Eunice Abadicio

I always wanted to become an educator and this course made me so excited to practice teaching professionally. I was offered to become a Science teacher abroad 3 years ago and I turned it down because I feel that I am not yet ready. I know that despite my qualifications that there is something missing and I do not want to practice or influence young students who might feel demotivated if I am not a good teacher.

This course made me realize a lot of things that I can easily relate to. Some of the things that I have learned here were part of my everyday life. I have learned how the learning theories affects learning processes and how we can incorporate these theories to improve our teaching methods, content, assessments and learning processes.

I have been an English teacher for Japanese students for 3 years and now that I feel that I am equipped with the knowledge that will be helpful when I design my instructions, I know that I will be a more effective teacher. I will employ all the learning theories and will apply it depending on the subject matter or content and the background of the students. Occasionally I think that behavioral learning can be effective if done properly and balance is always the key. I will be more of a constructivist type of educator as I believe that students need to be able to relate new information to their existing knowledge so they can understand the concepts better and reach equilibration. I will also take advantage of information processing theories so the students will know how they can remember important concepts better and how they should organize and prioritize information with the help of specific, achievable and time-bound learning objectives which promotes higher order thinking skills. I will always also try my best to be a professional teacher so the students will respect and listen to me which is past of the social learning theory. I will introduce social collaboration so they can also learn from MKOs (the more knowledgeable others).

The issue that we have is that a lot of teachers have a lot of qualifications in various subject matters, but they did not study professional teaching. Although this will be easy to learn if the teachers have mastery of the subject this course also gives them the foundation to design instructions and update the curriculum because they will know how to provide guided opportunities for the learners to achieve their maximum learning potential. I will suggest that the government should require teachers to undergo professional teaching courses with emphasis on curriculum, various forms of assessments and learning theories, so they will be able to facilitate learning that promotes not only summative grades but various learning outcomes which might be different with each student. Every student has unique learning styles and capabilities and they need to feel accepted and challenged within their own limits.

• eJournal Update- Module 7 EPISTEMOLOGY, LEARNING & EDUCATING / 

I used to teach Japanese students before and I would say that I am more of a traditional type of teacher. I mostly provide them with presentations and discuss lessons without checking if they understood the lesson or if they can relate it with the actual world or if they can apply their knowledge. I thought that this is how teaching is supposed to be. I normally give traditional assessments which are multiple choice, identification or enumeration type of examinations. I am guilty of just thinking of summative results which is how I was brought up and trained when I was still studying.

My knowledge and understanding of the various learning theories helped me to understand how learning works and how I can take advantage of these theories in my facilitating my lessons. I need to be the facilitator of knowledge and not the mere source of knowledge. I need to involve my students in the process of learning. For example, in teaching English, specifically nouns to children it will help them a lot if I will start identifying objects that they can see inside the classroom.  For learning to take place, they need to be able to relate to what I want them to learn. I also need them to understand that they sometimes need to collaborate with others to learn deeply. The learning theories can be utilized depending on the content or subject matter. The activities and teaching method can also be adapted to maximize the learning process.

My beliefs in learning now is more open as I have learned that learning happens differently for each student. Learning is unique with everyone as experiences and previous knowledge varies with every individual. I believe that I am more prepared now to help students to learn more effectively.

Learning is an active process and a never ending cycle. I actually grow up being surrounded by teaching practices that are not learner-centered which is why I understand now why I cannot remember some of my lessons in college. I have experienced memorizing a full book because that is what our teachers are expecting us to do and the assessments were mostly traditional and not authentic.

Last semester when I studied EDS113:Principles and Methods of Assessment I have learned to understand myself. I have analyzed that I learned even if I cannot remember the exact concepts and I have also realized that I was not able to maximize my learning potential. Being a constructivist means utilizing various forms of assessments to improve the teaching and learning process.

Being a constructivist needs to be adapted by all the education professionals in a particular school so the benefits will be more visible and effective. The students need practice for them to understand that they play a part in the learning process. They need to learn how to learn, how to improve their learning and how to develop metacognition. In summary, the learners need to adjust so they can be responsible of their own learning.

