teaching my students

Summative Testing

2011-12-04T18:35:00.001-08:00

Summative test is a achievement test given at the end of a period of instruction for the porpuse of certifying mastery or assigning grades.

Teachers are concerned primarily with the extent to which students have achieved the intended outcomes of the instruction at the end of a course or unit of instruction. The following such questions must be answered:
• Which students have mastered the learning tasks to such a degree that they should proceed to the next course or unit of instruction?
• What grade should be assigned to each student?

Summative tests are typically broad in coverage and attempt to measure a representative sample of all the learning tasks included the instruction. Although the result primarily used for grading, they can contributed to greater future learning by providing information for evaluation the effectiveness of the instruction.

Placement Testing
Testing in The Instructional Process

Diagnostic and Formative Testing

Diagnostic and Formative Testing

2011-12-04T18:25:00.001-08:00

Placement Testing

Testing in The Instructional Process

Teacher main concern during the instructional program is with the learning progress being made by students. There are two questions such as following must be answered:

On which learning tasks are the students progressing satisfactorily? On which ones do they need help?

Which students are having such severe learning problem that they need remedial work?

Formative tests are tests used to monitor student progress during instruction. Formative tests are typically designed to measure the extent to which students have mastered the learning outcomes of a rather limited segment of instruction, such as a unit or a textbook chapter. Formative tests similiar to quizzes and unit tests that teachers have traditionally used, but they placed greater emphasis on:

Measuring all of the intended outcomes of the unit of instruction
Using the result to improve learning (rather than to asign grades).

Formative tests used to identidy the students’ learning successes and failures so that adjustments in instruction and learnig can be made. When the majority of the students fail a test item, or set of item, tha material typically retaught in a group setting. When a minority of students experience learning failures, alternate methods of study are usually prescribed for each student (for axample, reading assignmentsin a second book, programmed instruction, and visual aids). These corrective prescriptions are frequently keyed to each item, or to each set of items designed to measure a separate learning task, so that student can begin immediately after testing to correct their individual learning failures.

The formative test determines whether a student has mastered the learning task being taught and, if not, prescribes how to remedy the learning failures

Diagnostic test is useful when a student’ learning problems are so persistent. The student failures cannot be resolved by corrective prescriptions of formative testing, a more intensive study of the students’ difficulties is called for.

Diagnostic test typically include a realtively large number of test items in each specific area, with slight variations from one item to the next so that the cause of specific learning errors can be identified. These test attempts to answer the following such questions:

Are the students’ difficulties in German due to their inadequate knowledge of vocabulary or to their poor grasp of certain elements of grammar?

Are the students’ having difficulties in addition because do not know certain number combinations or beacuse they do not know how to carry?

Thus, the diagnostic test focuses on the common sources of error encountered by students, so that the learning difficulties can be pinpointed and remedied.

Diagnostic test is designed to probe deeper into the causes of learning deficiencies that are left unresolved by formative testing.

Placemnet Testing

2011-12-02T06:40:00.001-08:00

Placement testing is testing at the beginning of instruction. Teachers need answer two major questions before proceeding with the instruction:
• To what extent do the students possess the skills and abilities that are needed to begin instruction?
• To what extent have the students already achieved the intended learning outcomes of the planned instruction?

Information concerning the first question can be obtained from readiness pretests. The second question can be answered by a placement pretest covering the intended learning outcomes of the planned instruction. Readiness pretests are tests given at the beginning of a course, or unit of instruction, that cover those prerequisite skills considered necessary for success in the planned instruction.For example, a test of English grammar might be given at the beginning of a German course, or a test of computational skill might be given at the beginning of an algebra course.

Placement tests are test given to covering the intended learning outcomes of the planned instruction. This might very well be the same test that is given at the end of the instruction; preferably it should be another form of it. Placement pretests are inportant to determining whether the students have already mastered some of the material that teacher plan to include in an instruction. If they have, teacher might need to modify the plans, encourage some students to skip particular units, and place other students at more advance level of instruction.

How important placement testing?
Placement testing is not always necessary. Teacher who has worked with students from some time may know their past achievements well enough that a pretest at the beginning of an instructional unit is not needed. In other cases a course or unit of instruction may not have a clearly defined set of prerequisite skills. Similarly, some area of instruction may be so new to the students that it can be assumed that none of the students have achieved the intended outcomes of the planned instruction.

When the teacher is unfamiliar with the students’ skills and abilities, and when the intended outcomes of instruction can be clearly secified and organized in meaningful sequences, placement testing is probably most useful. Under these conditions the placement test provides an invaluable aid for placing each student at the most beneficial position in the instructional sequence.

Testing in the Instructional Process

Testing in the Instructional Process

2011-12-02T06:27:00.001-08:00

It is necessary to make testing and integral part of the instructional process in order to realize the full potential of achievement tests as learing aids. Testing should play a significant role in the various stages of instruction. From the beginning of instruction to the end there are numerous decicions that teachers must make. The effectiveness of many these decicions can be improved by testing that provideing more objective information on which to base judgements.

There are three types of decicions teachers need to make that can be aided by testing:
• Decicions at the beginning of instruction;
• Decicions during instruction; and
• Decicions at the end of instruction;

Doing so will also help acquaint us with the names of the test types that are typically associated with each stage of instruction.
• Testing at the beginning of instruction (placement testing)
• Testing that conducted during instruction (formative and diagnostic testing)
• Testing at the end of instruction (summative testing)

Inquiry Method in Learning

2011-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Inquiry is one of the seven basic principles of CTL (contextual Teaching and Learning). On learning that using this method, the teacher gives students the chance to ask questions and satisfy curiosity. Methods of inquiry make teachers and students explore the content and knowledge they already have. The process of learning by inquiry begins with information gathering activities. These activities are conducted through sensing devices owned by students, such as seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Then students are encouraged to ask and answer questions through research.

Inquiry method of making the students actively involved physically and mentally. Student no longer wait for answer from the teacher this makes the student-centered learning. Students can find their own answers through ways (research) that they design themselves. Inquiry will make students become great thinkers and problem solvers. Students will be used to find sources of relevant and effective learning, so they do not solely rely on one source of learning. Abilities and skills acquired in this inquiry method will greatly benefit the lives of students in the future.

Students are often invited to learn through the method of this inquiry will be independent learners. Students learn how to learn. This is important because in today's modern era of science and information flows so swift and fast. Teachers will not be able to become a major source of information and knowledge students need. In the method of inquiry, teachers no longer in front of the class as the main actor, but teachers are in addition to students to facilitate their learning activities.

Some things to remember when practicing the method of teacher inquiry in the classroom:
(1) Setting of learning used was cooperative group. This is done with the intent that all students will be involved in learning. The structure of cooperative learning is important to make every member of the group depend on each other. Dependence with each other will make them always in the learning activities effectively.

(2) Learning objectives desired by the teacher should be clearly communicated to students, so each student will try to achieve it. The success of learning by inquiry methods requires high standards from teachers.

(3) Teachers use discussion activities effectively (question-answer) in learning to provoke students' thinking processes.

(4) Teachers do not give facts, principles, or concepts directly to students. Teachers only suggest ways or techniques to find it.

Problem Solving in Learning Activities

2011-08-14T04:07:00.000-07:00

Problem solving is a series of learning activities that give priority to the settlement of the matter at hand or given scientifically. There are three main characteristics of a learning activity that promotes problem-solving.

Student-centered learning activities. In this learning activity students are not just listening, taking notes, then memorize the subject matter, but through the students are stimulated and trained to be mentally active, communicate with other students or teachers, find and process data needed for problem solving, and ultimately make conclusions based on data already held.
Directed learning activities to resolve the problem. Problem solving put the subject as the keyword of the learning process. This means that without any issues raised in learning there can be no learning problem-solving process.
Problem solving is done using a scientific approach to thinking. Thinking using the scientific method is a process of deductive and inductive thinking. Thinking process is conducted in a systematic and empirical. Systematic means to think scientifically conducted through certain stages, whereas the empirical means problem-solving process is based on data and facts are clear.

Thinking to solve problems and produce something new is a complex activity and is closely related to one another. A problem generally can not be solved without thinking, and many problems require a new problem-solving strategy. Orientation to learning that promotes problem solving is an investigation.

