BEHAVIORAL APPROACH VS. COGNITIVE APPROACH AND HOW TO FIND A BALANCE Hilary Rimmer and Tessa Gromoll

ARGUMENT In Instruction it is important to not just follow one single approach to Instruction, but to find a balance between effective methods.

 Instructing students using stimuli to get a desired behavior. ( Snowman, Jack, and Rick McCown,448).  Direct instruction is a popular approach for using this method.

 Information processing theory- emphasize the learning of facts and skills that teachers or school boards, have decided are important (Chen, Irene).  Direct Instruction Approaches- Lectures, tutorials, drills, demonstrations, and other forms of teacher controlled teaching (Chen, Irene).  Teaching Applications- Relate material to real world situations (Chen, Irene).  Break down instruction- Break down the material into smaller units (Chen, Irene).

 Is a cognitive process that cumulates to yield competence ( Wearne, Diana, and James Hiebert).  Most often associated with self- regulated learning (Snowman, Jack, and Rick McCown, 451)  Focuses on helping students process and store information by using techniques for visual and auditory learners( Clark, Ruth, and Gary Harrelson).

 Encoding- The integration of new data into existing schemas( Clark, Ruth, and Gary Harrelson).  Cueing Devices- Such as word emphasis, bolding letters, or drawing arrows (Clark, Ruth, and Gary Harrelson).  Instructional objectives- Writing objectives clearly for students to see (Snowman, Jack, and Rick McCown, 447).  Retrieval techniques- Teaching a lesson that helps students apply material they have learned in different settings (Clark, Ruth, and Gary Harrelson).

Grade Level : Freshmen – Juniors Instructors: Dr. Robinson, and Dr. Faucette Subjects : Elementary Linear Algebra, Survey of calculus, College Algebra, and Pre calculus.

Student Demographics : Majority Caucasian, some African American, South American, and Middle eastern students. Female to male ratio was either balanced or predominantly male. Approximately 18 students in every class. Length of Observations : 16 hours

Student- Teacher Interaction  There were more interactions between the students and the teachers in upper level classes.  Students were more comfortable asking questions in upper level classes.  In longer classes students became restless, and the interaction subsided throughout the class.

Student-Student Interactions  In pre-calculus and college algebra, there was more interaction between the student before class.  For the morning classes, there was less communication.  Classmates were helping explain concepts to one another.

Teacher-Student Interactions  In all of the classes, we observed teachers using humor to increase student attentiveness.  The teachers were confident in the material; which made all of the students more comfortable in communicating with the instructor.  Each teacher taught from the front of the classroom, to maintain classroom management.

OBSERVING COGNITIVE APPROACHES IN CLASS OBSERVATION  In Dr. Robinson’s Survey of Calculus class he used bright colors, and different colors to coordinate his charts and call attention to specific material.  Dr. Robinson organized his study guides based off of the same layout he uses on his tests.  We observed Dr. Robinson wanted all of the students to improve their test scores, and understanding of the material for their next test.  Dr. Robinson used graphing calculators for his lessons.

OBSERVING COGNITIVE APPROACHES IN CLASS OBSERVATION CONTINUED  Dr. Faucette gave students a break during instruction, so that the students will have time to process the information.  Dr. Faucette provides office hours for students, so they can ask for help on their own.  Gave the students the choice for when they wanted their test.  In Dr. Faucette’s linear algebra class, he wanted them to relate back to geometry.

OBSERVING BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES IN CLASS OBSERVATION  In Dr. Robinson’s class, he stated “you can only go up from here;” when the students got the test scores back.  Dr. Robinson had an outline prepared ahead of time for each lecture.  He related math problems to economics.  In his notes he wrote on the board, he underlined key vocabulary words for students to know.

OBSERVING BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES IN CLASS OBSERVATION CONTINUED  Dr. Faucette gives guided worksheets for homework to his elementary linear algebra class. Also, he uploads solutions on his website.  Trig/cal  In every class, Dr. Faucette gave an outline of what to expect from lessons each day.  In his pre-calculus, he separately taught the law of cosines and law of sines.

 Chen, Irene. "Behavioral Theories." An Electronic Textbook on Instructional Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July  Clark, Ruth, and Gary Harrelson. "Journal of Atheletic Training." Designing Instruction That Supports Cognitive Learning Processes 37 (2002): NCBI. Web. 10 July  Snowman, Jack, and Rick McCown. Pyschology Applied to Teaching. 13th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, Print.  Wearne, Diana, and James Hiebert. "A Cognitive Approach to Meaningful Mathematics Instruction: Testing a Local Theory Using Decimal Numbers." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 1-43 ( ): JSTOR. Web. 10 July