EDUC 250- EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

GROUP PROJECT
Theme: Volcanoes
Grade Level: 5th grade
December 3rd, 2015
Presented by: Brittany Deal, Summer Young, Amber Parham,
Kreg Wingham

CHAPTER 2: LEARNING, COGNITION, AND MEMORY

BY: KREG WINGHAM

Learning Is A Constructive Process

Have students brainstorm together what they all either know about volcanoes, and
then proceed to research volcanoes online for new information pertinent to the topic.
One of the best ways to create explicit learning situations is to get the students
excited about the subject. Information on volcanoes contains a multitude of exciting
and interesting parts that could cause the students to consciously think about and
interpret what they think they already know with the new information that they are
given.

How Human Memory Operates

Short Term: Include visual, physical, and auditory information that the students can
directly manipulate Photos, videos and models of volcanoes can allow the student
to keep their attention and have them stay on task.
Long Term: Elaboration and Organization are the two most important aspects for
efficient long term memory storage and recall. Elaboration, or embellishing on new
information based on what one already knows, can be effective by having the
students dredge up what information they already know about a place or culture.
Organization can be done mid lesson by having the students make connections
among the various pieces of new information.

CHAPTER 3: LEARNING IN CONTEXT

BY: BRITTANY DEAL

Any Large Society has multiple layers that all affect childrens learning and
development either directly or indirectly
The students will travel to a lower grade and teach them what they learned
about volcanoes and help them construct a small volcano model out of
material of their choice.
Different members of a society have different specialties, and they call on
one anothers areas of expertise as needed.
The students will get into groups and assign jobs (leader, organizer, writer,
gate-keeper, etc.). They will work on creating an island that consists of a
volcano. They will also make a food chain that contains animals that live
around or on a volcano.
Some media create virtual contexts that simulate real-world-like
environments and events.
The students will use their iPads to enter a virtual jungle world. They will
make their way through the jungle answering questions about volcanoes.
When they make it to the top of the volcano they win.

CHAPTER 4: COMPLEX COGNITIVE PROCESSES

BY: BRITTANY DEAL

Some effective study strategies are easily seen in learners behaviors

The students will write a one-page paper on what they found most
interesting they learned about volcanoes and will use a concept to
help organize ideas.
Study strategies are effective only to the extent that they involve
productive cognitive processes.
The students will read an article on volcanoes and use comprehension
monitoring to go back through and answer questions.
Self-regulating learners control and monitor their processes and
progress during a learning task
The students will keep a chart of their success for each project, paper,
quiz, and test. They will color it in for the percentage they get on
each assignment. This will help them self-instruct and self-monitor.

CHAPTER 5: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

BY: KREG WINGHAM

Developmental Trends
When designing a lesson on Volcanoes, or any type of lesson strategy, its important to remember
two main points. Developmental trends and how your students average ages fall into to, and how
cultural differences could affect a students cognitive style and reasoning skills.
The younger students in the earlier grades will color pictures of volcanoes with the various parts
labeled. This will culminate with a demonstration of how magma flows out of a volcano using a
model with baking soda, food dye, and vinegar.
The older students will do a detailed report over specific types of volcanoes and the history of one
of those. They will also create their own presentation over this information with multiple visual
components.
Group Interactions
Keep in mind zone of proximal development. Lesson plans need to be designed to be just difficult
enough that they will need to work in groups to gain enough knowledge to complete the lesson.
Interacting with a expert or other individual with first hand knowledge of volcanoes will give the
students a more personal and impactful lesson.
Cultural Differences in Reasoning Skills, Intelligence, and Cognitive Style
Cultural differences and developmental trends are an extremely integral part of the learning
process. Being able to correctly gauge where your students mentally are in these two points are
essential to education. However, knowing when and how to push them out of their current niches
is just as important.
If I have foreign students in a geography class they may have first hand knowledge over the topic
and can give various information to the classroom.

CHAPTER 6: MOTIVATION AND AFFECT

BY: SUMMER YOUNG

Conduct Interest-arousing Lessons and Activities

In this section, we are focusing on keeping the students engaged in
learning and produce classroom strategies that empower students.
The class will be divided into four groups and each group will spend
one class period teaching about volcanoes. The groups may use
power point presentations, 3D models, science experiments, and
games to teach and engage the class on the Volcano Unit.
This activity should not only engage and motivate the rest of the
class, but should also give each student a positive sense of autonomy
within themselves.