Intelligence and Intelligence Tests

2011-08-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

The term used to describe the nature of mind which includes a number of capabilities such as reasoning, planning, problem solving, understanding the ideas, language, learning, and abstract thinking is called intelligence. IQ test or a psychometric test is a test commonly used to measure intelligence. There are also other definitions of intelligence, as suggested by Stenberg and Slater (1982): intelligence is action or thought that aim and are adaptive. Intelligence can include creativity, character, personality, wisdom, and knowledge. Actually, until now there is no satisfactory definition of intelligence. Intelligence behavior is more obvious limitations and characteristics making it more useful to learn.

Intelligence scores was originally measured by comparing the mental age (Mental Age) with chronological age. When the individual's ability to solve problems presented in a test of intelligence (mental age) is similar to that capability should be present in individuals his age at the time (chronological age), you will get a score of 1. This score is then multiplied by 100 and used as the basis for the calculation of IQ.

But then problems arise, because after the brain reaches maturity, the development does not happen again, even at some point it will decrease the ability. In 1904, Alfred Binet and Theodor Simon, the French psychologist 2 people designing an evaluation tool that can be used to identify students who require special classes (children who are less intelligent), because at that time the French spend a lot of money. The assays were called Binet-Simon test.

In 1916, Lewis Terman, a psychologist from the United amend the Binet-Simon test. Its main contribution is to assign a numerical index which states intelligence as the ratio between mental age and the Chronological age. The result of these improvements is called the Stanford-Binet test. This index has actually introduced by a German psychologist, William Stern, who became known as the Intelligence Quotient or IQ. Stanford-Binet test is widely used to measure the intelligence of children up to age 13.

One reaction to the Binet-Simon test or the Stanford-Binet test is that the test was too general. A character in this field, Charles Sperrman argued that intelligence is not only consists of one common factor alone (general factor), but also consists of the factors more specific. This theory is called the Theory of factor (Factor Theory of Intelligence). The assays developed in theory this factor is the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) for adults, and WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) for children. One of the ever popular intelligence test is a test of Primary Mental Abilities. This test was developed by Lois Leon Thurstone in 1938 and Thelma Gwinn Thurstone.

In addition to the tools of the above tests, many assays developed with more specific goals, in accordance with the objectives and culture in which the assays were made. Intelligence is a concept of general ability of the individual in adjusting to their environment. In general abilities, there are abilities that very specific. Specific abilities give the individual a condition which enables the achievement of knowledge, skills, or specific skills after a workout. This is called talent or aptitude. Therefore, an intelligence test is not designed to uncover these special abilities, the talent can not be immediately known by intelligence tests.

The tools used to unveil a special ability called an aptitude test or aptitude test. Aptitude tests designed to uncover the learning achievement in a particular field is called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and is used in the field of work is the Vocational Aptitude Test and the Interest Inventory. Academic Potential Test (PTA) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is an example of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) and the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey is a sample of Vocational Aptitude Test or the Interest Inventory.

Metacognitive Strategies

2011-08-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Metacognitive is a form of one's own ability to control her cognition. This capability will control the six levels of cognition that has been defined by Bloom (Bloom's Taxonomy). In simpler language, metacognitive can be interpreted as thinking about thinking, knowledge about knowledge, or reflection of the actions that have been done. There are at least two separate components contained in metacognition: (1) knowledge of declarative; and (2) procedural knowledge related to a skill, strategy, and resources needed to perform a task. In other words, it can be said that on metacognition someone knows what to do, how to do it, knowing the prerequisites to perform the task, and knowing when to perform the task. So, with the metacognitive skills a person will be aware of the advantages and disadvantages in learning, so what it does to run optimally.

In metacognitive strategies, teacher must teach students the awareness of how to design, monitor, and control about what they know, what it takes to do, and how to do a learning task. Example of cognitive strategies is easy: ask yourself.

There are two contexts must be understood so that students can learn to use metacognitive strategies, that students can understand and use metacognitive strategies when learning process is ongoing. The time it takes students to the mastery of metacognitive skills is quite long. However, teachers can start early in school.

The situation of learning activities that can bring metacognitive strategies are: (1) students were asked to justify or defend a conclusion objection, (2) students are faced with a problem and are given opportunities to formulate questions, (3) students were asked to make a conclusion, consideration, and correct decisions.

Aspects of students' metacognitive activity that must grind down by the teacher are: (1) awareness to know the information, (2) to monitor what they know and how to do it with self-questioning, (3) regulation, comparing and contrasting the more possible solutions.

The steps can be done by the teacher to teach metacognitive strategies is to ask them to develop the following:

Stage of the process of conscious learning
At this stage students should practice learning to set goals, take into consideration and learning resources that will be accessible, to determine how best the student's performance will be evaluated, considering the level of motivation to learn, determine the level of learning difficulties.

Planning stages of learning
At this stage students should practice estimating the time needed to complete the learning task, plan study time and make a schedule and determine priorities in learning, organizing subject matter, take appropriate steps to learn to use various learning strategies.

Stage monitoring and reflection learning
At this stage students should train to reflect on the learning process, monitoring the learning process through questions and test yourself (self-testing, such as asking questions, whether the material is meaningful and useful to me?, How knowledge on this matter can be my master?, Why I easy / difficult to master this material?), and maintain concentration and motivation in learning.

In the practice of teaching in the classroom, teachers should provide ample opportunity for students to mutually discuss and exchange ideas and experiences in learning. It is expected of each individual student can self-assess their abilities in each study, each student can determine the success of learning by using their own learning styles, and most importantly, every student can learn effectively by empowering learning modality itself is unique and not incommensurable.

Numbered Heads Together (NHT) Model in Cooperative Learning

2011-08-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Numbered Heads Together (NHT) model is one type of cooperative learning that emphasizes the special structure thus affecting the interaction patterns of students and improve academic mastery. This type is developed by Kagan by engaging students to examine and check their understanding of course materials.

Steps Numbered Heads Together (NHT) model as a cooperative learning is as follows:

Step 1. Preparation. At this stage the teacher prepares a lesson plan by making cooperative learning model according to the type of Numbered Heads Together.
Step 2. Formation of groups.Carried out group formation is the second step. The teacher divides the students into heterogeneous groups consisting of 3-5 students. Teachers gave a number to each student in the group and name the group. The group was formed by a mixture of in terms of social background, race, ethnicity, gender and learning ability.
Step 3.Each group must have a textbook or handbook.Groups must have a reference(s) book or study materials to facilitate students in completing the activity sheet or problems given by the teacher.
Step 4.Discussion of problems. Activity sheets distributed to students as a material to be studied. Students then think and work together. Furthermore, each member of the group they should know the answer to the question that is on the sheet or activity that has been given by the teacher. Questions may vary from those that are specific to general.
Step 5.Call the number of members or giving answers. The teacher then calls a number and students from each group with the same number raised their hands and prepare for and respond to the entire class.
Step 6.Gives conclusions.Teachers with students concluded the final answer of all questions related to the material presented.

Student Readiness for Successful Learning

2011-08-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

There are several important things that must be considered related to the readiness of students to learn. These are: (1) Students should be given a chance to show what they already know through a variety of ways, (2) Students should be given the opportunity to explore, to understand the subject matter, and transfer the learning into long-term-memory; (3) Students are given the opportunity to review the concepts that have been acquired while learning so as to connect these concepts to each other and expand it, (4) Learning should be well designed so is suitable for students, (5) Activities for students should be designed well so that it can provide a challenge for students to learn, and (6) Learning should always refer to the curriculum so that it always provides a challenge and enrichment for students.

Students readiness to learn greatly affects their success rate. Every teacher must expect their students to become smarter and smarter. In every process of learning in the classroom, teachers will be able to see that there is a difference between each student. Some students seem easier to learn, while some other students who seem more difficult. The gap is caused by differing student readiness.

Readiness of students in learning can be seen when teachers have to teach the subject matter is more difficult. Things that affect students' readiness to learn among other things: (1) does not prepare students to learn even from the house, (2) schemata or prior knowledge of students does not match the learning materials provided; (3) Students are tired; (4) Basic needs such as security are not met: for example in the home occur parents fight or bullying at school.

Scaffolding That Enhance Learning

2011-07-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

The type of teaching strategy used by a teacher can be seen from the interaction between teachers and students. Teaching strategy used is classified as expository where the interaction of learning activities, teachers are more dominant than the students. Meanwhile, if the students are more dominant in the interaction then the model of learning more to inquiry. Teaching strategy such as expository dominated by these teachers are one-way, a teaching strategy that is less suitable for most students.
There should be a clear limit on how much support the teacher in student learning and how much freedom the students in the learning process. In this regard the term scaffolding which incidentally is a technical term in science while building frame (usually made of bamboo, wood, or iron rod) that allows workers to build the building. The term scaffolding in learning is a metaphor should be clearly understood by all teachers so that meaningful learning can be achieved.

