Psychology of Teaching and Learning

Brian G. Smith, Ph.D.

Lesson 3 - Vygotky's Sociocultural Development
 

You may also check your understanding of the material on the Ablongman web site. Click on the Publisher Help Site button.

The assessments in this course are patterned after the Praxis II, Principles of Learning and Teaching tests required for licensure

Case Study - Lesson 3

Case studies are a very important part of this course of study. You may run through these scenarios an unlimited number of times. If you make errors, you will be referred to the appropriate area of the book, or an appropriate website.  The questions will be narrative, constructed responses to the issues in the study.   Upon submission of your answers, each of the narrative responses will have professionally written feedback of an ideal answer.  Carefully compare this to your answer to determine correctness There is a score associated with each case study but that score will not be recorded.  You will be given credit for participation.

  

Quiz - Lesson 3

You will have to take a quiz for each of the lessons. You have two opportunities to take each quiz.  The highest score will be recorded in the grade book.   Each of the quizzes will be multiple choice & true/false, open-book, open-notes.  Upon submitting each quiz, your quiz score as well as any items answered incorrectly will be available.
     

Homework and Quizzes are on Desire 2 Learn. Click on the Desire 2 Learn link, log in, select the Homework/Quizzes icon and choose the appropriate homework or quiz.

  

     

Grand Round Application - Lesson 3

Each lesson of this course will also require you to continue to work on the Grand Round project in this course.  Click on the assignment link below to go to the document that outlines the assignment for this lesson.  As you complete each lesson's Grand Round assignment, you will be completing that portion of the final project.  Each lesson will provide specific directions for how to turn in that portion of the Grand Round project.

 

Learning Profiles - Lesson 3

Each lesson in this course will have a Special Education topic  associated with it.  Click on the link below to go to the content of the topic.  Each of the Special Education topics was specifically chosen to complement the psychology topic.  There will be Special Education items on each lesson's quiz. 

Presentation of Theoretical Construct

Readings: Chapter 2

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Lecture Information:

Assumptions of Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky was a tremendously prolific Russian psychologist and researcher.  He was one of the most influential educational theorists of his time.  Due to many social, political and health reasons due to the Bolsheviks' Revolution, Vygotsky died relatively young at the age of 38.  The bulk of his work was banned in the former Soviet Union because of his numerous references to western psychologists; it has only been since the fall of communism that Vygotsky has been rediscovered.

Private Speech
I am sure that we have all had the experience of stopping at a traffic light, glancing at the driver of the car next to us to see them just talking away, complete with gestures for emphasis, and head bobbing.  Is this person crazy?  How about the student in the midterm mumbling very softly while in the middle of the test?  Vygotsky has a very different view of this phenomena than did Piaget.

Zone of Proximal Development
This is Vygotsky's view of how we learn and how social interaction is integral to the process.  Vygotsky's model goes a long way to explaining the fine but profound difference between challenging & frustrating students.  It also explains the degree of interactions that students need and expect. 

Assisted Learning
This is the area that is most closely aligned with actual instruction of students.  These are a collection of techniques that are in keeping with Vygotsky's theories.  Where the ZPD convincingly supports that social interaction is needed in order for effective learning to take place, these techniques outline the how to of doing this.