How Children LearnHow Children LearnHow Children LearnHow Children LearnJason CarrJason CarrLucy HillLucy Hill

Laura RosencransLaura RosencransAshley MartinAshley Martin

Recipe

• 23 chex squares• 15 raisins • 8 peanuts• 13 pretzels• 21 M&M’s • 5 bagel chipsPlace ingredients in a plastic bag and

shake. Then pour in a big bowl and enjoy!

Learning Styles

Cognitive Styles

• Over 80 methods • Myers Briggs Type Indicator • Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Model • Jackson’s Learning Styles Profiler (LSP)• Most commonly known model: Visual, Audio, Kinesthetic (VAK and VARK)

• Visual Learners: 30%

May use terms such as: See how this works I can’t quiet picture it I never forget a face.

• Audio Learners: 25% May use terms such as: That sounds about right It’s coming through loud and clear That’s music to my ears

• Kinesthetic Learners: 40%

May use terms such as: Stay in touch That doesn’t sit right with me I have a good feeling about this

What type of learner are you?

•Assessment Instruments• Questionnaires• http://

www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Importance• For Students: Learning style influence the way that you learn.• Instructors: Use the way that each student learns and models their teaching accordingly.

Themes in Learning• Children think in qualitatively

different ways at different ages.– Saying the phrase “Your eyes are

bigger than your stomach.”– Conservation (demonstration)

Themes in Learning• Children actively construct their

knowledge.– children are not passive learners, but

actively construct and build their knowledge.

Themes in Learning• Development builds upon prior

understanding– Children use what they know to help

them acquire more complex understanding.

– Assimilation-– Accommodation-

Learning Theorists • Piaget- cognitive development

theory• Vygotsky- social cognitive theory• Gardner's- multiple Intelligence

theory

Piaget- Cognitive Development Theory

• Sensorimotor stage (birth until 2 yrs)• Preoperational stage (2-6yrs)• Concrete operations stage (7-12yrs)• Formal Operations stage (11 yrs

through adulthood)In Middle Childhood Children are in the

Concrete Operations stage.

Concrete Operational Stage

• Children’s thought processes gradually become more organized.

• Children can understand that their own thoughts and feelings are not always shared by others, but reflect personal opinions.

• Show understanding of conservation• Capable of multiple classification • Deductive reasoning

Vygotsky Social Learning Theory

• The child and the social environment collaborate to mold cognition.

• Language development allows children to participate in more dialogues with more knowledgeable individuals.

• Children involve themselves in “private speech” as well, which enhances their thinking and their ability to control their own behaviors.

• Classrooms- Promote assisted discovery and peer collaboration

• “zone of proximal development”

Intelligence• IQ Scores • Intelligence tests

– Measuring Intelligence– Scores and limitations

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

• Defines intelligence in terms of distinct sets of processing operations that permit individuals to engage in a wide range of culturally valued activities.

• Gardner proposes at least eight independent intelligences

• linguistic, logico- mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily- kinesthetic, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal

Brain Development Key terms

• Myelinization

• Synapses Pruning

• Lateralization

The Effects of TV on the Brain

• “1 - Watching TV puts the viewer into a highly suggestible sleep like hypnotic state. This provides easy access to the subconscious.

• 2 - When you watch TV, brain activity switches from the left side of your brain (responsible for logical thought and critical analysis) to the right side.

• This is significant because the right side of the brain does not critically analyze incoming information, instead it uses an emotional response. This means there is little or no analysis of incoming information.”

The Effects of TV on the Brain

• “3 - Right brain activity causes the body to release chemicals which make it feel good (these are called endorphins, a natural sedative with similar properties to heroin). It is therefore not only possible, but probable, to become physically addicted to TV. This ensures constant daily exposure, a critical factor needed to program the mind.

• 4 - Reduces higher brain activity, promoting activity in lower brain regions. In other words it makes you less intelligent and behave more like an animal.

• You may think that TV does no harm because you know it’s not real, but did you know that your subconscious believes it to be real? (this is why your heart beats faster while watching horror films).”

TV And The Army

• After the 2nd World War, the US Army recognized the need to create a soldier that was more willing to kill. This came after reports that many soldiers would purposely miss or aim low when shooting the enemy. Soldiers did not want to kill and when they did kill would feel lots of remorse.

• To remedy this, one method that was used was to watch violent images on screen, especially before going into battle. The effect was to desensitize the solider to violence, thereby making them more willing to kill.

• On average people watch 5-6 hours of TV a day. This amount of TV will make it almost impossible to reprogram your own mind (unless viewing is eliminated or reduced).

The Effects of TV on the Brain

Make sure you are programming the brain

and not your TV!• “If you want to program your subconscious for success then

you must make sure that you are doing the programming not someone else.

• Memory storage and cognitive function in the human brain includes mainly the right and left cerebral hemispheres. Memory loss may range from normal to a mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, or to a more severe disturbance, such as dementia. People age 55 to 90 years may have forgetfulness characterized by MCI, but may not be clinically diagnosed as having Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease.

• Memory loss may be characterized as the difficulty or failure for immediate or delayed recall. One type of memory loss relates to the failure to recall, within a few seconds, a specific object.

What is the Brain?

• "The brain is a complex adaptive system." • "The brain is a social brain." • "The search for meaning occurs through patterning." • "Emotions are critical to patterning." • "The brain processes parts and wholes simultaneously." • "Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral

perception." • "Learning always involves conscious and unconscious

processes." • "We have at least two different types of memory: a spatial

memory system and a set of systems for rote learning." • "We understand and remember best when facts and skills are

embedded in natural, spatial memory." • "Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat."

MemoryIn Middle Childhood

Memory• The ability to store and access

information that has been acquired through experience.

• Memory is a critical component of practically all aspects of human thinking, including perception, learning, language, and problem solving.

Memory• Improvement in memory

strategy use, is seen during middle childhood.

• Strategy use contributes to more effective information processing.

Short Term Memory• As its name suggests, this only

lasts for a short period. It involves an increase in the efficiency with which nerve impulses pass across synapses.

Long-Term Memory• This lasts for a long period. It

involves the formation of new synaptic connections.

Grouping related items

•Grouping related items helps children learn, through recall.

•Recall- A type of memory that involves something without perceptual support.

Elaboration• A memory strategy that involves

creating a relationship, between two or more pieces of information that are not related or members of the same category.

Culture and Memory• Memory is a natural byproduct of

daily activities and routine.• Many memory strategies are related

to western school activities.• Memory is also influenced by task

demands and cultural circumstances.

References• Berk, Laura E. (2008) Infants and Children: Prenatal

through Middle childhood 6th edition. Pearson

• Bolhuis, J. (2000). Brain, perception, memory: advances in cognitive neuroscience. Oxford University Press.

• Berk, Laura E. Development Through the Lifespan. Boston: Pearson Education, 2007.

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References http://

www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles

Educational Psychology Ninth Edition, Anita Woolfolk, Allyn & Bacon Publishing, pg. 109-113.

http://surfaquarium.com/MI/overview.htm