The term was first used by Wood et al in 1976, with the understanding support of teachers to students to help them complete the process of learning that can not be finished on their own. Understanding of the Wood’s scaffolding is in line with the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) of Vygotsky. Students who depend on the support of many teachers to gain an understanding was out of the Zone of Proximal Development, while the students are free or not depends on the support of teachers already in the Zone of Proximal Development.

Teachers should always remember and be aware when students can not find by their self. At times like this the teacher must provide scaffolding. Of course, scaffolding is not given to all course materials. Problems arise when teachers use scaffolding must be able to read the minds of students based on their behavior. Do students need scaffolding or still have the right direction in their learning? Teachers should pay attention to students' characteristics and time to think or work required by them. Students who are classified as less intelligent necessarily require scaffolding when compared with students whose performance is lower.
Another thing to keep in mind while teachers give the support is the meaning of scaffolding itself. Scaffolding does not mean that the teacher give the answer, but rather meant to give guidance and strategies.

Advance Organizer in Advance of Learning

2011-07-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

The students remembered what they expected to see, regardless of whether it was there or not. Use of prior knowledge can be a powerful learning tool. Cues and questions, as well as advance organizers, are techniques that call on students’ prior knowledge. Achievement increases to the extent that teachers structure learning. This can be done through provision of advance organizers, outlines, and summaries.

An advance organizer is information that is presented prior to learning and that can be used by the learner to organize and interpret new incoming information (wik.ed.uiuc.edu).

Teachers can help students use their background knowledge to learn new information is to present them with advance organizers. The concept of advance organizers was first popularized by psychologist David Ausubel (1968), who defined them in the following way:

Appropriately relevant and inclusive introductory materials . . . introduced in advance of learning . . . and presented at a higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness than the information presented after it.The organizer serves to provide ideational scaffolding for the stable incorporation and retention of the more detailed and differentiated materials that follow. Thus, advance organizers are not the same as summaries or overviews, which comprise text at the same level of abstraction as the material to be learned, but rather are designed to bridge the gap between what the learner already knows and what he needs to know before he can successfully learn the task at hand.

According to Ausubel, advanced organizers represent one strategy to address subsumption theory. Subsumption theory suggests that learning "is based upon the kinds of superordinate, representational, and combinatorial processes that occur during the reception of information." When new knowledge is created that is substantive and non-verbatim, and is related to existing knowledge, retention and learning are primed. Forgetting occurs when new knowledge becomes integrated into existing knowledge, and loses its individual identity. (wik.ed.uiuc.edu)

Since Ausubel’s first writings on the topic, researchers have studied advance organizers in great depth. many of the generalizations that apply to advance organizers. Specifically, consider the following:

1. Different types of advance organizers produce different results.

2. Advance organizers should focus on what is important as opposed to what is unusual.

3. Advance organizers are most useful with information that is not well organized.

4. “Higher level” advance organizers produce deeper learning than the “lower level” advance organizers.

Learners retain more when their learning is goal-directed and structured around key concepts, so introduce activities by stating their goals and by providing advance organizers that characterize what will be learned in general terms. These techniques call students’ attention to the benefits that they should derive from engaging in the activity and help them establish a learning set to use in guiding their responses to it.

Advance organizers are powerful instruments for focusing our students’ attention. These organizers come in many packages. For instance, an advance organizer could be an oral presentation of the subject matter and how it relates to prior knowledge. Graphic organizers provide a framework for the learning, and they keep the students within that structure.

Most graphic organizers can be used as advance organizers. They may help you reach the students as they provide a scaffold for the learning. Strategies for scaffolding students’ learning efforts are needed to help students understand the purpose and nature of an activity and then support their efforts to accomplish its goals (to the extent that such support is needed). Scaffolding strategies include stating learning goals and providing advance organizers when introducing the activity, modeling task-related thinking and problem solving whenever these are not already familiar to students, and inducing metacognitive awareness and control of learning strategies.

Advance organizers also help students understand the concepts that are being shared. If the students have no previous experience with the subject, teacher can ask them to make an attempt to agree or dis-agree. When the unit is nearly finished, give students another opportunity to read the statements and agree or disagree. They then compare the original chart with the recent one.

Some other graphic organizers that may be helpful include the following:

KWHLU charts help students pay attention. K is for what you already know, W for what you want to know, H for how you want to learn it, L for what you have learned, and U for how you will use it in your world.
Venn diagrams help students see similarities and differences.
A T chart, or two-column chart, can be used to organize many content areas.
Mind mapping is a helpful way to organize new material. Recent research has shown it is especially helpful for dyslexic students.
Hierarchy diagrams may be useful for classification purposes.
Sequencing charts are great for stories or history time frames.

References:

Brophy, Jere E. 2010. Motivating students to learn — 3rd ed. Routledge. New York. USA.

Sprenger, Marilee, 2005. How To Teach So Students Remember. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Alexandria, USA

Weiner, Irving B.. 2003. Handbook of psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey.USA.

Strategies for Triggering Memory Systems

2011-07-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Human memory is a complex, brain-wide process that is essential to who we are. The following strategies for triggering the various memory systems are simply suggestions. You may have or develop others that work for you.

1. Semantic.

Semantic memory refers to the memory of meanings, understandings, and other concept-based knowledge unrelated to specific experiences. The conscious recollection of factual information and general knowledge about the world is generally thought to be independent of context and personal relevance. The strategies for triggering this memory system are: (a) Mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices are excellent tools for teachers who want to help their students remember important facts. An interesting and fun exercise is to have your students try to come up with their own mnemonic devices for topics throughout the year; (b) Summaries. A summary, synopsis, or recap is a shorter version of the original. Such a simplification highlights the major points from the much longer subject, such as a text, speech, film, or event. The purpose is to help the audience get the gist in a short period of time; (c) Mind maps. A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying and organizing information, solving problems, making decisions, and writing; (d) Pictures. "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the idea that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. It also aptly characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly.

2. Episodic

Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual knowledge) that can be explicitly stated. The strategies for triggering this memory system are: (a) Change in seating arrangement. Social interaction is encouraged when individuals are able to establish face-to-face contact; (b) Use of colored paper, pens, or chalk; (c) Field trips. Relate field trips directly to curriculum for greatest impact. Maximize the effectiveness of field trips with corresponding activities before and after the trips themselves;

3. Procedural

Procedural memory is memory for how to do things. Procedural memory guides the processes we perform and most frequently resides below the level of conscious awareness. The strategies for triggering this memory system are: (a) Puppet shows; (b) Action figures; (c) Dance; (d) Manipulatives

4. Conditioned Response (automatic)

The strategies for triggering this memory system are: (a) Flash cards. Flashcards are an excellent learning tool for students from preschool to university. It is one of the best ways to learn and study and it is fast and portable. Flashcards can be a great help to learn simple and complex concepts for an array of subjects such as science, social studies, and language. Teacher or students can make flashcards to aid in the learning process. Any stiff paper material can be used to make flashcards. Flashcards can be created from index cards, construction paper, or stiff paper such as card stock. It can be made from traditional blank or lined paper; they are just not as durable; (b) Limericks. A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (aabba), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent; (c) Metaphors; (d) Songs.

5. Emotional

Emotional experiences, whether good or bad, leave strong traces in the brain. It was once thought that there was a single memory system in the brain. Now, however, we know that memories are formed in a variety of systems that can roughly be divided into two broad categories: systems that support conscious memory (i.e. explicit memory systems) and systems that store information unconsciously (i.e. implicit memory systems). Memories about emotional situations are often stored in both kinds of systems. The strategies for triggering this memory system are: (a) Humor; (b) Stories; (c) Music; (d) Celebrations.

Mind Map and Learning

2011-07-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

Marilee Sprenger (2010), stated: In a brain-compatible classroom there are always choices. The brain loves music, and the digital brain will respond to various approaches to using it. Because vision is the dominant sense for most of us, creating visuals such as mind maps will help many of our students. Understanding how memory works leads to a wide variety of strategies to motivate students and move information into long-term memory.

Some of the strategies, such as mind mapping, do allow students a certain amount of creativity and synthesis. They must take information, synthesize it, and create words, phrases, and pictures to represent it. Was the ability to synthesize and create already in their long-term memories and just accessed for this purpose? According to Gladwell (2008), opportunity is a factor in becoming successful. Students need opportunities to become creative, learn to synthesize, and create relationships with an emphasis on empathy.

