The contemporary figure that I would add to the Early Childhood Education History and Theory Powerpoint based on his contributions to the field of early childhood is John Keller.
John Keller is a professor of instructional systems and educational psychology at Florida State University, and has been since 1985. His main area of expertise is in the motivational design of learning environments. He created a theory called the ARCS Model for Motivational Design that lists and describes 4 steps for facilitating and perpetuating motivation in learners (The ARCS Model Approach, 2016).
According to John Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivational Design Theories, there are four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS).
ARCS Model of Motivational Design (Keller)
1. Attention
- Keller attention can be gained in two ways: (1) Perceptual arousal – uses surprise or uncertainty to gain interest. Uses novel, surprising, incongruous, and uncertain events; or (2) Inquiry arousal – stimulates curiosity by posing challenging questions or problems to be solved.
- Methods for grabbing the learners’ attention include the use of:
- Active participation -Adopt strategies such as games, roleplay or other hands-on methods to get learners involved with the material or subject matter.
- Variability – To better reinforce materials and account for individual differences in learning styles, use a variety of methods in presenting material (e.g. use of videos, short lectures, mini-discussion groups).
- Humor -Maintain interest by use a small amount of humor (but not too much to be distracting)
- Incongruity and Conflict – A devil’s advocate approach in which statements are posed that go against a learner’s past experiences.
- Specific examples – Use a visual stimuli, story, or biography.
- Inquiry – Pose questions or problems for the learners to solve, e.g. brainstorming activities.
2. Relevance
- Establish relevance in order to increase a learner’s motivation. To do this, use concrete language and examples with which the learners are familiar. Six major strategies described by Keller include:
- Experience – Tell the learners how the new learning will use their existing skills. We best learn by building upon our preset knowledge or skills.
- Present Worth – What will the subject matter do for me today?
- Future Usefulness – What will the subject matter do for me tomorrow?
- Needs Matching – Take advantage of the dynamics of achievement, risk taking, power, and affiliation.
- Modeling – First of all, “be what you want them to do!” Other strategies include guest speakers, videos, and having the learners who finish their work first to serve as tutors.
- Choice – Allow the learners to use different methods to pursue their work or allowing a choice in how they organize it.
3. Confidence
- Help students understand their likelihood for success. If they feel they cannot meet the objectives or that the cost (time or effort) is too high, their motivation will decrease.
- Provide objectives and prerequisites – Help students estimate the probability of success by presenting performance requirements and evaluation criteria. Ensure the learners are aware of performance requirements and evaluative criteria.
- Allow for success that is meaningful.
- Grow the Learners – Allow for small steps of growth during the learning process.
- Feedback – Provide feedback and support internal attributions for success.
- Learner Control – Learners should feel some degree of control over their learning and assessment. They should believe that their success is a direct result of the amount of effort they have put forth.
4. Satisfaction
- Learning must be rewarding or satisfying in some way, whether it is from a sense of achievement, praise from a higher-up, or mere entertainment.
- Make the learner feel as though the skill is useful or beneficial by providing opportunities to use newly acquired knowledge in a real setting.
- Provide feedback and reinforcement. When learners appreciate the results, they will be motivated to learn. Satisfaction is based upon motivation, which can be intrinsic or extrinsic.
- Do not patronize the learner by over-rewarding easy tasks”
(Keller, John M. no. 3 (1987): 2-10).
I have only recently discovered this model, through my research for this course, but I believe that these methods can be applied to both traditional, and alternative educational settings. The ARCS model will help me to instill self-directed learning experiences for my students.
The historical figure that I would add to the Early Childhood Education History and Theory Powerpoint based on his contributions to the field of early childhood is Benjamin Bloom.
Benjamin Bloom (February 21, 1913 - September 13, 1999) was an American educational psychologist who made significant contributions to the classification of educational objectives and the theory of mastery learning. His research, which showed that educational settings and home environments can foster human potential, transformed education. Bloom developed a "taxonomy of educational objectives" which classified the different learning objectives and skills that educators set for students. Bloom divided educational objectives into three "domains:" Affective, Psychomotor, and Cognitive. It is hierarchical, like other taxonomies, meaning that learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. Bloom intended that the Taxonomy motivate
educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education
(Anderson, Lorin W., and David R. Krathwohl, 2000).
I believe that “Bloom’s message to the educational world was to focus on target attainment and to abandon a horse-race model of schooling that has as its major aim the identification of those who are swiftest. Speed is not the issue, he argued, achievement or mastery is, and it is that model that should be employed in trying to develop educational programs for the young. Mastery learning was an expression of what Bloom believed to be an optimistic approach to the realization of educational goals. When well implemented, approximately 80 percent of the students in mastery learning classes earned As and Bs, compared with only 20 percent in control classes” (Anderson, Lorin W., and David R. Krathwohl,2000).
Some of the effects that I have found in implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy in my classroom are increased student self-assurance, reduced competition and encouraged cooperation among students, students were enabled to help one another, assessments were viewed as learning tools rather than official grades, and a second chance at success for students.
References
Anderson, Lorin W., and David R. Krathwohl (eds.). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing—A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
Keller, John M. Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design. Journal of instructional development 10, no. 3 (1987): 2-10.
Motivational Design for Learning and Performance: The ARCS Model Approach (2010,2016). Retrieved from: https://learning-theorists.wikispaces.com/John+Keller
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