Simple steps can be done to move into a more constructivist approach to learning. Firstly, it is important that the facilitator or teacher has a mastery of the content. The facilitator should also be able to determine the needs of the students in order for the content and assessments to be modified and adjusted if necessary. Clear, specific and achievable learning objectives should be set before the start of every lesson. Bloom’s taxonomy should be used in constructing objectives that promote higher order thinking skils. I would recommend using ongoing forms of assessments composed of traditional, non-traditional or authentic assessments which can contribute to the formative and summative learning of the students. It is also important for the teachers to provide timely and constructive feedback to the learners so they will now their current level and how they can achieve their desired learning goal. Feedback from students is also important so the teachers will know how they can improve the teaching-learning process. Lastly social interaction should be improved as it often precedes learning. The students should be able to connect with the teacher so they will feel free to clarify concepts if needed. I will also promote social collaboration so the teachers and peers can act as MKO’s (the more knowledgeable others) to improve the zone of proximal development (peak of learning potential.

The challenge is how these ideas can be applied and how I will be able to encourage other education professionals to spend their valuable time and effort to adapt this practice but I believe that in the long run this will be beneficial for the educators and the learners. The learners should also understand how this type of teaching will benefit them.

My parents will always be my great teacher. When I was still in elementary, my father will always help me with my assignments, projects and even when I review for assessments. My dad never failed to guide me and I know he has utilized “scaffolding” technique. After I have learned and master on how I should do my assignments and projects he let me do it on my own and when he saw the results of my assessments he was confident enough that I will continue my study habits with or without his guidance. He did not only help me to study independently when he thought I am ready but he also helped me to develop study habits and how to stay motivated. My mother was my mentor when it comes to practical things like managing finances, business and household chores and she did exactly the same strategy in teaching just like my father. They let me be independent with just proper guidance since I was in grade 5 and I am glad that my first MKOs were not over supportive or under supportive. They knew the right balance and certainly took advantage of the zone of proximal development. Now I understand that they have probably observed and studied my existing knowledge, learning potential and the assistance that I will need in order to enhance my learning process.

When I was in high school I always want to be part of the honor students. I usually stay late at night studying and memorizing. Back then, I thought memorizing is the only way to study and remember lessons because I am always getting good grades. Little did I know that I missed the best part of studying which is to be able to explore, assimilate and accommodate knowledge, to be responsible of my own learning and to apply what I have learned and connect to the environment. I was not able to relate my existing knowledge and my past experiences and although I have good grades this practice hurt me when I was in college. It was hard for me to adjust because some of the professors already have high expectations to students because we passed the UPCAT and we had good grades in high school. As MKOs some of the professors were not able to identify my ZPD because they had so much knowledge, experience and high educational attainment which reflected on the way that they teach. Some of them had doctorate degrees but never had educational units or certificate which is why sometimes they failed to understand the student’s learning. I am not criticizing them when it comes to content knowledge but some assessments were not appropriate, there is cognitive overload, the method is not learner centered etc. Some of them were also teaching for more than 20-30 years and unfortunately they are still doing the traditional way of teaching where students are only expected to listen and do what they are told.

Learning the constructivist theories gave me courage to learn and teach with students so I can share what I have learned and help them to learn effectively. I had the mistake before of not saying anything to the teachers even if I do not understand what I am studying. I will teach my students to be vocal of what they feel so I can help them to facilitate their learning process. I will provide guided opportunities so they can maximize their learning potential so I can also learn from them. I will be creative with the application of the content that I need them to learn. I will set achievable and specific learning objectives so they know what is essential and what is not. I will try my best to be a good MKO so they will be motivated to learn and I will also be motivated to teach. I will teach my students the value of social interaction as it often precedes learning and I will teach them to embrace their language as it can help them to understand better. Lastly, I will teach my student to enjoy learning and take their time because learning is not a competition and everyone has their own pace.

This module is very informative and I can relate some of my personal experiences. I have appreciated the cognitive processes and the ways that we can improve our learning. For me, I believe that learning is only possible if we can allocate attention to a particular stimuli. Each student has a different learning style and absorption process so it is important that we understand our student’s needs. We should also adjust or adapt our instructions to maximize effectiveness among our students.

I would like to start with sharing some of my personal experiences when I was in college. I love studying and I am always fascinated whenever I learn something new. I was in my second year college when most of my subjects were facilitated in large lecture classes. My attention allocation was really challenged because I cannot see any connection or interaction with the  teachers and the students. My learning was impaired because there are a lot of distractions and I have learned that selective and divided attention does not work for me as I am not good in focusing if there are a lot of distractions and I am not good in multi-tasking . Sustained attention sometimes works for me if I can relate to the topic with my personal experiences or practical applications. I have learned to use executive attention in order to manage my time and cognitive processes properly.

