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Assessment task-2
Name- Reflection
Weightage- 20%
Type- Individual assignment

This task is an ongoing task. Please refer to the last slide of each class PPT. Use those questions
to write your reflection.
Submit on Portal- Last day of class.

1. Developmental Theories

What did I learn from these theories?

In my understanding, Development Theories comprises of Cognitive

development theories (Piaget & Vygotsky) and Psycho-social development theories

(Bronfrenburner & Ericson, Havighurst (task and age) and Kholeberg).

In Developmental Theories i learn the explanation of the biological,

psychological, social, and emotional development as stages over a portion (childhood,

adolescence, adulthood, old age) or the whole of the life span. Many developmental

theories focus on the development during childhood, such as Piaget's theory of cognitive

development, which describes how a child (from birth to over 11 years) moves through

discrete stages of cognitive development and intellectual growth to where they learns how

to think and reason. Bowlby's (1988) attachment theory provides an explanation of how a

child develops socially and emotionally based on her/his attachment to a primary

caregiver, and subsequently the types of relationships and attachments that the child will

possess as an adult.

Other developmental theories focus on individuals across the whole of the life

span. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development consists of eight continuous stages of

life that spans from birth to death and details how a person develops based on biological,

psychological, and environmental factors. Each stage consists of a type of tension or

crisis that an individual needs to work through to move to the next stage. Completing

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each stage successfully will result in more positive and healthy psychosocial

development. Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs is a life span developmental theory that

explains how individuals must have certain needs met before they can move to achieve a

higher level of need. Maslow's theorized needs start with the basic physiological needs

for survival and expands until the individual reaches the final need of self-actualization (a

term often associated with humanistic theories).

Additional theories focusing on the whole of the life span have examined faith, or

spiritual, development (Fowler, 1981) and moral and ethical understanding and reasoning

(Kohlberg, 1973). Although such theories influence social work practice, particularly

through assessment, they have been criticized as being ethnocentric as they were

developed based on Western (individualistic) societies, primarily with White men or

middle-class individuals/families (Cianci and Gambrel, 2003).

Developmental theories influence social work practice by providing a basis for

assessing and understanding a client's physiological, psychological, and emotional

development. Such theories are primarily used in the assessment stage of social work

practice where a social worker assesses the current level of development and functioning

and uses this information to assist in explaining the client's situation, to determine the

most appropriate form of intervention, and to hypothesize about future outcomes.

Developmental theories are also useful during the evaluation and ending stages to

determine any shifts or changes in levels of development.

Which theory, in comparison to other theories, I think has taught me a lot for my teaching?
Elaborate how and why?

In my opinion, Cognitive development theories has taught me a lot for my

teaching because in Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory

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about the nature and development of human intelligence. I think cognitive

development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes resulting from

biological maturation and environmental experience. The children construct an

understanding of the world around them, experience discrepancies between what they

already know and what they discover in their environment, then adjust their ideas

accordingly. Moreover that cognitive development is at the center of the human organism,

and language is contingent on knowledge and understanding acquired through cognitive

development. While Vygotsky Theory is a stems from social interactions from guided

learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partner's co-

construct knowledge and social interaction play a major role in the process of

development. The concept of the More Knowledgeable Other is integrally related to the

second important principle of Vygotsky's work, the Zone of Proximal Development.

This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child

can achieve independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and

encouragement from a skilled partner. A contemporary educational application of

Vygotsky's theories is "reciprocal teaching," used to improve students' ability to learn

from text. In this method, teachers and students collaborate in learning and practicing four

key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. The teacher's role in the

process is reduced over time. Also, Vygotsky is relevant to instructional concepts such as

"scaffolding" and "apprenticeship," in which a teacher or more advanced peer helps to

structure or arrange a task so that a novice can work on it successfully.

Vygotsky's theories also feed into the current interest in collaborative learning,

suggesting that group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced

peers can help less advanced members operate within their ZPD. Differentiating

instruction will involve total involvement from the teacher. The teacher must

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know the students and their needs in order to differentiate the curriculum. By

becoming this in tune with the individuals in the classroom, and by constantly

assessing the response and needs of the students in response to the teaching, a

teacher becomes a more experienced a professional teacher. In short,

differentiating instruction builds more professional teachers.Differentiated

instruction or curriculum is when teachers maximize the learning potential of a

classroom by modifying curriculum, teaching methods, learning resources and

activities to address the needs of the students, as individuals or small groups

gathered by learning level or readiness. The teacher a djusts the pace of the

teaching according to the needs of the students as well as their interests and

learning styles.

