Disposition 5

On Monday, October 5th, three sections of Educational Psychology combined to complete a role playing activity. We were asked to respond to these questions for this week's blog, instead of completing a typical dispositional blog.

1) Is this method of role playing a legitimate way to learn what are some
of the important issues related to student learning and accountability?

I believe that role playing is a very legitimate and effective classroom method. I'm very interested in emotions and intentions and I found this activity very helpful in understanding other perspectives, points and persons. If the assignment had been given in simply an essay format, I would have had a lot less invested in this. When I was given this assignment, I knew that I would be held accountable by my peers and that I would be holding my peers accountable. Something public like this can be really high pressure but it can really help a lot of students come out of their shell or expend some energy in a classroom in a constructive way.

2) What would have been the advantages/disadvantages of using a more
direct/lecture approach related to teaching and learning and school
improvement efforts?

I don't really see any advantages to a lecture format in this situation. If your goal was to analyze it with numbers or just to have a bland, factual understanding, then a lecture would definately be effective and probably less work for the instructor.

3) What is your reaction to the common belief that before students are
asked to engage in complex learning tasks they need to have a solid grasp
of basic skills (i.e. they need to have a careful look at the information
about No Child Left Behind legislation)?

I think that people should have an understanding about what they are talking about. If you're talking and you don't know what you're talking about in this situation, you should be opening your mouth to ask questions. Learning is the pimary priority, and you simply cannot do that by speaking about things you don't know about.

4) How important is some level of emotional engagement in the learning
process?

In my opinion, it depends on what topic you're learning about. For science or math, I think learning how to relate it to your everyday life or current events would help me to remember and understand the topic. In social studies or other similar subjects, I find it very effective to have emotional investment in the topic, even if it is chosen for me or forced upon me.

5) Do we tend to pay closer attention and to listen to higher achieving
students, their parents, and to other influential people in the community
before others?

It has been my experience that the higher achieving students have more involved parents. Typically the lower achieving students aren't listened to because they have fewer opinions or their opinions are "less informed". I believe that people generally know themsleves and what is best for them. You cannot make a person care or force them to express their opinions.