Complex Cognitive Processes

Reflect on your learning habits and strategies. In what ways might you have you been either nurturing or neglecting your own complex thinking processes?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been working in technical accounts for almost 10 years now. I went to work in the BPO industry straight off from college. All the accounts I've worked for needed technical and analytical skills. We were in the industry where you have to memorize a lot of terms and know the jargon. 

As part of the the management team, I should always be on top of issues that come up, and problem solving and decision making skill is a must. So, I honed these skills. 

Whenever I take psychological tests back in college, most of the time the results would say that I'm a right-brained person, that I  should be into journalism, nursing or a teacher. 

I believe these occupations really require mostly creativity and the nurturing skill. I used to love painting when I was in grade school and high school. I can spend time trying to finish an art project rather than a chemistry project. 

I guess this is one of the complex thinking process that I have been neglecting. I believe that we should nurture all our complex thinking processes. The only way to do it is to find ways and practice them. 

I will put this as one of the goals I have for this PTC course. 

I truly enjoyed the EDS 103 Theories of Learning course. There were several distractions I encountered when I was taking this course, however I tried to go past them. Now, I know better and this makes me want to take the challenge more. 

Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.
David Frost 

Information Processing Theory

Who was your first teacher? What was your first classroom like? What is you remotest childhood memory? How long did it take you to retrieve those information? What does that reveal about the nature of long-term memory?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember vividly my first teacher, my first classroom and even the first name of a classmate that I read from the Attendance Board. My first teacher, Ma'am Rile, was in kindergarten, she was a bubbly and animated. Our first classroom was very airy, we have to sit on the carpet in the middle of the room when in class. We have several small chairs and tables, but mostly for eating during snack time or for activities.

My remotest childhood memory was when I was about 2 or 3 years old. We were in my maternal grandparents' ancestral house in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. They have a large garden in the front and I remember playing with the plants and the grass. I also remember thinking that I exist in the world as a person. It was sort of an existential enlightenment, I remembered the feeling vividly.

Most of the things I remember very well in my long-term memory are episodic memory. They are already etched in my memory and I can easily recall them as if they happened yesterday. I can easily retrieve them since I treasure those memorable events in my life.

This shows that somehow the long-term memory may be linked to your emotions. If the memories are not tragic or traumatic, you will be more likely to remember them.


“..the heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.” 
― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

Constructivism: On Scaffolding

Scaffolding is like the opposite of "spoon-feeding". It is a guided learning that I, sometimes,use as a mother teaching her one-and-a-half year old son. 
I would teach him the ABCs everyday, then at one point, I would just stop at A and B, so he would fill in the C. 

I remember having a piano teacher when I was 8 years old. She was really quite old, and she didn't speak a lot. She would just show me how to do the song and I will just follow, she would have me do it again and again, but even if I get the song, there's no explanation why it was done like that. 

There's no scaffolding that happened there. There was one summer that I studied Physics outside our school. It was really an advanced class, but somehow I was able to understand most concepts. The professor allowed us to analyze and see how the formula  works after he lectures. He would go beside us and check to see how we were doing it. He would point out some details. He usually gives simple examples first before going to the more complex and difficult one. He was certainly more effective than my piano teacher.

Scaffolding, like in building buildings, are needed at the start. But at the end, the building will be able to stand without it. It is quite a good concept that teachers should keep in mind. As teachers, you would want your students to be able to be independent thinkers in the future. 

Behaviorism

 What are predominant practices in your home with respect to reinforcing behaviors and for modifying behaviors?  How would you prefer behaviors regulated at home or in school?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe we grew up in the country where we see parents applying positive  punishment to their children. I think it is somehow passed down from our ancestors and that we see it as normal and fitting way to enforce discipline. I remember my mom telling me stories how my grandfather would ask them to kneel in a layer of rock salt when they misbehave. 

I also saw how my uncles and aunts use their belts, slippers, newspapers and anything their hands can grab to slap it on the rears of my cousins. We saw it as normal way to discipline because we believe our parents would want us to grew up to be better persons. 

My mom only hit me with a garden hose once when I was 7 years old. I went to the perya in our town plaza and didn't tell her about it. She was worried sick because she didn't know where  I was. 

Eventually when we grew older there were less physical punishments and mostly it was a negative punishment (lowering down our allowances, not buying us the toys that we want, etc). Sometimes they would use the "pakonsensya" effect to try to modify our behavior. For example, I really want to eat chocolates, then my mom would say, "Ok, I will buy you chocolates, but your sisters and I will not have anything to eat for a week." Well, it works for me, since my heart can't bear to see them suffer. 

