Learning Theories (EDU201)

Assignment 1 (Fall 2015)

Q1. As a teacher of a school, how can you apply the Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in your class?

Ans.To apply the Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in my classroom, I will take following steps.

  • I will let students to gather information from surrounding to process it and give outcome according to information.
  • I will give them instructions and will let them to make a map or a picture in their mind.
  • I will let them to avail the opportunity to learn how to face new challenges on their own. Like this they will be able to think and to gather and arrange their ideas. They will attainan equilibrium in their behavior.
  • After any activity I will focus on the process and understanding the students used in solving the problem not the product and marks.
  • I will let students to discover themselves and their hidden qualities with the help of different problem solving activities.
  • I will arrange activities according to the development level of students. Like for student of sensorimotorperiod I will ask them to recognize the shapes and colors etc.
  • For students of preoperational period I will ask them to make different shape with clay etc.
  • For students of concrete operational period I will ask them to write a short essay on any hypothetical topic.
  • For student of formal operational period I will engage them in group discussion and individual activities like making projects charts diagrams etc and will ask them the way they used to solve the problem. Will make discussion on cultural, social and political issues and will ask them to give different aspects.
  • I will teach the concept not the fact by audios and visual aid.
  • I will take simple but inventive tests on regular basis to get the knowledge about students cognitive abilities.

Q2: How can a teacher use the operant conditioning in her class, share one example? You can share an example from your own experience.

Ans: operant conditioning:

It is the type of behavior in which learning is achieved through positive reinforcement like rewards or negative reinforcement like punishments for the behavior.

In this positive reinforcement is given when we want the student to do the action in future too.

Negative reinforcement is given, when we want the student to quit the action in future.

For example: If a student keeps quiet during the lecture and remains attentive and we praise him for this action. He will feel proud and will let this behavior go on. On the other hand if a student keeps talking during the lecture and shown no attention and we discourage him for this behavior by scolding. He will feel not to let this behavior go on.

Another example: If we ask student to make a project. And then we praise and reward the students who did the work properly then this will make a sense of encouragement in them to keep up with this responsible behavior. On the other hand if we punish the students who did not do work on time by asking them to stand up etc then this will make a sense in them not to keep up this type of behavior.