W02 journal

What can babies teach us about human learning?

Babies can teach us  a lot about learning through exploring. Although babies cannot talk, they are constantly taking in the world around them and learning  through their experiences. As adults we can take a step back from our more "systematized" learning and enjoy learning through exploration by taking a leaf out of babies' books!

• Having viewed the video with Dr. Alison Gopnik, what ideas do you have about how her work with babies and play relates to your interests in teaching and learning STEM?

I think the main idea that I can take from the video is that I can really incorporate these sort of open ended experiments and infuse them into my lessons. The best example would be to give students a question that they need to explore. I can give them pencil and paper and physical objects and possibly even digital programs and allow them to explore to come up with their solution. That exploration that they had when they were babies will shine through and allow them to become stronger thinkers and go back to their learning through exploration.

Comparing Psychological Perspectives

	Behavioral	Cognitive	Constructivism
Narrative describing the perspective and its components (200-300 words): Provide a concise description of the perspective and its components.	This perspective focuses on learning and behavior being described on viewable actions. Things that occurs inside people’s minds are not included because they are not observable. These actions are influenced my environment and their interactions with the environment based on responses received from the environment. Some of these responses are feedback, praise and rewards. Learning is measured by an observable change (behavior is different before and after learning	This theory is based on how people perceive, remember, think, speak and problem solve. This perspective acknowledges of internal mental states which are not observable. The focus is not on behavior, but on learning and change of knowledge over time. Most theories involve scaffolding and “zones” or stages of cognitive development. Memory, language, problem solving and creativity are the changes that are looked at in the cognitive approach.	Knowledge is determined by what is inside the head of the learner We essentially construct our own knowledge. Learner mixes new information with old information and the knowledge builds on itself. Student centered learning is essential in the constructivism perspective. Teacher should nto be in control of the entire lesson, students are actively engaged.
Beliefs What is the general belief system guiding this perspective? What are the beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing?	Beliefs include that all behavior is learned and can be unlearned. Since people react to things that make them feel good or bad, we can use this to shape changes in behavior until we reach the desired effect.	The general belief is that our thought processes affect the way that we behave. It does not disregard the behavioral approach but focuses on the fact that there has to be some internal processes that lead to that change in behavior.	The belief here is that learning is mainly focused one each persons individual learning. Each learners mind is different so they way information is processed and constructed is different even if the source of information is the same.
Principles What ideas are used to explain why events or objects exhibit what is observed.	Behavior is affected by being rewarded by a pleasant of unpleasant event – these change our behavior. The changes we see are linked directly to negative and positive reinforces.	Human behavior is explained as our responses to stimuli, but these behaviors are controlled by our thought processes.	Humans have a natural desire to learn and we have to trust that they will construct knowledge when allowed to explore. Knowledge should not be based on rewards and punishments, but it is acknowledged that it isn’t entirely “black and white” and external stimuli can help
Limitations What are known or accepted limitations to the depth or scope of what can be explained by this perspective?	Limitations include responses not being visible when there is no stimulus. Since learning occurs when the stimulus and response occur together, this can be a handicap. Another is that there will be no learning if there is no stimulus, which we sometimes want. There shouldn’t and won’t always be a reward	Limitations that are addressed is that on its own, this theory does not make entire sense and is often combined with other approaches. The Cognitive-behavioral perspective is common.	Limitations is that there is flexibility within the approach. Sometimes there is choice, sometimes there is not. The approach, especially in schools is largely limited by the choices of the teacher in that classroom.