Useful Theorists and Support Guides for the edTPA

Gloria Ladsons-Billing

1947 - present

Image source: educate.bankstreet.edu, retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/occasional-paper-series/vol2017/iss38/12/

Summary of Theory

Gloria Ladsons-Billing developed the practice of "Culturally Relevant Pedagogy". She has worked with many minority communities including African American communities, inner city communities, native Hawaiian groups, and many other groups. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy discusses pedagogical practices that uphold cultural identities. Culturally responsive pedagogy aims to create a more dynamic or synergistic relationship between home/community culture and school culture. Ultimately, culturally relevant pedagogy promotes student success and positive engagement in larger social structure issues.

She characterizes three main components of culturally relevant pedagogy, student learning, cultural competence, and critical consciousness.

Student learning involves helping students develop not just knowledge and skills but also problem-solving and reasoning as well as application skills.

Cultural competence involves helping students affirm and appreciate their culture as well as develop competence in other cultures.

Critical consciousness involves identifying and solving real-world problems with special focus on social inequities. She also refers to this as cultural critique which includes recognizing, understanding, and critiquing social inequities.

Her research produced three broad propositions regarding aspects of the teacher and classroom; the teacher's conception of self, social relations structured by the teachers, and the conceptions of knowledge held by the teachers. The teacher's conceptions of self included the teachers viewing themselves as members of the communities and giving back to the communities. They were members who contributed to the community and received the experience. Social relations involves fluid relationships and connectedness with all the students as well as building a community and collaborative learning environment. In one practice observed by Ladsons-Billing, similar to jigsaw learning, students were given areas of "expertise" to assist their peers prior to asking the teacher for help. In such a practice, students are responsible for each other's learning. In the conceptions of knowledge, teachers understood that knowledge is not static and is recycled and constructed. Analogous to building bridges between points of knowledge, teachers must scaffold knowledge to facilitate learning. Assessment should also be designed to be multifaceted and allow multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge and excellence. Teachers commonly pushed the importance of "why" rather than just "correct answers". There often was discussion on why what they learned was important. The importance of objectively correct answers was not lost even though the teachers put heavy emphasis on why the answers were correct and why the knowledge was important.

Ladsons-Billing developed the term "Education Debt" which refers to the financial, historical, sociopolitical, and moral opportunities and resources held back from students of color over the decades. Her publications have addressed this issue in detail. Ladsons-Billing's focus has also been on positive observations. The main question being asked is "What is right?" rather than "What is wrong?" Her focus on "What is right" challenges the "deficit paradigms " of education. Rather than focus on the failures of students, especially students of minority and underprivileged populations, educators should acknowledge their successes and acknowledge achievements beyond the standardized measures. This affirmation helps uphold communities and build pride in accomplishment and show the progress they have made and where this forward progress can go.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Ladsons-Billing has cited many examples of including aspects of students' cultural environment in her work and how it has improved equity and learning. In some of her works, it is cited that the natal culture should be used for selecting educational practices and programs. Your lesson and instructional planning process should show this.

As a teacher, remember to always consider the culture of the homes and families of the students. In some communities, the culture is really different from the culture you grew up with or are used to.

Getting to Know Your Students and Their Cultures

Social justice is indeed a core of education and being a social justice educator involves being knowledgeable of the cultures and backgrounds of your students. It is wise to indicate that you are culturally competent of your students. As you plan your unit, how does your learning unit incorporate elements of their background and home cultures?

Collecting a student interest survey allows you to see what background and interest the students have. When you look at their backgrounds and interests, you should implement teaching in the direction that interests them and suits their background knowledge. Utilize the cultural capital you have about the students and incorporate that into your lesson. Culture consists of many abstract aspects but think about entertainment, food, sports, activities, arts, movies, music, and more.

Indicate that the decisions you are making are based on knowledge of your students' home/family culture. Information from student surveys and parental interactions can be used to justify why your instructional choices are appropriate. Aim to uphold their cultural identity. Allowing students to lead allows their culture to be affirmed and appreciated.

From your pedagogy, you can use the three propositions for analysis. What do you see in your perception of your role in the community? Do you foster social relations in your class? How do you do so? Do you construct and reconstruct knowledge to provide the best representations for your students and their understandings? How? Also discuss how it incorporates the cultural aspects in their lives. Also remember the emphasis on positive observations and growth and put focus on the growth students have.

Teaching Cultural Competency

Among Ladsons-Billing's aims is teaching students to appreciate and develop competency in at least one other culture. For example, if you are teaching a language, you can consider how to utilize Ladsons-Billing's theories for teaching about culture through the language. Use the three components of culturally relevant pedagogy as a guide for a unit. Understanding social inequities and solutions for them and looking at implementation is an active idea for learning. Students learn to solve these problems through their education in a synergistic manner. If your lesson content has strong emphasis on inequities and social justice as well as active solutions students can partake in, it is wise to cite Ladsons-Billing's work.

Behavioral Management

Ladsons-Billings also gave examples of how to apply her theories to classroom and behavioral management. In her publications, there were cases that illustrate by encouraging good behaviors in students with strong personalities and allowing for students to influence other students and set the tone, they were able to improve their classroom management. Furthermore, it is important to avoid letting students who are academically successful feel ostracized by peers. Rather, aim to foster an environment where those who succeed feel positively empowered.

Jean Lave

Year of Birth Undisclosed - present

Image Source: Wikipedia.org by Raymond Johnson

Étienne Wenger

1952 - present

Image Source: Wikipedia.org

Summary of Theory

Jean Lave is a social anthropologist and learning theorist. Etienne Wenger is an educational theorist who worked with her. They both published many of their works in the latter portion of the 20th Century.

One of their theories is known as situated learning where the learner acquires professional skills through legitimate peripheral participation. Learning is unintentional and "situated" in authentic activity, context, and culture. Legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) describes how the learner participates in the system and the "access to performance" where the learning happens. LPP happens in Communities of Practice, a term to be later discussed. Lave discussed the process of learning as inevitably encompassing participation of learners of the system.

Situated Learning

Examples of Jean Lave's studies of situated learning include her research on how to learn math from practice. In 1988, she and her students did a study where grocery shoppers were able to manage arithmetic for buying groceries in the store but had difficulty when presented the same questions on paper. This situation illustrated the words context and arena. The situated learning involves taking the skills into practice or "performance" in the contexts where they are necessary. This is an example of when people learn a very important skill that is needed in daily life through real life practice.

Lave and Wenger examined how tailors in apprenticeships in Africa learned. They had observed that many apprentices were rarely directly instructed by their masters. A classroom like setting or a directed teaching session was rarely used. Rather, the apprentices were learning through interactions such as asking the experienced tailors for assistance as well as asking each other. They postulated that people learn through social processes and doing. She criticized the idea that learning was a series of isolated individual processes. Rather the learner participates and learns in a series of processes. Ultimately, over time through practice and experience, the apprentices became experts.

Lave and Wenger suggest that learning happens during social interactions. In a workplace, the interactions between novices and experts are where learners develop their professional identity. In informal interactions, novices can consult experts while they share their experiences. They cite examples such as the tailor apprenticeships where job training happens onsite on the job and through such interactions. At times, they would gather and ask questions but not in any formal educational manner.