Mind mapping is a brain-compatible note-taking strategy that was developed by Tony Buzan (1974) in England and has been especially effective for students with dyslexia. Because students with dyslexia have some interference in their brains with the language center, they found great success using only pictures and symbols for their mind maps (Sprenger, 2005).

Mind maps and other nonlinguistic representations are useful for helping students visualize material that is new or difficult for them to create mental pictures of. Many strong visual learners love to create a mind map, and once they complete it, they never refer to it again. The information stays with them after it is in visual form.

Sensory images are the pictures, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings students experience while reading. Students that create images while reading want to continue reading without stopping because they are actively engaged, respond appropriately to the texts they read (e.g., laugh, show surprise, etc.), orally read with expression, make predictions, and elaborate on what they read through discussions with others. Visualization has been shown to be especially useful for students learning about text structure. Baumann and Bergeron (1993) found that when teachers created story maps with their first graders, their students performed significantly better on measures of their ability to identify important story elements. A variety of visualization strategies exist, including think-alouds, drawing pictures (i.e., reader draws pictures of images created in his or her mind while reading), skits (i.e., reader dramatizes story), mind maps (i.e., using a picture of a mind, reader writes and draws thoughts from reading), picture walks, etc. By encouraging students to visualize as they read, teachers provide students with another useful strategy in their quest to comprehend what they read.

Eric Jensen. (1998) said, many successful teachers find that mind-maps or other graphic organizers help students keep their learning fresh. Some teachers ask students to work with partners and a piece of flip-chart paper to create a weekly mind-map for review. The mind map has a central organizing theme (like an
author, a science topic, or a math concept). The outlying branches provide the detail.

Mind maps are graphic representations of material They hold information in a fashion that is similar to how the brain holds information, scattered in different areas. Each area is a thought or representation of a bit of information. When the bits are put together, you have the whole idea. Problem solving may be encouraged or enhanced by mind maps because they can make abstract ideas concrete. A mind map can hold large amounts of information; but keep in mind the age of the student you are teaching and begin by keeping the maps relatively small. Some mind maps are visually attractive, but one does not need to be a great artist to create a very efficient map.

Mind maps require just a few simple materials to create. You can use an interactive whiteboard, overhead, chalkboard, or flip chart and colored markers or chalk to demonstrate how to create a mind map. Students will need blank paper and markers. To effectively teach students how to create mind maps, you should set aside some time on two or three days. Approximately 30 minutes for the first session should be sufficient. No matter what grade level you teach, the same basic procedure applies. The difference is in how you set the stage for the lesson.

It is important to be aware that mind mapping may not suit all of your students. Those who are very linear-sequential in their learning may still prefer an outline. By introducing mind mapping, you are simply giving your students a choice. A meta-analysis by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollack (2001) shows that nonlinguistic representations are one way to improve student achievement. Nonlinguistic representations are a way of imaging information, but they do not have to be in picture form. In fact, nonlinguistic representation may use any of the senses. Students may represent their learning through movement, pictures, sounds, and smells. It is more likely that they will choose movement or pictures, and those pictures may be in the form of graphic organizers, drawings, or mind maps. (Danny Brassell and Timothy Rasinski, 2008).

Refferences:
Danny Brassell and Timothy Rasinski. (2008). Comprehension That Works. Shell Education. California

Eric Jensen. (1998). Teaching With The Brain in Mind. ASCD-Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria, Virginia USA

Marilee Sprenger (2005). How To Teach So Students Rmember. ASCD - Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria, Virginia USA

Marilee Sprenger (2010). Brain-Based Teaching in The Digital Age. ASCD-Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria, Virginia USA

Multiple Intelligences and Its Implications for Learning

2011-06-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

Child have the intelligence and ability to differ in their understanding of a subject. An educator must be able to understand them in a personal capacity. An educator is not allowed to force their students to understand each lesson with the same understanding and perfect with a single dose of intelligence, because the situation of children in a different class.

With all kinds of student circumstances, the obligation of an educator is to acknowledge its existence with all its ability. An educator must recognize and appreciate the talent and the work of his students. Multiple intelligence theory may be more appropriate for use by educators to assist students in learning.

The theory of multiple intelligences is the highest validity to the notion that individual differences are important. Use of this theory in education is very fortunate in the introduction, recognition, and respect for every interest and talents of each learner. Howard Gardner identifies seven kinds of intelligence becomes.

First, Linguistics (related to language), intelligence is expressed in the form of words. Those with this intelligence like to read and write and have the ability to process written and spoken word.

Second, Logical-mathematical (logic and mathematical reasoning), this intelligence associated with scientific capabilities.
They liked to work with data, collect, and organize, analyze and make interpretations, concluded then predicted. They look and look at the pattern and relationship among the data. This intelligence is often viewed and valued more highly than other types of intelligence, especially current technological society. This intelligence is characterized as left-brain activity.

Third, the Spatial (Space and Figure), this intelligent people tend to think in or with the picture and tend to be easy-dish servings learn through visuals such as movies, pictures, videos, and demonstrations using models or slide. They love to paint, draw or sculpt his ideas and his mood through the arts. They are also adept in composing a puzzle.

Fourth, musical (Music, rhythm, and sound / voice), people who have this intelligence usually sensitive to sounds especially tones and songs. They have the ability to integrate voice and can reproduce the melody.

Fifth, bodily-kinesthetic (body and gestures), people who have this intelligence can process information through the sensation that is felt in their bodies. They do not like quiet and always wanted to move on. They are very good in his physical skills. They also like sports and dance.

Sixth, interpersonal (interpersonal, social), people who have this intelligence like group work. They like to be a mediator in a number of problems or disputes that happened around him.

Seventh, intrapersonal (The things that are very private), those with this intelligence could understand herself. Usually they are independent, not dependent on others. Generally they have high self-confidence of the seven different intelligences in the upper course of every child. The ways they receive and understand the lesson were different.

Seventh, intrapersonal (The things that really personal), those with this intelligence could understand herself. Usually they are independent, not dependent on others. Generally they have high self-confidence of the seven different intelligences in the upper course of every child. The ways they receive and understand the lesson were different.

A student who has a Logical-Mathematical Intelligence may be quicker to understand math lessons from those who have linguistic intelligence. So also those who have musical intelligence can be quicker to recognize and memorize a tone of those who have Logical-Mathematical Intelligence.

If an educator is able to distinguish between intelligence that intelligence on each of their students, and able to understand and manage it, of course, will get maximum results, because every child has different capabilities and their ability to equally recognized by the teacher. Not only have mathematical intelligence alone, it looked too much genius. But those who love to write and sing even want to get recognition and praise from his teacher.

Seven of intelligence above can also be integrate and will produce maximum results because of working together to improve the shortcomings and strengths. Moreover, intelligence is possessed by a child of course is different and surely every child has more than one intelligence.

From there is also an educator is also able to integrate their intelligence by holding an event in the classroom, by involving all students in accordance with their respective capabilities. Certainly the combination will produce maximum results.

Problem Solving Approach

2011-06-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

Problem Solving Approach is a process of finding an appropriate response to a situation that is truly unique and new for problem solvers (students). Problem-solving ability is one of the indirect objectives of learning mathematics (Bell, 1981: 119). Gagne suggested learning problem solving is the highest level of the hierarchy of learning (Bell, 1981; Hudoyo, 1988; Dahar, 1989). Next Hudojo (Ayesha, 2007: 5-3) suggested problem solving is basically a process taken by a person to solve the problems faced until the problem is no longer a problem for him.

Problem solving is an important activity in school mathematics, because in the learning process and its completion, students gain experience made possible using the knowledge and skills they have to be applied to solving problems that are not routine. Through this activity aspect of mathematical ability is important as the application of the rules on non-routine problems, finding patterns, generalization, mathematical communication, and others can be developed better.

Teaching mathematics in primary schools, also aims to train students to solve problems. Through solving problems, students are expected to develop the ability to solve problems they encounter in everyday life. Therefore, problem-solving approach should be part of learning mathematics in school.

Mathematics is presented in the form of the problem will provide motivation to students to learn mathematics more deeply. With faced with a math problem, students will try to find a solution through a variety of mathematical problem solving strategies. Satisfaction will be achieved if the student can solve his problems. This is the intellectual satisfaction of intrinsic motivation for students. Thus, it seems clear that the mathematical problem solving has an important position in the learning of mathematics in primary Ayesha (2007: 5-1)

Skemp (Ayesha, 2007: 5-6) says the problem solving approach is a teaching guide that theoretical or conceptual teach students to solve problems - math problems using various strategies and problem solving steps.

