EPS_340_SA-Developmental_Theory-1

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Psychology

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Dec 6, 2023

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EPS 340 Signature Assignment: Developmental Theory Instructions : Read the vignette below and then refer to the following page which lists additional instructions about how to complete the assignment. Case Study: Developmental Theory Mrs. DeAnda teaches fifth grade at Lowell Elementary School. She is teaching a new math lesson in which students are learning about mixed numbers and reducing fractions (for example, 5 4 = 1 1 4 ). Some students can use visual representations to find solutions to their math assignment, but other students are struggling to understand. Mrs. DeAnda encourages her students to use their classroom resources to help them master the content, and she notices that several struggling students go straight to the supply closet for fraction tiles so that they can use the concrete manipulatives to visualize the fractions. As she walks around the classroom watching students work on their assignment, she quietly ranks each student’s performance as: 1) needs support , 2) developing , or 3) mastered . The following day during their math lesson, Mrs. DeAnda places the students into groups that she had prepared based on their level of understanding from the previous day. Specifically, she ensured that each group was made up of students who needed support, were developing, and had mastered the prior day’s lesson. Students worked together in their groups to complete their assignment, and Mrs. DeAnda provided concrete manipulatives for students to use at their leisure. She encouraged them to use the resources available to them and to ask their peers for support and explanations before asking her. Again, Mrs. DeAnda walks around the room, interacts with each group, and takes note of which students might need more targeted one-on-one support later. She’s pleased to see that the students who mastered the content the prior day were using manipulatives and explanations to demonstrate the concepts to other students in their groups, and several students who had struggled the previous day seemed to be making significant progress. While walking around the classroom, Mrs. DeAnda overhears one student, Miyah, say to a frustrated classmate, “this used to be hard for me, too, but I’ve had a lot of practice with it already. My grandpa and I bake pies and sell them at the farmer’s market every weekend, and there are so many fractions in baking. It’s pretty easy for me now because I just imagine that I’m measuring flour or sugar, and it makes it easier to figure out.” She overhears another group discussing cheating. Marc is using his cell phone under the table, and he’s found a website calculator that will reduce the fractions for him. Ronaldo says to Marc, “Dude, you can’t do that. It’s against the rules!” Marc argues that it doesn’t matter if he breaks this rule if he understands how to do the work. Mrs. DeAnda always creates mixed-ability groups when she groups students. She doesn’t want her student to feel that they’re in “good” or “bad” groups, and she doesn’t want them competing with one another academically. She encourages them to work together, teach each other, and use any resources that are helpful to their learning. Mastering the content—that is, gaining a deep understanding and being able to use what they learn—is her main goal. Mrs. DeAnda does her best to monitor her students’ learning so that she can provide support when students struggle and celebrate their successes. She believes it’s crucial during this developmental period for her students to see themselves as academically capable and competent.
Questions: Developmental Theory Instructions : Complete your assignment on this template. After reading the vignette above, respond to the following five questions. Type your responses in complete sentences under each sub-question (e.g., you should respond to questions 1a and 1b separately). If you have questions about the assignment, please check with your instructor. 1. Piaget’s stage model. a. Identify and describe the stages most relevant to Mrs. DeAnda’s students. In my opinion, many of her students are showing development in the concrete operational stage. She offers students concrete manipulatives to use to aid their understanding, but only some of them benefit from this. The students struggle doing it on their own as well, which shows that they can’t quite turn these concrete understandings into abstract ideas and apply them accordingly. b. How does Piaget’s stage model help to explain why only some of Mrs. DeAnda’s students benefit from using concrete manipulatives to complete their fractions assignment. Only some of them benefit from the use of manipulatives because they cannot turn these concrete ideas into abstract practices that they could apply to the fraction assignment. They understand the use of the manipulatives as a way to understand the concept but to do them independently are not applicable because of their development stage. 2. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. a. Define equilibration and disequilibrium. Equilibration is the movement from balance to discomfort, essentially how new information is balanced with existing knowledge. Disequilibrium is when students come across a new situation or task that they do not understand or have never experienced before; meaning these students cannot use existing knowledge or schemas to help them in these new settings. b. Define assimilation and accommodation. How do these terms relate to equilibration and disequilibrium? Assimilation can be defined as thinking or interacting with a new object or event in a manner with currently existing schemes. Accommodation is the modifications of schemes when new information doesn’t fit. Equilibration is the process of both assimilation and accommodation, how schemas are adjusted and perceived to fit the acquiring of new information. Disequilibrium focuses on the situation or knowledge that is new and the student must assimilate or accommodate for this new information.
c. Using specific details from the case study, explain whether Miyah used assimilation or accommodation during the fractions lessons. Through Miyah’s dialogue about her grandpa and their pie making, she utilizes assimilation by fitting this new knowledge of fractions and relating it to how her and her grandpa utilize fractions when they bake pies; in measurements of ingredients, “I just imagine that I’m measuring flour or sugar, and it makes it easier to figure out” 3. Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development. a. Describe the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development is defined as the tasks that a child can complete with minimal support. b. Define scaffolding. Include its relationship to the zone of proximal development. Using specific details from the case study, describe how Mrs. DeAnda identifies her students’ zone of proximal development and the two methods that she uses to scaffold student learning during the second math lesson. Scaffolding is the way teachers remove support and guidance as their students understand and can complete the tasks independently. This doesn’t mean that the teacher is completely removed from the student’s learning, they just offer minimal support so that the student can do it themselves and be confident in that. Mrs. DeAnda identifies her students’ zone of proximal development by allowing students to utilize classroom resources during the first day. During the second math lesson, she lets the students again use the resources, however, she now split them into groups and lets them learn from their peers. This can be seen as scaffolding because she lets them utilize what they need, with minimal support, to understand what they are learning. She also encourages them to use their resources and peers before asking her for help. 4. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. a. Describe Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development. The first stage is pre-conventional , which simply means that children will follow rules to avoid punishment. The second stage is the conventional stage where children will live up to the expectations of others and fulfill their obligations. The post-conventional stage is the third and final stage where children will balance their concern for themselves as well as others based on these universal principles.
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