Communities of Practice

Wenger indicated that engagement in social practice is fundamental to learning. It is not solely the individual or the schools or institutions that constitute learning but rather the communities that create the learning. Wenger and Lave used aspects from education, sociology, and social theory to develop Communities of Practice. In a community of practice, there is joint enterprise where to some extent, all members work together towards the goals, mutual engagement, where they communicate over the central goals, and shared repertoires, where they develop central guidelines and rules to reach the desired outcomes.

Communities of Practice are developed from the intersection of issues of community, social practice, meaning, and identity. Wenger published seven principles for cultivating practice in stages. The emphasis on participation is crucial in communities of practice. Communities of practice are encompassed in social learning theory (a paradigm described by Albert Bandura).

In Communities of Practice, the organization ends up creating a structure to help accomplish a goal. Within the community of practice there are common goals and people aim to achieve them. Wenger has written books that teach leaders how to plan, launch, cultivate, grow, and sustain communities of practice. You should consider reading his works to learn more about communities of practice and how to take part in and build them.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

If you do something that involves direct life experience, consider citing Lave and Wenger's situated learning theory. Thinking in terms of real-life practice and ways for students to learn in person creates for the situated learning experience. For example, students actually had to plan out a trip to the dollar amount to visit Shakespeare's home and watch a play. They had to research airline tickets and figure out how to pay for them and plan and budget for hotel stays, museum visits, and watching one of Shakespeare's plays. You can give advice if you have direct experience with such tasks. Given the state of the online world and how we live in it, situated learning that is based on Internet work is practically entirely realistic.

Here is another example of a way to incorporate situated learning. Bring students as close to a real-life application and experience as possible. For example, in a unit about percents, you can help the students learn to compute sales tax from practice from a "field trip" to a store. If you cannot physically take them to a store for a field trip, an alternative would be to take them to a school snack bar or other place where sales happen. If you cannot take them to any store, you can try to strongly simulate a store purchase with an actual store owner or worker.

They can see an example of how to use percentages and see exactly how sales tax works. Show them step by step what happens during a store transaction. Show students the actual receipts for a purchase. For older students you can even show them the financial statements such as an income statement and the tax computations for the business. Then show them where the sales tax goes. (If you are not aware, in California, businesses send the sales tax to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB)). With real world practice, learners utilize their skills and have direct access to performance.

Furthermore, when assessing student learning, as Lave's studies with grocery shoppers have shown, formal paper assessments are not always fair measures of whether the student has mastered the skill. Consider allowing students more ways to demonstrate their competencies and whether they have obtained the skills you want them to obtain.

Your School as a Community of Practice

Remember that students also develop nonacademic skills in school. This aspect of learning should not be undercounted. These skills include socialization, athletics, artistry, performance arts, work training, college skills, and more. Your school is a Community of Practice. If your school has a buddy program or peer tutoring that is utilized for your classes, you can discuss this concept in your TPA. Remember that the students are also learning how to socialize and settle in the school environment and societal environment as well as prepare for the future world. Opportunities to learn from more experienced classmates or older classmates can teach them a lot. Students can share tips on how to succeed in classes, work with teachers and other students, as well as how to succeed in the social world.

For the younger students from elementary to early middle school, this can include teaching how to behave in class and during recess and how to maximize enjoyment. For older students, this can involve academic tips, how to do well in class, time management tips, advice on athletics and sports, and social life including social media management. In high school, seniors and upperclassmen can share advice on college applications and preparations. Furthermore, for secondary teachers, if you learn about students who have experience in the work world or out of school projects and experiences such as volunteering experiences, you can utilize their experiences as teachable moments.

The classroom is not exactly a workplace or entirely meant to be such a setting. However, students with different levels of competency can interact with each other. Students do learn from each other. You, as a teacher, are an expert in the fields that you teach. Even in a student-centered learning environment (often when the teacher is the "guide to the side"), the interactions between you as the teacher and the students still provide perfect learning opportunities for the students. When you impart your knowledge and experience to them, they learn. They synthesize their experience and knowledge with what you gave them to form new understandings.

Especially for PE, Athletics, Industrial Skills and Technology, and Career Preparation courses and programs, you should consider the importance of fostering a community of practice. We have seen that experienced athletes do end up training lesser experienced athletes through the practices described by Lave and Wenger. In such environments, athletes ask questions about different situations and difficulties in gameplay and the advanced athletes give their knowledge and experience to the less experienced athletes. They also watch the gameplay from inside and outside. In situated learning, gameplays "slow down" as the learner gets more experience from practice and observation. From experience, in Industrial Technology and Home Economics courses, we have seen students who develop their skills in such communities of practice. Students who have experience (such as work experience) can share their practices from their workplace.

Paul Nation

1944 - present

Image Source: https://ntelt.cikd.ca/speaker/paul-nation/, New Trends in English Language Teaching and Testing

Summary of Theory

Paul Nation is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of linguistics and teaching methodologies. Nation developed the Four Strands language teaching framework. This framework helps educators build a well-balanced language teaching curriculum.

Meaning-focused input

This first strand focuses on receptive language skills with focus on skills of reading and listening. In this strand deeper understanding through input immersion should be developed.

Meaning-focused output

This strand focuses on productive skills, namely the output skills of writing and speaking. Examples of such activities include free writing in a journal or telling a story through oral speech. Students should experiment with producing language to create the meaning they wish.

Language-focused learning

Unlike the first two strands, this one requires language learners to focus in on the features and attributes of the language they are learning. Learners learn about pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, tense, conjugation, declensions, aspects, measure words, etc. Emphasis on retention of skills is important.

Fluency development

This strand builds on the practice and mastery of the skills and capital they have. From the earlier strands, this strand focuses on developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to fluent and efficient levels. In this strand, no new concepts are introduced, as the learner is focusing on fully strengthening the current skills they have.

Extensive Reading

Paul Nation also wrote about Extensive Reading as part of Vocabulary Acquisition. Extensive Reading is about reading, mainly longer texts, mostly for pleasure, without being overwhelmed or exhausted. Nation has specified some statistics on this. He suggests 2 unfamiliar words for every 100 words read. This allows for gradual introduction of new vocabulary in content and context that is enjoyable for the learner. Nation describes this as producing "quality meetings with new words".

Similar to Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy, Krathwohl's Affective Taxonomy, Costa's Levels of Questioning and Michelene Chi's ICAP model, Nation has classified levels of Extensive Reading.

Nation's Components of Vocabulary Knowledge

In the field of linguistics, Paul Nation famously wrote the most comprehensive framework of components for the study of vocabulary. There are three encompassing aspects form, meaning and use. They are further split into the following.

Form

Spoken

Written

Word Parts

Meaning

Form and Meaning

Concepts and Referents

Associations

Use

Grammatical Functions

Collocations

Constraints of Use

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Using the Four Strands Framework

The Four Strands framework provides a useful structure to teach by. They are all very important aspects of learning a language. Nation encourages splitting the four strands equally into quarters. However, if this is not possible, acknowledge that and discuss ways how you reproportion for practical reasons. If your lesson focuses on a particular strand, discuss in detail how the activities pertain to that strand. These aspects of learning a language are all aspects learners engage with to effectively learn and use a language.

