Human

Growth & Development

Piagets cognitive theory and Lev Vygotskys social Development Theory, which are
mentioned in simplypsychology.org are two concepts about psychology and human
development that help me understand students and their growth at various stages. Piagets
Cognitive theory focuss on the concept that children think differently than adults, he broke
down his theory into four universal stages of cognitive development. Vygotsky, on the other
hand, developed the Social Development Theory. This theory stresses the fundamental role of
social interaction in the development of cognition which plays a central role in the process of
making meaning.

Simplypsychology.org/Vygotsky.html
Simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

Learning Theories
The Principles of learning; found on the Carnegie Mellon University website lists 7 basic
principles that underlie effective learning. These principles were distilled from research from
a variety of disciplines. Two that caught my eye the most were Students prior knowledge can
help or hinder learning and Students current level of development interacts with the social,
emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning. The first one means that
students are already coming into class with their own knowledge, beliefs, and attitutes from
other courses and through their daily life. This knowledge influences how the student will
take in new information. The tricky part comes when the knowledge is based on a strong
foundation of understanding or not. Being able to tap into that knowledge at the right point
and time is what will determine whether or not the student will be an active participant in the
classroom. The second learning theory calls out to the other parts that make up the student,
which are the intellectual, social, and emotional sides of them. We, as teachers, need to be
aware of this because our students are still developing their skills in these three domains. The
environment we create in our classrooms is going to be an implication on our students, to
make or break how a student will be participating.

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/learning.html

Effective Teaching
The two concepts about effective teaching that I plan to apply in my paper include the two
approaches that best support my philosophy of education and my classroom demographic,
they are: teacher-center approach and student-center approach. Teacher-centered approach
is basically direct instruction. Direct instruction refers to formal authority, being the
classroom expert, and have a personal model. Student-centered approach can be divided into
inquiry-based learning and cooperative learning. These two require a facilitator and a
delegator.

http://teach.com/what/teachers-teach/teaching-methods