Chapter 11 Social Cognitive Views of Learning and Motivation Short Answer

Short Answer Questions 69) Mr. Winn wants to teach his third-grade students to use a three-step process for summarizing as they read. He believes observational learning is the best method. Albert Bandura identified four elements essential for observational learning. Explain what Mr. Winn needs to do for each element to be incorporated into his teaching plan for this lesson Answer: Mr. Winn needs to incorporate the following four elements of observational learning: attention, retention, production, and motivation and reinforcement. Attention: He must get students’ attention and hold their attention while he explains each step of the three-step process. He might need to use a chart or other visual that specifies the steps. He needs to model the process and allow students to observe each step of the process. Retention: Mr. Winn needs to make sure students can remember the steps. He might use a graphic organizer and give each student a copy. He might also use the example he modelled and post it on the wall where everyone can see it. Production: He needs to give students opportunities to practice the process right away. As students practice, Mr. Winn should walk around the room, monitoring and giving feedback. As he gives feedback, he should refer back to the model. Motivation and Reinforcement: Mr. Winn also needs to reinforce students. As he monitors, he might give direct reinforcement to students who succeed quickly while prompting students who need a tip. He might get the attention of everyone in the class and verbally reinforce one or more class leaders who model the process accurately. This provides vicarious reinforcement and helps motivate the class to persist. Page Ref: 387-388 70) Reid is a student in Ms. Long’s sixth grade class. Reid loves to read and always has several library books checked out, but he does not like to write. He believes he is incapable of writing. In fifth grade, he missed school during the unit about the parts of a letter, and his attempts to write letters for assignments were weak and unimpressive. He was present when the class studied how to write the opening, closing, and body of an essay, but he wasn’t interested and didn’t make an effort to complete assignments. His grades on writing assignments have been poor for two years. Explain the probable sources of Reid’s low self-efficacy for writing assignments. Answer: Albert Bandura identified four sources of self-efficacy expectations: mastery experiences, physiological and emotional arousal, vicarious experiences, and social persuasion. 1) Reid has not had mastery experiences in writing assignments. He has not successfully completed writing assignments and met the goals of the task. This is clearly a source of low self-efficacy for writing for Reid. 11-20 2) Reid is not interested in writing. He puts little effort into writing assignments. He lacks emotional arousal and does not light up or get excited about writing. Feeling psyched up and ready to do a task increases self-efficacy, but feeling disinterested reduces selfefficacy. 3) We are uncertain about Reid’s vicarious experiences with writing success. Vicarious experiences could help Reid increase his self-efficacy for writing. After all, he loves to read, and the books he reads are written by authors. He might be prompted to think about the writing success of one or more authors whose works he reads. 4) We are also uncertain about feedback Reid has received other than low grades in writing. The low grades on his half-hearted efforts to complete writing tasks are obviously another source of low self-efficacy. When Reid missed school in fifth grade, he needed help to catch up and guidance to achieve mastery experiences. He still needs mastery experiences. He needs help to frame writing assignments in ways that interest him. He needs connections to the successes of others and feedback that encourages him to reach writing goals. Page Ref: 392 71) Cassidy often fails to complete homework before bedtime. As a fifth grader she knows she needs to do homework when she gets home, but she gets on her computer and plays video games with her friends and other random players. When her mom gets home, it’s time to help with dinner and chores. Her mom, believing Cassidy is old enough to take responsibility for her homework, doesn’t like to hassle with Cassidy over homework before bedtime. How might Cassidy’s mom use cognitive behaviour modification to improve this situation? In your answer, include specific quotes the mom might use. Answer: Cassidy’s mom might teach her daughter to use cognitive behaviour modification to become self-regulated about completing homework after school. The process involves self-talk and self-instruction. The mom needs to model the process by showing Cassidy how she uses self-talk to complete important tasks. She might use the example of planning meals for the week. She might say, “What meals will I prepare for dinner each school night? Do I have the items I need to make each meal? What groceries do I need to get on Saturday? What time do I need to start cooking each meal?” She might show Cassidy how she makes lists to help her regulate her actions and complete tasks on time. Next, Cassidy’s mom might roleplay the questions Cassidy could ask