I have learned that as future educators we need to take advantage of cognitive theories as they can help us in designing instructions more effectively and more efficiently. Primacy/recency effect can be helpful if we can manage to design our lessons with the introduction and conclusion to be more informative. We should be able to provide clear, specific and achievable learning objectives so our students and ourselves will be guided with the flow of the lessons and we can filter the important contents that we need to focus on. We should also try to include the vital information or contents so our students will have the backbone of information needed to adapt in more complicated applications. In the middle of the lessons we should try our best to keep our students engaged by interacting with them and providing them with activities related to the lessons. We should also provide breaks or ice breakers if necessary. At the end we can ask our students to summarize what they have learned, we can also provide supplemental readings and exercises so they can be more responsible of their own learning.

Another thing that we should be careful of is that we should try to balance cognitive loads to avoid overloading and under loading. Our goal as teachers is to let our students fly so they can be creative and they can apply what they have learned and this will only happen if we give them guided opportunities to maximize their learning potential. This is achievable if we keep our lessons managed with balanced cognitive loads. Firstly we need to adapt proper sequencing, pacing and segmentation of contents if necessary so it will be easier to understand. Secondly we need to ensure that our materials and instructions are created and designed carefully to avoid overloading of texts, graphics, activities, discussions etc. We needed to be creative so our learners will be enthusiastic to learn. Lastly, we need to ensure that we challenge our students to aim for metacognition this is where the balance of cognitive loads is necessary. The lessons should not be too easy nor too difficult to understand and remember but rather it should be engaging that our students will still seek for supplemental readings and activities to apply and relate what they have learned.

References:

Cherry, K. (2019). Clustering for memory and recall. https://www.verywell.com/what-is-clustering-2794971

Cherry, K (2018). How does attention work? https://www.verywellmind.com/how-does-attention-work-2795015

Cherry, K. (2019). The psychology of forgetting and why memory fails. https://www.verywellmind.com/forgetting-about-psychology-2795034

Cognitive load theory: definition, types, and applications for learning. (2019). https://cognitiontoday.com/2019/02/cognitive-load-theory-definition-types-and-applications-for-learning-guest-post/

Mind Tools. (n.d.). Cognitive Load Theory: Helping People Learn Effectively. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/cognitive-load-theory.html

I believe in the power of self-efficacy as I think this can either make or destroy a person. Self-efficacy gives us the confidence to believe in ourselves and to set what we think we are capable of. This helps us to set, plan and achieve goals. I believe that each of us has strengths and weakness and at the same time how fate can either drag you up or down which can all affect how we react and how we learn. Our motivation can sometimes be gone but the ability to face difficulties and challenges can make a big difference.

Self-efficacy can be developed, nurtured and even decreased depending on our observations, achieved results, environment and personal beliefs. I am the eldest in our family and I was raised to be strong, to be practical and to be soft-hearted at the same time. My family and relatives have the tradition of helping each other even without the need to do so if we have observed that our help will be appreciated. I am happy to help other people as much even if it will cost me time and effort. I have observed this behavior from my parents and relatives and I can proudly say that this has been practiced for a long time now. Basically, I can say that they are the direct and live models that I will always look up to and I have also imitated their good behaviors because I have seen that they are happy with what they are doing and for me this is the greatest motivation. I believe this trait will be passed on to our next generations in the family as we always have family gatherings and we normally talk about these things when we reminisce our past. This attitude and the value of family reunion has been a part of our family traditions for three decades now.

I have summarized a list of some of my role models below which helped me to be a better person from what I believe.

I have also noticed that almost everyone is involved in media and technology which is why I think it can be effective and it will have a great impact on social learning. Children especially those at a young age tend to form models based on what they are observing directly. They tend to associate TV personalities, movies, programs, social media as a guide on how they shape their behavior. This is one of the reason why I think media and technology should be carefully regulated so the children will have access to models which can be good influence for them regardless of whether their behavior will be affected or not.

The photo above is my special treat to my two younger sisters who graduated from college and junior high school. They requested for this reward and as for someone who would also like to spend time with them and the whole family since I am based abroad, I did not hesitate to grant their request as a simple reinforcement for them to stay motivated.

When I was still studying my parents will always surprise me with rewards whenever I have good grades or good attitude feedback from teachers. There is no definite or exact time for the reward and most of the time they ask me which reward I would like to receive and we both discuss the options. This actually worked for me and my parents because they gave me options of reinforcements that they can provide and we can still discuss it if the reward will be beneficial and practical.

