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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Perish, Brett Boles

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Perish, Brett Boles

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This would be a constructivist approach because the students navigated the research they found and assembled it to an appropriate format within the project. The students used their own abilities and prior knowledge (such as research skills taught by the librarian) to extrapolate and find further knowledge to enrich their learning.

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parrish, Brett Boles

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parrish, Brett Boles

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Yes, because they are still in the concrete stage and by breaking down the project into more manageable steps, the students are able to provide more direct focus to the task. If the students were to try and complete the task as a whole, it might become overwhelming to them and they might not be cognitively equipped with the tools needed to manage their time correctly throughout the project.

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parrish, Brett Boles

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parrish, Brett Boles

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According to Vygotsky's ZPD, there are three levels of knowledge: "What I can learn on my own", What I can learn with help", and "What is beyond my reach". By using question starters, students establish where their lack of knowledge is within themselves and their peers. This provides students with the opportunity to look further into areas they want/need to be more knowledgeable in. Collaboration within the research groups establishes a foundation of "What I can learn with help" by utilizing classmates' and personal knowledge.

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parish, Brett Boles

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Sierra Ackerman, Jillian Parish, Brett Boles

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Assimilation is prior knowledge the students already have and accommodation is the process of changing the personal learning process of a student to adapt to new information. The students may have used assimilation to pick their topics because it might have been something they had prior knowledge in and/or were already interested in. Accommodation was displayed through students learning new research methods and finding new information within their research to use for their project. "Research team" activity might have stimulated disequilibrium by challenging students to discover and interpret new information on a topic they may have already had prior interest in.

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It was necessary for Mr. Morales to break down the project into more manageable steps because by breaking down the project students were able to focus on one step at a time. Since the students are still in the concrete stage of learning one large task could be overwhelming, however breaking one large task down into multiple parts allows students to take on a large task, slowly

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In Vygotsky's theory he explains the Zone of Proximal Development as being in three parts. There is what students can learn on their own, what they can learn with the help of others whether that be other students or instructional help and then the last part is what is beyond the students reach. By allowing students to work in "research teams" it allows for students to learn with the help of others which is the second part of Vygotsky's theory. In the cast study it states "Mr. Morales monitors students' progress in the research teams and assists when needed". This also falls into this category of 'what can students learn with the help of others.

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The 'research team' activity might stimulate disequilibrium in students  because the students are doing research on their projects, which allows for them to find new information regarding their project topic. Assimilation is the knowledge that students have prior to beginning their research and accommodation is a process where students might change their personal learning process to adapt to new information. Students will have chosen a topic that they have interest in and then they will conduct research on said topic. By allowing students to work in research teams they will be presented with new information and ideas regarding their topic by their peers.

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Students were allowed to choose the topic of their choice, do research on said topic and construct a proper project from their research. Because of this, students were able to use their prior knowledge and abilities, as well as some outside help from surrounding peers and instructors to, expand on their knowledge which will intern improve their learning abilities.

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Because students were able to choose their own research topic, conduct research on their chosen topic as well as assemble the information the discovered into an appropriate project format, this project-based unit would be considered a constructivist approach. Students were able to use the knowledge and abilities taught to them prior to this project, as well as input from their peers. This will aid in the expansion of their learning and knowledge.

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By breaking the project down into more manageable steps, students are able to focus on one step at a time without becoming overwhelmed and confused. This approach is most effective for these students because they are still in the concrete stages of learning.

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The 3 levels of knowledge outlined in Vygotsky's ZPD are: what a student can learn on their own, what a student can learn with assistance (this can include assistance from instructors or peers), and what is beyond a student's reach. As this project is heavily peer based, it allows students to learn from each other which in turn furthers their knowledge as a whole. By allowing "research teams" the second level of ZPD (what students can learn with assistance) is demonstrated.

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Assimilation can be defined in this situation as the knowledge that students possess prior to this project and accommodation can be defined as the way students may expand that knowledge/information by changing their personal learning style in order to adapt to new information. The "research team" activity might stimulate disequilibrium because students have the opportunity to gather new information on their desired topic. By allowing students to chose their desired topic that peaks their interest, assimilation is demonstrated. By allowing students to work in groups and absorb new information from each other, accommodation is demonstrated.

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This project would be considered a constructivist approach to learning because by definition this approach is when students learn by being actively involved in the processes of learning, and not just sitting and receiving the information they are meant to learn. During this case study students were able to choose almost the entire project for themselves and their groups. They were able to choose the topic, resources, research methods, what to talk about in the presentation, and the actual presentation type. Although there were a few restrictions like how they did have to choose between a certain amount of topics and presentation styles, they still were granted freedom in how they wanted to learn, what they wanted to learn, and how they wanted show what they had learnt through their research. The students were not forced to just listen to things and that be the end of it, but they were able to work together with their peers to use the knowledge they had gathered previously and during the lesson, to create something they were proud of.