The characteristics of learning using problem solving approach are: (a) students are faced with a situation that requires them to understand the problem (identifying the elements that are known and who asked), (b) create a mathematical model, (c) choosing a mathematical model solving strategies, and (d) implement mathematical models and conclude the settlement. To deal with this situation, the teacher gives a big opportunity for students to develop mathematical ideas so that students can solve these problems well.

Furthermore, Sanjaya (2007: 220) suggested several advantages of learning with problem-solving approach are: (a).Problem solving is a technique that is good enough to understand the lesson content. (b). Solving the problem can challenge students' skills and provide satisfaction to discover new knowledge for students.
(c). Problem solving can improve student learning activities. (d). Problem solving can help students how to transfer their knowledge to understand the problem in real life. (e). Problem solving can help students to develop new knowledge and responsibility in learning what they do. Besides, solving the problem can also be encouraged to conduct their evaluation of both outcome and process of learning.
(f). Through problem solving can be demonstrated to students that each subject, that is basically a way of thinking, and something that should be understood by students, not just learn from teachers or from books alone. (g). Solving the problem is considered more pleasant and well liked student. (h). Solving problems can develop students' ability to think critically and develop their ability to adjust to new knowledge. (i). Problem solving can provide opportunities for students to apply knowledge they have in the real world.

Johson and Rising (Shamsuddin, 2003: 224) suggests several reasons for solving the problem becomes one of the most significant learning activities in mathematics, namely:
a). Problem solving is a process to learn a new concept.
Solving the problem is an excellent way for students to learn a new concept. In the process of solving a problem often found in a concept or principle that has not been studied. For example, through a discussion of problems of proof set of prime numbers is infinite (infinite), could be a step to determine the principle of no direct proof in mathematics.
b). Solving problems is a most appropriate way to practice computational skills.
The habit becomes an exercise problem solving using concepts and principles of mathematics that have been studied. This is necessary because in learning mathematics is not enough just to remember. Each concept or principle of mathematics is learned needs to be practiced, so that mathematics can be useful. This can be achieved through problem-solving.
c). through problem solving approach students can acquired new knowledge.
In solving many appear new knowledge not previously been studied. Someone who is used to solve math problems will get a huge benefit with the new knowledge that arose in solving the problem.
d). Solving a problem can stimulate intellectual curiosity.
Curiosity an impulse that is very important in learning mathematics. The existence of curiosity to encourage someone to learn something new, to generate curiosity takes of something challenging. Things like this usually occur when a person faces a problem that must be solved.
To apply the approach to problem solving in mathematics problem-solving learning in primary schools, can be either classical or in groups by following the general steps problem-solving approach
and learning steps commonly performed in primary schools, namely the introduction, development, implementation and closing.

Needs to Transform the Paradigm of Learning in Schools

2011-06-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

Learning that occurs in schools must begin to change to prepare future generations a nation that is ready to welcome the XXI century. Therefore, teachers, educational institutions, and governments need to change the paradigm about education and ready to accept changes in the process of teaching and learning in schools.

Education will be increasingly important in building the capacity of individuals to create knowledge. However, we must change in education. The learning process should be able to build the capacity of students to have the ability to be independent and lifelong learning, innovative, and character. Need to reposition the school, teachers, and learning so that education is carried on today is really appropriate to prepare the future generation.

Therefore, the quality of learning should be the main focus, among others, to prepare a generation that is able to criticize, to apply science to solve problems, and using information and communication technology for self-learning. Also included in the evaluation or assessment, its primary purpose is not to get a good value. However, It is important to know how the capacity of each individuals, but unfortunately, many teachers who do not understand about the evaluation. In fact, with a wealth of data from the evaluation results, it could be a handle to help students grow even more.

In this era of globalization, which prioritizes the education establishment and cultivation of character values can not be ignored. In fact, the characters and the indigo-value in a country that believed not to be lost. Teachers can play a major role to instill character and values, even to the traditional once. Educational practices at the school for this would eliminate individualism. In fact, the school becomes a controller so that the students needed to be like the labor market.

In fact, in many studies now growing need for different learning from each individual. Learning to suit the needs and conditions of each individual will be growing. In today's educational changes, it can not be avoided conflict, between the interests of parents, students, schools, and the job market. This is where educators need to be able to negotiate to be able to accommodate the various demands that are not necessarily the same among many parties.

Teachers in the 21st century faced a new challenge to have a better understanding about teaching and learning are integrated and interdisciplinary. In addition, teachers are also required to recognize and realize the development of globalization, master specific skills, particularly technology, and focusing on the individual needs of each student. Educators we need to have a new paradigm for practice learning in their schools in the face of the 21st century.

Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL)

2011-06-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

How to achieve competence as that are written in the description of Curriculum and Learning Outcomes at the Curriculum document should be planned, selected, and prepared well for the activities meaningful, useful, and interesting for students. A wide variety of teaching and learning techniques are selected and adapted to the learning objectives, materials, and the needs of learners.

The materials and technique variations teaching / learning should be useful for students and meaningful in the sense to add new knowledge based on students' prior knowledge (prior knowledge) through their learning experiences (constructivism). The important thing to note is that teachers can bring students into a learning situation that can link anything that got in school / classroom with what's in their real life. Thus, students will feel and realize the benefits of learning by going to school because they can prove themselves and find answers in the face of life outside the classroom full of problems. They can help each other and share experiences in community learning (learning community), which raised the curiosity (inquiry) to not forget to do self-reflection.

Contextually-related learning (1) the phenomenon of social life, language, environment, expectations and aspirations are growing, (2) the phenomenon of world experience and knowledge of the students, and (3) class as a social phenomenon. Contextual is a phenomenon that is natural, growing and growing, as well as diverse as it relates to the phenomenon of social life of society. In conjunction with this, then learning is basically a switch activity, touching, relate; grow, develop, and establish an understanding through the creation of activity, generating appreciation, internalization, the process of finding answers to questions, and reconstruction of understanding through reflection that took place dynamically. Meanwhile, the study is basically a process of realizing something, understand the issues, processes and organizational adaptation, assimilation and accommodation process, the process of living and thinking, experience and reflect on the process, and the process of composing and re-open in an open and dynamic. That is why the foundation of CTL is the concept of constructivism.

Tips for Teaching Toddlers Reading

2011-06-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Do you want to see your baby can read when they were toddlers?
Almost all parents crave the dream. Not infrequently parents prepare teachers for the baby to be able to read. Many parents with a great way for children can read. Start buying flash cards, alphabet posters, and even read books for them.
Is there anything wrong from the description above?
Dream of a proud mother to see child can read at an early age was not wrong. Business for toddler parents can read also not wrong. Because quickly want to see the results, parents often forget aspects of the method. Because you want to 'show off' the intelligence of children parents often push the child with a variety of methods.
Sometimes parents forget that children are not the same with school children. Often parents forget that children are not adults with small bodies.
Because of this mistake parents make a child even frustration and stress. As a result of fatal child will suffer developmental disorders and learning difficulties.
Therefore keep in mind a strong desire to realize the dream must be accompanied with the knowledge of the methods and of developmental psychology.
If the parents are correct in their methods and understand the psychology of the child, the child may not be able to read at age 4 years.

A friend once told me, their children could read at age 4 years. The child is now being 'crazy' reading. What are the existing literatures, the child must be read. How do parents teach child read? Here are some tips: (1) Do not make the target. Allow the child to flow. (2) The duty of parents is to provide facilities and support. Initial stage, first introduced the letter. (3) Once memorized, sharpen the child by doing 'observation' letters in books, on cards, or wherever there are letters.
Put the words' father '' father '' mother 'mama' 'name of the child' in strategic places that will always be kids. (4) If already memorized, meet with friends, e.g. ba, bi, bu, be, bo, etc. in a word. Familiarize children to memorize. (5) Of course in a pleasant condition, do this continuously. Remember! If the child seems bored not proceed, do not be prosecuted. Pause. Keep looking for the best moment. (6) Do not forget to buy a book in which the pictures interesting. Read always the book. Teach children to love books. (7) Buy toys that have letters or words that are easily spelled child. Someday you'll be surprised to suddenly your child can spell.

