Sociology and  Education
       Definitions
       Social Transmission Theories
               Functionalism 
               Structural Functionalism 
               Conflict Theory and Reproductive Theory

       Interpretive Theories

Social Transformation Theories
               Critical Theory

What do we want to know about?
               John Dewey
               Curriculum
               Education Reform
               Sir Arthur  Lewis 
               Strategies for reforming schools

Module  Adolescence
         Definitions
         Characteristics of Adolescents

Educational Implications of Theories for Adolescents:
                Piaget’s Theory
                Vygotsky’s Theory
                Erickson’s Theory
                Moral Development (Kohlberg & Piaget)
                Bruner’s Theories 
         Problems in Adolescence
         Adolescents in relationships: family and friends

DOWNLOAD THESE
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION  

MATHEMATICS STUDY NOTES  
 
LEARNING THEORIES  

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT  

Planning and Instruction
       Planning 
               Definitions 
               Introduction 
               Unit Plans
               Lesson  Plans - Formats
               Lesson  Objectives
                       Planning lesson objectives
                       Behavioral objectives
                       Task Analysis 
                       Critiques of specific objectives
               Taxonomies
                       Psychomotor Domain
                       Affective Domain(Krathwohl)
                       Cognitive Domain(Bloom’s Taxonomy)
       
       Instructional Techniques 
               Discussion Method 
               Questioning
               Problem Solving/Inquiry 
               Discovery  (Bruner 1966)
               Direct Instruction (Expository)
               Peer Tutoring 
               Programmed Instruction 
               Study Trip/Field Trip 
               Lecture Method 
               Drill and Practice 
               Cooperative Learning (Johnson & Johnson 1994)
               Demonstration Method 
          
DOWNLOAD THESE
      EXCEPTIONAL LEARNERS   

      EDUCATION   

      SELMAN NOTES   

      NOTES ON BRUNER              

• reproduce themselves
• recruit new members
• provide goods & services
• allocate power
• transmission of function

back to top

• educational structures function to transmit attitudes, values, skills and norms from one generation to another

• intellectual purposes: acquisition of cognitive skill, substantive knowledge and inquiry skills

• political purposes: educate to participate in political order, promote patriotism, assimilation of immigrants, ensure order, public civility and conformity to law.

• economic purposes: prepare for entry into the workforce, maintenance of class structure

• social purposes: promote social and moral responsibility, solution of social problems, supplement efforts of other institutions.

back to top

• via formal language and behavior
• by magnifying class differences
• power groups work to maintain the status quo

• discovered that students of different classes received different training.

back to top

• despite influences of oppression there is hope because of involvement of human agency.
• Concern over social and economic inequality

• innovations should be adaptive; can identify and solve day to day implementation problems
• focus for change at level of individual facility (autonomy)
• implementation requires change in a variety of institutional arrangements (principal is the key)
• teachers should have a voice
• systematically examine the implications and plan to overcome obstacles.

• innovations that rely too heavily on technology
• success directly linked to administrative support
• innovation in curriculum and instruction is easier than innovation in organization and administration
• directives seldom effective means of implementation

• stress on the commitment and capacity at individual school level
• strong and effective leadership
• atmosphere of the school
• high expectations for achievement
• small group and individualized instruction
• exchange of ideas among staff
• clear focus on objectives and priorities

back to top

• A child develops social knowledge first; beliefs/attitudes/ thinking and reasoning that are important to the community.
• cultural and historical knowledge second; presented in institutions; beginning to think independently and internalize their culture; take on more responsibility for acquiring knowledge.

• social-personality development is a life-long process;
• institutions in society exist to allow adolescents to develop via exploration;
• early experiences in culture establish who you become as an adult. 
• Teens seek to determine what is unique and distinctive about their selves.
•   They may adopt socially unacceptable roles; have difficulty forming and maintaining relationships;
• fail to organize around a core identity
• the cognitive sophistication that allows adolescents to differentiate various aspects of the self also leads them to evaluate those aspects in different ways
• clarify their identity through comparison with others
• the development of the person is inextricably linked to the social/cultural context the person is developing in
• peers influence is critical; they set the parameters
• goal is to find our identity, the extent to which this is accomplished depends on all prior stages.
• Personal identity through culture; relationships depend upon healthy identity development)

• rational moral attitudes: rules are products of mutual agreement, open to renegotiation
• badness is relative to intentions, fairness as equal treatment
• punishment affected by human intention

• Enactive Mode – child manipulates objects and in the process develops the ability to conceptualize.