herself every day after school. “What homework do I have? Which task should I do first? I’ll make a list and check off everything before I play video games. If I finish before dinner, I can reward myself with game time.” Cassidy’s mom might ask Cassidy to make a list of the questions she’ll ask herself every day after school. Then she might follow up, checking with Cassidy after school the next day and periodically over the next few weeks Page Ref: 403-405 11-21 72) Suppose you are an elementary school teacher, and your student, Joe Don, has problems managing his anger. He gets angry during recess if he doesn’t win the game he’s playing. He gets angry in the classroom if a student nearby tells him to be quiet during seatwork. Today, he pushed another child causing the child to fall and scrape her elbow on the pavement. How might you use the “Guidelines for Encouraging Emotional SelfRegulation” to teach coping strategies, to make sure your other students feel safe, and to help Joe Don learn self-management skills. Using the guidelines, you might follow through with fair consequences when Joe Don displays anger. This helps maintain a climate of trust and helps the other students feel safe in your classroom. Answer: Social and emotional competences and self-regulation are critical for both academic and personal development. Joe Don needs to learn coping strategies to contain his anger in social and learning situations. His anger is disrupting learning in the classroom and damaging relationships. The episodes on the playground also become barriers to learning in the classroom. Joe Don needs to work on all five of the core social and emotional skills: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Using the guidelines, you might follow through with fair consequences when Joe Don displays anger. This helps maintain a climate of trust and helps the other students feel safe in your classroom. You might build into your curriculum time for journal writing and encourage Joe Don and other students to express feelings and emotions in their writing. Teach them vocabulary to use to express their feelings of anger, delight, sadness, and happiness. Talk specifically to Joe Don about his anger and the need to manage it. Help him recognize that others have emotions. Guide him to think about how his peer felt when Joe Don pushed her down and caused her pain. Find a story that addresses anger and other emotions and conduct an analysis of the feelings of the characters in the story. Teach Joe Don to recognize his feelings of anger and stop and think before acting. Give him prompts for self-talk such as, “Stop and think.” Take him through the steps of walking away from a scene when he feels angry. Teach him to say to himself, “Get it together.” Help Joe Don and other students recognize cultural differences in the way people show emotions in their families, among friends, among peers at school. Teach Joe Don to notice how others react and how they feel. Page Ref: 406-407 73) A growing body of research offers guidance about how to design tasks and structure classroom interactions to support students’ development of and engagement in selfregulated learning. This research indicates that students develop academically effective forms of self-regulated learning and a sense of efficacy for learning when teachers involve them in complex, meaningful tasks that extend over long periods of time. Further development occurs if teaching incorporates these features: student control over their learning processes and products (choices), involvement in self-monitoring and selfevaluation, and opportunities to work in collaboration with peers and seek feedback from them. Mr. LeBlanc, in designing a unit on crustaceans, has planned complex, meaningful tasks for his students to do over a 3-week period to meet learning goals in science. How 11-22 might he incorporate the other 3 features for promoting self-regulated learning? Answer: Mr. LeBlanc has already taken an important step toward promoting selfregulated learning by designing complex, meaningful tasks that extend over a 3-week period. Additionally, he should allow students to have some control over their learning. He might offer choices in things such as the types of activities and products students do, the types of resources they use, and the media they use to demonstrate their learning. Mr. LeBlanc needs to involve students in the evaluation process. He might ask students to help design a rubric that specifies criteria for assessing the final product of their unit of study. Using the rubric or a checklist, students might take responsibility for monitoring their own progress during the project. Mr. LeBlanc also needs to involve students in collaborative processes to promote self-regulated learning. This might take the form of working in collaborative groups. Mr. LeBlanc might begin by teaching students routines and procedures for getting into groups and establishing interaction patterns. He might teach students how to give and receive constructive feedback and how to interpret and respond to peers’ suggestions. After routines and patterns of interaction are established, students can focus on learning in their groups. By incorporating these features in his plans, Mr. LeBlanc is well on his way to promoting self-regulated learning. Page Ref: 407-408