Learning Cycle Model As a Tool for Planning Science Lesson

2011-06-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

Learning Cycle Model As a Tool for Planning Science Lesson

Learning Cycle is one model of learning that can be used as a method of planning that has been recognized in the science education. Learning cycle was developed based on the theory about how students should learn. This learning model is a method that is easy to use and provides an opportunity to develop creative learning science.
The cycle of learning (learning cycle) consists of five phases that relate to each other, namely:
1) Engage which is the initial phase. In this phase the teacher creates a situation puzzle that fit with the topic to be studied students. Teachers can ask questions (for example: why is this happening? How do I know?) and responses of the students used to know what things are already known by them. This phase can also be used to identify student misconceptions.
2) Exploration. During the exploration, students should be given the opportunity to collaborate with their peers without direct referrals from teachers. This phase is the phase according to Piaget's theory of "imbalance" in which students must be confused. This phase is an opportunity for students to test their hypothesis or prediction, discuss with friends and issue a decision.
3) Explain. In this phase the teacher encouraged students to explain the concept with their own sentence.
4) Application. In this phase the students have to apply the concepts and skills they already have on other situations.
5) Evaluation. The evaluation was done during the learning take place. The teacher on duty to observe the students’ knowledge and skills in applying concept and changes in student thinking.

Why Use Learning Cycle?

2011-05-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Learning cycle should be prioritized, because according to Piaget's theory of learning (Renner et al, 1988), constructivism-based learning theory. Piaget stated that learning is an aspect of cognitive development that includes: structure, content and functionality. Intellectual structure is mental organizations, high levels of the individual to solve problems. Content is the typical behavior of individuals in responding to the problem, while the function is a process of intellectual development that includes adaptation and organization (Arifin, 1995).

Adaptation consists of assimilation and accommodation. In the process of assimilation of individuals using existing cognitive structures to respond to stimuli it receives. In the assimilation of individuals interact with data in the environment to be processed in the mental structure. In this process the mental structures of individuals can change, resulting in accommodation. In this condition the individual to do the modification of existing structures, resulting in the development of mental structures.

Acquisition of new concepts will have an impact on the concept that has been owned by individuals. Individuals should be able to connect the newly learned concepts with other concepts in a relationship between concepts. The new concepts must be organized with other concepts that have been owned. Good organization of the intellectual person reflected in the response will be given in dealing with problems.

Karplus and Their (in Renner et al, 1988) to develop learning strategies in accordance with Piaget's idea above. In this case the learners are given the opportunity to assimilate the information by way of exploring the environment, accommodate information by developing concepts, organize information and connect new concepts with the use or expand the concept held to explain a different phenomenon. Implementation of Piaget's theory by Karplus developed into a phase of exploration, concept introduction, and application of concepts. The elements of Piaget's learning theory (assimilation, accommodation, and organization) had correspondence with the phases in the LC (Abraham et al, 1986).

Development of learning cycle phases of the 3 phase to 5 or 6 phase still remains corresponding to the mental functioning of Piaget. Engagement in the LC phase 5E included in the process of assimilation, while the evaluation phase is still an organizational process. Although the LC phases can be explained by the theory of Piaget, LC also basically constructivist learning paradigm was born from the others, including the theory of Vygotsky and social constructivist meaningful learning theory by Ausubel (Dasna, 2005), LC through the activities in each phase of accommodating learners to actively construct their own concepts by interacting with the physical and social environment.

Implementation of LC in accordance with the constructivist views namely:
1. Students learn actively. Students learn the material significantly by working and thinking. Knowledge is constructed from the experience of students.
2. New information is associated with a scheme that has been owned by students. New information has come from interpretations of individual students
3. Learning orientation is an investigation and discovery that is the problem-solving (Hudojo, 2001).

Thus the learning process is no longer just a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, as in the philosophy of behaviorisms, but it is the acquisition process-oriented concept of student involvement in active and direct. The learning process will be more meaningful and thus make the scheme self-learners become functional knowledge that every moment can be organized by the learner to solve the problems faced.

The results of research in universities and secondary schools on the implementation of LC in the learning of science indicates the success of this model in improving quality processes and student learning outcomes (Budiasih and Widarti, 2004; Fajaroh and Dasna, 2004). Marek and Methven (in Iskandar, 2005) states that students of teachers who implement the LC has the skills to explain that better than students of teachers who apply the expository method.

Cohen and Clough (in Soebagio, 2000) stated that the LC is an apt strategy for teaching science in secondary schools because it can be done flexibly and meet the real needs of teachers and students. Judging from the dimensions of teacher implementation of this strategy to expand horizons and increase teachers' creativity in designing learning activities. While looking at the dimensions of learners, the implementation of this strategy provides the following benefits:
1. Enhance motivation to learn because learners are actively involved in the learning process
2. Help learners develop scientific attitude
3. Learning becomes more meaningful

Lack of implementation of this strategy should always be anticipated estimated as follows (Soebagio, 2000):
1. Low effectiveness of learning if teachers lack the material and the learning steps
2. Requires sincerity and creativity of teachers in designing and implementing the learning process
3. Classroom management requires a more planned and organized
4. Require time and more energy in preparing and implementing lesson plans.

What is Learning Cycle?

2011-05-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Learning Cycle or abbreviated LC in this writing is a learning model based on the learner (student centered). Learning Cycle is a series of stages (phases) are organized in such a way so that learners can master the competencies that must be achieved in the way of learning with active role. Initially consist of the LC phases of exploration, the introduction of the concept, and application of concepts (Renner et al, 1988).

At the exploration stage, learners are given the opportunity to utilize the senses as much as possible in their interaction with the environment through activities such as lab work, analyze an article, discussing the phenomena of nature, observing natural phenomena or social behavior, and others. These activities are expected to arise from an imbalance in the structure of the mental (cognitive disequilibrium) is marked by the emergence of the questions that lead to the development of high-level reasoning power (high-level reasoning) that begins with words such as why and how (Dasna, 2005, Rahayu, 2005).

The emergence of these questions as well as indicators of student readiness to pursue the next phase, phase of the introduction of the concept. At this phase is expected that the process toward equilibrium between the concepts that have been owned by learners with the new concepts learned through activities that require the power of reason as the source of literature review and discussion. At this stage learners familiar terms associated with the new concepts being studied. In the last phase, namely the application of concepts, learners are invited to apply understanding of concepts through activities such as problem solving (solve real problems associated) or perform further experiments.

Application of concepts used to enhance understanding of concepts and motivation to learn, because the learners know the real application of the concepts they are learning. Implementation of Learning Cycle in learning place the teacher as a facilitator who manages the ongoing phases of the start of planning (especially the development of learning tools), implementation (especially of the questions the direction and supervision process) until evaluation.

The effectiveness of the implementation of Learning Cycle is usually measured through the observation process and giving tests. If it turns out the results and the quality of learning it is still not satisfactory, then it can be done the next cycle of implementation should be better than the previous cycle in a way to anticipate weaknesses previous cycle, until the results are satisfactory.

Three-phase Learning Cycle has now been developed and enhanced to 5 and 6 phases. In LC 5 phases, are added before the exploration stage of engagement, and evaluation phase also added at the end of the cycle. In this model, the stage of concept introduction and concept application each termed as explanation and elaboration. That is why, it is often called the LC 5 phases (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation) (Lorsbach, 2002).

At 6-phase LC, added stage in the early identification of learning objectives (Johnston in Iskandar, 2005). Engagement phase aims to prepare learners for the next phase of conditioned while traveling on the road prior knowledge and explore their ideas and to investigate the possibility of misconception of previous learning. In this engagement phase of the interest and curiosity (Curiosity) learners will be taught about topics that are trying to be resurrected. In this phase learners also invited to make predictions about a phenomenon will be studied and proven in the exploration stage.

In the exploration phase, students are given the opportunity to work together in small groups without direct instruction from the teacher to test the predictions, perform and record observations and ideas through activities such as lab work and literature review. In the explanation stage, teachers should encourage students to explain concepts in their own words, asking for evidence and clarification of their explanation, and direct the activities of the discussion. At this stage learners find the terms of the concepts being studied.

In the Elaboration phase (extension), students apply the concept and skills in new situations through activities such as lab work and problem solving continued.

In the final stage, evaluation, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of previous phases and also evaluation of the knowledge, understanding concepts, or the competence of learners through problem solving in a new context that sometimes encourages learners to investigate further.

Based on the stages in the learning-cycle method as described above, students are expected to not only hear the information but can play an active role of teachers to explore and enrich their understanding of the concepts being studied. Based on the description above, the LC can be implemented in the learning areas of science and social.

Gender Equity in the Middle Grades and High School Years : Unmasking the Hidden Curriculum

2011-04-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

Gender Equity in the Middle Grades and High School Years
Unmasking the Hidden Curriculum
Using case studies and a gender-equity CD-ROM, researchers discovered ways to make students more aware of gender-equity issues and to give them tools to resolve these situations (Matthews, Brinkley, Crisp, & Gregg, 1998).

