Dear Students,
Please click on the following video for a cartoon version of beginning psychology and Pavlov's Theory. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MObqY_1spRM
I enjoyed this video because it used cartoon characters to describe psychology and the ways that it can be taught in the classroom. Overall, this video would be great to use in a beginning psychology classroom. It gives students and alternative to the lecture format that is often used in our classrooms.
Thanks for posting the video, Antoinette. I find the final second ironic. Although students have additional questions, they (and the instructor) have been conditioned to drop everything at the sound of the buzz. As you mentioned, this gives students an alternative to lecture format. How do you think students are conditioned to respond to videos? How are students conditioned to respond to lectures? I notice the information is complex, but the format is less so. In your opinion, what age of student would respond best to this video?
ReplyDeleteHi Antoinette,
ReplyDeleteI also watched the video, and read your suggestion that it might be helpful for an introductory psychology class. The review of theories might be helpful if students have some prior knowledge of Skinner, Erikson, Vygotsky, and Freud. The humor and mispronunciations might be engaging for some students. The instructor illustrated principles of reinforcement in responding to the students. I wonder how we might encourage students to connect their prior experience to the content? Perhaps if they are also required to participate in educational settings or a practicum site, they could be asked to connect the theories with their real-life experiences. We could also connect to the writing of James, who advocates for verbal practice of subject matter.
@Ben: Many students are conditioned to drop everything at the sound of the buzz. This situation occurs in too many schools these days. Even though the students had questions, they are trained to put their hands down and move to the next class before the next bell rings. Students are conditioned to pay attention when it comes to watching videos. Students will look at videos like they are in the movie theater. In some ways, they will pay attention to a video more than they will pay attention to a lecture. Students believe that lectures will be boring and they will have to take lots of notes so that they teacher will know that they were listening. I think that students should view this video in high school. They need to have a sound amount of reasoning in order to grasp some of the concepts in this video. Many examples need to be used by the teacher so that the students can get a clearer understanding of the material.
ReplyDelete@Caroline: An introductory psychology class is a good place for this video. But having the prior knowledge of the main theorists would take some time since students tend to only spend 12 weeks in a semester. My hope is that their psychology teacher is proficient in explaining these concepts to them. If not, the students will be lost in the information. I think that we can connect students to their prior learning by using examples that incorporate the things that they may have experienced. For example: The first day in preschool class. Students can imagine how they responded to being in a classroom with other strange faces looking at them. As they make friends, they will be more comfortable as they walk into the classroom. I agree that students need to have a practicum so that they will be able to use those experiences in order to get a better understanding of the Theories. But the James book would be a great book for an advanced Psychology student who understand the theories.
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