• Iconic Mode – child uses picture or images and not objects to represent reality

• Symbolic Mode – child becomes capable of manipulating symbols and translating experience into reality.

• developmentally appropriate education
• teachers must appreciate children’s methods of arriving at conclusions
• crucial role of children’s self-initiated, active involvement in learning
• de-emphasize making children adult-like in their thinking
• recognition, acceptance and adaptation to individual differences back to top

• mixed group cooperative learning; effective means of promoting growth in zone of proximal development
• scaffolding; students gradually taking more responsibility for their own learning
• plan activities that children can learn with the help of others. back to top

• Stage V – Identity vs. Role Confusion: Students experiment with new sexual, occupational and educational roles. Activities should build up students’ self-identity as successful learners. back to top

• Global/district wide: activities that emphasize individual as citizen & member of a social institution.  Provide students with a framework of expected behavior, students create and maintain guidelines (Classroom Mgt. Too)

• local level/classroom instruction: students allowed to test hypothetical situations & potential consequences.  Creation of cognitive conflict to stimulate social perspective taking.

• organization of subject matter according to underlying concepts and principles
• discovery learning helps children acquire the knowledge of the structure of the subject matter
• anything can be taught to a child; choose appropriate mode and simplify the form
• trial and error facilitates discovery
• teacher aids learning by fostering intrinsic motivation & feedback
• vary aids to facilitate concept formation
• discovery aids to increase transferability and retention
• spiral curriculum allows redevelopment of concepts & helps children acquire coding systems. back to top

• highly critical of authority figures, unwilling to accept criticism and quick to find fault with others.
• Imaginary audience, perception that they are focus of everyone else’s attention
• Personal fables : view that what happened to them is unique, exceptional and shared by no-one else.

• Quest for autonomy: parents and children end up in a more symmetrical or egalitarian relationship.
• Myth of generation gap: agreement in a variety of domains; agree in value they place on their relationships.  Gap exists more in matters of personal taste.
• New intellectual sophistication leads to teens thinking over parents’ rules in more complex ways.
• Majority of teens maintain stable relations w/ parents

• most important time for peers
• compare and evaluate opinions
• reference group for teen norms
• cliques: members with frequent social interactions
• popularity and rejection: popular/controversial/rejected/neglected
• peer pressure: matters of personal taste; nonsocial matters of career or problem solving teens turn to experienced adults.

• Functions of dating: learning how to establish intimacy with others
• Masturbation: useful means of learning about own sexuality
• Intercourse: males are more likely to engage in than females (double standard)

1. Planning is the process by which teachers decide how next to select and organize a learning experience to maximize both teacher and student achievement and satisfaction. 
2. Planning requires one to review content to gain confidence about teaching
3. Planning requires one to think through instruction; select optimal instructional method
4. Planning organizes the whole teaching act so that instruction and assessment can be effectively linked
5. Planning facilitates one’s ability to meet the needs of all types of learners and all levels of learning
6. Planning permits one to select the best materials possible for a lesson
7. Planning permits one to manage time better
8. Planning allows one to consider participation structures
9. Planning allows one to orient students to the lesson, plan to generate an attitude of readiness
10. Planning allows one to consider the pre-requisites students need for a learning task
11. Planning allows one to execute meaningful activities and learning experiences
12. Planning helps provide structure to learning back to top

1. Introduction
1. Rationale why the unit is important
2. Should answer the “why do I have to do this?” question
3. Scope and sequence of unit
4. Main ideas and order in which they are addressed
5. Shows how the main ideas build on each other and how the unit flows
6. Time frame: when unit will begin and end
2. General Objectives
1. States the non-specific attitudes, knowledge or skill the students will acquire through this unit
3. Body
1. Content outline
1. Main points
2. Supporting points
2. Activities
1. What can be done with a class or individuals to accomplish the unit objectives
3. Sequence of instruction
4. List of resources expected to be useful
5. Evaluation
1. How will learners be evaluated in terms of achievement and satisfaction
2. To what extent do they know what they are expected to know
3. To what extent can they do what they are expected to do
4. Bibliography
1. Presents the resources and references related to the unit
2. References useful to the students back to top

