DOCSLIB.ORG

ED338389.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ED338389.Pdf DOCUMENT RESUME ED 338 389 PS 019 967 AUTHOR Page, Marilyn TITLE Active Learning: Historical and Contemporary PerspectiVes. PUB DATE 10 May 90 NOTE 112p.; Doctoral paper, University of Massachusetts. PUB TYPE Dissertations/Theses - Undetermined (040) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Cognitive Development; Cooperative Learning; Discovery Learning; Early Childhood Education; Educational Philosophy; *Educational Practices; *Educational Theories; Elementary Education; Experiential Learning; *Nontraditional Education; Problem Solving; Progressive Education; *School Role; Teacher Role IDErTIFIERS *Active Learning; Dewey (John); Foxfire; Rousseau (Jean Jacques) ABSTRACT The purposes of the first two parts of this literature review are to clarify the concept of active learning and discuss the use and value of active learning models. In Part I, the perspectives of five historical proponents of active learning, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Dewey, Kilpatrick, and Piaget, are di3cussed. The views of four contemporary proponents, Bruner, Wigginton, Freire, and Sharan, are also considered. The ideas of these proponents show four common themes:(1) rejection of traditional teaching methods; (2) belief in the cognitive learning paradigm; (3) faith in the ability of students; and (4) belief in the importance of the relationship of school to society. In Part II, four major active learning movements are examined. These are the histor:Ical movements of progressive education and activity, and the contemporary movements of discovery/inquiry and cooperative learning. Part III analyzes the perspectiveS and movements discussed in Parts I and II. Topics include:(1) a definition of active learning;(2) the cognitive learning paradigm; (3) the roles of teachers and students;(4) the relationship between education and society; and (5) research on active learning. In Part IV, conclusions about the history and future of active learning are drawn. A bibliography containingmore than 110 items is included. (Author/BC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that Gan be made from the original document. ******************************************************** ***** ********** U tDEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Otl.e.or Educational Reatarctl and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION NTFR (ERIQ docurlent Ms I,een refuoiduced as received frlm the parwn or organqation ompnating (Minor chivvies Nava poop m5 d. to imwoee raproiduCtiOr% QuettlY Points of view Of PiNntOnS Mated in this doc merit 60 mat NRCISanly toprasent ortoai OE RI posainn or poIrcv Active Learning: Historical and Contemporary Perspectiver, Marilyn Page University of Massachusetts Doctoral Candidate 5/10/90 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY nrxx--\1/4-ya ?o,y_ To THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2. Abstract In this review of the literature, I discuss the concept of active learning in relation to nine Proponents: Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Dewey, Kilpatrick, Piaget, Bruner, Wigginton, Freire and Sharan. The literature shows four common themes among these Proponents: rejection of traditional teaching methods; belief in the cognitive learning paradigm; faithin the ability of the student; and the importance of the relationshipof school to society. I also discuss four major active learning Movements of the 20th Century: the Progressive Education, Activity; Discovery/Inquiry; and Cooperative Learning Movements. I describe the history and major premises of these Movements and discuss related application and research. Active learning means different things to different people and/or different people emphasize aspects of the concept ina different order. There is agreement, however, that students learn best by doing theirown learning in an active way, mentally and/or physically; that by discovering for themselves, students construct theirown knowledge structures;.,.and that learning actively leads toan ability to think critically and to solve problems. The teacher's role in an active learning paradigmis not clear. Proponents agree that there should bea reciprocal relationship between student and teacher and that the teacher should bea guide rather than an information dispenser. However, there are no definitive guidelines for accomplishing this. All Proponents stress the need for discipline, a covert or overt framework, and guidance and evaluation. 3 3. John Dewey appears to have heen and to be the driving force in the active learning models. Every other Proponent, except forRousseau and Pestalozzi who lived before Dewey, basedor base at least Aart of their work on his philosophy and gaveor give him credit for the under pinnings of their own theories and philosophies. His theories and philosophies are also the underpinnings for the fourMovements. There is very little new about active learningexcept for the way modern research can assess outcomes. The names and labels have changed but the basic concept has stayed thesame throughout the 20th Century. 