Teachers across the nation are constantly assigning projects that have the students make an artifact or solve a problem which forces the students to interact with one another, and this an example of the social learning theory. Social learning theory states that students learn through interactions with others in social situations in which they have to make an artifact or solve a problem (Laureate 2010).
The best example of the social learning theory I have seen is watching my daughter learn about the world around her through social interactions. For example, when my daughter is thirsty and wants some milk, she will run to the refrigerator and tries to say the word milk. My daughter knows through interactions with me and my wife that the milk is kept in that location and knows if she says that word, there is very good chance that we will open the refrigerator and get her some milk. My daughter knows this because of the interactions she has had with me and my wife. She is also solving a problem if the fact that she is thirsty and/or hungry. Another great example of how my daughter has learned through interactions is when she gets her hands on my wife's iphone. She will pick up the phone, hit the button and unlock the phone. She will flip through the different pages of applications that are on my wife's phone. My daughter will also hold the phone up to her ear and say hi. My daughter learned how to use my wife's phone by watching my wife use it and mimics her actions when she uses the phone.
As a seventh grade Social Studies and Science teacher, I assign a lot of group projects. For the most part, these projects work out very well and I highly recommend teachers trying hands-on projects where students create and object or solve a problem while in groups. These projects do take a lot of time and can be hard to incorporate into the school year. Grouping students can also be difficult due to personalities of some students, but the outcome is usually awesome. The reason why these projects turn out so well is because the students take ownership of the project and want to do well.
I know that students can learn a lot from one another under the right conditions. I have witnessed this in my classroom with the many different projects that I assign throughout the year. I have also noticed how learning can take place with interactions by watching my wife and daughter interact on a daily basis. Overall, I feel that people in general can learn a lot from each other under the right social situations.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
The analogy you make with your daughter shows the root of this learning style. It is, in my opinion, the first way we learn. I have two lovely daughters and it is fun to watch our 8month old watch our 2 year old. She continually observes the way she reads books, plays, and interacts with us. What is she learning? At 8 months it is hard to tell, but I am sure she is learning from watching and interacting with her. The sit and look at books together often now, and play doll house together too. Even if the younger doesn’t play the same way, she is still learning from her. The application for us as teachers starts with making this observation, which I never thought about until I read your blog. Now I feel differently about this learning style and I need to reevaluate my thought process and use in my classroom.
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