9 Components and Branches of Research

Form, Meaning and Use are aspects of vocabulary you should be knowledgeable of. You do not have to delve into extreme linguistic depth for the TPA however it is healthy to acknowledge that you teach to all the aspects when teaching vocabulary.

Studies have branched off for each of these 9 components. However, researchers have argued that these 9 components can be viewed as too simplified. Nevertheless, in your analysis, you can focus in on what students are interacting with in their vocabulary. These frameworks pave pathways for research including research by Beatriz Gonzalez-Fernandez on second language vocabulary acquisition.

Using Extensive Reading and Word Meetings

Extensive Reading is a great taxonomy resource to utilize. Some reading programs focus on "number of pages read" which can be an unfair measure given that books all have different average number of words per page and that even within reading levels there is little consistency on the number of words in a page or book or number of new vocabulary words in a text. A focus on "meeting" new vocabulary words can provide better measures of reading comprehension. As a learner reads, he/she learns to use context clues to find meanings of a word. Nation writes that learners will make more effort to understand a word if it is something he/she enjoys, and it would be difficult if he/she did not understand critical words in an enjoyable passage. If you are having learners read a passage or book, (either as a class or through independent reading) and want to experiment with this, have learners find new vocabulary and create worksheets for word meetings on each of the four levels of Nation's Extensive Reading Taxonomy.

Paul Nation's work can be used for measuring how engaged a learner is in comprehending vocabulary in a text. Discuss evidence of understanding new vocabulary and furthering use of such words. Remember that "varied meetings" will help the learner learn about further uses and proper uses of words. If the student erroneously tries to apply the word in improper manner, correct and teach about the idiomatic uses in English. For example, a student might learn the word "sallow" as a shade of yellow. The student might erroneously write "I color the smiling sun sallow in my picture." The student should learn that sallow is primarily used as an adjective and usually carries a negative connotation. For foreign language learning or English language learning, students may unintentionally use incorrect words from their parent language and not realize that. By developing judgment of vocabulary and word use through "word meetings", learners strengthen their vocabulary and further their language skills for use and interest beyond the classroom.

Seymour Papert

1928 - 2016

Image source: MIT News, https://news.mit.edu/

Summary of Theory

Seymour Papert is a South African mathematician who has worked in numerous fields but for this focus, is best known for his work on constructionism. Constructionism is defined as creation of mental models to understand the world around them. It postulates that learning is most effective when you construct tangible results in real life. It is a student-centered, discovery learning system where they use what they know to build and learn new materials. He has compared learning math by "living in" and exploring "mathland" to learning French by living in and exploring France. Problem-based learning is derived from principles of constructionism.

Illustrating problem based learning, five strategies make it highly effective.

1. The learning activities should be encompassed under a larger task including real life applications. Students will approach the real life applications and find the utility of them.

2. The learner needs to be supported as well as have a sense of ownership of the task and problem.

3. The task is designed for the learner. It should be of the proper age level and cognitive ability. The learner should be comfortably stepping slowly out of his/her comfort zone.

4. Time is allotted for reflection. The learner should think through the process of what they have learned in the process.

5. Allow the learners to test ideas against different views in different situations and contexts.

Papert had built his work off constructivist theories including those by Piaget and Bruner. However, he included more aspects of immersion and perspective as well as ingraining emerging technologies at the time into his theories. Students construct their knowledge actively in a world of immersion under constructionist learning.

His work influenced the development of programming languages built for learning. These languages allow people to immerse themselves in computer worlds. If you use any programs that involve manipulating objects in a space, it's invention and development was likely influenced by Papert's work. Notably the language LOGO, was developed for helping elementary school aged children learn using "turtle graphics". Papert referred to this as "body syntonic" reasoning. Because the object (often a turtle) moves with commands that are relative to its own position (often a path is traced), the student learning can envision how he/she would do from the perspective of the turtle as well as how they view it as an outsider. Papert later referred to these environments as "LOGO environments".

Papert famously wrote a book called Mindstorms, Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. "Lego Mindstorms" is named after this. This project, which allows kids to program a robotic toy with lego and other detachable parts and have the toy move around similar to early computer programs like LOGO. The CPU of this toy is in the core and programmed using coding (usually with the programming language Python), the wheels, arms, and gears are assembled by the user. There have even been classroom and learning activities centered on using the Lego Mindstorms robot.

In his book Mindstorms, he talks about examples of constructionism in action. In one example, he describes microworlds as "incubators of knowledge". He cites examples of teaching Newtonian laws of motion in such microworlds. Teaching Newton's laws of motion formally requires a lot of prerequisites, namely mathematics and formal language, which Papert indicates lack immediacy. Subsequently, it can be slow to change children's intuitions. However, the computer provides a simulated world where they have direct access to manipulating objects with Newton's laws of motion. The prerequisites are rooted in personal knowledge rather than all the formalities mentioned and the learner gains the experience of creative exploration of the laws of motion. Thus, the intuition change is immediate. It can be analogous to living in France exploring France with limited knowledge of French. The learner must engage to learn to be able to explore and live in such a "world".

Papert held revolutionary views and envisioned a revolution of ideas and not of technology. He viewed the role of technology as heuristic, catalyzing new ideas, and as instrumental, carrying ideas throughout the world. So far this has lived up to his expectations and is continuing to do so. From the incubators they experimented with that time until today, we now see revolutionary changes in education.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Seymour Papert's comparison illustrates how to immerse students in the world of content they are learning. If you manage to create an activity that does that, discuss it. In one example, students learning about the rainforest decorated the whole classroom. In addition, they planted rainforest plants in soda bottles that simulated the humidity of the rainforest. Students partook in building those environments. While they often cannot go to a rainforest (except for possible field trips or even international field trips), they were immersed in such an environment and even got interact with plants from such an environment.

Papert argued that unstructured tinkering that resembled play was the optimal way to learn. He lived through the advent of the development of interactive computers and saw the future of education in computers. If your activities appear to follow such unstructured tinkering, consider citing constructionism as a theory. Consider exploring the earliest programs and their derivatives and use that in your teaching.

Problem-based learning would be great to use in the classroom. Follow the five strategies he describes. For example, you should implement opportunities for real life applications and draw the pertinence to the world around the students. Also set time for students to reflect on their learning process. Allow students to test these ideas in controlled manners. As Papert stated in problem-based learning, teachers must allocate for reflection. This can be part of your assessment. Assessments should also include being able to communicate their learning and thought process.

Applications to All Subjects

Papert's work was mainly focused in math and science education. However, it can be applied to other subjects. For example, for social studies where students are given parallel timelines that cover different societal aspects and they are asked to fill major events with clues and their knowledge. (IE one timeline has political events and the other has social events and they are given hints and images to place major events on the timeline.) Another example is to give them a map and first have them fill in the geographical features (mountains, peninsulas, rivers, deserts) and ask them to fill it in with clues and knowledge based on what they know about the formation of civilization. With creativity, you can create all sorts of activities that utilize constructionism and Papert's work.