Although this study took place with fifth graders, it has implications for upper middle school grades. Students examined gender-equity materials over the course of a year; the materials included specific scenarios depicting stereotypical classroom behavior—that is, boys shouting out answers and not getting reprimanded and boys taking charge in a group science experiment. Open-ended discussions and structured questions followed the case study examples. Furthermore, the students took pretest and posttest questionnaires exploring the interactions in their classrooms and their beliefs about jobs and abilities. One question asked the fifth graders to name the best students in their class in math, science, social studies, and English. Boys named only boys to math and science, while naming girls and boys to the other subjects.

Girls indicated girls or boys equally in math, science, and social studies, and they named girls only in English. This finding is consistent with many other findings (Sadker & Sadker, 1994); this study also suggests the importance of gender equity as a shared agenda in the classroom. Those classrooms in which a gender agenda is overt and in which curriculum interventions are explored on behalf of males and females learning more about themselves, their own interactions, and those who have been omitted from curriculum have an excellent track record for fairness and equity (Logan, 1997; Orenstein, 1994).

Logan’s middle school interventions promote awareness of self and other through a myriad of experiences, stories, role-modeling, and even quilt-making exercises that allow students to explore the realities of their gendered lives. In one exercise, she asks her students to imagine that they wake up the next day as a member of the opposite sex. “Now make a list of how your life would be different” (Logan, 1997, p. 35).

Through a carefully structured discussion, students come to see that they are more similar than different; this is a step toward mutual respect and an understanding of the power of communication. One middle school classroom researcher approaches gender issues in a language arts classroom by using sentence starters such as Being a female means or Being a male means according to their gender. Then students respond in terms of the opposite sex. This method begins the discussion, which quickly uncovers the expectations each gender has for its own and for the other gender (Mitchell, 1996, p. 77). Additionally, inviting middle school students to analyze picture books through the lens of gender proves powerful as students research the images and draw conclusions about the messages.

Girls are not the only ones harmed by gender-role effects in language arts (McCracken, Evans, & Wilson, 1996). Some areas of the language arts curriculum—notably, journal writing—pose problems for boys in ways that they do not for girls. For example, boys have difficulty getting started and sounding fluent. Language arts students are often asked to be reflective and responsive in their writing, and boys often need support to find facility in this type of reflective writing.

In middle school science classrooms, boys traditionally monopolize the teachers’ time as well as the lab equipment, and girls encourage them to do so (Orenstein, 1994; Sadker & Sadker, 1986, 1994). The costs of this behavior are high—both for a society that ultimately loses potential scientists and for the girls themselves, who find they are rewarded when they deny their intelligence and individuality (McCracken et al., 1996). Referred to as gender-binding, these practices require resistance on the part of teachers and middle school girls. Creating cooperative settings in middle school science in which mixed-gender groups have assigned tasks that rotate with each lab activity is one structure that helps. Authentic expectations for everyone’s active participation are shown to promote participation. Bringing real-life conflicts and stories into the middle school science curriculum is good science education and encourages girls’ participation (Koch, 1998c).

Furthermore, posters of men and women and curriculum material that make connections between science and daily life encourage female participation and enhance the quality of instruction (see Linn, 2000). Research demonstrates a decline in middle school girls’ ability or willingness to express individual opinions that pose even the slightest possibility of creating real conflict with their peers. Research also demonstrates that some middle school teachers scold girls for speaking in a disagreeable or strident manner (Brown&Gilligan, 1992).An implication of this finding is that middle school teachers need to encourage their female middle school students to risk making their peers angry; these teachers also need to teach their female students how to be assertive and articulate without being or feeling hostile.

This task is not simple; it requires research into successful strategies on behalf of listening to all students. Barbieri (1995) and Logan (1997) offer important suggestions for voice and identity. Furthermore, studies have shown that even when teachers reflect knowledge of gender-equity issues in the classroom, they are not always able to translate the knowledge of the issue into changes in their behavior (Levine & Orenstein, 1994). Teachers themselves have been socialized to believe certain stereotypes about genders and have also had some of the same experiences that their students are having; gender equity in the classroom should therefore be a shared goal for teachers with their students.

Gender Equity in Early Childhood Pedagogy and Curriculum

2011-04-04T06:28:00.001-07:00

Gender Equity in Early Childhood Pedagogy and Curriculum

As part of the formal curriculum of the primary grades, researchers have explored ways in which teachers can introduce gender-equitable activities into the formal structure of the classroom curriculum. Peer discovery learning at activity centers is commonplace in early educational environments.

Exploring the structure and content of the activity centers through the lens of gender reveals possibilities for organizing the classroom for more cross-gender play ideas. For example, placing the teacher’s desk in close proximity to the block corner to encourage girls’ participation in block building is a strategy informed by the finding that many girls like to stay around the teacher in the early grades (Greenberg, 1985).

Further block-playing incentives include an everybody plays with blocks day every 2 weeks or a girls’only or boys only day with the block corner, the science center, or any other area that appears underutilized by girls or boys. To provide a variety of experiences for both girls and boys, teachers are encouraged to be vigilant that both girls and boys experience the sand table, water table, computer, crafts, and math centers.

Further, renaming the center for playing house or dolls as the drama center and equipping it with boys’ and girls’ clothing, construction hats and tools, puppets, and anatomically correct dolls removes the gender stereotype and encourages boys as well as girls to participate in creative role-playing. It is useful to avoid action figures and glamour dolls that reinforce anatomical stereotypes and extremes (Mullen, 1994). Vivian Gussin Paley (1993) describes the ways in which framing the early childhood context around these types of interventions enables girls and boys to broaden their experiences.

In girls-only science talks, Gallas (1994) drew out primary girls’ thinking about natural phenomena in ways that would go unexpressed in a mixed gender discussion. However, some studies reveal that when gender segregation happens without the teacher’s sanction, it can be detrimental to student learning. In a study of first graders engaged in writers’ workshop processes, conferencing about written work became divided by gender; boys excluded the girls by refusing to conference with them and girls conferenced only with girls as a way to avoid rejection (Henkin, 1995).

The boys’ literacy club was the dominant feature of this classroom, and the unspoken rule of the boys’ club was that any member had to be a boy of who the leader approved. The girls and two boys in the class were excluded. Interviews with the boys revealed that they believed the girls were simply not adequate partners, but none of the girls challenged the boys’ statements about why girls made poor conference partners. Boys deemed girls as inadequate because the girls’ interests were not in sports, inventors, or science—they only wanted to write about babies, a prince, and a princess.

These girls were only in first grade, yet they had already experienced bigotry and rejection. Henkin concludes that discrimination among students in elementary classrooms merits a closer look. Educators need to be aware of who is being included, who is being excluded, and how exclusion affects the self-concepts and literacy development of their students. In this first-grade class, little boys felt better than and superior to the girls, deeming girls’ interests as less valuable. The girls were puzzled and hurt. However, excluded boys also suffered academically and socially. The classroom dynamic that went on was unnoticed at first by the teacher; that boys conferenced only with boys and girls only with other girls was not immediately salient to the teacher-researcher.

Of significance is that the initiative of single-sex writers’ workshop conferencing was begun by the boys in this study because the girls were “simply not adequate partners” (Henkin, 1995, p. 430). At this early age, writing about babies and other so-called female writing interests was not valued by the boys, whose stories included adventure and sports. Even when girls wrote about sports, however, they were not deemed good conferencing partners.

Curriculum research in the early years points to the development of reading skills. Selection criteria for appropriate literature for young children has undergone great change as the field of gender equity in education evolved from the 1980s to the present. The advent of literature-based reading programs called into question what the children were reading.

The gender roles of literary characters have great impact on small children. Hence, gender-neutral and non-stereotyped literature choices for young children have emerged, with significant implications. Curriculum transformation work explored later in this chapter examines the importance of providing children with windows into the worlds of those different from themselves and mirrors in which students can see themselves reflected in the school curriculum while exploring the lives of others (Style, 1998).

The metaphor of curriculum as window and mirror is applicable to all disciplines and has particular significance for early childhood education, in which stories, acting, and reading aloud play central roles in the classroom discourse. How are the protagonists presented in each story and in what ways do they reinforce or depart from gender stereotypes? The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) maintains ongoing lists of appropriate children’s literature that posits both girls and boys as capable of strengths conventionally associated with the other gender (NCTE, 1995).