4 4. Futurists (Benjamin, 1989; Toffler, 1970, 1974, 1980)argue that because society and knowledgeare changing so rapidly, the traditional educational system in which the teacherdispenses packaged knowledgeto the students is, to paraphrase Mauhan,looking through a rear view mirror; it is inadequate andinappropriate for the present and future needs of students. Willoughby (in Parker, 1983)claims the system produces students whoare slightly better at skills thatwere "of questionable value in the nineteenth Century and will be of littlevalue in the twenty-first Century" (p. 2). The futurists advocatean active learning educational program in which students participatenot only in determining their own learning tasks, but in discovering,constructing and/or creating theirown learning. Active learning is nota new concept. It is, however,a concept that is, more often than not, misunderstood, overused andabused. There is neither a comprehensivebody of researchnor a consolidated discussion on active learning in the literature.A major problem is definition. Eliot Wigginton (1989) ofFoxfire fame describes theconcept of active learning and related issuesas a minefield. That minefield is littered with the debris of (among others) discovery,experiential, student- centered and cooperative learning; the project method;democratic education; learning by doing; andprogressive education. What is active learning? What are the origins,underpinnings, applications, purposes, philosophies,theories, andsuccesses and failures of the various forms of active learning? Can active learning makea ;) 5. difference? Together, the purpose of Part I and II isto provide the base from which to: a) answer these questions; b) clarify and definethe concept of active learning; and c) raise questions about, anddiscuss implications for, the use and value (or lack of) ofan active learniag model. In Part I, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, I discussthe concept of active learning as associated with the followingProponents - Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Dewey, Kilpatrick (historical); Piaget (historicaland contemporary); and Bruner, Freire, Wigginton and Sharan (contemporary). In Part II, Related Educational Movements I examine four major Movements whichfit under the active learning umbrella: the ProgressiveEducation and Activity Movements (historical); and the Discovery/Inquiryand Cooperative Learning Movements (contemporary). The discussion includes relatedapplications and research. Part III, Analysis, is just that an analysis of the issues, forms, and tenets of active learningas defined in Parts I and II; and in Part IV, Conclusions, I discuss questions aboutthe past and questions and impli- cations for the present and future. Besides providing a base for clarificationand discussion of the active learning concept, I hope thispaper will provide a foundation formy dissertation work on the NationalHistory Day Program, which Iconsider a model of active learning, and will helpto fill a gap in the literature. Note: I have capitalized Proponents andMovements throughout thepaper when referring to the Proponentsand Movements mentioned above. Also, I use the masculinepronouns to refer to either maleor female students. f; Part I Historical and ContemporaryPerspectives 'Historical perspectives' refers to the timeperiod from the 18th Century up to the end ofWorld War II. 'Contemporary perspectives'refers to the time frompost World War II to the present. I have divided the time frame in this way partly because I founda shift in emphasis within the foundations ofthe active learning concept, partly becausethe end of World War II marked a change in the relationshipbetween the Federal Government and schoolpolicies and programs, and partly becausethe con- temporary timeline, definedin this way, fits with myown timeline of schooling as a studentand educator. In the literatureI found four themes that werecommon to the Proponents. These themesare: "a) rejection of the traditional teachingmodel; b) an emphasis on thecognitive learning paradigm; e) emphasison the relationship between school andsociety; and 61) belief in the worth andability of the student. Because I discuss the same themes for each Proponent,Part I is repetitious and thereader may prefer to use and think ofthis section as a resource or misplaced appendix ratherthan as a mainpart of the paper. I have kept the sectimon each Proponentseparate, because I want Part I asa reference for myself and want to beable to pickout any
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of Reading
    Read About It: Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of Reading Kerry Hempenstall Edited by Jennifer Buckingham Research Report | March 2016 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Creator: Hempenstall, Kerry, author. Title: Read about it : scientific evidence for effective teaching of reading / Kerry Hempenstall ; edited by Jennifer Buckingham. ISBN: 9781922184610? (paperback) Series: CIS research report ; 11. Subjects: Effective teaching. Early childhood education--Research--Australia. Literacy--Research--Australia. Teacher effectiveness. Other Creators/Contributors: Buckingham, Jennifer, editor. Centre for Independent Studies (Australia), issuing body. Dewey Number: 371.10994 Read About It: Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of Reading Kerry Hempenstall Edited by Jennifer Buckingham Research Report 11 Related CIS publications Research Report RR9 Jennifer Buckingham and Trisha Jha, One School Does Not Fit All (2016) Policy Magazine Spring Issue Jennifer Buckingham, Kevin Wheldall and Robyn Beaman-Wheldall, ‘Why Jaydon can’t read: The triumph of ideology over evidence in teaching reading’ (2013) Contents Executive Summary ...............................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................3 The power of improved instruction ...................................................................4 Effective, evidence-based reading instruction: The five ‘keys’