1. Descriptive Heading – subject, topic, duration of lesson
2. Demographics of the class – age range, number in class, gender
3. Pre-requisites  -
4. Objectives – general aim or goal with specific behavioral objectives (see section on behavioral objectives below)
5. Materials – all materials one needs to execute the lesson
6. Content – section describing the content you will be covering, description of ideas, information relative to objectives, information one wants the students to learn, higher order content, lower order content
7. Introduction – the catch, interest grabber, the mental set (attention getting phase)
8. Developmental steps – a step by step description of activities that students will undertake to achieve your objectives; logically organized, clear language, explanations, demonstrations or models, variety of activities to maintain attention, content coverage and pacing.
9. Conclusion – consolidate the lesson, summarize and highlight important aspects
10. Evaluation – plan for how you will determine if the objectives were achieved. back to top

1. An objective is a statement of skills or concepts students should master after a given period of instruction
2. Objectives must be adapted to the subject matter being taught
3. Use words that are specific enough to be meaningful

1. Conditions under which learning will be assessed
2. Performance expected of the student                                         Mager (1975)
3. Criterion for success

1. Break down a task into subskills
1. Identify pre-requisite skills
2. Identify component skills
3. Plan how to assemble components into a final skill

1. teachers will only emphasize learning outcomes that are easily observed and measured
2. spontaneity of learning may be lost
3. the ability to write an objective is not the same as the ability to effectively implement them

1. KNOWLEDGE
1. Emphasis on remembering information
2. Define, state, name, recall, identify

1. COMPREHENSION
1. Emphasis on understanding and organizing previously learned information
2. Relate, describe, rephrase, compare, summarize, interpret, translate, explain
3. E.g. to interpret information on a graph

1. APPLICATION
1. Emphasis on using information in pertinent situations
2. Give example, apply solve, demonstrate, compute, prepare, classify, use
3. Use knowledge or principles to solve practical problems

1. ANALYSIS
1. Emphasis on thinking critically about information by studying its parts
2. Give reasons, analyze, conclude, infer, generalize, identify causes and motives, support or provide evidence.
3. Having students relate to the underlying structure

1. SYNTHESIS
1. Emphasis on original thinking about information by putting its parts into a new whole
2. Develop, predict, create, synthesize, compose, devise, build, solve, write, produce, speculate, hypothesize

1. EVALUATION
1. Emphasis on making judgments about information based on identified standards
2. Decide, evaluate, appraise, judge, select, take a position for or against back to top

1. RECEIVING
1. Emphasis on becoming aware of some communication or phenomenon from the environment
2. Attend, listen

1. RESPONDING
1. Emphasis on reacting to a communication or phenomenon
2. Read, write, tell, practice

1. VALUING
1. Emphasis on attaching worth to something from the environment
2. Appreciate, follow, form, justify, choose, demonstrate, show, value

1. ORGANIZATION
1. Emphasis is on conceptualization of a value and organization of a value system

1. CHARACTER
1. Emphasis is on development from the organized value system to a generalized set of values; characterization

1. Emphasis on becoming aware of and displaying basic movement

1. emphasis on organizing perceptual motor abilities to accomplish tasks

1. creating movement in personal, unique ways

1. issues that lend themselves to multiple/diverse explanations
2. found to increase knowledge about issues and encourage a deeper understanding of various sides of an issue

1. useful for topics that do no have a single right answer but which involve difficult concepts that force students to see something in a different way

1. objectives that are concerned with attitudes and values
2. group discussion involving public commitment is a more effective way of changing attitudes and behaviors

1. entire class discusses an issue with teacher as moderator
2. teacher plays less dominant role than in other instructional techniques
1. guides discussion
2. helps avoid dead ends
3. ideas should be drawn from students
4. inquiry oriented discussion
5. exploring points of view
6. get students to use specifics to defend their position
7. be sure students have adequate knowledge before beginning the discussion

