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Learning theories in practice/Integrative

History
The concept of integrative learning has been around for almost as long as organized education - since the era of Plato and his followers. Integrative learning is a form of alternative or progressive education that shares many philosophical viewpoints with holistic learning and interdisciplinary education. For example, both interdisciplinary education and integrative learning emphasize breaking down the walls between traditional disciplines and making connections between them, while both holistic learning and integrative learning also focus on looking at the system as a whole rather than discrete parts. Advocates of integrative learning also agree with the holistic philosophy of community and self-exploration as an important part of education. The idea has been praised by many leaders in educational theory, including John Dewey (Drake, 1998). John Dewey championed dynamic, relevant experiences to teach problem-solving using real-life skills, which is the heart of the integrated curriculum.

Defining Characteristics
The theory of integrative learning has roots in many other learning theories, among them, Situated Cognition, Constructivism, Project-Based Learning, and Multiple Intelligences. Integrative Learning distills those theories down to a few main truths. First, in order to learn, education must be student-centered and student-driven. Assignments must be relevant, both to the child, and to the world around them. There is an emphasis on exploration, real-life experiences, and hands-on projects and lastly, there are many ways to learn, and no one way is better than another.

There is a strong belief that children learn more by active experience than by memorizing and retrieving facts. They will develop language, math, and reading skills by removing the walls between subjects and making connections between them. Students will be more actively engaged with projects that use real-life situations and problem solving skills, adding a social consciousness to the process prepares the student to be an active and productive member of society in a more comprehensive way than traditional curricula. A well thought out integrated curriculum will help students develop the tools they need to approach any problem with confidence, whereas memorizing facts has extremely limited application (Beane, 1977).

Our brains do not separate facts into separate disciplines. Instead, our brain makes connections between knowledge and uses pattern-recognition to recall that knowledge. By connecting new knowledge to an existing fact or experience, we remember more effectively (Caine, 1992). The richer, more interconnected, and relevant the experience, the more the physical structure of the brain grows and develops (Caine, 1992). According to Sandra Rief (1993), research shows that “students retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say, 90% of what they say and do” (p. 53). Because of the hands-on nature of an integrated curriculum, students are more likely to retain the information being taught. Integrating curriculum is a way to utilize the natural way the brain works.

Examples
An example of an integrative learning project involving citizenship and community must first involve student interest. A teacher can encourage students to identify a problem in their community, such as an environmental issue or traffic problems that is important to the students. Once the students find a problem that speaks to their interests, they can form a plan. Perhaps they will decide to write to editors of a local newspaper, or a congressman. If they become more interested in the problem, they can collect data and create an in-depth report with charts and graphs to display their findings. In order to see action taken in the community, they may become involved in the workings of local government by contacting the relevant departments or going to a city council meeting and presenting their findings. They may even sit on a committee to monitor progress on the problem over time. The learning that occurs is directly applicable to their lives, and will develop skills they will utilize as socially aware citizens.

Students can connect with their community through projects, or they can learn traditional subjects while picking up life skills at any age. Children in preschool or kindergarten can learn the skill of knitting, which also teaches fine motor skills, colors, counting, and pattern recognition. Students of all ages can learn math skills such as measurement and geometry as well as planning and problem solving skills through quilting or carpentry. Cooking is an important life skill that can teach so many skills and can evolve as students advance through school. Math skills such as measurement, multiplication, division, and fractions are essential to cooking. Chemistry, such as how protein changes when heat is applied, or why cream increases in volume when it’s whipped, or how baking soda reacts to make baked goods rise becomes an interesting subject when food is involved. Nutrition and biology, concerning both the human body and food, for example, how yeast makes bread rise can become an offshoot of a cooking experiment. High schools students can learn the concepts of analytical geometry and physics while shooting hoops and improve both their math scores and their basketball game, or delve into the inner workings of a car and learn chemistry and physics as well as how to rebuild an engine. While studying a certain period in history, students can run calculations on population shifts or study the new technology of the era or read literature written during that time, based upon their interests. There are a variety of ways a teacher can integrate subjects in an engaging and thought-provoking way.

Reprinted with permission of designer, Steven H. Cullinane

The most important aspect for a teacher to keep in mind is to remain flexible and allow students to guide their own learning. The learning that occurs may not be directly measurable by tests. The concepts that are learned are abstract, but are also real life skills that students will carry with them throughout their lives. Learning the equation for finding the angles of a triangle is not as important in the long term as understanding how to measure triangles for real projects, such as matching angles on a picture frame built by hand or cutting triangles to the correct size to create a quilt square.

Resources for the Classroom
http://finitegeometry.org/sc/16/quiltgeometry.html

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/Sports_p010.shtml?from=Home

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/newtlaws/cci.html

http://www.quickhonda.net/exhaust.htm

Implementation
Implementing an integrated curriculum works best on a school-wide level. If just one teacher in a school is focusing on integrative learning, students may experience problems switching between styles. If the curriculum is not planned as a coherent whole, expectations may be dramatically different between grade levels and teachers (Hills,1997). Starting a program of integrative learning into a traditional school is not easy – it requires time, research, communication, and constant evaluation. There are many pitfalls that a school may encounter. Parents and administrators may be reluctant to change from a traditional curriculum and teachers may not have the training to properly integrate curricula. Administrators and teachers can participate in professional development to acquire more knowledge about integrated curriculum. Will the school day continue to be broken up into different classes with different teachers or will those classes be combined into longer periods? Do teachers work together as mentors representing different subject matter expertise for a single project, or do students have different projects from different teachers? What about students who transfer in from another school, or students who transfer out of the school; how will they fare in a new learning environment? There are many questions to consider. On top of that, there is the problem of assessment. Ideally, students from an integrative learning environment would be assessed through observation, portfolios, or demonstrations. However, in today's environment, schools must also focus on assessment through standardized tests.

Assessment
With the introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act, our country has shifted attention to standardized testing and accountability. Funding, jobs, and even the schools themselves are on the line. In order to avoid such punishments, schools nationwide are fine-tuning their curriculum. Some schools are cutting or reducing time spent on secondary subjects such as art, music, physical education, and even social studies in favor of focusing on subjects that will appear on the tests, such as math and reading (Karp, 2004).

Instead of dropping subjects such as art, physical education, music, and social studies, why not integrate the mathematics, science, and language arts into those subjects? After all, studies show that students learn best when they are engaged and interested in the material, and the more connections the brain makes between subjects, the more likely the student will remember those connections. This is an ideal way to implement a Multiple-Intelligence approach in the classroom. An integrated curriculum is a perfect way to take advantage of the way the brain works, and it meshes well with almost any topic that personally interest students.

Studies are showing that students from an integrated curriculum are scoring better than their discipline-oriented counterparts. As Vars and Beane (2000) point out, “Almost without exception, students in any type of interdisciplinary or integrative curriculum do as well as, and more often better than, students in a conventional departmentalized program.” (para. 16). These results were obtained using scores from standardized achievement tests (Vars & Beane, 2000). In another article evaluating research on interdisciplinary curriculum, it is stated that over 100 studies show the same results – the integrated curriculum students perform better than the non-integrated curriculum students (Ellis, 2001).

In a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Steve Cordogan (2001) discussed in-depth research tracking of over 400 high school students from suburban Chicago from both discipline-based and integrated curriculum programs. His research compares students on standardized test scores such as the Iowa Test of Educational Development and the ACT. Students from the interdisciplinary program scored higher on both tests (Cordogan, 2001). The study also tracked behaviors such as attendance, tardiness, and suspension. The interdisciplinary students were absent less often and had lower rates of suspension (Cordogan, 2001). Simply put, if students enjoy school, they are less likely to drop out, act out, or skip school.

Lastly, a study of two high schools in Texas - Harlandale High School in San Antonio and Bowie High School in El Paso – revealed that integrating the curriculum can raise standardized test scores. Both schools in question had a high percentage of low-income students, minorities, and students whose first language is not English (McMillian, 2001). In response to the difficulties their students had with their academics, these schools implemented an integrated mathematics curriculum. During that time, the students from Bowie High School taking the integrated course scored higher on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test than their counterparts in the traditional math class (McMillian, 2001). At Harlandale, the test scores rose over 40% during a period of five years (McMillian, 2001). In addition, in most cases, the ESL students also had improved language arts scores (McMillian, 2001).