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The students current stage, as they are 5th graders, is right at the end of the concrete operations stage. This is the stage where children have difficulty with abstract thinking and their brains do not fully understand or grasp logic yet. Because of this, it was necessary for Mr. Morales to break down the steps a bit more for the students. The breaking down of the steps allowed time for students to fully grasp what was expected of them during every stage of the project and how they would go about doing this. This approach helps students and children in this stage to slow down and really think about each stage because if it was all mushed together it could become overwhelming and confusing for the students.

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The "research team" format of this project shows Vygotsky's social construction theory because his theory talks about how this is the time where class discussions, peer tutoring and cooperative learning is both important and accepted by the students. The 3 stages of his theory include, "what can I learn on my own,?" "what can I learn with help,?" and "what is beyond my reach?" The research team format allows for students to learn individually on their own by finding resources that they believe are important and then meeting up with their groups to discuss these resources and findings. Aa a group the team will discuss and evaluate the resources and information found to decide what is best for the project and what is not needed or as important. This allows students to work together with others to evaluate the best information and to see others points of views and learn a bit more about the things their teammates had found during their research. This allowed students to see what they can do alone, but mainly and most importantly to see what they could do with the help of others.

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The "research team" activity could stimulate disequilibrium in students because it allows students to research in a bit more detail the project topic that they had chosen. Students will probably of had a bit of prior knowledge about this topic, but have gotten to dive deeper and gain more knowledge on this overall topic through the research team. This also relates to Assimilation in a way that students had already previously learned about these topics during their class throughout the year, meaning this was already knowledge that was known prior to the project beginning, affecting why they may have chosen their particular project topic. Accommodation can be found in this activity when students are researching and choosing their presentation. This would be because the students are gaining more knowledge through their own research on the topic and through the various sources and information that their fellow group members are relying back to them. This also plays into the choice of the presentation style. Many students had probably not done any of these fun presentation/ project styles before, so this was most likely a first for them in this context as well.

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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This project-based unit is a constructivist approach to learning because it is based on the idea that people actively construct and use their own knowledge.This shows us constructivism because students are able to construct new understandings by integrating things they already know. For example students can take new ideas and combine that with materials they already know to create a project.

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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In the reading we learned that Mr. Morales is teaching a 5th grade class. During this stage of cognitive development it is necessary to break down the project into more manageable steps so the students can effectively work on it and accomplish their goals. By breaking down the project, Mr. Morales students will be able to finish the project with different perspectives, and it will allow the students to get it done faster and collaborate ideas together.

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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The “research team” format exemplifies Vygotsky’s social construction of knowledge within the Zone of Proximal Development. Vygotsky’s theory states that individual’s or students learn from each other so by having the students tell each other or suggest information to include, and by working in groups allows them to rely on each other, as well as, learn from each other. We also see that the “research team” comes from the idea of scaffolding, or the idea of partner and group work.

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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Nichole Johnson, Jayla Whitby, Leanna Beard, Faith Hunt

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The “research team” activity might stimulate disequilibrium because the students will be working with a group. Each  person in the group has a different role and everyone will have their own opinions. This could become problematic for some students who may disagree on the direction the rest of the group is taking, it could cause students to feel left out, or it could place students on different levels together making others frustrated. Assimilation plays a role because the students use new information in research and put it into existing ideas. Lastly, accommodation would be included in this activity because the previous ideas would be changing since the students have new ideas and they are adding to those.

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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The project based leaning unit would be considered a constructivist approach to learning because it allows for the processing and formation of knowledge rather than repetition or memorization. Students combine prior knowledge with the new materials and gives them a chance to express their newly found knowledge.

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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It was necessary for him to break down the project because of the concrete-operational stage they are in. They will take everything very literally. It is also because of the need of using scaffolding teaching. This approach allows students to still complete the project, but in smaller steps to ensure they understand as much as possible and are able to complete the project without feeling overwhelmed.

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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It allows students of different levels, experiences, and backgrounds to come together and work on materials together. This gives all students a better chance of learning the material because of the different levels of understanding and ability to share their knowledge with each other. So this group of students or "research team" exemplifies Vygotskys social construct by allowing different students to come together and share their experiences.