Carl Rogers

1902 - 1987

Image Source: Wikipedia.org

Summary of Theory

Carl Rogers was a founder of humanism who worked with Abraham Maslow to develop theories of personal development. Rogers further characterized the importance of the environment in development. The environment provides signals that the person interacts with it and provides the person the opportunity to self-actualize. (Self-actualization is described in the section with Abraham Maslow). This is analogous to a seed or plant that will not grow if the right environmental factors are not present. For a person to grow, the environment must provide genuineness, acceptance, and empathy. Genuineness refers to openness and being able to disclose one's true self to the environment. Acceptance is being seen with unconditional positive regard. Empathy refers to being listened to and understood. All of these factors must be present in the environment for human growth. Rogers indicated that our behaviors are shaped by what we perceive.

Humanism states that the concept of self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves, namely self-worth (or self-esteem), self-image, and ideal self. Self-worth refers to what we think about ourselves and how much we value our personality. Self-image refers to how we see ourselves physically. Body-image and perception of our appearance is part of this. The ideal self refers to who we want to become. It is not static but rather dynamic. Rogers stipulated that humans need positive regard from others. It is necessary for someone to be able to develop an image of self. The individual needs to feel valued, needed, and supported.

From the concept of ideal self, the idea of congruence emerges. Congruence in psychology refers to the state that the person must have in order to achieve self-actualization and his/her ideal-self. Incongruence exists when there is inconsistency between the ideal self and actual experience. This creates frustrations for the individual. The individual may use defense mechanisms to avoid internalized threats. The individual's behavior is shaped by his/her self-image and will behave in manners consistent with how he/she perceives his/her ideal image.

Rogers developed the concept of the fully functioning person. Five characteristics of a fully functioning person are as follows.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Humanism and Learning

Because Roger's approach puts great emphasis on the environment and how the learner grows in the environment, it is important that as teachers, we set the right environment in the classroom where they can grow and develop. In addition, consider the home environment and the environments where they spend a lot of their time. While we cannot change those environments, we should be knowledgeable and acknowledge their importance and that we are doing what we can to shape them. Students will develop that sense of self through all the concepts described by Rogers.

If you have practices of helping them set weekly goals, monthly goals, and long-term goals, make sure to discuss that and how it helps them develop their visions of their ideal selves. Otherwise, think about what you are teaching and consider how the lessons help them develop their sense of self.

We want students to perceive themselves as smart and capable. They should view overcoming difficulties as challenges to help them grow. Their self-perception should be positive. Address how you are helping students with lower views of themselves boost their self-images.

Fully Functioning Person

While the students are a bit young, they are slowly learning to become fully functioning people. If you see that they lack the positive regard that is needed to help them be successful, make sure that you are offering encouragement to them. Also remember that the state of being a fully functioning person is not always going to be stable. Stability is not guaranteed in life. Mishaps in life can make people question these aspects of their lives. They are still young and learning to cope with difficulties is part of learning. We want them to become open to experiences, even negative ones and treat that as part of life. Therefore, we offer our guidance to help them learn how to maintain being fully functional even in those difficult times.

Norbert and Diane Schmitt

1956 - present

Image Source: https://www.norbertschmitt.co.uk/

Year of Birth Undisclosed - present

Image Source: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/arts-humanities/diane-schmitt, Nottingham Trent University

Summary of Theory

Norbert Schmitt is a linguist who has contributed vastly to the field of vocabulary. Diane Schmitt, his wife, is also an instructor of linguistics. Her focus is on syllabus design, materials development, and test development with emphasis on vocabulary acquisition. Diane and Norbert have co-written several books on Vocabulary. Norbert Schmitt's publications are used to develop practices for vocabulary development and acquisition as well as overall language learning. Vocabulary is critical for learning language as words are needed to be able to communicate in any language and syntax, rules, and structures are meaningless without them. He developed Knowledge-Based Vocabulary Lists (KVL) as resources for teaching and learning English. KVL lists include word families, which are used to categorize related words and words derived from each other. His research is actively used for L2 (second language) vocabulary acquisition.

He has published articles on vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment. Vocabulary acquisition refers to acquiring vocabulary knowledge but because vocabulary knowledge is an extremely complex construct, this is difficult to define. His studies focus on understanding how vocabulary knowledge goes from no knowledge to receptive mastery and eventually to productive mastery. Receptive mastery of lexical content refers to understanding words when listening or reading. Productive mastery involves the ability to produce it in one's speech or writing. To reach a productive mastery level when writing, the learner knows and produces all the various components of such vocabulary independently without prompts. This fluency also holds true for listening/speaking. Schmitt has also suggested incorporating sound vocabulary principles into textbooks and learning resources.

Extracurricular language exposure, also referred to as extramural language exposure, is an area of research that Schmitt encourages to help learners learning a language, with more focus on English. Extramural exposure refers to exposure to a language outside of classroom and academic related materials. In his research, three types of extramural exposure which have been more encouraged include watching English-language television (with English subtitles), playing computer/Internet English games, and consuming English-language reading materials (especially for daily use and consumption such as entertainment).

Formulaic Language

He notably developed the concept of Formulaic Language. Formulaic Language (abbreviated FL)is described as an overall phenomenon of multiple word lexical items or how phrases, sentences, and language structures are used for expression in language. A specific example he cites in his publication is that while the sentences "It is my desire to marry you.", "I wish to be wedded to you.", "Will you marry me?" all mean the same thing, someone proposing will best choose the third sentence to get the result desired. Formulaic Sequence (abbreviated FS) describes the individual items in the formulaic language. FL and FS serve critical purpose in colloquial expression, formal expression, and academic expression.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Vocabulary Mastery and Usage

There are many uses of Schmitt's work, especially given that vocabulary is necessary for understanding any language or content. There is often emphasis on academic vocabulary. Most of his work focuses on learning a second language. For ELD instructors, this may be particularly helpful. You can also research the KVLs to look at useful vocabulary to teach. Vocabulary is indeed necessary for any level of comprehension and communication. You can follow the guides to develop lessons that help them build receptive mastery and productive mastery. As described, receptive mastery refers to listening and reading skills. Find practices that help them develop those skills. Productive mastery refers to writing and speech. Different measures of these masteries may need to be considered as speaking in front of peers who are also EL students and peers who are native English speakers produce different pressures. (You should also note the discrepancies between slang use of such language, colloquial use, and academic use.) Despite differences, these are necessary skills that span the gamut of human use and interaction.

Extracurricular/Extramural Language Exposure

For instructors of foreign languages, Schmitt's work is also very useful. While a large number of Schmitt's writings focus on learning English as a second language, the same concepts and learning structures do apply to learners of a foreign language as a second language. For example, look at the concepts of extramural exposure. Especially if you live in an area where exposure to this foreign language is common, utilize this as best as you can. For older learners, have them see the importance of using that language in real life contexts. For example, in Southern California, it is not uncommon to find pamphlets and brochures (such as from the DMV) that use the Spanish language. While English is often available, it is healthy practice to expose them to this content first before showing the English translation so that if they ever were in a situation where they only utilize that language. In the age of the Internet, it is not too difficult to obtain access to audiovisual media of that specific foreign language or find games they can play that forces them to use the language. When having fun or entertaining themselves, they can also boost their skills and knowledge in that language. It will also be interesting to incorporate extramural exposure into assessments as it does show a fair estimate of a student's ability to utilize language and vocabulary skills in a real-life context.