Educational experts argue for an integrated curriculum to capitalize on the natural processes of the brain. In fact, many advocate incorporating standards into integrated curricula. Kenneth E. Vogler suggests using a proactive approach by using standards as the end point for designing a curriculum. Designing lessons around what students need to know may be a "backward design" process, but it is useful to assure that the curriculum addresses the standards while integrating various content areas (Vogler, 2003, p. 7). Vogler (2003) emphasizes involving students in the planning process, which guarantees personal relevance and can become an integrated lesson plan in itself. Not surprising, students in Vogler’s class went above and beyond the parameters of the assignment when creating their own integrated curriculum and included in-depth research on their topics and debated as a class over the merits of each proposal.

Other Benefits
Regardless of scores on standardized tests or the method teachers use to integrate standards into the curriculum, students coming from an integrated curriculum are more interested in school, and teachers feel better about the process. Teachers report feeling more control over their work, less burnout, and a feeling of “making a difference” (Cordogan, 2001). Students are less likely to drop out of school and have lower rates of absence and suspension (Cordogan, 2001). Students do not feel that school is boring and is not related to their real lives anymore. With happier students and teachers, and test scores that are better than students from a traditional school, an integrated curriculum is a win-win situation.


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Learning theories in practice/Jerome Bruner

Introduction
Perhaps being born blind is what allowed Jerome Bruner to foster such great passion for the unseen aspects of knowledge. As educators, we too enter the field quite blindly. It is not until we are fully immersed in the experience that we may truly begin to appreciate education for what it is, what it was, and what it should be. Not until then are we able to appreciate the ideas proposed by the great learning theorists who before only existed in text. To understand these theories and the concepts within on paper is a much different matter than applying it in the classroom for the benefit of the learner. It is the duty of educators to interpret and apply valuable learning theories in a manner conducive to building knowledge that is both a solid foundation for future learning and able to be practically applied in current situations. Jerome Bruner's thoughts on learning and education work well to achieve these goals. Anyone who has actually read any of Bruner's work will agree that he has a tendency to be repetitive and wordy, using the same examples in several selections - only changing one or two words to meet his needs- and devoting more time to introducing his topic than actually discussing the topic at hand. Despite the redundancy, his theories are rather applicable to learning on all levels. He writes in a comprehensible, conversational tone, and offers valuable information somewhere within a sea of personal anecdotes and obscure examples. It is in navigating those waters that some valuable tenets of his theories and the way to apply them appropriately in the classroom are lost to many. The focus here lies in exploring those obscure waters. Bruner’s concepts of scaffolding and a spiral curriculum gained great popularity early on. Most educators apply the concepts in the classroom whether or not they realize from whom it came. When it comes to learning theory, he is an eternal optimist with major influence in both cognitivism and constructivism (Wragg, 2004). Jerome Bruner offered many valuable ideas to the field of education that have infinite benefit in the classroom. The focus here lies in going beyond the popular and exposing educators to Bruner’s lesser known, but directly applicable, ideas about learning and development and how these ideas can foster growth for each child in the classroom.

Tickle, Stutter, and Stunt: Language Acquisition in Babies and Children
My undergraduate studies focused on psychology and sociology – two areas full of interesting, yet sometimes unbelievable, tidbits of information. I would often share this information with my father (a self-thought expert in any field). One finding I shared included the results of a study in which a group of psychologists postulated that tickling a baby’s feet caused stuttering and that baby talk stunts linguistic growth. My father’s response involved turning to my six month old nephew and declaring in an aristocratic voice, “Good morning, Grandson. How do you do on this fine day?” Hardly necessary, but on the right path. How exactly should we speak to our children to ensure proper development? In a world based on perception, the ability to speak well correlates directly to intelligence. Bruner answers the question of how we can directly influence positive language acquisition in babies and children. The use of language to organize thoughts begins early on in life. Unlike Chomsky, Bruner (1983) denies a complete, innate language system and instead asserts that the mother takes a vital stance in language acquisition. (Although Bruner identifies the mother’s role in language acquisition, I assume that he understands either parent can play an essential part.) In Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Bruner (1986) speaks of the inspiration of Lev Vygotsky in his theory of language acquisition. He supposes that language acquisition provides the first example of working within a zone of proximal development. The mother follows a specific speech pattern with four distinct types of statements which he labels: vocative (“Look at this.”), query (“What’s that?”), label (“It’s a ducky.”), and confirmation (“That’s right.”). Each time the mother receives an acceptable response, she raises her expectations. The child is accomplishing several tasks: categorizing objects, organizing thoughts, and building linguistic skills. Bruner (1983) specifies that the mother “fine-tunes speech by raising the level of complexity to match that of the child” (p. 61). Baby talk keeps the child engaged, but it must increasingly develop into models of appropriate, grammatically correct speech as the child matures. After all, who enjoys speaking to an adult that still refers to the office aquarium as ‘the fishy’s house’? Bruner believes that language is an integral part of cognitive development (Ellis, 2005). A mature and extensive lexicon suggests deeper levels of intelligence.

Practical Teaching Tips for Successful Language Acquisition
Someone decided once that it would be a good idea to let me teach young children. Prior to that experience, I had only taught language arts to teenagers and ‘tweens,’ but I took on the position of first grade teacher with hopeful optimism. I taught a self-contained, English as a Second Language class with a small number of inclusion students. (Inclusion students have a learning disability, physical disability, emotional disability, or a combination thereof, and special education status but learn in a classroom with regular education students.) The curriculum centered on a direct instruction reading program and primarily constructivist methods for teaching math. I entered that classroom not really knowing what to expect, but left with a far greater understanding of the power adults hold in shaping a child’s development. I noticed them acting like me, talking like me, and trying to write like me. In the classroom, you are the model for everything that a child does – everything. A large part of that is language development, especially in the English as a Second Language or Bilingual classroom. In order to promote successful language acquisition, I offer the following advice:

1.	When correcting a child’s improper speech, simply follow their statement with the correct speech pattern. Children lack rules of syntax for spoken and written language. Hearing you say something the proper way provides an appropriate example that they can follow. Usually they will repeat the statement properly after listening to you. Never reprimand them in a harsh or negative tone. Doing so will only make them feel like they’ve done something wrong, and they will eventually stop trying.

2.	Incorporate educational vocabulary into each lesson. Your instruction should be taught in understandable language, but incorporating vocabulary from the curriculum encourages the child to develop and impresses the boss. I taught first grade at a magnet school for engineering where all children grades K through four were expected to be learning soldiers. We all had a mission to impress the “visitors” (i.e. the people that give the school money). Part of that mission included my first graders explaining to whoever came into the classroom exactly what their learning objective entailed – using the correct terms for instruction. At first, I detested the idea, but ultimately I saw how it helped them both understand the concept and expand their vocabulary. “Cutesy” phrases abound in elementary education; however, relying solely on these in education is doing your students a disservice. For example, when I taught regrouping in addition and subtraction, we used a metaphor for instruction in which the numbers stood for people in houses. Sometimes there was no room in the house. Sometimes they had to borrow from the neighbors. All this worked well for making them understand, but at the end of the day, they could tell the “visitors” that they were using regrouping to solve addition and subtraction facts. Because they knew the exact skill they were learning, they could identify when they needed to use it again. This especially came in handy when they completed benchmark exams. When assessing students, from district wide benchmark exams to high stakes testing, a universal lexicon is used. These tests are centered on specific skills and the vocabulary related to those skills. You should prepare your students in a way that they could leave your classroom, leave the school, or even leave the state, and be able to accomplish the same learning objective. This is done by incorporating a common, advanced vocabulary into daily instruction. The exposure provides a solid foundation for scaffolding education.

3.	Use “big” words in daily activities. Your students’ abilities to use context clues to figure words out might surprise you. Remember they model their speech after you, especially children who have no English speaking family at home. Give their jobs real-world names. For example, some jobs in my classroom included librarian, custodian, and sanitation expert (we used a lot of soap and Germ-X). An added bonus is the boost in self-esteem they get by feeling like they have an important position in the class. When disciplining using “big” words also makes them feel like responsible, mature students. Instead of good or bad, we either make smart decisions or poor decisions. Furthermore, when we have made a poor choice, we explain why that choice was poor. Although you may not realize it at the time, the words you choose to model and providing opportunities for verbal reflection directly impact their linguistic growth.

4.	Speak softly, and carry a big… sticker book. Bruner has his own opinions about doing things for extrinsic rewards, but I am a firm believer that you can get a child to do anything for a sticker. Reward their linguistic achievements, and they will continue to work hard.