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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Daniela Amaya, Angellica Burr, Maddie Ramsey, Aimee Eno, Maddie Wheeler, Kenyon Wills, Abby Wordsworth

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It allows students of different levels, experiences, and backgrounds to come together and work on materials together. This gives all students a better chance of learning the material because of the different levels of understanding and ability to share their knowledge with each other. So this group of students or "research team" exemplifies Vygotskys social construct by allowing different students to come together and share their experiences.

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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The students were allowed to choose their own topic and research on this topic. The students were not just having to listen to facts and try to obtain them instead were getting to not only choose their topic but do their own research and present their own project in whatever ever way they were comfortable with.

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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Mr. Morales breaking down this project efficiently helped the students to all stay on the same speed and not let students who struggle with the topic or non-fluent English students get left behind. This ensured that all his students would succeed and he also provided them with all the materials they would need. It also helped them to collaborate since they were all on the same task and same speed with the projects.

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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They provided guidance and assistance when needed to the students but allowed them to work independently on these projects and be creative with hoe they felt comfortable presenting them.

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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Katherine Sullivan, Francine Ollila, Briana Davis, Katelyn Talbott

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The students have to get creative with this project and it challenges them to think outside the box. However, with this creativity being in use the students were given the freedom to use the knowledge they obtained from their research and decide what they felt would be most efficient or most comfortable for them to present. Mr. Morales and the research team did push the students to get out of their comfort zone but offered them many different tools and resources to keep them in task and grow their knowledge in a fun and active way.

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This is a constructivist approach because Mr. Morales allowed students to make their own choices about their project based on topics they already knew or activities they found interesting and had a background in. The research allowed the students to build upon what they have already learned. Mr. Morales also provided activities that were more hands-on and allowed the students to learn through creative processes.

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Mr. Morales breaking down the project into steps was necessary because the students are in the Concret Operational Stage of Piaget's Theroy. This means that the students at this age typically can not think abstractly and need guidance also known as scaffolding to help them to complete the task they were given.

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Vygotsky's ZPD is what you can learn with help from others. It is meant to challenge the students but not to frustrate them. By working in the research teams, it allows for the students to collabrate with on another and help each other with ideas that they might be struggling with. When students who are below grade level or just not understanding a concept, they can learn through their peers what they may not be grasping.

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This activity may cause disequilibrium in students by providing them with new information that challenges what they have already learned. Through researching their topic they may uncover true information that conflicts with the knowledge they already know. This may lead to the student using assimilation to put this idea into a schema that suggests the newfound knowledge is wrong. As they continue to research and discuss it with peers, they may begin to change that idea of it being wrong to a new schema of correct info. They then accommodate the information they have gathered.

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This would definitely be considered a constructivist approach because it shows how open Mr. Morales was to all forms of learning and expression. He allowed them to do the project how they wanted to, making sure that both left and right brain learners were able to understand. One very important part of this project was that he made sure to rephrase questions for them. By doing this the students were able to think of the information in new ways then if he were not there assisting them. This is a prime example of a constructivist approach as this approach requires for the student to go through the process of accommodation and assimilation.

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By breaking down the project, the students were able to more fully understand and comprehend the information they were tasked in learning. At their age they should be going through the stages of accommodation and assimilation, and by breaking down the project into multiple stages as well as having the project be done however the students wanted, more of the brain was being stimulated. The last thing Mr. Morales wanted was to overwhelm the students and have them not like the project because of this.

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With the formation of these “research teams”, the students were able to ask one another as well as talk to Mr. Morales about what information was more or less important for their individual projects. Since the information was new to each student and was learned individually it is very beneficial to talk about the information with fellow students. What the students learned were more than likely lower on the zone, meaning they COULD learn it on their own. But with the assistance of fellow students who also knew about some of the social studies information they used, it made it much easier to comprehend and use for their projects.

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Assimilation and accommodation were the two prevalent processes taking place with this activity. Since assimilation is taking new information and putting it into existing schemes, it makes sense that accommodation is also involved in this project. Accommodation for this project is putting that information that they know and making something out of it. When they are able to do this it shows a complete understanding of the topic that the students chose. And by researching their own topics, the students have to come across information that contradicts what they might have already learned. The research groups allow them to reflect on this, share this information, and also get new ideas that could help them understand it better.

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This project-based unit would be considered a constructivist approach to learning because the students used their constructed knowledge to create a project based on a topic they have learned. The students had options to what the project could be about, and also had options for how to create their project. They were not contained to one way of thinking and learning, but rather encouraged to explore the options and utilize the one that works in their favor.