    [Show full text]
  • Active Learning and E-Learning As Strategy Integration to Improve Motivated Strategies for Learning and Student Engagement
    Active Learning and E-Learning as Strategy Integration to Improve Motivated Strategies for Learning and Student Engagement Nur Pratiwi Noviati, Nur Widiasmara, Thobagus Mohammad Nu’man Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Keywords: Active Learning, E-Learning, Motivated Strategies for Learning, Student Engagement Abstract: This study aims to test empirically whether the integration strategies of active learning and e-learning can be used to improve motivated strategies for learning and student engagement. The research method used is quasi experiment. The respondents of this study consist of both male and female students who are still active in one of the faculties of private universities in Yogyakarta. The numbers of respondents involved were 96 students (55 experimental group and 41 control group). The measuring tools used are motivated strategies for learning scale and student engagement scale. Data analysis method used is statistical method with the help of program facility of SPSS for windows. The results of the data analysis showed that there were significant differences between the pre-test and post-test scores obtained, but no significant differences between the experimental group and the control group. However, it can be said that the integration of active learning strategies and electronic-based learning (e-learning) can be used to improve motivated strategies for learning and student engagement. Further explanation will be discussed in the following article. 1 INTRODUCTION Community in 2015. Therefore, to be able to get superior human resources is an important thing to Today we have entered the digital age, where all note; in this case is achieving student.
    [Show full text]
  • CONSTRUCTIVISM and Active Learning
    CONSTRUCTIVISM and Active Learning Ge offre y R. B ull This paper was completed and submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master Teacher Program, a 2-year faculty professional development program conducted by the Center for Teaching Excellence, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, 2009 . Constructivism, and its close relative, discovery theory, is an offshoot of cognitive theory that proposes learning will occur as a person actively processes information to construct solutions to problems. Literature on cognitive theory is quite extensive concerning the education and learning in children, much of it written from a child psychology point of view or starting point. In more recent years, educators have been expanding the principles to higher education. Almost from the moment we are born, we begin to learn, absorbing information, and, eventually drawing conclusions about, i.e., learning, how the world around us behaves. Watching this process in very young children can be among the most amazing and rewarding experiences for new parents. For decades, cognitive theorists have proposed many explanations for how children learn from a very young age. The understanding of this learning process could then possibly be applied to learning at any age. The “natural” process by which a child learns, without any training at all, ought to be applicable to a trained mind as well. The basics of cognitive theory are considered to have begun with John Dewey (1933/1998). In the mid- and latter-twentieth century, Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner were among the leaders in forwarding the constructivist subset of cognitive theory. Bruner posited that discovery leads one to become a constructionist (Anglin, 1973).
    [Show full text]
  • Rousseau, Le Copernic De La Pédagogie?
    OT: 02688 Educacio i Historia 19 B Page 71 18-JUN-12 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Educació i Història: Revista d’Història de l’Educació providedDOI: 10.2436/20.3009.01.96 by Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert Núm. 19 (gener-juny, 2012), pàg. 71-96 Societat d’Història de l’Educació dels Països de Llengua Catalana ISSN: 1134-0258 e-ISSN: 2013-9632 Tema monogràfic Rousseau, le Copernic de la pédagogie? Un héritage revendiqué et controversé au sein même de l’Institut Rousseau (1912-2012) Rousseau, the Copernicus of education? A legacy claimed and controversial even within the Rousseau Institute (1912-2012) Rita Hofstetter [email protected] Universitat de Ginebra (Suïssa) Data de recepció de l’original: gener de 2012 Data d’acceptació: març de 2012 RESUM El metge i psicòleg Claparède va fundar l’any 1912, a Ginebra, una Escola de Ciències de l’Educació a la qual va donar el nom de Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Els con- ceptes «pedologia, pedagogia, ciència/es de l’educació, psicologia infantil, nova peda- gogia, educació funcional» s’anaven dibuixant sota la ploma dels qui dissenyaven l’edificació necessària d’aquell «premier temple tout entier dédié à l’enfance» (carta de Claparède a Bovet, 23 de novembre de 1911). Aquest «temple», dedicat a Rousseau, s’ubicarà enmig del paisatge pedagògic i psicològic del segle xx. La pregunta perti- nent és si aquestes denominacions són totes equivalents i poden cohabitar, de manera indistinta, sota el mateix apadrinament de Rousseau. No hi ha res menys segur si fem cas de les tergiversacions terminològiques i les controvèrsies teòriques dels primers constructors de les ciències de l’educació.