Let the Good Times Roll: The Purpose of Play
I am an active believer in finding teachable moments because learning occurs both inside and outside the classroom. Recess is a vital – yes vital – part of the school day for young children, and every child must have opportunities to play. I bring my tennis shoes to run relays with my class at recess and always demand color and pizzazz for work posted on my bulletin board. I can be that teacher because despite all my seemingly outrageous antics, my students produce scores that administrators like to see. I value good teaching methods and incorporate a variety of ideas into my instruction, but ultimately I believe that my students succeed because above all of that I offer them a safe, friendly, creative place to learn free from stress and problems that young minds need not worry about. Every educator should view his or her job as an opportunity to make someone (at any age) realize that learning is fun. A good teacher never uses writing as punishment, and play can promote both social and intellectual development. One way in which children acquire language and syntactic skill is through play (Collier, 1979). The formation of rules for games and the script formation that occurs in pretend activities allow children practice with the basic structure of spoken language in a creative, stress free environment. This type of environment proves most conducive to learning on all levels. Play serves several functions: socialization, therapy, and real-world practice of adult life (Bruner, 1983). When involved in play activities, children speak freely without grammatical rules or real-world restrictions. This form of open dialogue stimulates language development by encouraging creativity. The ability to create a sentence which will lead to the creation of more sentences is more important than the ability to name the grammatical elements (Bruner, 1960). Children should have unrestricted opportunities to “play around with thinking” without fear of correction (p. 95). Feelings of frustration emerge when an adult continuously judges and corrects their speech which may in turn stifle their development. Why try when nothing is ever right? Play in a learning task allows children to come up with creative solutions with less inhibition – inhibition that might normally emerge from feelings of frustration or inflexibility. Children enjoy freedom of play in the absence of adults who impose strict, logical rules. To a child, rules matter, but they do not necessarily have to make sense to outsiders. Adults should not “engineer children’s play,” and an adult’s duty lies in “shaping environments in which children can more fully and fairly play” (p. 64). Children maintain the “longest and richest sequences of play” when constructing something because they gain a sense of satisfaction from visual progress (p. 96). It is important to provide opportunities for hands-on activities and the use of manipulatives. Students must play an active role in the learning process for it to have meaning and direction. Bruner also suggests that children play longer in pairs than in groups or alone (p. 63). One is not enough, three is a crowd, but two is just right – perhaps Bruner supports a Goldilocks theory of play.

Practical Teaching Tips for Effective Play
A classroom should provide spaces and materials that foster creativity for children playing or working alone or in groups. Instead of focusing on individual assignments or group work, teachers should create partner activities. If children play more efficiently in pairs, I would venture to say that they work more efficiently this way as well. Partner work is one way to sustain a student’s interest in an activity because they are neither unmotivated working alone or disrupted by poor group dynamics. Following partner work with verbal or written reflection solidifies the knowledge gained. The teacher regulates activities by keeping students focused on meaningful conversations and providing reassurance. Allow your children opportunities to develop creativity. When feeling stuck for an idea, speak to your students. Sometimes they have awesome ideas that adults may never think of. My students’ methods for practicing spelling words come to mind. Both my middle school and elementary students would come up with the best ways to practice their spelling words, and they work! They use magnetic letters, erasable white boards, and, of course, friendly competition. Their games were simple, fair, and usually more effective than copying the week’s spelling list three times each. Your role in this situation becomes friendly referee, and you have one main task: keep everyone involved. Never allow a game in which someone loses because of a mistake. Let them come up with the rules and then base the game on points. Correct answers earn points, and incorrect answers earn neither points nor penalties. Game points are converted to bonus points on the spelling test. For example, the top scorer earns ten bonus points, and the low scorer earns one bonus point. This type of game play fosters creativity and has an educational focus.

Working in the Learning Factory: The Nature of Knowledge
The primary goal for all educators lies in teaching someone to learn how to think. When reading a short story from a text book, the focus should be on using context clues, making inferences, drawing conclusions, and making predictions. Characters, setting, and plot are merely devices the teacher may use to build higher-order thinking skills. My concern is not which Pevensie child stepped through the wardrobe and discovered Narnia first. It is how her actions affected the other children and predicting what action might follow. I am not dismissing the importance of the content of a specific subject area; instead I suggest using the content to build active minds. An emphasis on metacognition and personal reflection encourages active learning and intellectual development. Bruner (1960) suggests focusing on the structure of a subject rather than specific details. Understanding the structure of a subject indicates knowledge of how things are related. There exist two kinds of teaching (Bruner, 1962). In expository teaching, the student maintains a passive role while the instructor takes the lead in determining the method and pacing of instruction. In hypothetical teaching, the teacher and student work together. The second approach proves most effective for students regarding the acquisition and retention of knowledge. The ‘guide on the side’ constructivist method of teaching allows the student to take control of their learning and develop an interest in knowledge acquisition. Jerome Bruner lives his life in a constant search for knowledge. Since adolescence, he has demonstrated interested in not only learning about whatever he could find in his father’s Encyclopedia Britannica but also learning about how one comes to know anything at all – a self proclaimed “wandering intellectual” (Bruner, 1983, p. 7). He embraces both cognitivist and constructivist viewpoints depending on the subject at hand. Placing any of his ideas into distinct categories proves almost impossible, as his theory develops much like a spider web: interwoven, intricate threads held strong as one. So how does such a connoisseur of knowledge define the matter? In his work On Knowing, Bruner (1962) defines knowledge as a “model we construct to give meaning and structure to regularities in experience” (p. 120). The world constantly evolves, and one must adapt to the changing environment through the process of learning. Acquiring and adapting knowledge serves the purpose of making sense of the world. Past conceptions, once adequate and appropriate for the student’s perceived reality, become replaced by original conceptions that better fit the present mold. Bruner states that “to understand something is to give up some other way of conceiving it” (p. 123). In turn, the education system functions as a sort of learning factory in which one systematically and categorically processes thoughts to yield current, intelligent products.

Practical Teaching Tips for Promoting Knowledge Acquisition
One way to build an interest in learning is through innovative and exciting anticipatory sets. This is the portion of the lesson in which the teacher gains the students’ attention by illuminating some aspect of the day’s lesson. Today’s fast paced, technological world has resulted in a need for visual stimulation. A method I like to use involves incorporating video or animation. Several websites exist with readymade videos and animations that will spark you students’ interests. The important thing to remember here is that the anticipatory set is just that – anticipatory. That means that your videos and animations should be short and to the point. Anything ten minutes or more and your students will lose focus on what they are about to learn. They will most likely go into the “free day” mode of thinking – exactly the opposite of what you intended by using the media in the first place. I suggest clips that last no more than five minutes. For example, when introducing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, I incorporate a short video clip detailing The Blitz occurring in London at the time of the Pevensie children’s evacuation. This short clip sets up the historical context in a shorter amount of time and with much greater detail than I could ever come up with on my own. Using multimedia in the classroom should always serve a purpose like this. The focus is on gaining interest, not giving the teacher five minutes to check messages. Remember a teacher serves as a model for learning every second of the school day. If you expect the students to watch and pay attention, then you must model that behavior as well. Another method for encouraging an interest in learning includes sharing your interests in learning with the students. What are your interests? How do you go about pursuing them? My students always know when I am in school because when I learn something interesting, I share it with them. In my experience, this practice has had the effect of making my students realize that learning can be enjoyable and interesting. Many students have low aspirations for a college education, and as educators we should do everything we can to encourage them to continue their education beyond high school.

