SEMINAR
EDU.704: THEORETICAL BASES OF
SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION
MS.AISHWARYA KAVUNGAL
ROLL.NO:601
UNIT.3: PSYCHOLOGICAL
BASES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
TEACHING
“Every man is in certain respects
like all other men, like some other
men, like no other man"
(Murray, H.A. & C. Kluckhohn, 1953).
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
LEARNING OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
SUB-SECTIONS
INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCE IN
LEARNING SOCIAL
SCIENCE
Identifying Individual
Differences
Catering to the Needs of
Gifted, Slow Learners,
Low Achievers and
Under Achievers.
WHAT ARE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES???
• These are differences between individuals that
distinguish or separate them from one
another and makes one as an unique
individual in oneself are named as “Individual
Differences” In Psychological Terminology
HISTORY
• Individual Differences in learners has a history
dating back to antiquity.
• The idea that the success of education
depends on adapting teaching to individual
learners appears in writings from the ancient
Chinese, Hebrews and Romans.
HISTORY
• Frances Galton (1822-1911) is credited with
being the first to investigate individual
differences scientifically (Galton, 1884).
• As part of his study of heredity, he developed
a large and systematic body of data on
individual differences, including both physical
and psychological measures.
• The study of intelligence became the focus of
individual-differences research in the first half
of the twentieth century.
• As a result, most people nowadays are familiar
with the concept of IQ and have experienced
intelligence testing of some kind.
Different Types of Individual Differences
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Physical
Mental
Motor Ability
Achievement
Emotionality
Interest and Aptitudes
Beliefs and opinions
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Learning
Social
Moral
Age
Culture
Nativity
CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
• NATURE
• NURTURE
• The nature versus nurture debate concerns
the relative importance of an individual's
innate qualities ("nature," i.e. nativism, or
innatism) versus personal experiences
("nurture," i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in
determining or causing individual differences
in physical and behavioral traits.
• The phrase "Nature versus nurture" in its
modern sense was coined by the English
Victorian polymath Francis Galton in
discussion of the influence of heredity and
environment on social advancement.
• Galton was influenced by the book On the
Origin of Species written by his cousin, Charles
Darwin.
Nature Vs Nurture
Nature or Nurture
Education: Individual Difference
• A learner's personal characteristics that can
affect how s/he learns.
• Individual differences are often explanations
for differences in learning and performance
among learners.
• The study of individual differences among
learners permits content developers to design
syllabuses in ways that can best meet learners'
needs.
• Individual differences are related with how
people are similar and how they are differ in
their thinking, feeling and behaviour.
• As children develop, they form new ways of
representing the world and they also change
the processes and strategies they use to
manipulate these representations.
• Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner
has argued that there are many dimensions of
human intelligence other than the logical and
linguistic skills that are usually valued in most
school environments.
• Some children are gifted in music, others have
exceptional spatial skills (required, for
example, by architects and artists), or
bodily/kinaesthetic abilities (required by
athletes), or abilities to relate to other people,
etc.
• The effects of individual differences on
learning are examined through a large body of
educational research.
• Due to these researches, some learning
and/or cognitive styles have been classified
over the years.
Field Independent (FI)
Field Dependent (FD)
Analytical
Global or Holistic
Generates structure & ideas
Accepts structure & ideas as presented
Internally directed
Externally directed
Individualistic & Intrapersonal
Sociable & Interpersonal
Conceptually oriented
Factually oriented
• So educators and instructional designers have
to attempt to understand and identify the
influences of individual differences on learning
to maximize the efficiency of instruction.
• Schools must create the best environment for
the development of children taking into
consideration such individual differences..
A College Class Group
STUDENTS IN A CLASS
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MENTAL RETARDATION
UNDER ACHIEVER
LOW ACHIEVER
SLOW ACHIEVER
NORMAL
GIFTED BOY
CD
RICH/POOR
• EMOTIONAL
DISORDERS
• LD
• ADHD/ADD
• DELINQUENT
• BLIND
• DEAF
• ORTHOPEADICALLY
HANDICAPPED
A Classroom
IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
• Teachers may want to list students assigned to
their classroom who have factors that impact
behavior, learning, socialization, or other
factors.
• To identify individual differences, teachers
may look at many different sources for
information. classroom observations, work
samples, school records, standardized testing,
and reports from other teachers (Evertson &
Emmer, 2009).
• If students with special needs are identified,
discussions with the special education
teachers and a review of official records
provide the classroom teacher with
information related to the student.