The issue that I notice especially now and as per the feedback of my previous teachers back in elementary and high school is that most children now feels so entitled. They do not have enough patience and they always want to be acknowledged for every achievement that they have done which for me invalidates the real purpose of learning. The real purpose of learning is not to be rewarded or acknowledged by other people but to achieve the maximum learning potential to improve the quality of life. This will also reflect once the individual is in the corporate world because they might feel that that they always need a promotion or salary increase which is not always the case in real life.

Some students also develop inferiority complex when they feel that they do not excel in class or when they feel that their teachers have favorite students. They think that their efforts are not enough or will never be enough. Some of them will stop studying, change courses, cheat on examinations so they will pass the course etc.

Behavioral principles can be effective in enhancing the learning experience of students if we know how to use them with the right stimulus at the right timing. I strongly believe that quality, constructive and timely feedback is the most powerful tool to encourage students to learn without any pressure. This allows them to be responsible of their own learning and to decide freely on their action plan towards improved learning. Over reinforcement or giving rewards can lead to issues because the students might seek for validation and rewards every time they choose to do the right thing and  they will get disappointed if they are not recognized or if they are not given any reward. The best way is to balance reinforcements, rewards and punishment. I believe that the use of various forms of assessments will lead the teachers to see a better indication of the performance of the students. The use of portfolio, a combination of summative and formative assessments including traditional and non-traditional forms of assessments will allow the teachers and the students to analyze their individual needs to enhance learning. Keeping the students interested and motivated is the real challenge which is why the teachers should be creative in deciding the activities that can be used for learning.

The children should be brought up knowing that good attitude and real excellence does not need to be praised or acknowledged but it should be kept and remembered to have a more positive life. Rewards do not need to be tangible or monetary but rather unforgettable and practical because the real expectation in life is to always exceed the expectation.

Have you ever heard of the left brain and right brain dominance theory? They said that if your left brain is more dominant the person will be more logical and good in Mathematics and if it is the right brain you tend to be more creative. A lot of scientific and psychological studies have been done but it was proven to be a myth.

We encounter a lot of ideas in our everyday lives and we consciously and unconsciously learn, absorb and apply some of it and as a matter of fact there are a lot of quizzes related to brain part dominance even until today.

My proposed theory is “Gardner-Abadicio Modern Intelligence Theory” which is a revision of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. I have combined linguistic-verbal, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence into “Communication Intelligence” because I believe that all of them have communication in common. I have called my proposed theory modern intelligence because I believe that technological intelligence, emotional intelligence and practical intelligence should be recognized as other forms of intelligence.

Upon reading the ideas and discussions of others I was able to think that there are really a lot of possible theories about intelligence. The unity and diversity of our ideas made me realize how complicated and how powerful the human intelligence is. I can relate so much with Vivian Cabaero’s quadriarchic theory because we have the same foundation and references which are the Gardner’s and Sternberg’s theory. I believe this can be a summary of my theory because she was able to explain that some of multiple intelligences that are included are more of a talent or an ability rather than intelligence. I feel that our proposed theory can be combined so we can start with the formulation of a hypothesis so we can test it and collect evidence and facts.

I enjoyed analyzing all of the proposed theories that I have read and the comments of my classmates and I have definitely learn a lot from them. I still stand to my proposed theory but I am open to acknowledge their proposals as I believe that all of their notions have basis on their personal experiences, research and observations. There is no single theory that can define and explain human intelligence types as we are all unique from each other as a product of various biological and environmental factors. The best thing that we can do as future educators is to encourage our students to embrace their intelligence and provide them with guided opportunities to maximize their potentials.

Personal Insights on Module 2: Theories of Intelligence

How do I define intelligence personally?

I believe that intelligence is the mental ability to learn and to adapt to the changing environment. Personally, I think intelligence quotient is as important as emotional intelligence when it comes to determining if a person will be successful in academics, in life or at work because the definition of success also varies from one person to another.

The nature of intelligence is highly debatable until now and this explains how complex intelligence is.

I have four siblings and I can say that we are all very different from each other including academic performance. My knowledge about intelligence and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences made me understand better why each of us have different responses to learning and why we have different skills and abilities. I can say that by nature intelligence is mostly inherited from the mother because they are carried on the X chromosome and women (XX) have two of these chromosomes compared to men (XY). With the complexity of human’s genetic code even if we are siblings it does not mean that we will all have equal learning potential based from our mother. There are a lot of other factors that can affect a child’s intelligence like environmental factors including socio-economic factors like proper nutrition, support system, quality of available resources etc. Based on various factors I can clearly say that there is no exact formula to predict or measure ones’ intelligence.