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
I would like to conclude with what is perhaps Bruner’s most contested notion: the proposition that any subject “can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development” (Bruner, 1960). The idea is highly misinterpreted, and I will attempt to shed some light on the theory. Ultimately, an honest form just means that it is on the student’s intellectual level. Bruner does not intend to suggest that first graders will be solving algebraic functions or calculating the force of gravity. Instead, they might drop objects from the counter and make observations about how long it took the object to fall or if a heavier object fell faster. In both cases, the student is learning about gravity. The difference lies solely in the level of complexity. The theory goes back to the proposal that teachers should focus on the structure of the subject. The underlying structures of basic subjects can be “as simple as they are powerful” (p. 13). Ausubel suggests that there is a loss of “intellectual enthusiasm” as students progress through formal education (1962). Therefore, it is essential to engage students early and often to create active learners who value knowledge and education. Jerome Bruner proposes many significant theories about learning and the education system. His most beneficial ideas warrant discussion and application. I encourage educators to go beyond scaffolding and the spiral curriculum and recognize Bruner’s main interest: developing young minds with an avid interest in learning beyond the classroom and throughout life.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Learning theories in practice/Language learning

INTRODUCTION
In the past, I have seen some of my students in my EFL classes not even know the reasons why they have to study English. This lack of understanding is due, in part, to the fact that most Korean parents are passionate and eager to provide their children with better learning conditions, such as private tutors and private language schools in addition to mandatory public schools. Consequently, those parents are likely to be forceful to make their children study English and never sit down and discuss why English is really a vital skill in this world. This situation within language learning too often results in ineffective learning outcomes. In general, in all kinds of learning, a positive attitude and motivation or drive to excel are fundamental factors which a learner should maintain in a learning process. Motivation provides the intrinsic power to make a learner keep learning and to push himself toward learning success. Foreign language learning especially demands an attitude of persistence and effort much more than any other field of study because second language learning takes extensive time and is a highly demanding task. But is it the learner’s responsibility to keep a highly motivational attitude? Under present circumstances in Korea, a teacher should also be eager to put his or her students in a self-regulatory leaning environment as well as to provide linguistic information.

Application of ARCS into ESL/EFL
There are many frameworks and guidelines for language learning, one of which is the ARCS model which incorporates motivational factors. In considering four conditions for motivation, which Keller (1983) proposed, ARCS can be applied to an ESL/EFL setting. ARCS is an acronym which stands for attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. In this chapter, I attempt to apply these four strategies for stimulating motivation into foreign language learning. The four strategies are gaining and sustaining attention, enhancing relevance, building confidence, and generating satisfaction.

Gaining and sustaining attention
Firstly, in regards to gaining learner’s attention, Keller (1983) suggested three subcategories of attention including perceptual arousal, inquiry arousal, and variability. Teachers can arouse learners’ attention by stimulating learner’s multisensory perceptions. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) provides teachers with opportunities to exploit hypertext, hyperlinks, and multimedia on the web. The CALL has been one of the most widely-used supplemental instruction methods in parallel to the development of computer technology. For example, students who do not know some vocabulary meaning in a reading class can click the hyperlinked word for the meaning. For further explanations, teachers use Google images or video clips for the audio-visualized supplementary resources. In my experience, I have used some pictures on the Internet for the grammar instruction of comparatives and superlatives because grammar books I used were relatively short of visual aids. I collected various food images by using Google image search tool. Those items should be unfamiliar in their first language (i.e. L1) culture, such as lasagnas, risottos, etc. I showed them to children with brief explanation about each food, and then they made a food list in their most favorite order. Students then became familiar with the usage of the comparatives and superlative forms by peer comparison among the foods in their list.

Furthermore, a teacher has to try to boost L2 interests by using various anecdotes and real life examples. For example, sometimes I found some students could not be interested in the reading comprehension class because most stories and reading materials were made in the second language (i.e. L2) culture. So, they thought it was another world which was different from ours. Because of this, I used the national English newspaper, ‘Korea Times,’ which was replete with authentic stories in Korea. They could learn new words and basic grammar as well as reading comprehension through a worksheet which included explanations and quizzes. Through such resources, students can encode their L1’s cultural events in English easily.

Various cultural knowledge of the target language can influence a learner’s motivation. Gardner pointed out the factors related to early formulation of L2 motivation. One of the key factors is the integrative orientation. Integrative orientations defined as a desire to learn the L2 in order to lave contact with, and perhaps to identify with, members from the L2 community. One of the ways to gain learner’s cultural attention is the exposure to the target culture. When a student is exposed in the target culture, he or she gets the attention from it. The exposure increases the familiarity and, simultaneously, decreases the cultural gap between two cultures.

It is extremely important to help students have a more positive attitude or opinion towards the target culture. When a teacher focuses on the cultural differences between two cultures, they may be reluctant to acknowledge the target culture. Consequently, this can inhibit them from learning the target language. When I worked in a language school, one of my American colleagues honestly told me that he did not like Kimchi(Korean traditional food). Nevertheless, in his class, he always told his students that he really liked it. He said that it was very helpful way for students to open their mind to the English culture and make them think that American is not different from us. This kind of building the cultural homogeneity is a tool for cultural scaffolding in order to gain learners’ attention. Thus, teachers should not choose materials like a tour book which is full of information of just target culture, but choose materials which include cross-cultural aspects through comparison and observing between L1 and L2 cultures. The friendly attitude toward the target culture is one of the important factors to increase the desire to study the target language, as well as linguistic domains.

It seems that it is not so easy for learners living in non-English using countries to be immersed in the L2 culture. However, one of the examples can be ‘Keypal’. This is the same as the pen pal, except for using email instead of paper letters. Choi and Nesi (1998) reported that both teachers felt that the keypal offered unexpected benefits for their students. The Slovakian teacher stated that the children had learnt a lot of English, and that they had found the project was very motivating. The Korean teacher reported great enthusiasm on the part of her class: `Every Monday, I was busy with my children asking for their messages from their friends. They followed me to the washroom. They seemed very happy during the project. And, Shrum and Glisan (2000) also reported some positive effects of using "keypal" I am sure that it is really helpful for English learners to keep them in a highly motivating learning condition.

Even though it seems that composing email focuses on the ability to write and read, teachers can use it in other sections such as listening and speaking. For example, a teacher assigns peer groups for editing their draft writings before emailing it to their friends. Additionally, each student can read aloud the email they got to peers in class. This activity can be helpful for learning pronunciations and better speaking ability, at the same time, peers in class can build up their listening ability by listening to the reading. Furthermore, I am not sure if ‘chatpal’ has been used in language teaching, however, online voice chatting is another trend in computer-mediated communication. So, if it is applicable in language teaching, it will be able to back up the benefit of a communicative factor, in addition to the keypal’s reading and writing ability.

Enhancing relevance
Secondly, teachers improve the relevance of a task for learners through personalizing the goals. The subcategories of relevance are goal orientation, motive matching, and familiarity. Learners personalize their goals as well as the process of setting goals when their learning task and environment is active and engaging. Gardner also defines the instrumental orientation as a desire to learn the L2 to achieve some practical goal. For example, the integration of fields of studying is an effective method such as teaching listening skills in a grammar class. When the speaking proficiency is a student’s goal, the student can place a weight on communicative and colloquial studying.

I have seen some of my students with huge gaps among their language skills. For instance, one of my students had excellent grammar skills; however, her listening skills were at a beginner level. Other students often asked her grammar questions if they could not understand. She said the reason was that she liked English grammar and did well at it was because it was similar to math rules. Because of her grammar skills, she felt bored in some of the grammar classes. Classes involving listening were those that she did not like the most. In response, I changed the way of I taught grammar. For instance, I gave students a grammar quiz while reading questions aloud, as opposed to paper-based tests. The questions often involved choosing a sentence that was grammatically right or wrong. Consequently, this activity turned out to be highly successful. The same student then had to listen when in the listening class in order to get a good score in the grammar class.

Additionally, according to the Keller model, a teacher should inform the students of objectives. When the learners become aware of the objectives, they expect the successful result of the contents of the class. Wilga Rivers (1964) argues that readiness or a psychological "set" to learn as well as anxiety reduction are crucial elements of motivation. To establish readiness and set to learn, the goals, objectives, and methods of learning must be clearly spelled out and discussed with students. To inform students of the objectives is like showing them a route to the final destination of the class. When they are familiar with the purpose and goals of the lesson, they anticipate the class activities and expect successful outcomes. For example, the objective of a grammar class is for students to apply the gerund rules in everyday conversations. Learners can then form beliefs related to their successful results through the objectives.

Building confidence
Thirdly, in the ARCS model, self-efficacy or confidence in learning is one of the most important factors to make learners engage in learning. Such confidence relates to the learning requirement, success opportunities, and personal responsibility. A teacher should inform students of all performance requirements. Such information can facilitate students’ goal setting process and provide them with a set of standards they should follow.

Self –efficacy is not fixed but can be strengthened or lessened. Bandura (1982, 1997) suggested four principal sources which may influence the development of self-efficacy. (1) Enactive Mastery Experiences. (2)Vicarious Experiences. (3) Verbal Persuasion (4) Physiological States (Driscoll, 2000)

Enactive Mastery Instructors can use this strategy to help students to recall their previous successful experiences or help students to complete a relatively simple tasks in order to enhance their confidence. With the belief that "I can make it,” students will try their best and have better performance on their tasks.