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2. Individual differences theories and concepts

What did I learn from these theories and concepts ?

In my understanding, Development Theories comprises of Intelligence theory

(GARDNER) and Personality theory ( OCEAN). The theories is more about culture, age

, gender and attitude understanding.

Dissimilarity is principle of nature. No two persons are alike. All the individuals

differ from each other in many a respects. Children born of the same parents and even

the-twins are not alike. This differential psychology is linked with the study of individual

differences. Wundt, Cattel, Kraepelin, Jastrow and Ebbing Haus are the exponents of

differential psychology. This change is seen in physical forms like in height, weight,

colour, complexion strength etc., difference in intelligence, achievement, interest,

attitude, aptitude, learning habits, motor abilities, skill. Each man has an intellectual

capacity through which he gains experience and learning. Every person has the emotions

of love, anger, fear and feelings of pleasure and pain. Every man has the need of

independence, success and need for acceptance.

Broadly individual difference may be classified into two categories such as

inherited traits and acquired traits. There are various causes which are responsible in

bringing individual differences. They are narrated by some factors such as heredity

where some heretical traits bring a change from one individual to other. An individual’s

height, size, shape and colour of hair, shape of face, nose, hands and legs so to say the

entire structure of the body is determined by his heretical qualities. Intellectual

differences are also to a great extent influenced by hereditary factor. By environment,

which is environment brings individual differences in behaviour, activities, attitude, and

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style of life characteristics. Environment does not refer only physical surroundings but

also it refers the different types of people, society, their culture, customs, traditions, social

heritage, ideas and ideals.

Race and nationality also play a role cause of individual difference. Indians are

very peace loving, Chinese are cruel; Americans are very frank due to race and

nationality. Due to sex variation one individual differs from other. Men are strong in

mental power. On the other hand women on the average show small superiority over men

in memory, language and aesthetic sense. Women excel the men in shouldering social

responsibilities and have a better control over their emotions. Age is another factor which

is responsible in bringing individual differences. Learning ability and adjustment capacity

naturally grow with age. When one grows in age can acquire better control over our

emotions and better social responsibilities. When a child grows then this maturity and

development goes side by side.

While education is one major factor which brings individual differences. There is

a wide gap in the behaviors of educated and uneducated persons. All traits of human

beings like social, emotional and intellectual are controlled and modifies through proper

education. This education brings a change in our attitude, behaviour, appreciations,

Personality. It is seen that uneducated persons are guided by their instinct and emotions

where as the educated persons are guided by their reasoning power.

Which theory, in comparison to other theories, I think has taught me a lot for my teaching?
Elaborate how and why?

In my opinion, Howard Gardner Theory has taught me a lot for my teaching in

classroom because according to this theory, people have many different ways of learning.

Unlike traditional theories of intelligence that focus on one single general intelligence,

Gardner believed that people instead have multiple different ways of thinking and

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learning. The theory has identified and described eight different kinds of intelligence such

as Visual-spatial intelligence, Linguistic-verbal intelligence, Mathematical intelligence,

Kinesthetic intelligence, Musical intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal

intelligence and Naturalistic intelligence. This theory also proposed the possible addition

of a ninth type which he refers to as "existential intelligence perhaps had the greatest

impact within the field of education, where it has received considerable attention and use.

This theory conceptualization of intelligence as more than a single, solitary quality has

opened the doors for further research and different ways of thinking about human

intelligence. It is so popular within the field of education because it "validates educators'

everyday experiences such as students will think and learn in many different ways. It also

provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on

curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many

educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of

learners in their classrooms."

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3. Learning theories and concepts

What did I learn from these theories and concepts ?

Learning Theory describes how students absorb, process, and retain knowledge

during learning. Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences, as well as prior

experience, all play a part in how understanding, or a world view, is acquired or changed

and knowledge and skills retained. There are 5 main theories of learning such as Social

and Contextual, Experientialism, Constructivism, Cognitivism and Behaviorisms. It

comprises of Behaviourist Classical and operant conditioning theory, Cognitive

Memory model, Socio cultural theory Bandura, Meaningful learning theory-Ausbell

and Motivation theory- SDT.

