Assessment 3
Develop a constructivist lesson plan on a foundational
skill or topic for a population that you currently work with, or wish to work
with.
Introduction
Note: The
assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly
encouraged to complete them in sequence.
As mentioned in the previous assessment, as an educational
psychologist, you will be required to develop and consult on classroom
practices based on theory as well as empirical findings. Again, the three major
categories of teacher classroom behaviors are planning, management, and
instruction. When engaging in these activities, teachers adopt one of two
primary orientations: instructivist or constructivist. In the previous
assessment, you prepared a lesson plan using the theories of operant
conditioning, cognitive information processing, and social learning theories.
Overview
Note: The
assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly
encouraged to complete them in sequence.
As mentioned in the previous assessment, as an educational
psychologist, you will be required to develop and consult on classroom
practices based on theory as well as empirical findings. Again, the three major
categories of teacher classroom behaviors are planning, management, and
instruction. When engaging in these activities, teachers adopt one of two
primary orientations: instructivist or constructivist. In the previous
assessment, you prepared a lesson plan using the theories of operant
conditioning, cognitive information processing, and social learning theories.
Instructions
Your task in this assessment is to create a lesson that
uses the principles and methods of constructivistic instruction and to provide
a rationale for each element of the lesson based on principles of learning
identified in humanism, cognitive development, and social cognition.
In your assessment include:
·
An overview of a
constructivist approach to instruction and analysis of its elements in relation
to your topic.
·
A lesson created by you
that demonstrates principles and methods of a constructivist approach to
instruction that includes well-written objectives and demonstrates coherence
among the parts of the lesson.
·
An overview of humanism
and an analysis of how it is applied in specific sections in the lesson.
·
An overview of Piaget’s
and Vygotsky’s views of cognitive development and an analysis of how each is
applied in specific sections in the lesson.
·
An overview of social
cognitive theory and an analysis of how it is applied in specific sections in
the lesson.
·
Consider how individual
differences may be taken into account in the development of your plan. Discuss
how you might accommodate individual differences in your lesson.
Your assessment should also include:
·
A correctly formatted
APA title page.
·
An abstract that
provides an overview of the document.
·
A body that includes an
introduction and a summary or conclusions section and addresses all elements of
the scoring guide.
·
A References list of the
sources you used in your paper.
·
An appendix that
includes the lesson that you have created.
·
Proper spelling and
grammar throughout your work.
·
APA formatting
throughout the document, including proper in-text citations and references.
The lesson should focus on knowledge and skills that are
considered foundational in your field. For example, while any lesson in a
traditional early childhood, kindergarten, elementary, middle grades, or high
school level is certainly acceptable, other areas such as physical education,
drivers’ education, or the arts as well as lessons in particular topics in
adult education are also acceptable.
Structure
The Lesson
You should first create an objective for your lesson in the
cognitive domain of learning. As project-based learning is the standard method
for a constructivist approach to learning, the objective should reflect the
creation and evaluation of a project related to a specific topic of interest.
Next, you will select an approach that best fits your
objective. The most general set of instructional events was developed by Dunn
and Larson (as cited in Huitt, 2009). The process begins with conceptualizing
and clarifying the focus of inquiry, organizing the knowledge required to
produce a product, initially creating a project and then refining through a
process of evaluating and modification, and, finally, celebrating the completed
product by presenting it to an audience.
·
Investigation.
·
Invention and Initial
Implementation.
·
Further Implementation
and Evaluation.
·
Celebration.
Another widely accepted set of events used in a
constructivistic approach was developed to assist learners to meet the National
Science Education Standards (Duran & Duran, 2004). The emphasis is to
engage learners in the scientific process and develop the skills of thinking
like a scientist. The five categories of instructional events in this variation
of constructivism include:
·
Engage.
·
Explore.
·
Explain.
·
Elaborate.
·
Evaluate.
A third approach was developed with a focus on the arts,
titled Artful Learning (Leonard Bernstein Office, 2019). In this approach, the
first step is to conceptualize the focus of inquiry and then identify a
masterwork (which can be a picture, painting, figure, music, sculpture, dance,
innovation, literature, etc.) that serves to concretely address the concept.
The learners then begin an inquiry, engage in project-based learning, and
reflect on their experiences:
·
Conceptualize.
o
Create a significant
question.
o
Identify masterwork.
·
Experience.
·
Inquire.
·
Create.
·
Reflect.
You will create a lesson that introduces a project-based
unit for the objective you have created. This lesson will be provided in the
appendix of your assessment.
Overview and Rationale
The body of the assessment will provide an overview of a
constructivistic approach instruction and rationales for the organization of
the lesson using concepts, principles, and methods derived from the learning
theories of humanism, the cognitive development theories of Piaget and
Vygotsky, and social cognition. For each theory you should briefly describe the
theory and its view of the learner, basic concepts and principles of that
theory, and an explicit analysis of how each is used in a specific part of the
lesson.
Additional Requirements
Your assessment should include:
·
A correctly formatted
title page.
·
An abstract that
provides an overview of the document.
·
A body that includes an
introduction and a summary/conclusions section and addresses all elements of
the scoring guide.
·
A list of references
used in your paper.
·
An appendix that
includes the lesson that you have created.
·
Proper spelling,
grammar, and mechanics.
·
APA formatting of the
document, including APA format of citing and referencing sources.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate
your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
·
Competency 2: Apply
principles of learning to create appropriate instruction and instructional
material consistent with learners and the learning context.
o
Provide an overview of a
constructivist approach to instruction.
o
Provide an overview of
humanism and how it is used in the lesson.
o
Provide an overview of
Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s views on cognitive development and how they are used
the lesson.
o
Provide an overview of
social cognitive theory and how it is used the lesson.
·
Competency 3: Evaluate
meaningful instruction using best practices from educational psychology
theories.
o
Create a lesson
demonstrating principles and methods of a constructivist approach to
instruction with well-written objectives.
·
Competency 4: Analyze
individual differences that influence instructional practice.
o
Discuss how individual
differences can be taken into account in a lesson.
·
Competency 6:
Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with
university expectations for graduate education, including discipline knowledge
and current APA formatting standards.
o
Address assessment
purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone
in grammatically sound sentences.
o
Correctly format paper
citations, and references using the current APA style.
References
Duran, L.,
& Duran, E. (2004). The 5E instructional
model: A learning cycle approach for inquiry-based science teaching. The
Science Education Review, 3(2), 49–58.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1058007.pdf.
Huitt, W. (2009). Constructivism. Valdosta
State University.
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/construct.html.
Leonard Bernstein Office. (2019). Artful learning:
Overview and how it works. https://leonardbernstein.com/artful-learning.