Connection: In Foer’s article on memory, he discusses how the memory was assessed by having the competitors in the memory competition memorize dozens of strangers’ names. This immediately reminded me of the first class I took at the University of Kentucky. I took an intro to Russian culture class. There were 65 students in the class, all of which the teacher had never had before in class. On the first day of class he had every student introduce themselves one time. He then went around the room and amazingly named every single person’s name in the room! I was shocked! I could not believe that he was able to do that. All of the students kept asking him if he cheated, in which he responded that he simply used memory strategies to remember everyone’s name.
Outside Connection: I am so fortunate to have read James as our first book in this course. I must admit that I am connecting to James in a lot of my other course work. I again thought of James when reading the article by Foer. Learning and memory is about associations. James (1899) emphasizes in his chapter on associations that “the more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world” (p.42). In other words, the more associations that children are forced to make, the more they remember. The Foer article discussed how in our society that technology helps us store our memories outside of our brains. Such examples are books, audio devices, photographs, computers, and cell phones. Foer describes that before this technology was created that the memory was the device most commonly used. He explains further by stating, “A trained memory was not just a handy tool but also a fundamental facet of any worldly mind. It was considered a form of character-building, a way of developing the cardinal virtue of prudence and, by extension, ethics. Only through memorizing, the thinking went, could ideas be incorporated into your psyche and their values absorbed” (Foer, 2011). Since this was during the time “without advanced technology”, how can our students of this generation use their memories more frequently when they have access to all of the technology that does it for them?
Quotation: “What you have to understand is that even average memories are remarkably powerful if used properly” (Foer, 2011).
Connection: In Foer’s article on memory, he discusses how the memory was assessed by having the competitors in the memory competition memorize dozens of strangers’ names. This immediately reminded me of the first class I took at the University of Kentucky. I took an intro to Russian culture class. There were 65 students in the class, all of which the teacher had never had before in class. On the first day of class he had every student introduce themselves one time. He then went around the room and amazingly named every single person’s name in the room! I was shocked! I could not believe that he was able to do that. All of the students kept asking him if he cheated, in which he responded that he simply used memory strategies to remember everyone’s name.
Outside Connection: I am so fortunate to have read James as our first book in this course. I must admit that I am connecting to James in a lot of my other course work. I again thought of James when reading the article by Foer. Learning and memory is about associations. James (1899) emphasizes in his chapter on associations that “the more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world” (p.42). In other words, the more associations that children are forced to make, the more they remember. The Foer article discussed how in our society that technology helps us store our memories outside of our brains. Such examples are books, audio devices, photographs, computers, and cell phones. Foer describes that before this technology was created that the memory was the device most commonly used. He explains further by stating, “A trained memory was not just a handy tool but also a fundamental facet of any worldly mind. It was considered a form of character-building, a way of developing the cardinal virtue of prudence and, by extension, ethics. Only through memorizing, the thinking went, could ideas be incorporated into your psyche and their values absorbed” (Foer, 2011). Since this was during the time “without advanced technology”, how can our students of this generation use their memories more frequently when they have access to all of the technology that does it for them?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Module 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DbuIn4Dbww
After learning about different sensory registers, I could not think of Orton Gillingham. It is an approach to reading that is multi-sensory, language based, and very structured. A lot of students who do not respond to reading instruction (such as students with dyslexia) benefit from this instruction. More specifically, I am using this program with a girl that I am working with who has Down syndrome. This approach also recognizes that individuals all learn differently, so instruction is individualized. Some individuals struggle with learning, so this approach emphasizes that some students need multi-sensory instruction. One example of how this is used is learning the sounds of the alphabet. Students not only hear the sounds, but they can draw them in sand with their finger, say them, hear them, and write them. Above is a video that shows an example of how this approach is used.
After learning about different sensory registers, I could not think of Orton Gillingham. It is an approach to reading that is multi-sensory, language based, and very structured. A lot of students who do not respond to reading instruction (such as students with dyslexia) benefit from this instruction. More specifically, I am using this program with a girl that I am working with who has Down syndrome. This approach also recognizes that individuals all learn differently, so instruction is individualized. Some individuals struggle with learning, so this approach emphasizes that some students need multi-sensory instruction. One example of how this is used is learning the sounds of the alphabet. Students not only hear the sounds, but they can draw them in sand with their finger, say them, hear them, and write them. Above is a video that shows an example of how this approach is used.
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