Quarter Century of Community Psychology †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Quarter Century of Community Psychology. Answer: Introduction: Experiments formed the main activity in probing the concept of sinking and floating. Using illustrations is ideal in imparting this concept into the children due to their middle age. The experiments give them an idea what the concept is about and what is expected of them at the end of the learning session(Dez-Palomar, 2012, p.166). A technique that facilitates quick recall is thus needed to achieve the objectives of probing the above concept. The learning session will sound quite realistic and more sensible when the children have an opportunity to interact with the experimental items, collect data and make the require observations. The ability to recall among the children will be enhanced through practical work in which the outcomes of the learning can easily be pointed out and explained by each of the students(Dez-Palomar, 2012, p.258). Experiments are a platform for ensuring that the children are able to recall the contents they have learnt and even further give the learning an att empt when they are on their own. Experiments make learning fun, engaging and enjoyable as the learners have an opportunity to find out for themselves under the instructions and guidelines of the instructor. Learning through experience has higher mastery gradient than learning by listening from an instructor to a speaker. The children, through listening to the instruction as dispensed from the teacher, perform the experiments in their own, collect the data and make the required observations which form the basis of the discussion for the science concept. In this case, the instructor only comes in to assist in cases where the students might have got stuck with the experiment. Still the instructor chips in to offer explanations and pause interrogatives aimed at making the experiment more valuable and deeper(Clark, 2017, p.200). Experiments are one sure way of eliminating misconceptions that are held by the children as a result of prior knowledge. Comparison can be made from the actual findings of the experiment and the prior knowledge where the wrong information is discarded. The responses received from the children for the pre-planned and follow up questions illustrated limited knowledge of the children on relationship between density and floating and sinking as well as upthrust and floating and sinking(Machado, 2015, p.119). While the children were a bit informed of density and could say something about floating and sinking, they could not relate density and sinking. They could easily relate density and the size of an object in which in most of the responses bigger sizes meant higher density. Productive and unproductive set of questions dominated the experiment session and were applied before, during and after the experiment sessions in a bid to gauge the understanding of the learners. These question types were aimed at establishing how much the children knew about density and sinking. Still, the questions were meant to motivate the student to engage in extensive research and investigation to find out more about the topic floating and sinking and specif ically the sub topics density and upthrust(Revenson, 2011, p.178). In their responses to most of the questions that touched on density and sinking, their obvious assumption was that anything perceived enormous came with a higher density and thus could easily sink. The unproductive questions assisted them with gaining deeper understanding of the concept. The children held a conception of large size means higher density as an alternative conception. According to their explanation which was not as much elaborate, they felt that large sizes means higher masses and hence translating to greater density(Clark, 2017, p.288). This was an impact of prior knowledge which was supposed to be challenged and the accurate information sought from the experiment. Still, an alternative conception that was observed in the children was that objects have greater force than water and hence the force exerted by water cannot overcome that exerted by an object(Dez-Palomar, 2012). According to the children, any object dropped on water can only float because it does not have any force rather than its force being overcome by the upthrust exerted by water. This notion is held from the observations they have made previously in which they are convinced the force of an objected is too big to be overcome by the one generated by water. In their previous learning of f orce being exerted by a body being equivalent to the product between the mass and the gravitational force, it is apparent that liquids were overlooked. Questioning was one sure way of determining how much the children knew of the content provided. Through the various types of questions asked, the instructor was able to learn where the children erred with information. Questions also make it possible to establish the level of knowhow of a child in an area of study. By mainly focusing productive and unproductive questions for this concept teaching, the children are engaged and their ideas as well as thoughts established on the selected topic(Dez-Palomar, 2012, p.157). This allows the instructor an opportunity to organize the lessons in such a way that best suits the requirements of his learners. Learners have different levels of understanding and knowledge on a subject and hence would require different approaches while teaching to ensure each of the children benefits from the learning session. How much is known by a child on a specific topic can only be successfully and easily be established through probing. Probing provides an idea on which areas a learner needs to focus on depending on how the learners successfully answers or responds to the various probing techniques. An example is the use of questions as the method of probing. The level of knowledge the learners have on density and upthrust as concepts in sinking and floating can only be established through asking them questions relating to the concepts. A higher the score in the questions indicates a greater knowledge and understanding(UNESCO, 2014, p.212). Still, lower scores indicate limited knowledge on the concepts and hence a need to device the necessary improvement techniques. Effective handling of the prior knowledge of the children will be inclusive of the following strategies: Handling prior knowledge only it raises alarm of misunderstanding as mainly witnessed in case where prior knowledge contradicts the accurate information. In the cases where what is known to the learner is the same as the hypothesis of the science concept, focus should be on the concept in order to explain it better and deeper for the understanding of the learner(Dez-Palomar, 2012, p.88). Not dwelling too much on the prior information. Prior information is just but a background on what the learner knows of the topic to be learnt and hence should not form the focus of learning. Instead, it should just shed light on what needs to be emphasized on and that which needs just a little brush over. Borrowing from a pool of information when justification against any wrong prior information needs to be made- This information pool can be inclusive of experiments as well. By doing numerous experiments and a lot of research, the learners are able to compare the information they have against that which is existing and thereafter make decisions(Clark, 2017, p.122). A wide range of information sources eliminates chances of bias and enhances accuracy levels. References Campbell, C., 2012. Science in Early Childhood. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Clark, M.M., 2017. Understanding Research in Early Education: The Relevance for the Future of Lessons from the Past. 4th ed. New York: Taylor Francis. Craighead, W.E., 2012. Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Children. 4th ed. London: Springer Science Business Media. Dez-Palomar, a., 2012. Family and Community in and Out of the Classroom: Ways to Improve Mathematics? Achievement. 3rd ed. Barcelona: Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona. Machado, J.M., 2015. Early Childhood Experiences in Language Arts: Early Literacy. 4th ed. Paris: Cengage Learning. Revenson, T.A., 2011. A Quarter Century of Community Psychology: Readings from the American Journal of Community Psychology. 3rd ed. London: Springer Science Business Media. UNESCO, 2014. EFA Global Monitoring Report 20132014 Teaching and Learning Achieving quality for all. 4th ed. New York: UNESCO.