Underlying Principles and Strategies

I. Constructivism

This last point is worth repeating. A traditional approach to teaching focuses on delivering
information to students, yet constructivism argues that you cannot directly impart this information.
Only an experience can facilitate students to construct their own knowledge. Therefore, the goal of
teaching is to design these experiences.

There are many consequences for teaching and the classroom if you adhere to constructivist
principles. The following chart from the Teaching and Learning Resources wiki compares traditional
and constructivist classrooms across several components.
II. Teaching for Understanding in Mathematics Teaching

6 Ways to Help Students Understand Math

Help students better understand math by presenting multiple examples, encouraging
collaboration on alternative solutions, and framing the class with a clear agenda and
effective summary.

The ultimate goals of mathematics instruction are students understanding the

material presented, applying the skills, and recalling the concepts in the future.
There's little benefit in students recalling a formula or procedure to prepare for an
assessment tomorrow only to forget the core concept by next week. It's imperative for
teachers to focus on making sure that the students understand the material and not
just memorize the procedures.

Here are six ways to teach for understanding in the mathematics classroom:
1. Create an effective class opener.
The first five minutes of the class period set the tone for the entire lesson. Ideally,
teachers would start by sharing the agenda for the class period so that students will
know the expectations for what will be occurring. Next, teachers could post and
articulate the learning objective or essential question to the class so that students
know the purpose and, at the end of the lesson, can self -assess whether the
objective has been met for them. Finally, the opener might include one or more warm-
up problems as a way to review and assess students' prior knowledge in preparation
for exposure to the new material. This video shows a class opener for a seventh -
grade lesson on rectangular prisms:

Example of Class Opener : https://youtu.be/0ByD7aJ4UtI

2. Introduce topics using multiple representations.

The more types of representations that you can present to students addressing their
different learning styles, the more likely they will truly understand the concept being
presented. Different representations could include using manipulatives, showing a
picture, drawing out the problem, and offering a symbolic representation. For
example, when presenting linear relationships with one unknown, illustrate to
students the same problem as an equation, on a number line, in words, and with
pictures. Students who are exposed to and can recognize the same relationship
posed in the different representational modes are more likely to have conceptual
understanding of the relationship and perform better on assessments .

3. Solve the problems many ways.

In the best classroom environment, the teacher is able to show different ways to
solve the same problem and encourage the students to come up with their own
creative ways to solve them. The more strategies and approaches that students are
exposed to, the deeper their conceptual understanding of the topic becomes.
Empowering students to create their own problem-solving methods can make the
teacher nervous. What if we don't follow their logic? What if they're incorrect?
However, it's worth the risk to have them explore. After an individual, pair, or small
group of students finish solving the class problem usi ng a single method, encourage
them to look for alternate ways to come up with the same correct solution. Having
students develop their own methods and then share the correct steps with the class
is a very powerful learning experience. The video below shows how a teacher
encourages students more than one way to solve the same problem on rectangular
prisms:

https://youtu.be/PZ1qXEJyg-M

4. Show the application.

In a perfect world, we would always be able to demonstrate how every concept can
be applied to the real world -- and when that's possible, it helps improve the students'
understanding. When a concept cannot be applied in that manne r, we can still share
how it might be applied within mathematics or another subject area. Another option is
showing how the concept was developed through the history of math. Consider taking
a minute out of each lesson to show your students where or how the math can be
seen or used in life outside of the classroom.

5. Have students communicate their reasoning.

Students need to explain their reasoning when solving problems. In order for a
teacher to determine if every student truly understands the objective for the class
period, it's necessary for each student to communicate both orally and in writing. By
giving the class ten minutes to discuss their reasoning with each other while
exploring multiple ways of solving the problems, you'll promote excellent engagement
and learning. It's not always easy to get students talking in class, but there are ways
to encourage them

6. Finish class with a summary.

Everyone can get lost in the class period, and it's easy to lose track of time until the
bell rings and class is over. The final seven minutes might be the most critical in
making sure that students have understood the day's learning objective. You can use
this time to accomplish three very important things:
 • A quick formative assessment to determine how much was learned, such as students

self-rating their comfort with the concept on a 1-5 scale

• Reviewing the objective for the class period and brief discussion as to where the

lesson will go next time

• Previewing the homework together to avoid any confusion

These are just some of the activities for the close of a lesson. This video shows the
summary phase of the same lesson: https://youtu.be/jgMBq7OGi6w

III. EDGAR DALE'S CONE OF EXPERIENCE

Dale’s Cone of Experience is a visual model that is composed of eleven (11) stages starting
from concrete experiences at the bottom of the cone then it becomes more and more abstract
as it reach the peak of the cone. Also, according to Dale, the arrangement in the cone is not
based on its difficulty but rather based on abstraction and on the number of senses involved.
The experiences in each stages can be mixed and are interrelated that fosters more meaningful
learning.