1. a discussion among 4-6 students in a group working independently of a teacher
2. should follow the presentation of information
3. have a teacher-appointed leader whose role it is to ensure the group stays on topic and all members participate
4. prepare the students to work in groups
5. present a well organized task

1. discussions characterized by student-to-student interactions & educational objectives related to complex thinking processes and attitude change
2. encourage students to assume discussion leadership responsibility
3. concern for rationality, fairness and respect for other people’s feelings and opinions
4. effective for five types of learning outcomes
1. subject matter mastery
2. problem solving
3. moral development
4. attitude change and development
5. communication skills

1. people must talk, listen and respond to one another
2. must offer more than one point of view
3. intention must be to enhance knowledge, understanding or judgment on a subject

1. Phase I: Identification of a problem, issue or topic
1. Entry
1. Use a springboard
2. Identify a problem, issue or topic
3. State objectives and rationale
2. Phase II: Clarification
1. Establish procedures
1. Respect the opinions of others
2. No talking when others are talking
2. define terms and concepts related to the problem, issue or topic relative to complexity
3. Phase III: Investigation (main body of discussion)
1. Ask appropriate level of questions to achieve desired levels of student thinking
2. Use questioning and alternative non-questioning techniques to maintain discussion and stimulate student involvement and thinking
3. Encourage initiative and leadership
4. Request students support the opinions they offer
5. Ensure sufficient coverage
4. Phase IV: Closure, Summary, Integration, Application
1. Summarize in form of consensus, solutions, insights, issues, problem investigated
2. Integrate lessons with goals and previously learned information
3. Apply discussion outcomes to other situations
4. Small groups would present their findings

1. Questions are used to find out something people do not already know.
2. Questions are the stock in trade of teachers
3. Teachers use questions to give directions, correct misbehavior, manage classroom activity, create learning situations and evaluate learning.
4. In practice questions have been used less to stimulate thinking and more for factual recall and information.
5. Plan for: asking good questions, how to obtain answers and how to react to responses

1. Purposes of questioning
1. Prompt students to the next mental step
2. Think further about previously learned material
3. Start a discussion
4. Learning probes: quality of response tells teacher how well students are learning the material presented in the lesson
5. Enhance instructional effectiveness
6. Factual questions help with factual skills
7. Conceptual questions encourage students to think about concepts thereby enhancing conceptual skills
8. Students gain from generating their own questions based on existing background knowledge

1. Wait time
1. Giving up too rapidly shows students you expect little of them
2. Waiting 3-5 seconds has been shown to be best
3. 6 seconds may be too long
4. follow up with students who don’t respond

1. Calling order
1. Volunteers – allows some to avoid participating
2. Math problem – all students should have the opportunity to complete it before calling on anyone
3. Pose to class as a whole, then choose a student at random
4. Choral response is ok when there is only one possible correct answer

1. purposes of questioning
1. promote attention: engage students actively in the learning process
2. promote deeper processing: verbalizing thoughts and ideas promotes thinking and reasoning
3. promote learning from peers
4. provide pace and control in a lesson
1. brief responses: keeps students engaged and require continuous attention
2. general, open-ended questions: slows pace, allows time for reflection and framing of responses.
5. provide diagnostic information
1. supplement informal observations in the least disruptive way
2. in cooperative learning – assess the success of the group

1. types of questions
1. convergent questions – a single correct answer
2. divergent questions – have many appropriate answers

1. Christensen’s Typology of Questions
1. Open-ended: questions with no definite answer that require formulation of a response
2. Diagnostic: questions that require students to analyze a problem
3. Information: questions that require factual information, data
4. Challenge: questions about supporting evidence for a position
5. Action: what could be done to solve the problem
6. Sequence: questions about the order in which to do things, steps to take
7. Prediction: what will happen next
8. Hypothetical: what will happen in this different situation
9. Extension: what are the implications of your action or steps
10. Generalization: questions which require one to summarize general concepts

1. Implications for instruction
1. Questions should match the level of the learning objectives set
2. Questions students answer should require more
1. Explaining in their own words
2. Applying knowledge in unfamiliar situations
3. Synthesis of information into general statements
3. less emphasis on lower level questions
4. higher level questions require teachers to have a greater mastery of a subject area than lower level questions.