Vicarious Experiences Instructors provide some successful models for students to observe and learn from those models. Besides, it’s better to provide divers models for learners so that they can find the one whose learning experience is more similar to theirs.

Verbal Persuasion Instructors provide on-time encouragement by saying “good job!,” “well done,” “perfect, ” and so on. With positive feedback, self-efficacy can be enhanced so that learners are willing to make more efforts on their learning tasks.

Physiological States Finally, one’s sensation under some specific circumstance can also affect his/her self-efficacy.That is,one's internal and postive feelings can convince one's will to achieve success.

For example, in the first class of a semester, a teacher introduces the overall information of the students. In addition, a teacher should provide them with opportunities through meaningful tasks for building their self-efficacy. The interaction among peers is the optimal conditions for building self-efficacy. Successful cultural assimilation activities with peers facilitate learners to acquire a second language in a motivational way.

In my experience, a major holiday party could turn out to be positive response from language learners in a beginner level. For example, in preparing a Halloween party, they had the basic history of the party. They also could be immersed in the target culture through participation, such as dressing up, the wearing of masks, and practicing 'trick or treat' After this activity, students could internalize their learning tasks. In addition, their successful activities resulted in higher self-efficacy on other related tasks, such as reading, listening, and writing about the same topic, Halloween.

For another example of the peer interaction, learners can build their speaking confidence by participating in a role-play activity. Here, each learner makes an effort to practice and memorize their parts of a dialogue. The repeated practice improves the learner’s pronunciation and any counterparts in the room enhance their listening ability. For example, the performance activity like role-play or drama performance is highly beneficial. It is multi-tasking process for improving oral competency.

Perhaps it is a tough job for learners to make scripts or scenarios by themselves. So, it is reasonable to use prior works such as a 'Christmas Carol'. Initially, some students try to memorize their part, even without full understanding; however, they can fully understand the meaning through repeating memorization and one of the facial or physical of the original works. The original or existing video materials can play a modeling role for students' enhancing oral proficiency. Students can feel the satisfaction with their work in comparison to the original work: pronunciations, physical gestures, and speaking speed, etc.

The peer feedback activity also keeps the balance between competition and collaboration. For instance, the peer review of writing is the opportunity for giving or receiving advice from the peers. In addition, when the learner finds better writing than his writing, the spurring moment makes learners push themselves into the learning process. The balance between competition and collaboration plays a role of a bridge connecting the feedback activity and self confidence. Moderate competition generates a challenging opportunity for a learner. In spite of the fact that the outcome of competition is generally labeling learners as a winner or a loser, collaboration can possibly make all learners winners. In some sense, the true meaning of the competition is not a competition among peers but a competition with oneself. When a student feels frustrated to her uncompleted task, peer members can help her get to the goal line. It is another way of building self-confidence through collaboration, as well as through an independent achievement of an individual.

Finally, teachers should not only challenge learners but also provide the chance of success for learners to experience so that learners' confidence is built.

Generating satisfaction
Finally, the subcategories of satisfaction are intrinsic reinforcement, extrinsic rewards, and equity. Teachers should make learners feel the self-achievement or satisfaction when completing a task successfully. Learners can enhance their sense of self-achievement by participating in real life situations and activities. In other words, the learners’ intrinsic reinforcement comes from real life tasks. For example, when a learner gets an email reply from a foreign friend, a writing class becomes the practical information to the learner. Teacher should give students real-life tasks like shopping, making a call, and asking for direction. These tasks provide language learning students with opportunities to practice their language learning in the class. The real life exercises result in the strong self-achievement of learners.

Additionally, visualizing or charting percentile level progress monitoring can be an example of extrinsic rewards. Bar-charts or percentile of degree of completeness makes students realize their language level progress easily. With self-monitoring, they identify and judge their level of proficiency progress. For instance, line charts showing students’ level of progress can influence the students with high achievement so that they feel the satisfaction of their behavior. In the case of students with low achievement, this chart can be a turning point and provide them with a spurring momentum for their next studying efforts.

Furthermore, teachers should be aware of learner’s personal attitude such as persistence of learning and then adapt the instructional standards to their types of characteristics. Learners feel the self-achievement or satisfaction when they believe their actions will result in successfully completing challenging tasks. Teacher’s awareness of student’s attitude is related to the degree of task demand. According to Locke and Latham (1990, 1994), they reported that setting more difficult or challenging goals results in higher levels of achievement. However, Atkinson’s(1957) principle of motivation predicts that learners will be most motivated by learning activities and assignments when the level of challenge is moderate. In other words, if a student does give up a task easily, a teacher should make the task more less challenging. This means that ESL teachers should consider students’ personal characteristics, not to mention the level of language proficiency.

CONCLUSION
I happened to visit a blog of a high school student in Korea. He wrote about his thoughts related to a boring class in a short paragraph. The title was ‘Why do students sleep in class?’ He also defined the sleeping in class as the final phase of students’ unwillingness to study. In other words, they sleep when they do not think the class can elicit their learning motivation and inquiry. Considering student’s thoughts related to boring classes, teachers have a responsibility for not making them yawn in class. Certainly, no teacher wants her students to be bored in her classes however; the more important thing in teaching is that teachers do not focus on how much they teach but how well they teach. The effectiveness of language learning results from the students’ eagerness to study it. Language learning is not a one-day project, but requires learners’ endless efforts. The power to keep their learning efforts longer depends on the stimulation of motivation in language learning. Thus, teachers should be eager to get familiar with various motivational strategies and to apply them in class. No matter what kinds of field of study, learner’s motivation in studying should be preceded before the application of learning theory.


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Learning theories in practice/Motivation

Motivation and Learning
Compared to the researchers of behaviorism and cognition, who put their attentions on learners’ behavior and the process of learning; I am more interested in “what motivates people to learn new things?” From my point of view, I think this question will help me to build and examine my own teaching theory from students’ perspective.

My final paper will contain the basic theory about motivation and learning. I also tried to connect motivation, creative teaching and meaningful learning together, because there is no perfect theory and each teaching theory or strategy has its own benefit. I think creative teaching is one of the strategies which can motive students to learn. Once students’ intrinsic motivation has been summoned, learning can be meaningful. I believe that true learning appears only when learners are learning by heart. I may discuss some strategies for arising students’ motivations from the sources I have collected, and examine the strengths and weakness of these strategies while implemented in the real classroom environment. My final paper will also contain the real experience which I have experienced in Taiwan.

Creative Teaching, Learning Motivation, and Meaningful Learning

Scenario 1- Financial Class

Miss Lee is a finance professor who used to teach in the finance department in my university. This year she was assigned to teach students in the English department basic financial concepts. The students in the English department, lacking a financial background, sometimes found it difficult to understand the concepts.

To build an understanding of “capitalism” and “monopoly,” Miss Lee divided the students into different groups and allowed students to play the board game called “MONOPOLY.” All of the students were extremely excited. After they had the winner of each group, Miss Lee asked them to share their strategies for winning the game. Jack answered, “The more land you have, the more possibility to win the game, but you need to have enough assets to buy land first.” Mary responded, “The rich will become richer while the poor will become poorer.” Now, Miss Lee was satisfied, because these students had a grasp on the ideas of capitalism and monopoly. In the second period, she started to lecture on the chapter of capitalism. At the end of the second period, Miss Lee assigned two tasks for next class. She asked all students to write down the connection between the board game and the capitalism chapter, and also give an example of capitalism in the real situation.

Scenario 2- English conversation class

Mrs. Sarah has been teaching English conversation classes at the beginning level for many years. This year she was assigned to teach in the advanced level class. Instead of drill conversation practices, Mrs. Sarah gave the class instructions for next time. She stated, “Next Monday, we are going to discuss hunting legality. We will have a mock trial which contains judges, attorneys, witness and so on. Everyone should take a role in the mock trail.” Before the end of the class, each student had taken one of the roles. During the next week, students had to find some helpful evidence, such as statistics and resources for their position either for or against hunting. Though it was a tough assignment, after finishing the Monday class, students found it interesting and better than just the ordinary drill conversation practices. During the activity, they learned different aspects about hunting legality and the skills necessary to negotiate and question others. This topic became relevant as they were able to see that such skills are helpful in their daily lives.

INTRODUCTION
Motivation, meaningful learning, and creative teaching are usually discussed separately, but actually they are all teaching strategies. After learning so many theories and teaching strategies, I argue that there is no perfect theory to meet each individual learner’s needs. However, we can take strengths from various theories and have them maximize the effectives.