Discuss practices that you use to help them develop useful vocabulary in the foreign language. In one class, one instructor had students create "self-chosen vocabulary tests" where on Monday (or the first day of the week), the students would list out 10 words from anything they read that week or earlier (preferably words that are not archaic or with limited present-day use) and write their definitions in the foreign language on a sheet of paper. They would cut the definitions off and turn that into the teacher. Through the week, they would study and recall these vocabulary words. Then on Friday (or the last day of the week), the teacher would pass out that definition sheet and they would take the test.

Formulaic Language Applications: Academic Language

Formulaic Language is a branch of linguistics that discusses how words phrases and structures are used for expression. Formulaic language also delves deeper into the meaning of communicated wording.

In the edTPA and in education in general there is a lot of focus on Academic Language which is definitely umbrellaed under Formulaic Language. Communicating effectively and efficiently about a subject in a field with the teacher and with peers is a critical part of learning in a scholarly environment. Speaking and writing in formulaic language is a necessity. Proper and nuanced vocabulary are elements of formulaic language and affect strength and persuasion in communication. FL differs per context and subject. For example, in mathematics, FL can encompass being able to write a proof using professional terminologies and language structures and then write that with formal representations is part of being ready for college. When analyzing students' writing and speaking, analyze their ability to produce language structures that work for the specific environment and context.

As EL students get more advanced, start having them look at the formulaic languages. If you are knowledgeable of other languages, consider how formulaic sequences would be formulaically produced in those languages. It may come out entirely different to English. Track evidence of such formulaic language and encourage them to learn and properly use them.

Thomas J. Shuell

1938 - 2018

Image Source: buffalonews.com

Summary of Theory

Thomas Shuell is a theorist of meaningful learning who characterized meaningful learning as active, cumulative, goal-oriented, constructive, and self-regulated processes. Meaningful learning was initially described by David Ausubel. Accoding to Shuell, meaningful learning is activated by learning functions.

Educational technology learning theorists have compiled the following learning functions from Shuell's original work. The Shuell model of learning functions illustrate preparing preexisting schemata and adding to existing knowledge structures the learning functions activate meaningful learning. The learning functions are listed below and grouped by which phase of learning it is encompassed in. Some learning functions are more straightforward, while others are explained in a little more detail.

Preparation

Teaching/ Knowledge Construction

Review

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

These learning functions were compiled by Ed Tech and Instructional Design theorists from Schuell's work for instructional design practices. Notice how they are organized in order or planning, executing, and evaluating. They were used for designing learning plans for technological learning tools and for activities (which often followed the ADDIE model). Because the learning functions were meant to help generate cognitive, metacognitive, and affective activity, you can see how they cover all three areas. For example, motivation covers affective activity and hypothesis generation requires an amount of motivation to be able to generate such work. Feedback and evaluation require metacognitive activity because the learner must consider his/her own thinking on the content to successfully carry out these functions. As you describe the steps to implement in your instruction, describe how they execute the learning functions and how they match up with the five characteristics as described by Schuell. As with Ausubel's work, break down content into schemata. The schemata should fall into the categories of Shuell's learning functions. On video, you can split the schemata into sections and describe and illustrate them at specific moments.

George Siemens

Year of Birth Undisclosed - present

Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Stephen Downes

Year of Birth Undisclosed- present

Image Source: Wikipedia.org

Summary of Theory

George Siemens

George Siemens is a professor of psychology, who together with Stephen Downes, came up with a relatively new learning theory called connectivism. He holds university positions and honorary doctorates from across the globe. His work spans research on technology and social networks through recent years.

Siemens has also researched the roles of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). When open to so many resources, how do people get the information they need, and what they gain from enrollment in such a virtual and large world? Considering the audience MOOCs reach and the new approaches being offered, it is important that we look into ways they will influence our students and their education today and tomorrow. Siemens further defined the concepts of xMOOCs and cMOOCs. Given how novel the concept is, they are still characterizing the differences between them and bridging their structures. The current description is the following. cMOOCs are described as connectivist. xMOOCs are institutional.

Stephen Downes

Stephen Downes is a philosopher whose work focuses on online learning and new media. In 2008, he worked with Siemens to create and teach what is considered the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Together they developed connectivism and explored and pioneered learning in the "digital age".

Unlike Siemens, Downes differentiates that personal learning and social learning are separate. Personal learning consists of neural networks. Social learning is based on social networks.

Downes writes extensively about the networks and their properties in which learning happens. In the neural networks in the brain, neurons (brain cells) "fire" together and connect when a synapse happens. On the base level, this is the smallest unit of forming a network. The brain has a few hundred billion cells. The billions of network formations that happen in a moment of learning are amazing!

Their work is also being used for machine learning and developing artificial intelligence.

Connectivism

Connectivism is the theory that learners should combine thoughts and information in a useful manner. Connectivism also heavily incorporates technology into the theory. Tech is essential in measuring and understanding human knowledge. Technology is endlessly incorporated in our global society. Siemens describes this as a "technology-learning-network" nexus. Learning happens in both neural networks and social networks.

Connectivism defines that learning is not just "internal" but "external" as well. The learner is not merely thinking and processing by himself/herself but also through external interactions. Interactions through exploring online etc. Akin to graph theory (in discrete mathematics) and networks, nodes and links describe this theory. Students and other information sources are the "nodes". Students create the "links" between the "nodes". Learning happens when we make connections or "links" between the "nodes" of information. Knowledge is formed from making and maintaining these connections.

Downes and Siemens have laid 8 principles of connectivism as it relates in today's ever-changing world. They are as follows.

According to Siemens and Downes, in the classroom, connectivism will likely entail social media, gamification, and simulations. All of these often include technology. Social media offers endless communication in online global society. Gamification involves turning learning into games. Many online programs already partner with games. Simulations where students can virtually build something offer them experiences of building without expending physical materials or otherwise build something in an environment that can only be simulated.

Technology in Connectivism

The three aspects, social media, gamification, and simulations, already largely exist in technological society. We live in interconnected digital and social networks and students have to learn to manage that. Given the state of technology we live in, it is crucial to acknowledge the role technology plays in education. We have to develop digital literacies and digital citizenship. Utilizing technology, namely the Internet, is also part of connectivism. There are many webpages of information in the world and helping students see the connections is important. Students have to be able to sort out information, consider how accurate that data is, and then build the connections through this information and their life experiences.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Here is an example of a situation that we developed from experience to illustrate an example of connectivism, technological literacy, and neural network development. Calculator literacy is a necessity in society. When inputting order of operations, students should learn not to automatically trust answers from calculators, especially if they were possibly not input correctly. It is arguable that the "nodes" are the questions and answers while properly inputting the responses into the calculator are the "links". Blindly taking answers from the calculator is not proper learning. The links only form when the student is fully literate of how properly using the calculator produces the result and the mathematical concept and applicational concept are attained. There have been situations where students blindly trust the technology even when the answers were off by ridiculous amounts. Technology does not replace understanding and doing computations. Building and sustaining that link is necessary for learning.

Furthermore, development of the skill in being able to use a calculator is a node and sets a link for properly using the calculator for higher level mathematics. From experience, students lose tech skills for computations pretty quickly and that is harmful to them. Therefore, they must sustain this node of learning. We want students to develop skills of calculator literacy and math literacy.