1. Questioning Strategies
1. Ask questions related to the objectives of instruction: consistency among objectives, instruction and questioning
2. Avoid global, overly general questions
3. Involve the entire class in the questioning process
4. Be aware of patterns in the way questions are distributed among students
5. Allow sufficient wait time
6. State questions clearly and directly to avoid confusion
7. Probe pupil responses with follow up questions
8. Remember that instructional questioning is a social process; a public setting
9. Allow private questioning time for pupils who are shy and difficult to engage in questioning
10. Good questioning involves good listening and responding
11. Adapt questions to language and ability level of the class

1. Identify
1. The goal to be attained
2. The current situation
3. What needs to be done

1. Understand the problem
2. Devise a plan
3. Carry out the plan
4. Look back

1. Draw a diagram or a picture.
2. Use a variable to represent the unknown quantity and write and equation.
3. Examine the problem to look for a pattern.
4. Make a table of information.
5. Solve a simpler problem as a model.
6. Recall a known relationship relevant to the problem.       

1. Incubation: reflect on a problem and think it through
2. Suspension of judgment: consider all possibilities (brainstorming); avoid focusing on one solution too early
3. Appropriate climate: environment conducive to creative thinking
4. Analysis: analyze and juxtapose major characteristics of specific elements
5. Thinking skills: unusual ideals, many ideas, planning, mapping possibilities, assemble facts

1. Advantages
1. Generates enthusiasm and interest in the students
2. Since students find out things for themselves they tend to remember them better
3. Enhances critical thinking skills and skills needed for scientific investigation

1. Disadvantages
1. Time consuming
2. Not suited to all situations
3. More suitable for intuitive and creative students

1. describe the performance expected of the student after he has learned the concept
2. reduce the number of simpler concepts (attributes) needed for a thorough understanding of a complex concept.
3. Provide students with useful verbal mediators (give the concept a name, Wittrock 1974)
4. Provide positive and negative examples of the concept
1. Use enough positive examples to represent the range of the concept being taught (Gange)
2. Present the negative examples that usually confuse students
5. present examples in close succession or simultaneously
6. assess the learning of the students: after learning the concept students should be able to work with new examples of that concept.

1. describe the expected performance after learning the principle
2. identify the concepts or principles that the students must recall in order to learn the new principle
3. help students recall and revise the concepts involved in the principle
4. help students combine the concepts in the correct order in deriving the principle
5. give the students extensive practice with enough examples to reinforce their responses
6. provide new examples and attempt to evaluate the learning of the principle

1. it provides for understanding as opposed to rote learning
2. students are actively engaged instead of being passive listeners
3. concepts or principles taught are more easily remembered than facts
4. greater interest and memory of things they found out by themselves

1. time consuming
2. requires a lot of materials
3. knowledge is ever expanding so impossible for students to discover all concepts and principles themselves

1. advance organizers (Ausebel)
2. state learning objectives and orient students to the lesson
3. review pre-requisites:  remind students about what they already know
4. present new material: logically organized, emphasis, clarity, explanations, demonstration
5. conduct learning probes: pose questions to students to assess their level of learning
6. provide independent practice: be sure students can do it, short, clear instructions, avoid interruptions, monitor independent work, collect and mark it
7. assess performance and provide feedback
8. provide distributed practice and review (Dempster 1989).

1. Identify a topic where students could learn about the topic via a study trip
2. Set the objectives
3. Discuss with principal
4. Discuss with students: checklist of goals, key things to learn, behavior
5. Contact destination and make any necessary arrangements
6. Discuss with the teachers
7. Plan the method of assessment and communicate it with the students

1. go to the location
2. have students engaged in specific tasks related to the trip

1. discussion with the class
2. report
3. thank you letters
4. teacher evaluates the effectiveness of the trip

1. not interactive; questions may be invited at the end of the lecture
2. presentation: organized
3. Ausubel (1963, 1968) promoted the use of advance organizers to facilitate learning through this method
4. In later secondary school it acts to prepare students for post-secondary education

1. When to use the lecture method

1. When introducing a new topic or unit
2. When presenting important materials not easily obtainable
3. When supplementing text book materials
4. When developing interest and appreciation
5. When summarizing important main points after a unit of study
6. When attempting to cover a lot of material in a short time