For the cognitivst, the study of learning theory focuses on “How” learning occurs. That is the process of learning. However, for behaviorists, they are more interested in “What” stimulates learning. In this chapter, I make a link among three key strategies and approaches. In effect, the basic elements covered here all contribute to successful student achievement. From my point of view, motivation is the most important factor for learning. According to the on-line Cambridge advanced learner’s Dictionary, the definition of motivation is, first, “enthusiasm;” second, it is the need or reason for doing something. These definitions foretell some characteristics of motivation: negative and positive motivational forces, intrinsic and extrinsic motivational forces, internal and external control over one’s tasks and activities, etc.

Figure 1 below illustrates my viewpoint that there are three major elements of the learning process; namely, (1) creative teaching, (2) meaningful learning, and (3) learning motivation. These three major elements should be discussed together. If one of them is absent, the learning process will likely be significantly impeded.

'''Figure 1. Three major elements in the learning process'''

KNOWLEDGE OF CREATIVE TEACHING
Before creative teaching, we need to define what creativity is. Creativity from different perspectives has different definitions; whereas most definitions share two major characteristics: (1) novelty and (2) appropriateness. (Starko, 2005).

To be creative, one’s idea or products must be novel or original. Edison successfully invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, is the first one who thought the earth should be spherical not a flat object. These ideas and products were new at the time. In other words,” To be creative, an idea or product must be new.”

The other characteristic is appropriateness. Starko suggested that “One important factor in determining appropriateness is the cultural context in which the creativity is based.” In other words, the appropriateness of creativity depends on the environment. For example,language appropriateness- people speak differently to different people, on different occasions. Pablo Picasso, Cubism artist, whose works were considered to be nonsense in 19 century are considered to be the masterpieces now. Therefore, we can say the appropriateness may change; it is flexible rather then fixed.

The purpose for creative teaching is to create a joyful learning environment. By using innovative teaching methods, instructors will be more easily to draw learners’ attention or to bring out learners’ learning motivation.

Quotations about motivation

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”(Albert Einstein, 1879-1955)

“Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you.” (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948)]

KNOWLEDGE OF LEARNING MOTIVATION
In the early days, behaviorists, like B.F. Skinner, assumed that learning occurred when learners accept outside stimuli and elicit responses. However, later researchers found that the learning process is more complex and constructive than previously thought. “Motivation,” according to Pintrich and Schunk (1996), “refer[s] to the process whereby goal-directed behavior is instigated and sustained.”

Motivational forces are generally divided into two groups.

1.Positive/ Negative Motivational Forces

People are stimulated by positive motivational forces such as curiosity and making their own decision to do something or controlling their own learning. In contrast, people are also stimulated by negative motivational forces, such as fear. In other words, one is voluntarily, and the other one is involuntarily. For example, in fear of tests or quizzes, students will study hard to avoid negative consequences. To satisfy curiosity about a butterfly’s metamorphosis, students’ may spontaneously search for some useful information to solve their questions. Such activities would be a personally meaningful and positive force.

2.Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivational Forces

Intrinsic motivation is defined as a kind of motivation which drives people to do something but asks for no tangible rewards. On the contrary, extrinsic motivation is defined as a kind of motivation which drives people to do something by expecting some tangible rewards.

As noted in Table 1, Malone and Lepper (1997) integrated much researches and proposed several key factors to promote intrinsic motivation.

'''Table 1. Intrinsic motivational factors (Malone & Lepper, 1987).''' Source from: http://education.calumet.purdue.edu/vockell/EdPsyBook/Edpsy5/Edpsy5_intrinsic.htm

Quotations about motivation

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."(Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882)

“Motivation is not only important because it is a necessary causal factor of learning, but because it mediates learning and is a consequence of learning as well.” (R. J. Wlodkowski, 1985. p. 4).

"Motivation is this energy to study, to learn and achieve and to maintain these positive behaviors over time. Motivation is what stimulates students to acquire, transform and use knowledge." (Groccia, 1992, p. 62).

KNOWLEDGE OF MEANINGFUL LEARNING
David Ausubel (1978) proposed a theory of meaningful reception learning. In his view, learners have to relate the potentially meaningful learning materials to their prior knowledge. Meaningful learning theory suggests that to make learning meaningful, we need to internalize the information we initially learned, and later used in practice. There are three essential conditions to meaningful learning (Driscoll, 2002):

 * Learner must employ a meaningful learning set to any learning task.
 * The material to be learned must be potentially meaningful.
 * What learners already know and how that knowledge relates to what they are asked to learn.

Therefore, knowledge cannot be transmitted from the teachers; rather, learners construct their knowledge when trying to make sense of their experiences based on existing knowledge. In addition, learning materials should be authentic and can be found in real-world situation. However, Ausubel believed that meaningful reception learning occurs when teachers employ expository teaching, transmitting the “Anchoring ideas” which help the learners build the required cognitive structure for assimilating new information that is potentially meaningful. In this way, learners do not need to organize new information or figure out the relationship between the new and existing experiences, which takes place in discovery learning.

Process of Meaningful Learning

Based on Ausubel’s process of meaningful learning, there are three ways for new information to be incorporated into the existing cognitive structure: new information can be subordinate to, superordinate to, or coordinate with an existing idea (Driscoll, 1994, p.118).

''1.Derivative and Correlative Subsumption. (lower in the structure)''

To have learning occur, we need to have new information work with or be subsumed by (Driscoll, 2000)  our previous ideas already in memory. Subsumption can occur in two ways, derivative and correlative. Derivative subsumption refers to the learning of new examples or cases that are illustrative of an established concept or previously learned proposition (Driscoll, 2000). Correlative subsumption refers to the elaboration, extension, or modification of the previously learned concept or propositions by the subsumptions of the incoming idea (Driscoll, 2000).

Example:

Learners during the derivative subsumption process might have a general concept about “mammal” in mind. Then new information such as elephant, rabbit, and whales are all mammals can be added into our previous idea.

Learners during correlative subsumption, instead of learning merely learn that elephants are one kind of mammal, they learn the characteristic or feature about the information and add it into their existing idea.

''2.Superordinate and Combinatorial Learning. (higher in the structure)''

Learning processes can be of many types; they can be coordinate, or lateral to the situation. Consequently, Driscoll categorizes them into two parts. One is Superordinate learning, that is, a new, inclusive proposition or concept is learned under which already established ideas can be subsumed (Driscoll, 2000).

Example:

Learners during the superordinate learning process may already contain some existing idea, such as the implementation of motivation in one’s career field, in learning theory, or in advertisements. Perhaps, at some point, they will come up with a new idea, such as using motivation theory or motivational techniques in a different situation where it has a highly influential effect. For instance, motivational theory and principles might be used to get dogs to run fast, aliens not to destroy planet Earth, or politicians to pass a bill that reduces greenhouse gases. That is combinatorial learning. As another example, designers before learning how to design couture, they may need to learn the characteristics of different fabrics. Designing couture and knowing fabrics may seem irrelevant, but if a designer lacks precious knowledge of fabric, it may be difficult to produce the final products they want; for example, they must know when should they use silk, cotton, lace, and so on.

Quotations about meaningful learning

Meaningful learning underlies the constructive integration of thinking, feeling, and acting leading to empowerment for commitment and responsibility. (Joseph D. Novak, 1999)

CONCLUSION
'''Figure 2. The Components of Meaningful Learning (Zisk, 1998)''' Source from:http://www.sciteched.org/curriculum/learning/Instruction.htm

Above picture is designed by Joseph F. Zisk, in 1998. According to Zisk, there are four components of meaningful learning. (1) Curriculum that is relevant; (2) Instructional strategies; (3) Teaching motivation; and (4) Classroom learning Environment. Although it looks different from the three component of goal-based learning, they actually share many similarities and differences.

Similarities and differences

First of all, goal-based learning and meaningful learning mentions the term “motivation.” However, the use of motivation in this chapter means “Learning Motivation,” which is discussed from learners’ perspective. In contrast, Zisk’s motivation is “Teacher Motivation,” which is more from a teachers’ perspective. Whereas this chapter focuses on motivation as a trigger to stimulate learning processes, Zisk focuses on the teachers’ attitude to students and its impact on student motivation and engagement. In either case, motivation plays an important role in the learning process.