I believe behaviors are best regulated at home. At home, is where the child will start to learn his values and attitude. The school can also reinforce behavior but to a certain extent only. There should not be a disconnect between the teachings in school and at home. There should be consistency in order to see change. It is important that teachers talk to parents and vice versa. 

“Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided”

John Locke

Social Learning: On Role Models and Mentors

My Role Models and Mentors   and  Their Contributions 

My Mother              

  My mom was my motivator and supporter in my learning. She's always there in the background trying her best to make sure I grow up to be a strong person. Whenever, I failed on something or express my disappointments, she would always comfort me by saying that I have a choice to just drop it and look for another alternative. She always trusts me in all my decisions, and of course as a parent, you know that they only have unconditional love for you. She will always be my epitome of strength and optimism. I guess she is my biggest mentor and role model.                                    

Ma'am Rile
(My Kindergarten Teacher)

My kindergarten teacher was always full of energy, as a shy child, I always look up and admire people who are full of enthusiasm and are assertive. When she teaches us a song or reads us a story, she was always very animated. She gave life to the storybook characters and tickled our imagination.
I believe I looked up to her as my role model, because being animated and enthusiastic was not a trait I had before, and I would want to have that when I teach in the future.

Ma'am Giner
(My Grade 6 English Teacher)

Ma'am Giner was a great English teacher. She explains everything with ease. I never knew that I would be good in this subject. She encourages us to read a lot. I think I read all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books from our school library before. I would want to be like a teacher like her, she does not impose herself to her students, but instead she brings out the potential in them and nurtures the potential. Her goal in teaching was clear and that was for her students to master the subject.

Mr. Calambro
(High School Drafting Teacher)

Mr. Calambro is one unforgettable teacher. He teaches us our Drafting subject in school. He has a very keen eye for details. I remember repeating the drafting plates several times in order to perfect them. But he doesn't immediate deadlines, he knows that we are trying to learn a skill. One thing I really admire about him is that he takes time to get to know his students, he tries to level with us.
He was not the authoritative type when outside the classroom. I would want to be that type of teacher as well, someone who can be a friend to them and someone who truly cares.

Stephen Covey
(Author of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People")

When I was on my second year as a working employee, I was sent to do training on Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His works and his book really opened my eyes that it is possible to be a self-regulated person and succeed in it. His ideas were easy to follow and easy to remember. But it's not something that is oversimplified since it still is complex and difficult at the same time. His principles really inspired and motivated me. Sometimes, I would find myself unconsciously quoting him when working on a certain task, like his famous "First things first." habit.

Learning Strategy

Am I a self-regulated learner? Why can’t I think like an expert? Will my participation in forum discussions facilitate the transfer of my learning?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe it's difficult to master self-regulation. Basing on my experience, there's always a gap on what you know, what you want and what you do. For example, I know I need to do my eJournals, I wanted to ace the course, however, self-reinforcement is lacking.

Reflecting more about it, self-regulation is like being the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government all at the same time. You make your own rules, you execute them, and you judge yourself on what you did.

I would like to think that I'm a self-regulated learner. Self-regulation should be a requirement for distance learning. There should be a test that should be done before diving into distance learning.

On being an expert, there should be exposure to a certain field of specialization. I believe experts have the extensive  knowledge that can be acquired through practice and experience. Also, there should be focus and understanding to be able to effectively see the "patterns" and analyze them.

For example, we go to doctors to have a medical check up. However, sometimes, we are more confident to go to doctors who specialize on a certain area. If you seem to have colds for weeks now, you might want to see a EENT doctor rather than a general practitioner.

I know I can't think like an expert in this course, because this is something new to me. I have yet to really experience putting things into practice. This is where transfer will take place. Practicing learning transfer in the forum discussions would really enhance your learning. For me though, time is essential and I didn't have the time to do so. Also, most of the time, different ideas emerge in the forums and it confuses me and diverts me more.

I believe if time is not of the essence, then learning can be transferred more effectively. Take for example, when I was in grade school, I had almost ten subjects that I needed to study. It would be difficult for students to really transfer what they've learn if they are doing too many tasks.

It's a challenge for teachers to balance learning and transfer. Time does play an important factor, and it's something that we cannot avoid. As teachers, we have to


“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.” ― Lao Tzu