According to one of the principles in the selection and use of teaching strategies, the more
senses that are involved in learning, the more and the better the learning will be but it does not
mean that concrete experience is the only effective experience that educators should use in
transferring knowledge to the learner. Like what was mentioned above, the experiences in each
stages can be mixed and are interrelated thus, a balance must be achieved between concrete
and abstract experiences in order to cater the and address all the need of the learner in all the
domains of development and in order to help each learner in their holistic development.

Moreover, the generalization about the Cone of Experience that was presented above is not
enough. Actually, we should try to go deeper in each of the component of the cone since
Educational Technology basically revolves around the Cone of Experience. By going one-by-
one, starting from concrete to abstract, we will understand more the different components of the
cone that will help us in grasping the real meaning of educational technology.

To expand on each of the components, let us begin with the Direct Purposeful Experiences.
These are first hand experiences which serve as the foundation of learning. In this level, more
senses are used in order to build up the knowledge. Also, in this level, the learner learned by
doing things by him/herself. Learning happens through actual hands-on experiences. This level
explains and proves one of the principles in the selection and use of teaching strategies, the
more senses that are involved in learning, the more and the better the learning will be. This level
also proves that educational technology is not limited to the modern gadgets and software that
are commercially available nowadays. This shows that even the simple opportunity that you give
to each child could help them learn.

The next level would be the Contrived Experiences. In this level, representative models and
mock-ups of reality are being used in order to provide an experience that as close as
reality. This level is very practical and it makes learning experience more accessible to the
learner. In this stage, it provides more concrete experiences, even if not as concrete as direct
experiences, that allows visualization that fosters better understanding of the concept.

On the other hand, the next level would be the Dramatized experiences. In this level, learners
can participate in a reconstructed experiences that could give them better understanding of the
event or of a concept. Through dramatized experiences, learners become more familiar with the
concept as they emerge themselves to the “as-if” situation.

The next level would be the Demonstrations. It is a visualize explanation of important fact, idea,
or process through the use of pictures, drawings, film and other types of media in order to
facilitate clear and effective learning. In this level, things are shown based on how they are
done.

Another level would be the Study Trips. This level extends the learning experience through
excursions and visits on the different places that are not available inside the classroom.
Through this level, the learning experience will not be limited to the classroom setting but rather
extended in a more complex environment.

The level of study trips is followed by exhibits. It is a somewhat a combination of some of the
first levels in the cone. Actually, exhibits are combination of several mock ups and models. Most
of the time, exhibits are experiences that is “for your eyes” only but some exhibits includes
sensory experiences which could be related to direct purposeful experiences. In this level,
meanings ideas ar presented to the learners in a more abstract manner. This experience
allows student to see the meaning and relevance of things based on the different pictures and
representations presented.

The next levels would be the level of television and motion pictures and sti8ll pictures,
recordings, and Radio. I decided to combine these two stages since it is re3lated to one
another. Because of the rapid development of the modern technology, a lot of people believe
that Educational technology is limited to these stages. They are not aware that these sages are
only a small portion of EdTech. For television and motion pictures, it implies values and
messages through television and films. On the other hand, still pictures, recordings and radio
are visual and auditor4y devices that can be used by a learner/group of learner that could
enhance and extend learning experience

The last two levels would be the Visual symbolic and Verbal symbolic. These two levels are the
most complex and abstract among all the components of the Cone of Experience. In the visual
symbolic level, charts, maps, graphs, and diagrams are used for abstract representations. On
the other hand, the verbal symbolic level does not involve visual representation or clues to their
meanings. Mostly, the things involved in this level are words, ideas, principles, formula, and the
likes.

After going through the different components of the Cone of Experience, it could be said that in
facilitating learning, we can use variety of materials and medium in order to maximize the
learning experience. One medium is not enough thus if we can take advantage of the other
media. There’s nothing wrong with trying to combine several medium for as long as it could
benefit the learners. Also, through the levels provided by the Cone of Experience, it could be
said that concrete experiences must be provided first in order to support abstract
learning. Lastly, staying on the concrete experiences is not even ideal because through
providing abstract experiences to the learner, the more he/she will develop his/her higher order
thinking skills which is important for more complex way of thinking and for dealing with more
complex life situations. Through understanding each component of the Cone of Experience, it
could be said that Educational Technology is not limited to the modern gadgets that we have
right now but rather it is a broad concept that includes all the media that we can use to attain
balance as we facilitate effective and meaningful learning.
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