In behaviourist Classical & Operant conditioning a behaviorist theory based on

the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while

behaviors that are punished will eventually end. In operant conditioning, a voluntary

response is then followed by a reinforcing stimulus. In this way, the voluntary response

(e.g. studying for an exam) is more likely to be done by the individual. In contrast,

classical conditioning is when a stimulus automatically triggers an involuntary response.

In Cognitive Memory model I able to evaluate models of the short-term retention

of knowledge, conceptual knowledge, autobiographical knowledge, transitory mental

representations, the neurobiological basis of memory, and age-related changes in human

memory. It is a concern with the problem of representation and how the mind represents

reality and, in the case of memory, how experience is represented, retained, and

reconstructed. Its evaluate the models against empirical findings and against current

knowledge about brain function and architecture and address the relationship between

formal and non-formal models of human memory.

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While Social Learning Theory, theorized by Albert Bandura, posits that people

learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often

been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it

encompasses attention, memory, and motivation and for Ausebel’s theory focuses on

meaningful learning. According to his theory, to learn meaningfully, individuals must

relate new knowledge to relevant concepts they already know. New knowledge must

interact with the learner’s knowledge structure.

Self Determination is a theory of human motivation developed by

psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. Motivation, in this context, is what moves

us to act. The theory looks at the inherent, positive human tendency to move towards

growth, and outlines three core needs which facilitate that growth. Those needs are

Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness. It is a macro theory of human motivation

and personality that concerns people's inherent growth tendencies and innate

psychological needs. It is concerned with the motivation behind choices people make

without external influence and interference. SDT focuses on the degree to which an

individual's behavior is self-motivated and self-determined.

Key studies that led to emergence of SDT included research on intrinsic

motivation.[5]Intrinsic motivation refers to initiating an activity for its own sake because it

is interesting and satisfying in itself, as opposed to doing an activity to obtain an external

goal (extrinsic motivation). Different types of motivations have been described based on

the degree they have been internalized. Internalization refers to the active attempt to

transform an extrinsic motive into personally endorsed values and thus assimilate

behavioural regulations that were originally external.

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Which theory, in comparison to other theories, I think has taught me a lot for my teaching?
Elaborate how and why?

In my opinion, it is depends on the subject, the context and the educator too. I

think constructivist is a good approach that can be adopted in higher education institution

because it develops thinking skills, communication and social skills, encourage

alternative methods of assessment, help student transfer skill to real world and promote

motivation to learn. Besides, when the learner have experience around the topic, they able

to cooperate to reject misconceptions to construct new knowledge.

Upon three learning theories: Experiential Learning Theory, Social Learning

Theory, and Cognitive Learning Theory. Experiential Learning Theory (C. Rodgers,

1994) suggests that significant learning takes place when the subject matter is relevant to

the personal interests of the student instead of just the delivery of content. To create

interest in the subject, CTB utilizes real-life video vignettes at the beginning of each

lesson. Learning is also facilitated by directly confronting practical, social, and personal

problems. For instance, the health risk of STDs and pregnancy are confronted through

real-life video interviews of teens who are struggling or have struggled with these

problems. The CTB curriculum emphasizes that abstinence is the only 100% certain

method to avoid these risks.

Social Learning Theory (Bandura) emphasizes the importance of learning by

observing desired behavior and the outcomes of those behaviors. CTB curriculum uses

Social Learning Theory through role-plays and activities that demonstrate how to resist

unwanted peer and relational pressure to have sex. The role-play activities in the

classroom helps students develop confidence that these same skills will work in their

personal situations.

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Cognitive Learning Theory (Holder et all, 1991; Miller et al., 1995) underscores

the importance of gaining attention, stimulating recall of prior learning and providing

guidance and feedback to enhance retention. CTB utilizes a student manual which was

developed based on this theory. Each student records responses to discussion questions

and receives feedback on key learning points. In addition large classroom posters are used

to reinforce key messages. Retention is further encouraged by highlighting key action

steps for the student. For example the three steps to resisting peer pressure and being

assertive are: Set it! (setting boundaries for sexual activity and determining how far the

individual will go), State It! (verbalizing those boundaries) and Show it! (showing that

they mean no).

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Assess yourself-

Field work Rubrics 0 1 2 3 4 5

The reflection demonstrate good understanding of
psychological theories
The reflection demonstrate good evaluation of
theory/theories
The student is able to express the use of theories for
teaching and learning
0-Not at all 5- very much

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