Secondly, “instructional strategies,” and the “classroom learning environment” are key factors of “creative teaching.” My viewpoint is that the goal for creative teaching is to elicit learners’ learning desire from teaching environment and create a pleasant, friendly learning environment. Zisk explained this more explicitly. Teaching by using different kinds of instructional strategies can help learners to construct knowledge. Moreover, he also suggests that classroom environment, either physical condition or psychological, contributes to learning.

Finally, “curriculum that is relevant,” impacts on “meaningful learning.” As instructors, we need to help our students figure out their problems and then help them find out the relevance of new information and ideas to their previous experiences or knowledge. WE must also encourage them to integrate their knowledge and demonstrate within a real environment. That is what causes learning to be meaningful. Memorizing is not enough, application also counts.

To sum up, I think creative teaching, meaningful learning and learning motivation should be integrated together. However, there is not a fixed order to which should go first; rather, it should be apply in different sequences according to different target populations, and different settings. I believe that true learning appears only when learners are learning by their hearts. As instructors we can do our best to motivate students; however, the degree of achievement depends on the students’ themselves. Only when they are willing to learn can learning occur. Otherwise, all teaching materials for them are irrelevant.

Re-examination of Scenario 1 and Scenario 2

In Scenario 1, although the teacher was satisfied, there was still much revising we could do. For example, before playing the board game, Miss Lee could evaluate students’ comprehensive level related to financial knowledge first and also try to encourage students to summon their previous knowledge which is relevant to the topic. Instead of only a few students sharing their learning during play, Miss Lee could ask students to share their opinions in the small groups and only report the most important idea. By doing such revisionary work, teachers can have better idea about the degree of students’ comprehensive level, and allow more students participate in the class within the limited time.

Compared to Scenario 1, Scenario 2 is more difficult. Therefore, instead of a two hour activity, teacher should give students more time to prepare, and also offer an on-time assistant when needed. For example, the first week teachers should give more instruction to the mock trial, including the roles, the purpose, the goal, and the skills which Mrs. Sarah wanted students to use. Then during the second week, students can bring the information they collected, and share with each other, or help each other to understand the difficult parts. Finally, the third week, students will participate in the mock trial and the whole procedure should be recorded. After the whole activity is finished, teachers as well as peers should give feedback. By doing this, students will get a better idea about what they should do, and also feel more comfortable to challenge this kind of new activity. Also, tape recording as well as feedback allow students to see the strengths and weakness of themselves and others.

COOL RESOURCES
Catch Me lucky Charm -This short episode describes that “motivation” can not only be applied in the teaching theory but also in our daily life, such as in advertisements and in the news media.

Creative Commons -The characteristics of creativity are novelty and appropriateness. We get “inspired” by others’ works, but we have to be aware that not to “copy” others’ work.

How To Be Creative -This short episode teaches people how to be creative. Creativity can be inborn but it can also be trained.

Learning Math -Applied what we have learned in our daily life and help us solving problem can make learning meaningful.

Meaningful and Engaged Learning -Teachers can help students to find learning meaningful by various strategies, such as enhance students’ self-confidence, using multiple intelligence, make meaning personal.

Self Esteem Formula -To enhance self–esteem, people should not set achievable goals rather then non-achievable ones.


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Learning theories in practice/Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences in English Classroom
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences make educators recognize the diversity of the learners in their learning styles, learning potentials, etc. and appreciate the development of learning strategies on the part of the learners. From my teaching experience, I found that many parents or students do not have correct concepts about learning English, and have negative experiences related to English learning, which cause frustration in learning English. This hands-on experience deepened my interest in language acquisition, learning modes and teaching methods. My purpose in this paper is to discuss the MI theory and its applications in the classroom as well as to help students build effective learning strategies for achieving lifelong learning.

As for the goals in this paper, first, this paper will make teachers gain a better understanding of how MI theory applies to teaching. Second, it will make learners and parents realize that there are many different ways that students can learn. Also, this chapter will help students make good use of different strategies in learning. Third, teachers will realize that there are various ways to assess teaching activities.

The scope of this paper will start from my teaching experience, and then I will introduce the MI theory, learning styles, and the application of MI theory to teaching. In addition, I will provide a lesson plan,and methods of assessment.

Multiple Intelligences Theory and Implementation in the Classroom
With the birth of some innovative language teaching methods and strategies, the mode within language education has turned to the learner-centered mode. However, the mode of evaluation of learning in my country--i.e., Taiwan-- still tends to the standardized tests, which results in many students’ frustration in learning. As an English teacher, I taught at a senior vocational industrial high school in Taiwan, where I experienced tremendous challenges and, at times, some frustrations. Vocational students are often less confident in or less motivated for learning English. Consequently, they are less prepared and competent in language learning. Although I found that my students own different talents in various fields, such as story telling, singing, or painting, they are marked with a poor image-- “academic failure.” To encourage them, I incorporated dozens of different methods and attempted to incorporate their learning styles into my curriculum. From my teaching experience, I found the basic concepts of MI theory conformed to my students’ needs. In addition, it helped my students to establish their confidence and self-esteem as well as their interest in language learning. Thus, many learned their English skills and gained competencies much better. That change or shift from a demotivating learning environment to one rich with student interest, ownership, and learning is the reason I choose the topic to discuss.

I. Introduction
Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor from Harvard University, developed Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI) in 1983. His theory is an important contribution to educational practices and reform movements around the world. It challenges the traditional view of “IQ” and enables educators to take a renewed look at our views about learning and development. In the book Frames of Mind, Gardner questioned the validity of “IQ” score in deciding human intelligence because IQ tests only measures one's ability to handle academic subjects, and it predicts little of success in later life. He proposed that there are at least seven basic intelligences ((1) Visual/Spatial Intelligence, (2) Musical Intelligence, (3) Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence, (4) Logical/Mathematical Intelligence, (5) Interpersonal Intelligence, (6) Intrapersonal Intelligence, and (7) Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence). And recently, in 1996, Gardner added the eighth intelligence--naturalist intelligence to his theory. Gardner pointed out that “it is not if you are smart, but how you are smart.” (Gardner, 1983) The following criteria have been used in MIT to identify intelligence: it “entails the ability to solve problems, it involves a “biological proclivity,” it has “an identifiable neurological core operation or set of operations” and it is susceptible to encoding in a symbol system…which captures and conveys important forms of information” (Gardner 1999: 15-16). These different kinds of intelligences reflect learners’ myriad ways of interacting with the world. Although each person possesses all intelligences to some degree, some intelligences are more strongly exhibited than others. By various stimuli and education, MI can be nurtured and strengthened or ignored and weakened.

a. Description of the Eight Intelligences:

 * Linguistic Intelligence involves the capacity to use language effectively and creatively no matter in writing or speaking. Linguistic people like to use language to express their ideas, convey information, and understand other people. They are good at memorizing names, places, or other detailed information.

 * Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to use numbers effectively and engage in higher order thinking. People with this intelligence like to reason and analyze problems, work with numbers, and explore patterns and relationships. They are able to control visuals and mental pictures from various perspectives.

 * Spatial intelligence is the ability to manipulate and perceive objects or forms mentally and then to transfer those perceptions either mentally or concretely. They like to learn and think by visual stimuli and tend to organize things spatially. So, they learn best through graphic images.

 * Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence involves using people’s whole body or parts of their body to solve problems, to express ideas and emotions. Bodily-Kinesthetic learners like to touch, talk, create things, and move around. They are good at physical activities such as dance, hands-on tasks, constructing models, and any kind of movement.

 * Musical intelligence is the capacity to think and express in musical forms. People with this intelligence own the sensitivity to the melody, sound, pitch or tone. They learn best through activities wherein they discriminate, transform, and express sounds.

 * Interpersonal intelligence involves the capacity to perceive the feelings, intentions, and motivations. Interpersonal learners can discriminate the cues from facial expressions, gestures, or intonation and response effectively to those cues. They like to join groups, communicate with others, and make a lot of friends. Such interpersonal learners learn best by interacting with people, cooperating, and leading others.

 * Intrapersonal intelligence means learners have the ability to understand themselves. They have a clear picture in who they are, what they can do, and what they want to do. They like to work alone and achieve their goals. They learn best through getting in touch with their inner moods, intentions, and self motivations.

 * Naturalist intelligence enables the learners to better relate themselves to the surroundings. They show strong interests in animals or natural phenomena. Being outside, making observation about the subtle changes in the environment, interacting with plants and animals allow such learners to perform with more confidence and ease.

b. Key points in MI theory
With the reference of Thomas Armstrong (1994: 11-12), four points are listed below to display a few of the key ideas of MI theory.