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The students in Mr. Morales class are within the Concrete Operational stage of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development. This means that their brains are not fully developed and they still need guidance in their learning. Breaking down the project into more manageable steps allowed for the students to focus on each section specifically instead of being overwhelmed by the project as a whole. Breaking down the project also allowed the students to have time to gradually form an understanding of the purpose of the project as they worked independently, within groups, and with the teacher one-on-one.

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The "research team" format allowed students to ask and answer questions that involved deeper level thinking and observing. Students were able to gather information independently, then share the information with a group. The questions within the group touched on the "what can I do on my own" and what can I do with help" levels of Vygotsky's view of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The students were able to use their own perspective to observe their classmates projects, and also utilize the perspectives of others within their own project. The questions served as a guidance for evaluating their actual development level vs. their level of potential development within the ZPD.

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The "research" team activity may stimulate disequilibrium within students because the students will be observing one another's projects and provide feedback. Some students may feel that what they have done independently was not good enough for the group and may feel "mental discomfort" as they try to make sense of the situation. Assimilation in this situation can be the information that the students knew before they began their project and research. As they began researching and creating their project, they utilized accommodation as they gained new information and placed it into a new or existing scheme. They can also use accommodation as they observe other student's work and respond to the feedback they were provided.

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This project-based unit is considered a constructivist approach to learning because the students their own knowledge to make a project based on what they have learned. They had many options and had lots of freedom deciding. They were not forced to follow one set path. They used the knowledge they already had, along with their fellow classmates. They were constantly active and involved during the project. There was also no memorization aspect of it, just using what they already learned

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I do think that it was necessary for Mr. Morales to breakdown the project into more manageable steps. This allowed the students to take it one step at a time, and not have too much to focus on and complete all at once. They are still at a stage, where their brains are not fully developed, where it is important to break down the projects and assignments so they can perform better. This allows for them to gain more and more knowledge as the project goes on.

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Vgotskys theory states that there are three parts to the zone of proximal development. These are what students can learn on their own, what they learn with help, and what they are not capable of yet. Allowing the students to work in groups, using the help of their peers and people around them, they are showing the second part of Vgotskys theory. The "research team" helped students to think deeper and observe more, and work with a group. Mr. Morales was also available as another form of help.

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The "research team" might stimulate disequilibrium in students because it allowed for the students to do a little more research on the topic of the project that they chose. Students most likely have some knowledge already about this topic, but now get to learn even more. Assimilation is the information and knowledge that the students already knew before doing any research. Accommodation is where students may have to change the way that they go about completing this project to gain the new information.

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Students have already reviewed the five topics in their social studies class, meaning they already have prior knowledge on the topics. Through their research they were able to expand on their previous knowledge and construct new ideas and knowledge.

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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During this time in the children’s development, the children seem to process a step-by-step process better, because it’s in an orderly stage. By doing so, it is less overwhelming for students and they will retain more of the information that they are learning.

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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During the Zone of Proximal Development, children can go through 3 stages. These stages include: children doing things on their own, children not being able to do things on their own, and finally children who can’t do the activity at all. In the case study, having the children in groups allows them to work together and feed off of each other's information to hopefully help them all understand the material. Each student can learn differently, having these different learning styles may help others.

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Madeline Wright, Paige Hemphill, Bridget Cleary, María Mora-Ponce, Jack Dunphey

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Mr. Morales believes that the project design options will “allow right-brained and left-brained students alike to use their strengths”. I personally do not believe favoring one side of the brain played a major role during this project. There is a common misconception that one side specializes in different things; However, both hemispheres work together to collaborate and communicate. Logical thinking, language, visual, and spatial tasks take place in the cortex.

However it can be very beneficial to give students options when it comes to approaching a project. It is a chance for students to have more control over their work and also allows them to become more invested in their work. That being said, I think all students have the power to be left or right brained students, so classifying them this early on as if they will always be a left or right brained student is a potential issue. Also, giving students more options that involve both the “creativity” and “logical” thinking that are often attached specifically to the right or left brain could give them some experience in using both ways of thinking.

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It was necessary to break the project down into steps because in 5th grade the students haven't fully gotten the idea of logic so it would be hard for them if they were just given everything at one time and told to do it.

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This is a constructivist approach because the students are taking the information they already learned about it and then creating a project and researching new information they need.

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The "research team" exemplify Vygotsky's ZPD because the students learning from each other while they are getting feedback from them. They are also helping each other to improve their projects.

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This could cause disequilibrium with the students because they could be learning new information that conflict with what they already know. That could then lead to assimilation because the student would say new knowledge they learn is wrong. But after talking to their peers about it they could then learn that it isn't wrong (accommodation).