Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction

1) As an instructor in a teacher prep program, I decided to focus on one of my primary goals, which is to prepare future teachers to plan and execute effective lessons. The specific learning goal for this project is for student teachers to prepare and present an effective focus for a lesson. I would most likely incorporate the Schema Theory & Cognitive Load Theory, as well as the Behavioral and Situated Learning Theories to accomplish this goal. Although not representative of the entire lesson, I would ideally utilize the following learning activities:

2) I chose the University of Florida's Center for Instructional Technology and Training http://www.citt.ufl.edu/toolbox/toolbox_gagne9Events.php as a reference to become more familiar with Gagne's Theory of Design. I created the following chart to show how the instructional activities I planned correlate to both Gagne's theory and the First Principles Theory. I believe that the very nature of the lesson and task lends itself to the First Principles theory quite well, because the goal is for students to learn a skill they know they will be using in real classrooms. It is problem based, because, as any teacher knows, it is sometimes quite a task to gain students' attention at the very beginning of a lesson. Therefore, this lesson is not at all contrived, but is very "real world" in nature.



3) I believe that the nature of learning to plan and execute a lesson focus, leading to planning and delivering an entire lesson cycle, is inherently inline with the whole-task approach, scaffolding, and mathemagenic methods. Learning to teach is not an isolated set of skills to be learned from a college textbook, but, rather an integration of skill sets, knowledge, and attitudes. The art and science of teaching an effective lesson is a skill recognized by teachers and other professionals in the field. By having students work alongside a professional teacher to actually plan and deliver a lesson, students are learning to simultaneously rely upon numerous constituent skills.

4) I created the following chart to show how I would incorporate Keller's ARCS model of motivation into a Smartboard training seminar I might be designing for pre-service and practicing teachers.

5) Engaging in design research almost guarantees that the focus remains on learning. Because design research incorporates both design and research at every level of instruction, there is a constant flow of data to help teachers decide when the "learning trajectory" is effective and when it needs to be changed. Data collection and research truly drives instruction, because the focus is always on learning.