The importance of attending to gender-equitable early educational environments cannot be overstated. In the daily classroom interactions, teachers can challenge stereotypes about what girls and boys can and cannot do. Simple gross-motor tasks like moving a pile of books from one place in the classroom to another can be attended to by a boy, a girl, or both. Comforting a child in distress can be encouraged for the boys as well as for the girls (Chapman, 1997). What evolves as acceptable behavior for boys and girls in early years of schooling can be reinforced in later grades.

In early childhood environments, academic researchers and teacher-researchers describe gender separations that influence performance in many academic areas. The implications are often hierarchical—male interests and classroom behaviors often dominate the classroom contexts. The formal curriculum taught in the classroom comprises the guts of any school. It is the most important of the messages that we as educators send to students, parents, and ourselves about what reality is like and about what is truly worth teaching and learning (Chapman, 1997, p. 47). As we examine gender equity issues in middle and high school, the formal curriculum becomes more critical, revealing to students and their teachers what it is that is supposedly worth knowing while signaling less value to what is omitted. The omissions, called the null curriculum or the evaded curriculum, deliver powerful messages by their absences.

Gender and Identity in the Primary Grades

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Gender and Identity in the Primary Grades

“Girls are usually sitting in a tree when they are told, ‘Girls don’t climb trees’. . . Women who do not climb, literally or figuratively, come to feel it is natural to the female sex that women do not ‘climb’” (McIntosh, 2000, p. 1). This quote represents an important connection between the messages girls and boys receive about what they can and cannot do and the abilities they refine as they mature. How do teachers and the classroom climates they create encourage girls and boys to move beyond gender-stereotyped expectations and expand their abilities? This section explores the effects of sex-role stereotyping and social roles on the behavior of girls and boys in classrooms.

Bad Boys and Silent Girls
Social stereotyping and bias influence children’s self concepts and attitudes toward others. Although sweeping generalizations currently categorize the lives of little boys and little girls, this chapter seeks to highlight the tendency toward oversimplification that the field of gender equity—well-intentioned and significant—has wrought upon classroom contexts.

At age 30 months, children are learning to use gender labels (boy-girl) and by 3–5 years of age, children try to figure out if they will remain a boy or a girl or if that is subject to change. They possess internalized gender roles (Derman-Sparks, 1989) and arrive at school having already acquired a set of values, attitudes, and expectations of what girls and boys can do. Research findings reveal that teacher attitudes and interactions and the ways in which the classroom community is established can reinforce prevailing gender norms, positing masculine as opposite to feminine, or they can expand the boundaries of sex role stereotyping by providing all children with a wide range of experiences and possibilities.

We know that the differences among boys and among girls are far greater than the actual differences between the sexes (Golumbok & Fivusch, 1996). Much of what we know as gender teachings may be unnatural for individual children of either sex. For example, a very artistic boy may be discouraged from refining his talents by adults whose expectations are that as a young boy, he should be playing ball rather than drawing pictures.

Consequently, a gender agenda becomes crucial to the primary teacher as he or she sets out to actively listen to the voices of girls and boys and empower them with new possibilities. Children differentiate between appropriate behaviors for girls and boys in the areas of physical appearance, toy choices, play activities, and peer preferences (AAUW, 1993; Sadker & Sadker, 1986). Consequently, children are placed in a suboptimal position—wanting to participate in activities that they perceive they should not want because of their sex. These conflicts between personal likes and doing what they are led to think they should do need to be made visible in the primary grades and throughout schooling.

Unfortunately, much of the gender equity research has revealed that boys dominate and silence girls and that teachers collude with this agenda. This teacher collusion—allowing boys to dominate—ignores the complexities of small children’s behaviors, conflicts, and needs for acceptance. A gender agenda in a primary classroom would include using gender-inclusive language, arranging the primary classroom in a way that encourages mixed-gender play, and providing children with classroom rules that disallow exclusions by gender. For example, explicitly stating that all children can play with all toys in all activity areas and that no children may be kept from playing because of something they cannot change—such as gender, skin color, or disability are two rules that provide children with the freedom to explore all
areas and try out many different roles (Schlank & Metzger, 1997).

Karen Gallas (1998), however, in her extended classroom research work with her own first and second graders, reminds us that the construction of a gender-balanced classroom is a goal that reflects incomplete understandings of classroom life and denies the cultural dynamic of today’s classrooms (p. 3). Although proactive methods of instruction to promote gender consciousness and employ gender-neutral materials are tools that can help teachers, Gallas asserts that in fact the social climate of the classroom is highly complex and that teachers are well served by exploring the conditions within their own classrooms that promote certain social relations over others.

In other words, to be gender equitable, primary teachers need to know how the dynamics of gender identity and power relations plays out in their specific classroom contexts. There are no simple formulas for creating equitable classroom environments.

Gallas’s research presents a more complex response to creating equitable climates; she describes the underlying causes of boy dominance in her 7- and 8-year-olds and the purposes they serve for attaining power in the classroom (Gallas, 1994, 1998). Boys appear to suffer more from their early indoctrination into school structures than do girls. Sitting and listening for long periods of time is seen as possible—even easy—for girls and torture for boys. Working quietly on a project and taking turns almost seems to satisfy the girls, whereas it becomes an occasion for shouting out, pushing, or running for the boys. Gallas describes the so-called bad boys in her first- and second-grade classes as those outspoken boys who use physical and verbal intrusions in the classroom to rebel against prevailing power. She notes, as others have (Best, 1983; Paley, 1993; Sadker & Sadker, 1994), that while signaling their power, these boys are also lost to the community of learning. Boys who are more physical and verbal also tend to spend more time attempting to garner adulation from the less aggressive boys and popular girls; consequently, they pay the price of isolation from the community of the classroom.

As they [bad boys] develop and refine their ability to use language to critique, judge, and embarrass, they also disrupt instruction, intimidate classmates, and force a code of detachment on themselves that denies their potential as learners and thinkers. (Gallas, 1998, p. 35) Silence can be another way to negotiate power in the gender relations of the first-grade classroom. The gender stereotype pervading elementary school classrooms provides images of silent girls and bad boys. Boys may be quiet and shy, but they are rarely silent, whereas girls who are silent or whose voices are so low they are barely audible are not uncommon. One oversimplification of this phenomenon includes the belief that girls are silenced by the boys and somehow—if the teacher only intervenes—the girls will no longer be so quiet.

Another oversimplification describes the gendered dichotomies of classroom discourse as originating in the classroom, as though the gender relations suppress the girls’ voices. There is a lack of research on girls’ silence, and an acceptance of their silence in the early grades remains. As a result, early childhood teachers see the need to manage the boys while the girls remain compliant and quiet. Teachers do not attempt to examine the possible causes of the girls’ silences because the silences are not seen as problematic. In fact, girls’ silences serve to isolate them from a learning community and leave them out of the loop in the same way that boys’ aggression isolates boys. Some classroom researchers have observed that for girls, the shrinking from the limelight of the classroom is connected to many complex factors—not just the reluctance to call attention to themselves.

For some girls, remaining silent in the face of a classroom dynamic that includes outspoken and judgmental boys can be the only way they feel psychologically safe. Bad boys, like most children, are not naturally mean-spirited; they are experimental. They are small social scientists studying the effects of their behavior on others. (Gallas, 1998, p. 44) Hence, the status of dominance among the children often determines who gets to have public voice in the classroom.

Understanding how a child’s classroom status can determine how that child gets to dominate the public voice in the classroom allows teachers the opportunity to reflect on those who are most frequently heard in the classroom—not only as a taken-for-granted gender issue, but also through the lens of social relations within and between genders in the classrooms. Because having a public voice is important to the development of all children, studying the classroom contexts that provide or discourage opportunities for voice is a necessary prerequisite to exploring the inner lives of silent girls and mediating the behaviors of outspoken boys.

Although researchers have observed patterns of girl and boy behaviors in early childhood environments that conform to gender stereotypes (i.e., boys in the block corner, girls in the doll corner), it is necessary for the classroom teacher to interrogate those separations and actively research the underlying subtexts of the classroom environment in order to provide greater possibilities for girls and boys. Equitable environments seek to uncover the needs and social issues behind these gendered behaviors, and—rather than provide equal treatment—seek ways to encourage all children to see themselves as contributors to the classroom community. This task often requires offering different experiences to girls and boys in the effort to level the playing field for all students. Because each classroom is unique, the social relations that inform the dynamic give rise to what Gallas (1998) calls an evolving consciousness. Understanding this consciousness through the lens of gender is one way for a teacher to be an active facilitator of equitable classroom environments.