Law of Contrariness "Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. Having found them, we shall then hate them for it." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tyler’s Four Questions Ralph Tyler (1971) concluded that when developing curriculum, planning instruction, and assessing learning, there are four primary questions: What is the purpose of the lesson? (2) What experiences are necessary to achieve the purpose? (3) How do you organize the experiences into meaningful learning? (4) What evidence is available to determine if you accomplished the purpose?

What is the Target?

“Begin With the End in Mind” (Covey)

Selected Principles of Learning: Constructivism Piagetian Theory— Summarized (Jean Piaget)

Humans are “Sensing” Beings Seeing (visual) Hearing (auditory) Touching (tactile; kinesthetic) Smelling Tasting Humans perceive “stimuli” (information) from the environment through their five senses

Perceptions Perceptions are formed as one “experiences” the world.

Memory One’s ability to perceive new information is essential to memory.

Concepts . . . And, without memory or the ability to remember one cannot form concepts, e.g., “mental pictures” about how things work.

“Concept Formations” = Cognitive Schemata Cognitive Schemata are bundles or “chunks” of knowledge and understanding into which new data (stimuli) are “integrated” as they are received from the environment (i.e., when new experiences occur). Cognitive “Hooks” or “Scaffolds” ***Note: Schemata is plural and Schema is singular

Cognitive schemata are essential for “permanent learning” to occur, and for higher order learning and thinking to take place.

Perception >>>> Memory >>>> Concept Formation (sensing) (encoding) (learning)

Concept formation involves two cognitive processes Accommodation Assimilation

Accommodation As new environmental stimuli are received, pre-existing cognitive schemata are changed or adapted to “accommodate” the stimuli

Assimilation As new environmental stimuli are received, the stimuli are changed or “adapted” to “fit” pre-existing cognitive schemata

Equilibrium A cognitive balance between accommodation and assimilation

See Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model (Handout) When are perceptions formed? When is accommodation and assimilation occurring? When is “transfer of learning” occurring?

Other Selected Principles of Learning Carroll’s Five Variables for Learning The Carroll model: A 25-year retrospective and prospective view (Carroll, 1989).

Aptitude A student’s aptitude determines the amount of time one needs to learn a given task, unit of instruction, or curriculum to an acceptable criterion of mastery under optimal conditions of instruction and student motivation.

Opportunity to Learn The amount of time allowed for learning, for example, by a school schedule, a course, or a program.

Perseverance The time and effort that a student is willing to spend on the learning; in this sense, it becomes an operational definition of motivation for learning.

Quality of Instruction The learners must be clearly told what they are to learn (i.e., measurable instructional objectives). They must be put into adequate contact with learning materials, and the steps in learning must be carefully planned and ordered.

Quality of Instruction (cont’d) If these factors are less than optimal, the time needed for learning is increased, and the quality of learning may be less than optimal.

Ability to Understand Instruction This includes language comprehension as well as the learners’ ability to figure out for themselves what the learning task is and how to go about learning it.

THE POPHAM MODEL: Determining Educational Needs… Desired Current An Status of -- Status of = Educational Learners Learners Need

Measurable Instructional Objectives that are stated in Behavioral Terms What the student will be able to do as a result of the instruction (TSWBAT)? More directly, what the student will be able to do on Friday that they could not do on Monday?

Mager’s Rules for Writing Measurable Instructional Objectives 1) Identify and Name the Student Behavior Sought 2) Define any Important Conditions Under Which the Behavior is to Occur 3) Define a Level of Acceptable Performance Specify the BEHAVIOR, the CONDITION, and the DEGREE of acceptable performance when writing the objective.

ACTION VERBS Use words that describe the student behavior that is to be demonstrated (observed). The Action Verb should represent one of the six levels of the Cognitive Domain.

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY: A VOCABULARY FOR WRITING OBJECTIVES Cognitive Domain Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

EXAMPLES OF ACTION VERB USE VAGUE The student will be able to . . . do know understand . . . BETTER The student will be able to . . . list compare demonstrate summarize prepare critique . . .

Ralph W. Tyler’s Legacy: The Goal-Attainment Model Goal-Sources Student Society Subject Matter Goal-Screens Philosophy of Education Psychology of Learning