Various perspectives of intelligence have valid points and they are all helpful for us to understand and explain some phenomena that we are experiencing. The current curriculum from Department of Education (DEPED) for senior high school students recognizes that fact that students are unique from each other and they will have individual strengths and weaknesses hence various students have three tracks option: Academic, Technical-Vocational-Livelihood and Sports and Arts. Specialized strands under academic track are available like STEM, HUMSS ABM and GAS which gives the students the opportunity and freedom to choose what they want to learn depending on their personal goals, interests, aptitude and school capacity. The teachers are also encouraged to utilize formative and summative assessment types to have a better understanding of the student’s learning abilities.

 I also believe that intelligence can be improved or developed with the right set of mind. I believe in the value of personality traits and emotional intelligence which is why I think everything is possible with hard work and perseverance and this is an attitude that we should teach our students rather than focusing on their academic performance alone. As future educators, it is vital that we provide our students with guided opportunities so they can maximize their learning potential.

References:

Cherry, K. (2017). Are People With High IQs More Successful? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/are-people-with-high-iqs-more-successful-2795280

Cherry, K. (2019). Theories of Intelligence in Psychology. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/theories-of-intelligence-2795035

Department of Education.(2015). Classroom Assessment Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.deped.gov.ph/2015/05/26/classroom-assessment-guidelines/

Stangor, C. (n.d.).Introduction to Psychology: 1st Canadian Edition. Pressbooks. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/front-matter/about-the-book/

Personal Insights on Module 1: Perspectives and Conceptions about Learning 

This is a photo of our daughter showing curiosity in learning. Her developmental milestones are considered as natural or unlearned phenomena but we ensure to give her proper guidance, time and resources to maximize her learning potential. I am excited to learn more about this course. Happy Learning!

We all have different perspective about learning and before I read this module for me learning is simply a process of acquiring knowledge. I got this perspective thinking that we mostly learn in formal ways like education, seminars, training, research etc. What I have failed to realize is that learning can be done everywhere and learning have various levels and purpose. There is what we call surface, deep and strategic learning which are all approaches to learning. With this in mind, I actually redefined it as “Learning is the enduring process of change and being responsible to one’s self and the society as a consequence of education, experiences, research, imagination and creativity over time.” They say learning is not a responsibility but for me it is because I believe we learn good and bad things and we learn millions of things and our role is to filter those learning to seek which makes more sense and which one can we actually relate to.

The next question is how or when do we learn? There are three psychological theories about this process according to Cherry which are learning through classical conditioning, learning through operant conditioning and by observation. Learning through classical conditioning takes place every day when we actually form associations with events or stimuli that repeat to happen together. For example, we usually know the sound of my father’s vehicle and footsteps and we know that if he is home we normally gather in the living room to kiss or hug him then proceed with our stories for the day. The next one is learning through operant conditioning where we associate our behavior to its consequences. For example if we go home late without asking permission we will surely be grounded and if we go home early we can ask for a reward like pizza night or we can go to the mall and watch movies. This actually motivated me to get home on time or asked permission first if I really need to stay late outside. The last one is observational learning which allows us to learn by watching or imitating others rather than having a direct experience. Unlike classical conditioning and operant conditioning this actually helps us to think and analyze what we are learning and this gives us freedom on our own interpretation too. For example we can learn how to dance by watching others first then we can imitate it or we can dance with some improvements or our own interpretation depending on what we can do or how we imagine to do it better.

I strongly believe that research in education psychology will help future educators and the students to have more organized knowledge about the process of learning. It is also important that we focus on the students to experience theoretical knowledge so they can have a deeper learning rather than just pure memorization or recall. As what I have learned in my previous courses that we need to use various types of assessments, it is also important that we provide guided opportunities to our students so they can maximize their learning potential. Biological and environmental factors also have some influence on how a student learn the same way that it affects how a teacher assess and improve her teaching methods.

I am so excited to learn more about the theories of learning. I know I will have a lot of takeaways and I will be able to relate my personal experiences so I can understand the lessons in a deeper way.

References:

 Cherry, K. (2018). The psychology of how people learn. Retrieved from Verywell Mind website: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-learning-2795332.

Lumen Learning. What Is learning? Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wsu-sandbox/chapter/what-is-learning/.

Roberts, G. (2013). What is learning? [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtT31Sn1Ukk.