Chapter 4- Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

Three Theoretical School of Learning Behaviorism Developmental Psychology Phenomenology and Humanistic Psychology

Behaviorism Thorndike Pavlov Skinner Gagne Behaviorists emphasized conditioning behavior and altering the environment to elicit selected responses from the learner Thorndike’s Laws: Readiness, Exercise, Effect Classical Conditioning: learning consists of eliciting a response by means of previously neutral or inadequate stimuli Operant Conditioning:no observable or measurable stimuli explain the appearance of the response Gagne’s Hierarchy: Signal learning, Stimulus-Response, Motor Chains, Verbal Association, Multiple Discriminations, Concepts, Rules, Problem Solving Gagne’s Five Learning Outcomes: Intellectual Skills, Information, Cognitive Strategies, Motor Skills, Attitudes Curriculum should be organized so that students experience success in mastering the subject matter The Behaviorists are highly prescriptive and diagnostic in their approach and they rely on step by step, structured methods for learning.

Behaviorist Instructional Approaches Direct Instruction- Rosenshine Mastery learning- Block and Anderson Guided Instruction- Hunter Systematic Instruction- Good and Brophy See chart on Page 108

Developmental Piaget Guilford Dewey Kohlberg Ennis; Lipman; Sternberg Bruner; Phenix Growth and development occur in progressive stages Piaget: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operations, Formal Operations Guilford: Structure of the Intellect Gardner: Multiple Intelligences Dewey: Learning Principles Kohlberg: Moral Development Ennis, et al: Critical Thinking Brunner: Spiral Curriculum Learning Styles Emotional Intelligence Constructivism

Thinking and Learning Structure of Intellect Multiple Intelligences Learning Styles Emotional Intelligence Constructivism Focus on the process of thinking, what is going on inside a person’s head. Structure of Intellect: Guilford Multiple Intelligences: Gardner six(eight) types of intelligences Learning Styles: people have preferences for ways of thinking and approaches to learning: Felder and Silverman Emotional Intelligence: Goleman and Salovey Constructivism: the individual is active in the process: individuals participate in the creation of their meaning; the task for the learner is to engage themselves in internalizing and reshaping of transforming information via active consideration

Problem Solving and Creative Thinking Reflective Thinking Critical Thinking Intuitive Thinking Discovery Learning Dewey’s concept of problem solving (see page 117) Critical Thinking: Ennis’ (13 attributes of critical thinkers), Lipman(ordinary thinking and critical thinking), Sternberg(mental processes that enhance critical thinking) Creative Thinking: The essence of creativity is novelty (Rogers) Intuitive Thinking: Bruner- engaging in hunches, playing with ideas, and understanding discoveries to add to the storehouse of new knowledge. Discovery Learning: Phenix, Taba- the formation of coding systems whereby students discover the relationships that exist among the data presented. The cognitive approach constitutes a logical method for organizing and interpreting learning; the approach is rooted in the tradition of subject matter; educators have been trained in cognitive approaches and better understand them.

Humanistic Maslow Rogers Raths Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Survival, Safety, Love and Belonging, Esteem, Knowing and Understanding, Self-Actualization Maslow defined humanistic psychology: centering attention on the experiencing person, thus focusing on the experience as the primary phenomenon in learning; emphasizing human qualities rather than mechanistic or behavioristic terms; showing ultimate concern for the dignity and worth of people. Rogers: counseling procedures and methods for facilitating learning; reality is based on what the individual learner perceives; curriculum is concerned with process, psychological meaning, and changing environmental situations. Rath:Value Clarification-learners explore their own preferences and make their own choices