    [Show full text]
  • Home Educators' Perspectives on Teaching with Technology
    At Home with Technology: Home Educators’ Perspectives on Teaching with Technology By ©2018 Beverly Pell M.Ed., Concordia University, Portland, 2013 B.A., California State University, Fullerton, 1992 Submitted to the graduate degree program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ___________________________ Chair: Suzanne Rice, Ph.D. ___________________________ John L. Rury, Ph.D. ___________________________ Jennifer C. Ng, Ph.D. ___________________________ Yong Zhao, Ph.D. ___________________________ Steven H. White, Ph.D. Date Defended: October 8, 2018 The dissertation committee for Beverly Pell certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: At Home with Technology: Home Educators’ Perspectives on Teaching with Technology _____________________________ Chairperson: Suzanne Rice, Ph.D. Date approved: November 29, 2018 ii Abstract The purpose of this research was to understand how and why home educators are schooling their children using technology. First, I explore how home educators use technology for homeschooling. Second, I investigate how home educators see themselves as teachers when using technology. Several themes emerged from the data revealing that home educators believe technology enables them to provide high quality curriculum and individualized instruction and to create a constructive and engaging learning environment for their children. Data were collected by convenience sampling with a survey of 316 (N = 316) home educators from 52 different territories, states, provinces, and countries across the globe, a nonrandom sample which is not representative of the entire homeschooling population. The quantitative data provide a specific picture of home education, reasons for homeschooling, and home educators’ perceptions of technology use in their homeschool.
    [Show full text]
  • Documenting Standards Based-Grading Through Assessments in the CASE Food Science and Safety Curriculum
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Creative Components Dissertations Summer 2020 Documenting Standards Based-Grading through assessments in the CASE Food Science and Safety Curriculum. Karen Van De Walle Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Van De Walle, Karen, "Documenting Standards Based-Grading through assessments in the CASE Food Science and Safety Curriculum." (2020). Creative Components. 619. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents/619 This Creative Component is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Creative Components by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Documenting standards-based grading through assessments in the CASE© Food Science and Safety Curriculum. By Karen Van De Walle Creative component submitted to the graduate faculty at Iowa State University as partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Science Major: Agriculture Education Program of Study Committee: Dr. Scott Smalley Dr. Awoke Dollisso Dr. Mark Hainline Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2020 Table of Contents Chapter 1 | What Introduction 3 Purpose & Objectives 4 Needs 4 Definition of Terms 5 Chapter 2 | Why Literature Review 6 Chapter 3 | How Methods & Procedure 9 Chapter 4 | Product CASE Food Science & Safety 11 Unit: Check for Understanding Chapter 5 | So What Reflect on the Project 12 What is recommended? Extensions Do anything different? References 14 2 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) is a system of instructional support, which the likes of which have not been used before in agricultural education.