 * First, each person possesses capacities in all intelligences. Some people perform extremely high levels of functioning in all intelligences while others tend not to display many, if any. Most of us, however, appear to possess some highly developed intelligence as well as some weak ones.

 * Second, most people have the capacity to develop each intelligence to an adequate level of competency. The combination of the environmental influences such as school instruction, parents, and exposure to cultural activities can strengthen or weaken certain intelligence. If given appropriate instruction and encouragement, all intelligences can develop and reach to a higher level.

 * Third, intelligences usually work together in complex ways. No intelligence works alone because intelligences always interact with each other. For example, to make a cake, one should read the receipt, weigh the flour, and decide the flavor to satisfy all members of the family and one’s own preference. The process of making a cake needs the intelligences such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences.

 * Fourth, there are many ways to be intelligent within each category. In other words, one can perform each intelligence in different ways. For example, a bodily-kinesthetic person cannot dance well, but is highly bodily-kinesthetic because he can make manual products well.

III. The Application of MI Theory in the Classroom
Everyone owns different learning styles and preferences. Some people may find that they have a preferred style of learning or way of encountering the world and less use or experience with other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different situations. As teachers, we need to know students’ learning preference, help them to make good use of their learning styles, and develop ability in less dominant ones. Thus, teachers need to present information using different styles. This variety in presentation of content and overall instructional approach allows students to learn better and more quickly; especially if the chosen teaching methods used better match their preferred learning styles. Also, students can learn in other ways, not just in their preferred style. There are various modes used to discriminate a learner’s learning styles. Kanar (1995) describes the three most common styles (1) visual, (2) auditory, and (3) kinesthetic in her book, The Confident Student. Teachers can integrate the following teaching strategies into the class to meet students’ learning styles.
 * Visual learning style involves learning through seeing images such as reading or writing tasks. Such students learn better by writing the information down, reading, and watching. They seem to have a vivid image in their mind, so visual learners can recall what they learn easily by a glance at the context.

 * Strategies for teaching Visual students

 * 1.Various visual materials can be present in the class. For example, pictures, charts,fresh cards, videos, and maps are good resources for visual learners.

 * 2.Use bright colors to draw or write some key points or concepts on the board.

 * 3.Write the information in detail in handouts for students to reread.

 * 4.Draw the picture on the board when it is necessary or have students draw pictures on the board or margin to connect the concepts.

 * 5.Provide the assignment in writing and reading.

 * Auditory learning style involves filtering and transferring information through listening. They learn better by talking to people and hearing what was said. In addition, they may have some problem in reading and writing.

 * Strategies for teaching Auditory students

 * 1.Give a brief explanation about the content of the lesson in the beginning and summarize the new material at the end of the class.

 * 2.Have students read out loud the questions or whisper new information to themselves.

 * 3.Auditory activities such as group discussion, brainstorming, and presentation all allow students to acquire auditory stimuli.

 * 4.Advise the students to take notes by using tape recorders so that they can review what they learn or discuss in the class.

 * 5.Ask questions and encourage students to share their ideas.

 * Kinesthetic learning styles involves learning through moving or touching. These learners seem to have more difficulty paying attention in the traditional classroom. They like to speak out what they learn and express emotion physically. They learn best by physical experience such as touching, holding, or doing hands-on activities.

 * Strategies for teaching Kinesthetic students

 * 1.Advise students to take notes during lectures and underline the key points in the text.

 * 2.Provide activities such as role-plays, project work, and games to help students to join learning.

 * 3.Take frequent stand up and stretch breaks.

 * 4.Have students transfer new information from the text books to another medium such as computers or posters.

 * 5.Provide objects that are related to the subjects of the lesson so that students can learn things by touching, feeling, or operating the objects.

IV. Lesson Plan
In order to help teachers to gain a better understanding about how MI theory applies to classroom teaching, I sketched two lesson plans which were used in my English class. The reading material in the first lesson plan is a novel "The Chocolate War" written by Robert Cormier. The second lesson plan is for teaching cultural knowledge. The activities in these lessons will address all of the intelligences:

Lesson Plan 1

Step 1: Ask students to browse the title and the picture of the cover of the book and answer some questions. (linguistic/Spatial)

Step 2: Ask students to read the opening section of the story and work in the group to write down their prediction about the following events of the story. Next, students read out loud their prediction to the class. (linguistic/ interpersonal/ logical-mathematical)

Step 3: Distribute ten cards with the descriptions of the following events of the story. Ask students to work together with the other group members to arrange cards in appropriate order according the plot of the story. (logical-mathematical/ linguistic/interpersonal)

Step 4: Do a role play of the story, The Chocolate War, according to one of the role play cards. Students choose music which matches the plot to play while performing their little drama. (musical/ body-kinesthetic )

Step 5: Write a letter to the author about their responses to the story. (intrapersonal/linguistic)

Lesson Plan 2

Step 1: Students are presented with items of etiquette such as accessories or pictures which belong to the target culture. (Visual/Bodily)

Step 2: The teacher ask students to collect resources such as articles, items, or videos. Then, students share their findings and discuss with group members to learn the cultural relevance of the item. (Logical/Interpersonal/Visual/Musical)

Step 3: Each group of students design a short drama and act out the drama based on their understanding about etiquette. (Linguistic/Bodily)

Step 4: Students write a paper to reflect what they learn and compare their native culture with the new culture. (Logical/Intrapersonal/Linguistic)

V. Authentic Assessment in the MI Classroom
Gardner believes that standardized tests only measure linguistic and logical/mathematical intelligences within artificial settings and tend to ignore the capability in other intelligences. In his opinion, the purpose of assessment should measure students’ learning processes in order to obtain information about students’ understanding of skills or knowledge as well as their approach to solving problems. In addition, assessment, from Gardner’s perspective, should connect their class work to real-life experiences and apply their knowledge to new situations. Thus, Gardner (1993) points out that instruments for measuring intelligence should be "intelligence-fair." Consequently, we should get away from traditional paper and pencil test that reflects only logical/mathematical and linguistic abilities and look instead at more specific intelligences in operation. The following examples are some important components in implementing authentic assessment.

Observation: The best way to assess students’ multiple intelligences is by observing students’ learning processes. For example, a teacher can observe how students operate a machine, solve problems, or interact with their group members. The teacher can create a checklist or note cards to write down students’ performances. The teacher uses these tools to make records while students are working rather than checking the learning products.

Portfolio: This is the way to collect students’ products and acknowledge their accomplishments. The teacher (or the students) can put student’s writing draft, final report, photos, videotapes, self-assessment essays, or drawings in the portfolio. Students might also be asked to reflect on their work and their various learning journeys. In this way, the teacher not only can evaluate students’ work but also grasp additional information about students’ learning progress.

Performance: Performance assessments require students to demonstrate their skills or multiple talents for the class or other audiences. Performance tasks can be presented individually or in groups. Tasks such as oral presentations, role plays, exhibits, or instrument playing all directly help instructors evaluate a student’s complex skills and high-level understanding.

Teacher-made tests or response: The teacher can prompt questions and let students display their understanding in response of their work. For example, students can write down their comments or feedback to the work. Questions allow students to think more on their own opinion, and develop insightful thinking.

VI. Conclusion
In the classroom, teachers need to keep in mind that all students have at least eight intelligences, but differ in the strengths. Gardner discovered that these intelligences are not fixed but malleable capacities which can be enhanced by educational opportunities. So, as teachers, we should exercise teaching methods and activities to develop student’s intelligences. Each student’s learning style and intelligences should be respected because the teachers’ attitude toward students’ ability will influence the ways teacher’s present material to their students and the methods to evaluate students’ capacity. If we can provide opportunities for authentic learning based on students’ interest, talents, and needs, students will be able to present their strengths, while acquiring more motivations to be an “expert” and leading to increased confidence. Thus, it is extremely important to develop a curriculum that can nurture the undeveloped intelligences and strengthen the developed ones. In fact, this new curriculum based on MI theory can be used for students with weak linguistic and logical intelligences. With the implementation of MI, it is clear that a more “student-centered” curriculum is necessary. Gardner's purpose in MI theory is to create “real life” learning situations for learners. For this reason, teachers need to help students link their prior knowledge with the to-be-learned information so that students can apply what they have learned in the classroom to the real outside world. Once the knowledge is gained, students will have ability to solve their own problems in new situations and become successful learners.

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