yicheng

Thanks for sharing your post Wanqin,

It’s important to note that the video you mentioned puts a lot of attention on instructor-led discussion and the Q&A format. There are more interaction activities that could be created and included to improve learner engagement and critical thinking.

One recommendation is to incorporate questions posed by the lecturer specifically for the students. This would encourage deeper critical thinking by allowing students to actively respond and evaluate their information retention in an interactive setting.

Additionally, it can be advantageous to include student-to-student engagement through online group discussions. Topics for discussion might be given by instructors, and they could group students and invite them to report their findings. This kind of engagement encourages collaboration, exchange of various viewpoints, and peer learning.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsiCft5v2dk

Interaction: Students must actively participate in the video. It might ask or put learners in situations that force them to think critically, choose, or interact with others.

Learner-generated response: Students may react by writing down important points, pausing the video to contemplate or look up relevant information, or debating the material with their peers or the instructor.

After watching the video, students might hold a debate or group discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of the Canadian healthcare system from an economic standpoint. They could examine the effects of various funding models, evaluate it against the systems of other nations, or provide suggestions for enhancements. Their critical thinking, research, and communication abilities would all improve as a result of this activity. To engage in the exercise, students could use online forums or collaboration tools.

Feedback: Several methods could be used to provide feedback on the action. The instructor may evaluate and grade the student’s written report, presentation, or video in which they present their group’s ideas or arguments. Written comments, rubrics, or even an asynchronous or synchronous conversation with the instructor could all be used to provide feedback.

Manageability and scalability: Because the suggested activity involves evaluating group work and giving comments, it may be doable for an instructor. Additionally, it might be scaled for bigger classes of students by putting them in bigger discussion groups or applying peer review techniques. The activity’s instructional value justifies the instructor’s need to spend time for reviewing and giving feedback on each group’s work.

Hi Xuchang, thannks for sharing your post. Your strategy aims to benefit a variety of students and produce an engaging and welcoming learning environment. You may improve student interest, knowledge, and overall learning results by simplifying the content, offering personalised learning opportunities, and embracing diversity. In fact, personalised learning is essential for keeping learners interested and improving their comprehension. Using adaptive learning tools, altering the level of difficulty of exercises and challenges, and personalising the content to learners’ interests and abilities are all useful methods. These methods provide students with the chance to learn at their own pace and give them chances to better understand ideas. Any educational institution must take diversity and inclusion into account. Respecting the history, culture, and special needs of the students helps to create a welcoming environment where the students feel supported and appreciated. Making considerations for things like language ability makes ensuring that every student can engage fully and understand the topic.

The economics course that our group created has online quizzes, online discussions and in-person exams, here are some ways in which these approaches can ensure the needs of all learners are met.

For students with various needs, online materials can improve accessibility. For instance, giving alternative written descriptions for visual content can help blind students, while closed captioning can help deaf people. Additionally, online learning environments give students the flexibility to control their learning’s pace, making it more flexible for people who study at various rates. Online conversations give students an opportunity to actively engage with the course material and communicate with their classmates. This helps students who study well in teams and who prefer to talk and share ideas. Critical thinking and reflection are encouraged in online debates, where participants are encouraged to express their opinions, pose questions, and use their critical abilities. This encourages greater comprehension and enables students to improve their analytical and thinking abilities. Instructors can give students timely feedback on their performance through online quizzes and chats. This feedback loop enables personalised learning by assisting students in identifying their areas of strength and need.

It’s important to adjust the course if an unforeseen event, like a pandemic, occurs and students must work from home. This will ensure successful learning. Change to online delivery: To allow for remote study, convert the complete course to an online format. To do this, the assessments, tests, and conversations must be moved to online platform. The course materials, exams, and online interactions can all be hosted by tools like brightspace, Mattermost etc. Many students might need instruction to use online learning tools efficiently, so, giving online technical instructions is very important. Create user-friendly tutorials and instructions that describe how to access and use the online platform, or provide thorough technical training sessions.

Hi Wanqin,

Thanks for sharing your post. Positive interdependence, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, face-to-face promotional engagement, and group processing are the five fundamental components of cooperative learning that you stated. They lay a strong foundation for successful collaborative learning. These components promote a cooperative and encouraging environment where students actively interact with one another, take ownership of their contributions, hone crucial interpersonal skills, and encourage one another in order to accomplish common objectives.