CHAPTER 7: PERSONAL, SOCIAL, AND MORAL

DEVELOPMENT
BY: SUMMER YOUNG

Promoting Moral Reasoning and Prosocial Behavior

One way a teacher should challenge students is in getting them to
explain why they think the way that they do. Get the students to
discuss social and moral issues.
Have a student debate on why living near a volcano is or is NOT
hazardous. To mix it up, the teacher could have the students argue the
opposing side than what they actually agree with.
This type of interaction amongst classmates can promote prosocial
behavior and help students acquire more advanced moral reasoning.

CHAPTER 8: INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

BY: AMBER PARHAM

Instructional Strategies
Sometimes instruction is most effective when it is teacher-directedthat
is, when the teacher chooses the specific topics to be studied and the
general course of a lesson.
Take advantage of well-designed instructional software and Internet
websites.
Good examples of computer-based instruction (CBI) on the Internet
include:
Discovery Channel: school.discovery.com
Khan Academy: www.khanacademy.org
National Aeronautic and Space Administration: www.nasa.gov
National Museum of Natural History: www.mnh.si.edu

CHAPTER 9: STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AN

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
BY: AMBER PARHAM

Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment

How can we construct a goal-oriented, businesslike (but
nonthreatening) atmosphere?
Create visual reminders, such as posters, about how to interact with
other classmates:
Always use your manners: Please, Thank you, Excuse me, etc.

When working with others: Always be polite, share, help each other,
be a team player, take turns, be respectful.

CHAPTER 9: STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AN

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
For this unit, we will explore the different types of volcanoes:
Khan Academy Learning about mountains that are actually volcanoes.
Khan Academy Exploring different types of volcanoes.

The Ring of Fire: A large circle of explosive

volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.

Hawaiian Island hotspot (left) and Old Faithful

geyser in Yellowstone National Park (right).

CHAPTER 9: STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AN

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment
How can we create an environment conductive to learning?

Arrange the classroom to maximize attention and minimize

disruptions by:

Arranging desks, tables, and chairs for easy interaction, where you
can regularly survey the room for possible confusion, frustration, or
boredom.

Establish traffic patterns that will allow students mobility around the
room without disturbances.

Keep intriguing material out of sight and reach until needed.

Place frequently misbehaving or uninvolved students close at hand.

CHAPTER 9: STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AND

EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment
Strategies for addressing undesirable classroom behaviors include:

Ignoring the behavior.

Cueing the student.

Discussing the problem privately with the student.

Promoting self-regulation.

Conferring with parents.

Conducting a planned, systematic intervention.

CHAPTER 10: ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

BY: KREG WINGHAM, SUMMER YOUNG, AMBER PARHAM, AND BRITTANY DEAL

Use Assessments for Multiple Reasons and Purposes

Guiding instructional decision making

Use formal and informal assessments to modify and change lesson plans to better convey
information to the students.

Diagnosing learning and performance problems

When assessments are used, be on the lookout for various patterns that may denote an
learning or performance problem that a student may have

Conducting Informal Assessments

Teachers can assess the effectiveness of what they are teaching by observing the verbal and
nonverbal behaviors of students.

The teacher can informally evaluate if the students are engaged by asking questions and
engaging all students during a lesson.

For the volcano unit, in the middle of learning vocabulary terms the teacher says a
vocabulary term and may call on a student who does or does not have their hand raised.

The teacher may also perform and informal assessment during the volcano groups and who
is engaged in participating in the group or not.

CHAPTER 10: ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Assessment Strategies

Designing and Giving Formal Assessments

How can we use performance assessments to ensure validity for this unit?

Examples include:
Creating an erupting volcano experiment.

Creating a volcano sculpture.

Creating a poster display about volcanoes.

Evaluating Students Performance on Formal Assessments

A scoring rubric is a reliable source for grading students assessments
effectively.
Giving detailed feedback is crucial for the students to help them learn and
achieve more. It helps them to see how well they did, what their weaknesses
are, and how to improve.