    [Show full text]
  • Active Learning Into Active Citizenship 1 1 the Curricular Stance: Active Learning Into Active Citizenship
    The Curricular Stance: Active Learning into Active Citizenship 1 1 The Curricular Stance: Active Learning into Active Citizenship Teaching for social justice is teaching for the sake of arousing the kinds of vivid, reflective, experiential responses that might move students to come together in serious efforts to understand what social justice actually means and what it might demand. Maxine Greene, Teaching for Social Justice (Ayers, Hunt, & Quinn) CHAPTER OVERVIEW n this chapter, we share our explorations of a curriculum for demo- cratic citizenship, what we have come to call a “socially conscious Ilanguage arts curriculum.” We explain how we restructured an ac- tive reading and writing classroom in order to use active literacy to address the complex issues of a democratic society. Betty wanted her seventh-grade students to see the actions of citizens as they supported democracy’s strengths or caused democracy to disintegrate. She wanted them to investigate how the forces of society create justice and injustice. The curriculum-planning model that helped Betty organ- ize activities for socially conscious student inquiry is presented, with descriptions of the predictable phases that occurred during extended units of work. We give an overview of the major units of study during one year. (Readers can see this curriculum framework in action in the stories of two different historical units in Chapters 2 and 5.) This chap- ter also provides an introduction to the more detailed examinations of inquiry, classroom atmosphere, literacy instruction, literature choices, and student activism that are provided in later chapters. A Story of Student and Teacher Discoveries The fifth-period literature class was reading and discussing a Read maga- zine docudrama that featured a family of immigrants on the ocean liner 2 Chapter 1 Titanic.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 3 Conceptual Analysis of Traditional
    CHAPTER 3 CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is to analyse and discuss traditional classroom management from a modernist perspective. Modernist thought – which informs traditional education curriculum, with its emphasis on teacher-centredness, disciplinarity and one-directional transmission of knowledge - has been the dominant scientific paradigm for the last three centuries (Claassen, 1998a:34). According to Hargreaves (as quoted by Theron, 1996:71), modernity, is a social condition that is sustained by Enlightenment beliefs in rational scientific progress, in the triumph of technology over nature, and in the capacity to control and improve human condition by applying the wealth of scientific and technological understanding and expertise to social reform. Jordaan and Jordaan (1998:62) see modernity as faith in the progress of human reason, together with confidence in the unstoppable urge of human reason to solve the world’s diverse problems in spheres of science, technology, medicine, economics and politics. The earliest signs of modernity were discernible in Western society as far back as the 16th century. Jordaan and Jordaan (1998:62) assert that modernism is underpinned by the following three cornerstones: · demonstrations of rationality-based certainty; · the possibility and eagerness to create order from chaos; and · attempts to free individuals from all bounds and limitations. 3.2 CONCEPTUALISING INSTRUCTIONIST CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Classroom management is important to everyone connected with education (Good & Brophy, 1990:193). As Slavin (1994:389) points, in the past, classroom management has often been seen as an issue of dealing with individual behaviour. According to 61 Maphumulo and Vakalisa (2000:329), many theorists on the subject of classroom management agree that the best way to achieve a well-managed classroom proceeding is through advance planning which aims at preventing delays, distractions and disruptions.
    [Show full text]
  • ISCHE 2014 Book of Abstracts
    i Published 2014 by ISCHE. ISSN 2313-1837 These abstracts are set in Baskerville Old Face, designed in 1757 by John Baskerville in Birmingham, UK. A writing master, businessman, printer and type designer, he conducted experiments to improve legibility which also included paper making and ink manufacturing. In 1758, he was appointed printer to Cambridge University Press, and despite his personal Atheism, printed a folio Bible in 1763. His typefaces were greatly admired for their simplicity and refinement by Pierre Simon Fournier, and Giambattista Bodoni. Benjamin Franklin, printer and fellow member of the Royal Society of Arts, took the designs to the US, where they were adopted for most federal Government publishing. Baskerville type was revived in 1917 by Harvard University Press and may nowadays be found in Microsoft Word. ii Contents Welcome p. iii Acknowledgements p. viii Conference theme p. x Keynotes: biographies and abstracts p. xi Early career bursaries p. xiv Brian Simon bursaries p. xv Guide to using abstract book p. xvi Abstracts of papers p. 1 (In alphabetical order of authors) Synopses of panels p. 385 (In order of sessions presented at conference) Name index / list of presenters p. 422 iii Welcome To all delegates at ISCHE 36 – a very warm welcome to London! We are looking forward very much indeed to hosting this great event, exploring the immense theme of education, war and peace. My thanks go first of all to the ISCHE executive committee for supporting this event, to the UK History of Education Society as the national hosts, and to the Institute of Education at the University of London for the use of its extensive facilities for the conference.