Hi xuchang,

Thanks for sharing your post, the theory and learning strategy you have suggested are consistent with behaviourism and direct instruction. The processes you listed—which include establishing specific learning goals, deconstructing the learning process, offering examples and opportunities for imitation, giving prompt feedback, repetition, and evaluating learning outcomes—reflect the fundamental ideas of behaviourism and direct instruction. Your strategy emphasises repetition as well, which is consistent with behaviourist practises of repetition and reinforcement. Learners can strengthen their abilities and skills over time by progressively raising the level of task difficulty and complexity.

The approach I choose for our topic, The Economics of Canadian Health Care, is Cooperative Learning. A method of instruction and learning known as cooperative learning involves having students collaborate in small groups to accomplish a common objective. In the study of economics, collaboration is essential for comprehending and analysing many different aspects of economic behaviour and results.

• It will enhance understanding of the learning topic because economics may be a challenging subject, cooperative learning gives students the chance to learn from one another. Students can ask questions, share their understanding of economic topics, and explore ideas by working in small groups. Their comprehension of economic theories and models is going to improve due to the collaborative learning environment.

• Students can share different vewpoints, the study of various theories and perspectives is frequently involved in economics. Students can become exposed to a variety of peer perspectives through cooperative learning. Students can deepen their understanding of various economic theories and techniques by arguing and discussing economic issues in a group environment. This exposure to many opinions allows students to think critically and take into account diverse perspectives while analysing economic issues.

• Collaboration and networking are essential for success in the subject of economics. Students have the chance to work cooperatively in teams through cooperative learning, which promotes the development of networking and cooperation skills. Students may make connections, share ideas, and develop relationships by connecting with their peers.

• Cooperative learning encourages the growth of a variety of abilities that are important in the study of economics. These abilities include teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Students may develop their analytical skills, learn to think critically about economic topics, and build effective communication skills by participating in discussions, debates, and group projects.

Blog1:Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism by Xuchang, https://xuchang335.opened.ca/author/xuchang/

I agree with Xuchang’s idea that behaviourism ignores intrinsic motivation and individual variations in learning preferences and styles. Although behaviourist strategies can be useful for quickly acquiring a particular skill or body of knowledge, they could not promote a deep understanding or long-term drive. For personalised and fulfilling learning experiences, it can be essential to acknowledge and address individual differences.

It could be useful to look into ways to incorporate components of constructivism and cognitive theories into instructional design in addition to behaviourism in light of the disadvantages Xuchang noted, such as the potential ignoring of intrinsic motivation, individual variations, and autonomy. Combining these theories can result in a more comprehensive strategy that takes into account both short- and long-term depth of understanding.

You can design learning experiences that let students actively interact with the subject matter, apply their knowledge to use in real-world situations, and collaborate with peers by embracing constructivist concepts. Additionally, including cognitive techniques like metacognition can aid students in creating efficient study habits, self-control techniques, and problem-solving skills.

It’s important to create a balance between evaluating performance and taking other forms of learning, such as conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and creativity, when it comes to your emphasis on competency and the practical application of knowledge. A thorough assessment strategy that includes a variety of metrics, such as hands-on activities, can give a more accurate picture of students’ learning results.

Additionally, it’s important to address the subject of learning challenges or setbacks with sympathy and encouragement. While external elements like effort and motivation can undoubtedly affect results, targeting the primary causes of difficulties and offering the right support and guidance can help overcome barriers and encourage fruitful learning experiences.

Scenario: A high school social study teacher is planning a class on climate change. The learning would be designed differently by a behaviorist, a cognitivist, and a constructivist.

Behaviourist method:

Behaviourists would establish explicit goals and expectations for the class, focusing on the particular behaviours that need to be learned. The very common way of teaching may include lectures or seminar to present the climate change to the class. To encourage active listening and writing notes, feedback will be provided by instructors, also some rewards. Then, behaviourists make learners to memorize and exercise the desired learning concepts over and over to make sure that the concepts are in learners’ brain deeply. Finally, tests and quizzes that gauge the acquisition of specific knowledge and facts are used to evaluate learning.

Cognitivist Approach:

Cognitivists encourage critical thinking and analysis by involving students in climate change-related problem-solving activities. They use interactive resources to engage students in learning by presenting knowledge through powerpoint or other approaches. They will also encourage participation in the conversation, debate, and small-group activities. They help students become more conscious of their own learning processes, such as self-regulation and self-assessment. Finally, students’ grasp of climate change would be demonstrated in projects, essays, or presentations.

Constructivist Approach:

Constructivists conduct group discussions in which students examine issues related to climate change, exchange viewpoints, and create meaning. They give learners meaningful, real-world assignments or case studies that relate climate change. They also encourage learners to learn by asking questions, doing research, and coming up with answers. Practical activities like as field visits or experiments are included to encourage close engagement with climate-related events.