Use these principles as guidelines for lesson planning. Describe what specifically will be the nodes that they will be building connections to. Technology does not necessarily have to be involved but building the network of knowledge must be demonstrated. Help nurture their minds to build and sustain those connections. When you analyze the outcomes, look at the connections that they successfully built.

For the three aspects, social media, gamification, and simulations, if you use them, make sure you describe them in conjunction with the principles of connectivism and science of "firing" up nodes of learning and building and maintaining those connections. Social media can include blogs, vlogs, videos (like YouTube), and even professional spaces dominated by experts in a specific field. AR and VR offer opportunities for simulations and virtually building something. For example, in one activity with a smartphone or tablet and a printed map on the grounds, students are able to learn about ancient India and "build" the empire with the tools from the AR application. If you search around, you can definitely find all sorts of technology and resources for these aspects of learning.

If you are technology in your writing, make sure that the technology is not just "dropped" into the lesson. With specific technology, explain how students are connecting the nodes with what they learn. Make sure that they are actively engaging with the virtual world. Explain how your lessons follow the guidelines established. If your work is in a field that is always updating what you learn, talk about how you always stay in touch with updated information and practices. Furthermore, with research and creation, there will always be something new out there to explore.

Assessing the Connections of Learning

Assessing learning through connectivism should include seeing whether or not the nodes of knowledge have been solidified and if students have made the links and are maintaining the links that exist between the nodes. The focus is on the learning and not just the knowing. Connections are greatly emphasized in the theory of connectivism. While it may be difficult to include social media, gamification, and simulations into an assessment, knowledge and skill from those activities can be applied to the assessments. Assessing their learning can focus on whether they are successfully building the connections from those experiences to the questions and activities on the assessments.

The Role of MOOCs

We have yet to see the role of MOOCs in classes but it is a field of exploration and I expect them to eventually play a role in schools. It will be a field of study involving large scale participation, methods of instructor guidance and intervention, rates of learning, and more. If you are able to use MOOCs in class, you may consider partaking in these studies.

Robert Siegler

1949 - present

Image Source: https://siegler.tc.columbia.edu/

Summary of Theory

Siegler's work focused on the psychology of problem-solving and reasoning, especially during childhood. His work is covered under cognitive development theory. Cognitive development refers to the growth and change of the mind and perception over time. He used microgenetic approaches that focused over an extended period of time with emphasis on studying changes, such as changes in approach that work for solving a problem. He has written extensively on the development process of numerical and mathematical knowledge and the representation of numbers in children's brains.

One of Robert Siegler's theories is the overlapping waves theory, also called the overlapping waves model. In this theory, at any one moment, children think in a variety of ways about phenomena. These varied ways of thinking compete with each other in both short term and long-term observation. Finally, cognitive development involves gradual changes in thinking as well as eventual development of advanced thinking. The overlapping waves model asserts that children's thinking never stands still and acts like "waves". Strategies, like ocean waves, overlap with one another and "apply" on to the shoreline. Smaller waves can merge and influence the bigger waves. In the child's strategy development, trying out new strategies to solve a problem and starting with familiar ones that worked before is their main activity. The child selects more "useful" strategies as he or she learns. The overlapping waves model is in contrast to the idea that a child's learning is step-like or in linear progression.

An illustration of the overlapping waves theory in action is a student trying to complete a lab or lab simulation activity that forces them to make observations throughout the activity. In one lab, they might make note of color as a property that affects the temperature of the solution. However, when they realize that color does not affect the results, they must look to another characteristic that may affect the result. Ultimately, when they realize which variables affect the result the most, they will draw a conclusion.

One of Siegler's conclusions is that it is better to provide a mix of strategies, which according to the overlapping waves theory, will eventually overlap. Students who adopt a greater variety of strategies for solving problems tend to learn better. Whatever strategies you teach students to help them remember what they learn should include techniques that work. Strategies can be applied for memorization and rote work as well as for problem solving. For example, if you teach them mnemonic devices and rhymes to help them remember stuff, cite the cognitive science behind such processes. Chunking is another strategy that humans commonly employ in their learning. Remember that whatever teaching strategy you choose, you want students to understand the concepts and principles and not just intake and regurgitate.

Variability is beneficial because it sets the child up for new experiences, new training, and exploration. It is also important because it allows for people to develop "plan B" if necessary. Humans have learned to develop backup plans in case the initial one fails. This is also an aspect of strategy construction that should be developed.

Mechanisms of Development

Siegler and subsequent information-processing theorists identified automatization, encoding, generalization, and strategy construction as four mechanisms of development.

Automatization is the process where conscious awareness becomes more and more automatic in the mind. For example, a learner who sees a 2 in a superscript on the right of a number of variable "automatically" knows that that means "squared" of the base value multiplied by itself once. This frees the mind to process more content such as the trickier aspects of the expression or equation. During automatization, recognition and behavior becomes more automatic. This reduces the amount of memory used by the brain and thus saves time and energy.

Encoding refers to confirming and using the features perceived in the environment. Changes in encoding allows the learner to rethink things. For example, when adding two different numbers, the efficient strategy is to start with the bigger number and count up the smaller number of times. When information contradicts or is counterintuitive to preconceived beliefs, it is difficult to encode that new information. For example, if a learner does not understand that to find an original amount you started with you have to add the ones that were lost and subtract the ones that were gained, the learner's encoding will not automatically accept that.

Generalization refers to applying a strategy to similar problems. If done without thinking, this can create problems. For example, when using the Pythagorean Theorem, adding the squares of the legs will only work when solving for the length of the hypotenuse, but if the hypotenuse length and a leg length are given, and we want to solve for the last leg, this initial strategy is erroneous.

Strategy construction happens when the learner gains an insight and tries a new strategy. This leads to cognitive change.

Siegler was a member of the "National Mathematics Advisory Panel" which develops curricula and textbooks from K to higher education levels. His research is used to create learning games including computer games. It would be interesting to look into the research behind some games played for classes. The research behind how the brain works when playing such games would be interesting. Furthermore, why are they appropriate for age levels? If you use any specific games, you can look into the research and development for those games.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

If you utilize the overlapping waves model, provide examples of "waves" that you think will form in their brains in your activity. Explain how they will overlap and eventually what strategies will be the successful ones for your activity. Describe the strategies that they will adopt in their learning. The steps to an activity may be linear but the thinking is not. Explain how your teaching provides a variety of strategies and if you see them applying those strategies indicate that and explain.

When filming your footage, if they are struggling, nudge them towards a strategy. While you should never mislead them, let them look into different strategies. In your video footage or worksheets, observe their work. Identify strategies that you see them employing. If you have any examples of one or more strategies that are not working, nudge them to apply a different method. For mathematical classes, look at their approaches and make sure conceptually it sets them on right path for the next level of mathematics.

Misconceived Strategies

In one experiment cited by Siegler, the authors McNeil et al concluded that an equal sign (=) unintentionally signals a "go" signal for elementary and middle school students. For a question like 4 + 5 = 2 + ___, some students erroneously added the left side and filled the blank with 9, while others erroneously added 4, 5, and 2 and obtained 11 as the answer. This indicates that students see the expression but not think about what the purpose was. A workbook provided questions where the equal sign was replaced with the words "is the same as". Students who used this workbook did better and understood the concept rather than following the "go signal". Students benefitted from more variance. It is a good idea to analyze the mistakes that students make if you notice them. It was concluded from this study that students who were exposed to a variety of methods showed better understanding of mathematical equivalence.