    [Show full text]
  • JEAN PIAGET (1896–1980) Alberto Munari1
    The following text was originally published in Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. XXIV, no. 1/2, 1994, p. 311–327. ©UNESCO:International Bureau of Education, 2000 This document may be reproduced free of charge as long as acknowledgement is made of the source. JEAN PIAGET (1896–1980) Alberto Munari1 A portrait of an educator that is also a portrait of the great Swiss epistemologist and psychologist might, at first glance, seem surprising. Indeed, why should Jean Piaget be regarded as an educator?—since he never practised that profession and always refused the title of educationist, going so far as to affirm: ‘I have no views on teaching’ (Bringuier, 1977, p. 194), and since all his writings on education2 do not amount to more than a three-hundredth3 part of his œuvre as a whole. Such bafflement is altogether in order if we refer only to Piaget’s own scientific output. But it is less surprising if we remember the many books that we owe to other authors on the educational implications of Piaget’s achievement4. Indeed, for several years, we have ceased to count the number of educators and educationists in different countries who explicitly refer to Piaget’s work to justify their methods and principles. But is the interpretation always the same? Do writers invariably refer to Piagetian psychology, or do they evoke other aspects of his complex and many- sided work? To which of the very different Piagets do we owe the most important contributions: to Piaget the biologist, Piaget the epistemologist or Piaget the psychologist? or are we particularly indebted to the educational ‘politician’?—as one might call Piaget in his capacity as Director of the International Bureau of Education.
    [Show full text]
  • Active Learning: Strategies That Help First Graders Transition and Build Literacy Skills
    Rowan University Rowan Digital Works Theses and Dissertations 2-24-2015 Active learning: strategies that help first graders transition and build literacy skills Kacey Weber Follow this and additional works at: https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd Part of the Elementary Education and Teaching Commons Recommended Citation Weber, Kacey, "Active learning: strategies that help first graders transition and build literacy skills" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 376. https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/376 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Rowan Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Rowan Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACTIVE LEARNING: STRATEGIES THAT HELP FIRST GRADERS TRANSITION AND BUILD LITERACY SKILLS by Kacey J. Weber A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Language, Literacy, and Special Education College of Education In partial fulfill of the requirement For the degree of Master’s of Arts in Reading Education at Rowan University December 15, 2014 Thesis Chair: Susan Browne, Ed.D. © 2014 Kacey Weber Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my loving mother and father, Matthew and Jami Weber, both of whom have supported me throughout my entire educational journey. To my father, my rock, who has believed in me and always emotionally, financially, and morally supported me throughout my life. To my mother, my best friend in the entire world, who has spent countless hours comforting me with words only a mother can provide during the most stressful moments. I would like to thank my sisters and grandparents for their constant feedback, love, and support during some important decision-making moments.
    [Show full text]
  • STRATEGIES to INCORPORATE ACTIVE LEARNING INTO ONLINE TEACHING Diane Austin, M.Ed., Instructor and Distance Learning Technology Specialist* Nadine D
    STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE ACTIVE LEARNING INTO ONLINE TEACHING Diane Austin, M.Ed., Instructor and Distance Learning Technology Specialist* Nadine D. Mescia, M.H.S., Director of Training° What is active learning? Bonwell and Eison describe active learning strategies as those that involve “students in doing things and (have the students) think about the things they are doing” (Bonwell and Eison, 1991, p. iii). Active learning is a key element in the learning process and most adult learning models view interaction (active learning) as a crucial component (Mantyla, 1999, p. 19). In an effective learning environment that incorporates active learning strategies, “greater emphasis is placed on students exploration of their own meaning, attitudes, and values” (Bonwell and Eison, 1992; Mantyla, 1999, p.19). However, a mistaken view many educators have is that learning is an active process and as such, all learning is active, even the most commonly used form of instruction, the passive lecture. In an active learning environment, “less emphasis is placed on transmitting information (teacher-centered) and more on developing students’ skills (student-centered)” (Bonwell and Eison, 1991, p.2). Active learning is not only an effective instructional strategy in the traditional learning environment, but also, it is effective in an online environment. Instructors/designers must continue to design activities that support learning objectives, but structure them to work online, outside of the traditional classroom environment where active learning techniques are heavily dependent upon face- to-face interaction (e.g., discussion, group work, role-play). For example, consideration must be given to the fact that instructor and learners may not be in the same place at the same time (asynchronous) to interact whereby relying on instructional technologies as part of the interactive learning process.
    [Show full text]