1. advantages of the lecture method
1. when executed correctly it has a high inspirational and motivational value therefore it is good for generating interest
2. supplemental and enriching to the text book
3. teacher has complete control over the choice of knowledge students learn
4. economy of time and effort
5. can be used to teach large classes

1. disadvantages of the lecture method
1. violates the principle of learning through active involvement
2. reduces students to passive recipients of ideas – discourages creativity
3. not enough opportunity to practice oral communication skills
4. student’s understanding is rarely assessed during the lecture

1. preparation
1. careful planning
2. clear objectives
3. advance organizers (Ausubel ’63 and’68)
4. outline of main points
5. a few important points
6. prepare illustrative materials
1. short demonstration
2. visual aids
3. stories to help students to form mental images
7. organization to present systematically
2. introduction
1. should be catchy and challenging
2. keep them in suspense, create and expectant mood
3. provide a logical outline on the board to deal with a complex topic

1. presentation
1. follow a logical order
2. as lecture develops, provide main points on the board
3. use of illustrative materials appropriately
4. vary ways of presenting concepts
5. humor
6. life-like examples

1. conclusion
1. show inter-relatedness of ideas

1. Drill
1. emphasis is on repetition for the purpose of memorizing important facts, and making automating the use of simple motor skills
2. unthinking repetition of mental or motor practices
3. used for:
1. memorizing important facts
2. memorizing verbatim definitions, laws, theories, principles or rules
3. making important mental or motor skills automatic
4. developing or fixing a habit

1. Practice
1. emphasis is on intelligent use or manipulation of facts for the acquisition of an ability to the point of accuracy or perfection
2. meaningful, varied and purposeful repetition
3. used for
1. applying skills drilled in meaningful situations
2. refining or polishing learned abilities

1. technique
1. identify the materials for drill or practice
2. providing the model for the drill or practice (Modeling: Bandura’s learning theory)
3. initial practice or drill
4. varied practice
5. individual exercise

1. effective drill or practice
1. students must have an adequate prior understanding
2. more meaningful when practicing skills that are more closely knit together
3. practice should be done in circumstances that resemble conditions under which the skill is normally carried out
4. distributed over time with frequent breaks
5. should be done under some time pressure
6. correct mistakes as soon as they are spotted
7. give more attention to weak areas exposed in drill and practice
8. as soon as possible practice should be applied to what has been drilled
9. individualize to meet particular needs of students
10. as skills become more fixed, drill and practice sessions should decrease

1. advantages of drill and practice
1. drill and practice are effective for extending associations and skills
2. they are efficient in refining or polishing skills
3. they provide the basic foundation on which higher skills are built
4. they are necessary for correcting and improving specific parts or aspects of a skill
5. they reinforce retention, they are efficient techniques for developing ones ability to memorize

1. disadvantages of drill and practice
1. boring unless purpose is clear and accepted and motivation is high
2. concentration hard to sustain
3. may degenerate into rote learning if initial understanding is not developed
4. time may be wasted if materials drilled are not really needed back to top

1. Student Teams – Achievement Divisions (Slavin 1994):
1. Most appropriate for teaching well defined objectives with single right answers
2. A cooperative learning method for mixed-ability groupings involving team recognition and group responsibility for individual learning
3. Teacher presents lesson
4. Students work within team to make sure all team members master material (usually worksheets)
5. Students take quizzes on individual level
6. Quiz scores compared to their own past averages and points are awarded to the students which meet or exceed their own earlier performance
7. Points summed to form team scores
8. Teams meeting certain criteria earn certificates or other rewards

1. steps:
1. assign students to teams of four
2. make worksheet and a short quiz for the lesson you plan to teach
3. during team study team members are to master the material presented
4. read off team assignments
5. have students form groups and decide on a team name
6. hand out worksheets or other study materials
7. instruct students to be sure each member of the team works on the materials
8. ensure they understand it is the group’s responsibility to make sure everyone understands
9. not finished until they are sure all teammates will make 100% on the quiz
10. provide answer sheets for the worksheet, since worksheets are for studying
11. explain answers to one another
12. ask teammate before asking teacher
13. distribute quiz and give adequate time to complete it; working individually
14. figure individual and team scores; team scores are based on improvements over their own past records
15. recognition of team improvement back to top