This example illustrates why variability is useful. It is healthy practice to provide different visualizations such as described by Siegler and other researchers. In the example, providing expressions that use the equals sign (=) and verbal expressions. For example, you can write "8 x 3 = 6 x 4" as well as "8 x 3 is the same as 6 x 4" and "8 x 3 is equivalent to 6 x 4".

Siegler also analyzed other misconceived strategies such as adding denominators when adding fractions. This is a common mistake students make. In this study, they added visual illustrations of fractions and adding fractions to students who had such misconceptions.

If you want to look at more examples of misconceived strategies, research about Siegler's experiments. If you notice any misconceived strategies, consider researching ways to help them avoid those errors. It is likely that there is literature on common mistakes. In your analysis, if you notice any misconceived strategies in your lesson, you can discuss them and address ways for the students avoid them as well as how you alter your lessons and assessments to address such misconceptions.

B.F. Skinner

1904 - 1990

Image Source: imdb.com

Summary of Theory

Burrhus Frederic Skinner is best known as a psychologist whose best-known works were on behaviorism. Behaviorism is a systematic and scientific approach to studying and understanding human and animal behaviors. Skinner utilized work from Pavlov and Thorndike. Humans behave dependent on consequences of previous actions. He developed the concept of reinforcement. He described reinforcement as a consequence that will strengthen future behaviors. Punishments are classified as a negative consequence that deters or strengthens future behaviors.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Uses of Behaviorism and Operant Conditioning

Good applications of Skinner's behaviorism theories and operant conditioning include developing collective class and group behaviors and responses. For example, establishing class routines and class habits. You use conditioning when students develop daily habits and classroom routines. For example, when given the right stimulus and signals, students know when to be quiet and pay attention to the speaker. Developing classroom routines is also part of this. People naturally start to follow and associate stimuli based on input. How a teacher brings attention to a class and sets and designates actions is among the stimuli you should use. Due to the pandemic, we recommend helping students develop classroom routines and practices that they might have otherwise not developed due learning through distance learning and independently out of the classroom.

Behaviorism is often best used for students who have behavioral difficulties. Working and collaborating with other teachers and classroom aides to create a consistent behavioral plan is important. If your credential or qualification specifically focuses on students with these needs, make sure you are familiar with how to apply this theory consistent with the expected procedures at the school.

Punishments and Caution of Use

As mentioned, B.F. Skinner cautioned about overuse of punishments. He did not recommend turning a positive task into punishment. How punishments are used can result in building resentment contrary to what we as teachers want to accomplish. For example, assigning extra reading or homework will cause students to associate reading or doing homework as something negative rather than a chance to boost their skills. It takes away from the potential enjoyment and satisfaction of completing something. Kids will associate that with punishment and will be less willing to read or do practice on their own volition because punishment is a negative stimulus. It can generate undesirable behaviors and fears. Furthermore, punishment can potentially increase aggression. We do not want them to bring the undesired behavior elsewhere where punishment is not present. In the case of taking a phone away in class, it is better phrased as a natural consequence of breaking the social contract.

Reinforcing Behaviors

Make sure your decisions reinforce positive behaviors. Help students build a love of learning and a sense of social and societal responsibility and citizenship. Negative reinforcement can be useful in this manner. The reason we put on sunscreen is to avoid sunburn, and we want students to not procrastinate is to avoid being overwhelmed. Taking measures to teach students to avoid negative consequences is healthy and encouraged.

Use of rewards and praise as positive reinforcement is also something to utilize with caution. We do not wish for students to be too extrinsically motivated for awards and praise. We want students to develop an intrinsic motivation for success. However, when used appropriately, praise and other positive reinforcement can offer glimmers to help students take paths to success.

Token Reinforcement

Token economy reinforcement should be used with caution too. However, if you use it make sure you have your system on how you plan to use it. Creative examples of token reinforcement have included collective token reinforcement. For example, for each time the class is on task, the teacher adds a star sticker to the classroom behavior chart and at the end of the grading period, the teacher rewards the class if they reach a goal.

Classic Conditioning

Classic conditioning existed before B.F. Skinner developed operant conditioning. It pairs a biological stimulus with a neural stimulus. Ivan Pavlov famously produced an experiment with dogs, who salivate when a bell is rung because he always rang a bell when he fed them. Classic conditioning is probably not useful for the edTPA. But knowledge of this is not harmful to your understanding of the human mind.

John Sweller

1946 - present

Image Source: Australian Association for Research in Education

Summary of Theory

John Sweller's theory, the Cognitive Load Theory is built on the study of human cognitive architecture. Sweller's research generally focused on problem solving and the processes of the brain during such activities. His studies of Cognitive Load Theory began when he was analyzing problems with solving math puzzles where students managed to solve the puzzles to get the answers but did not see the over encompassing pattern or rule. Studies on the cognitive load analyzed the effect of instructional procedures on the working memory load in the brain.

There are many effects of cognitive load theory. Here are some that Sweller described.

The Goal-free Effect describes what happens when you make the goals more open. Sweller provides an example of rather than asking "solve for angle x in the diagram", ask "find the measures of as many angles as possible in the diagram". Notice how the goal became less specific.

This reduces the mental burden of focusing on one point and losing the big picture. One possible metaphor to describe this is "missing the forest for the trees".

The Worked Examples Effect states that up to a certain level, learners who follow worked examples learn better than students who solve problems with conventional problem solving. Conventional problem solving creates difficulties for learning because it focuses on reaching a problem goal rather than transferring knowledge to long-term memory. Worked examples, such as guided diagrams on how to solve a math problem, reduce extraneous cognitive load which can result from learners trying too irrelevant or ineffective approaches when handed the problem with little or no guidance. Faded worked examples illustrate that as the learner gains more expertise on the field, giving less guidance and gearing towards problem-solving with minimal or no guidance.

The Split-Attention Effect happens when the learner has to integrate multiple sources of information. An example of this might be in geometry class might be separately displaying expressions, equations, and statements from the diagrams that you are solving for. Because the user has to read the statements in one place and then find them on the diagram, this may increase the cognitive load for the learner. A healthy instructional practice is properly integrating disparate sources of information to reduce extraneous cognitive load and facilitate learning.

The Modality Effect occurs when learning is facilitated by using both visual and auditory channels such as showing images and listening. Using both visuals and spoken content helps reduce cognitive load. It improves working memory capacity.

The Transient Information Effect describes a disparity between spoken and written material. Spoken/auditory material is "temporarily present" or transient while written material is permanent. A long, complex oral statement (a long sentence or speech or lecture) is transient and subsequently will increase and burden working memory load. A lengthy oral statement without written text will harm the modality effect. This effect also affects the technology we incorporate into education.

The Redundancy Effect illustrates an example of something harmful to working memory. Providing learners with any unnecessary information requires them to process that information and that can cause overload.

Compound Cognitive Load Effects

Sweller also describes Compound Cognitive Load Effects, which are effects in which different cognitive effects interact.

The Element Interactivity Effect is a compound effect. The learner will interact with many elements during learning. Elements can include diagrams, text, pictures, applications, speaking, etc. In general, if something is not significantly difficult, the cognitive load is not bothered. However, too much complex content may result in overload.

The Expertise Reversal Effect happens because information that is high in element interactivity for a novice because the beginner is putting in a lot of effort learning it is likely to be low in element interactivity for an expert and will not overload the expert. For example, novices may be better off reading and analyzing worked examples and interacting with existing elements presented to them. Experts may work with less and directly solve questions using their knowledge that they are already familiar with. Increased expertise reduces element interactivity because they already are familiar. Subsequently, few memory resources are needed during problem solving.

The Completion Problem Effect happens when learners asked to complete the solution to a partially completed problem learn more rapidly than students asked to solve such a problem without being shown any of the steps. The initial boost allows them to take further and faster steps to solve the problem.

The Variability Effect happens when learners who are shown highly varied worked examples learn more than learners who are shown more similar worked examples. Having more variety allows students to see different pathways to solving problems and when it is best to apply such pathways.

The Guidance Fading Effect is an effect when learning is facilitated by gradually fading the guidance given to learners as they gain expertise. This effect parallels faded worked examples described earlier.

There are many contemporary effects that researchers continue to study; as researchers understand more over time, expect to find more effects and consider applying your understanding of them into your pedagogical practices.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Overall, Sweller's cognitive load theory provides practices to consider to avoid overwhelming learners as well as to expand their working memory while learning. It also describes potential problems that may result in the learning process. Educational objectives do have to be focused and measurable. It is important to still focus on attaining concepts and skills but acknowledge the potential difficulties from the types of questions asked and the goals set. In writing your edTPA, discuss how you gave insight into potential overload of lessons. Keep in mind that this does not mean lowering objective learning if that is necessary and appropriate (IE properly using grammar rules to construct a sentence is an absolute necessity, however, students should be able form their own sentences in the contexts they need).

In your writing, acknowledge the potential overload from initial planning and how you adapted it to reduce this issue.

Sweller makes it clear that learning is not "knowledge transmission" and this is not natural to humans. He ultimately describes that learning involves constructing knowledge themselves. Teachers organize the conditions to facilitate knowledge construction but students do the constructing. However, he states not to eliminate explicit instruction because it is still quite effective and necessary for some content. Lecturing on interesting topics is still a necessity in some places of learning. Consider the optimal methods of delivery and learning based on your judgment.

The goal-free effect can be used in an example where even though your textbook, initial lesson plans, or provided content provides one specific question with one specific goal, you can amend the question for students with more open questions that allow them to provide as many relevant answers as possible (per the angle example given) so they do not end up focusing only on one limited goal.

The transient information effect is useful because it shows that you can acknowledge the limitations of content that is just temporarily available to the brain and is not permanent. (IE spoken words, video multimedia, or a demonstration of a segment of choreography whereas a picture and text are permanent.) [Recorded media is not pertinent to this discussion.] The limits of how much the human brain can process and retain will affect how much they can learn at a moment.

If students are not quite at the level where they should "sink or swim" in the field content, you need to consider the worked-examples effect and why worked examples with minimal load helps them learn. However, at some point, you must consider the expertise reversal effect where they benefit the most from minimal guidance. When you describe this in your writing, you can sometimes pair this with Bruner's scaffolding and eventually reduce the amount of scaffolding.

Read over all of the described effects and continue researching such effects. Consider how the effects applies to the human brain and to the content area you are teaching. For example, research has been done on "worked examples" for teaching music, dance, art, physical education, and more. If you are teaching beginner classes on such subjects, you should consider learning about and adopting these "worked examples".

You can use the cognitive load effects to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the materials you use and the content you teach. If you feel something will cause overload, find ways to make it more comprehensible. As you plan your lesson, consider the element interactivity effect and the expertise reversal effect and how much should be presented to them. You do not want to overwhelm them but providing a healthy challenge sets them on the path for bettering themselves.

Cynthia E. Winston-Proctor

Year of Birth Undisclosed - present

Image Source: http://sqip.org, Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology

Summary of Theory

Cynthia Winston-Proctor is notable for her studies in personality psychology or personality theory. She is a renowned faculty member of Howard University. Personality is a unique set of behaviors, experiences, feelings, and thought patterns that define you. Winston-Proctor narrowed work down into narrative personality psychology. Narrative personality psychology is the study of your narrative identity. It is a form of qualitative inquiry into psychology as it is difficult to quantify.

Narrative identity is a dimension of personality that focuses on "what you think of yourself and your place in the world". It is the most malleable because your current views of yourself and your identity can change. Each individual can construct and reconstruct narrative identity. Each person's views of his/her experience can be reviewed and reshaped. Through an ongoing process of synchronic and diachronic life experiences, individuals integrate life experiences to curate the narrative identity. Synchronic integration refers to across the many roles through many aspects one has played in life. Diachronic integration refers to across time. Creating a narrative identity is a curational process that requires gradual clarification. The person develops views of how these roles shaped what he/she has become. In Winston-Proctor's writing, she describes that not living up to a superwoman role affects a woman's thinking.

Beginning in adolescence through adulthood, individuals develop narrative identity through constructing autobiographical memories from daily life experiences. Autobiographical memories allow the person to "write his/her own story". A person's psychosocial needs and goals span different periods of time in their life. It drives the meaning a person derives. The following illustrate different time periods in a person's life. A person's psychosocial needs and goals across different periods of development drive the meaning a person derives.

During adolescence (roughly ages 12-17) the focus is on finding identity through social relationships. Choices made in school define these actions that drive these identities.

For emerging adulthood (roughly ages 18-27) and early adulthood (roughly ages 28-39), identity focuses on agency and achievement. Control over one's environment and actualization of goals affect how one perceives himself/herself. During this time, education, jobs, friendships, love, and marriage are aspects of life where the person is exploring.

During middle adulthood (roughly ages 40-65), psychosocial needs turn to generativity, the need for connection, impact, and legacy. They focus down to the most significant and long-lasting aspects in the narrative identity.

Incorporation into Instructional Planning, Assessment, and Analysis

Cynthia Winston-Proctor did focus in particular on women's identity development. In one professional article, she puts a fair amount of emphasis on women's professional experiences, such as how they progressed through their careers and leadership and service role. As a person of color, she has placed emphasis on the uniqueness of the identity and psychosocial development of African Americans and other minorities. However, personal narrative theory is part of every human experience and can be applied to anyone of the proper age.

If you wish to directly use personality theory, it would best be used for older students. However, when inquiring into the future of younger students, personality theory is suitable for justifications of your decisions. You do not wish for students to have regrets and find themselves in regretful places as they get older. You wish to set them on the proper footing. Leave them with memories that they can look back on and see how they will "write their biographies".

For older students, have them reflect on their life, ask questions that help them see who they have become. If they have been through many difficulties, emphasize how those struggles helped them shape their identity. Help them see into the future and realize how the current experience will eventually shape their identity when they are older. In general, the edTPA reaches grade 12 at highest but remember that the learning journey does not stop and you want them to think about what they will perceive of themselves in the future. They will face challenges and adversaries and help them see that as something they overcame and ultimately shaped their identities.

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