• With special needs students, it is not a matter
of if accommodations will be made by the
teacher, but how they will make
accommodations for these students.
•
• Educating students with special needs in a
regular classroom is widely accepted as the
least restrictive environment (Hardin, 2008).
• Teachers must use care in reviewing data on
students to prevent forming lower
expectations for student achievement and
behavior.
• Some students may have special behavior
plans or special requirements regarding
classroom management issues.
• Being aware of these plans helps the teacher
address special requirements in developing a
classroom plan.
GIFTED CHILD/ ACHIEVER
• Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual
ability significantly higher than average. It is
different from a skill, in that skills are learned
or acquired behaviors.
• Like a talent, intellectual giftedness is usually
believed to be an innate, personal aptitude for
intellectual activities that cannot be acquired
through personal effort.
SLOW ACHIEVER
• Slow learners are individuals with below
average intelligence and they are not mentally
retarded.
• They strive to improve but yet fail to show
results.
• Some show disinterest, irritability, emotional
outburst and have attention-seeking
behaviour due to consistent failure.
• Making careless mistakes.
• Having difficulty in concentrating on tasks or
games.
• Seeming not to listen when spoken to.
• Losing and forgetting things.
• Being easily distracted.
• Children cannot be called as slow learners by
Considering their intelligence quotient alone.
• They are capable of achieving academic
success at a slower rate. They are normal like
other children in many aspects. However, they
differ from average students in the rate of
learning. Children who perform inadequately
in class tend to be labeled ‘retarded’,
‘disturbed’, ‘back ward’, ‘slow learner’, ‘under
achievers’ and so
• Genetic influences, brain development,
environmental impacts, problems during
pregnancy or delivery, faulty learning, family
dynamics and pathology, over expectations
and pressures, too much study and no play,
distractions and confusion like whose teaching
methodology
LOW ACHIEVER
• Low achievers, however, have a hard time
getting motivated and often find themselves
coughing in the dust of the high achievers’
hustle.
• Inadequate academic achievement
• Inappropriate school behaviors
• Poor attending behaviors
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Poor memory
Inadequate organizational skills
Poor self-concept
Inadequate social skills
UNDER ACHIEVERS
• An underachiever is a person and especially a
student who fails to achieve his or her
potential or does not do as well as expected.
• Studies of individuals who have not realised
their apparent potential have identified
learning disabilities, ADHD, and many other
educational problems, and enabled methods
of addressing these problems.
• Academic under-achievement can also be
attributed to relatively intelligent or gifted
students, who not perform as expected either
because they are bored or choose not to
excel.
• For example, the academically successful
daughter of two college professors who drops
out of university may be looked upon as an
underachiever.
WHAT CAN WE DO???
• Learn how to assess children’s knowledge,
strategies and modes of learning adequately.
• Introduce children to a wide range of
materials, activities and learning tasks that
include language, mathematics, natural
sciences, social sciences, art, music,
movement, social understanding, etc.
• Identify students’ areas of strength, paying
particular attention to the interest,
persistence and confidence they demonstrate
in different kinds of activities.
• Support students’ areas of strength and utilize
these areas to improve overall academic
performance.
• Guide and challenge students’ thinking and
learning.
• Ask children thought-provoking questions and
give them problems to solve. Urge children to
test hypotheses in a variety of ways.
• Create connections to the real world by
introducing problems and materials drawn
from everyday situations.
• Show children how they can use their unique
profiles of intelligence to solve real-world
problems.
• Create circumstances for students to interact
with people in the community, and
particularly with adults who are
knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the
kinds of things that are of interest to the
students.
DIVERSE LEARNING NEEDS STRATEGY
• Marilyn Friend of Indiana University suggests
a seven step approach to considering
adaptations to meet diverse learning needs in
a strategy she calls INCLUDE. They are:
• STEP 1: Identify classroom environmental,
curricular, and instructional demands.
• STEP 2: Note student strengths and needs.
• STEP 3: Check for potential areas of student
success.
• STEP 4: Look for potential problem areas.
• STEP 5: Use information gathered to
brainstorm instructional adaptations.
• STEP 6: Decide which adaptations to
implement.
• STEP 7: Evaluate student progress.
IQ Score
Traditional Ranking System
140 + (~.25%)
Genius or near genius
130 – 139
Gifted
120 – 129
Very Superior Intelligence
110 – 119
Superior Intelligence
90 – 109
Average/Normal
80 – 89
Dullness
70 – 79
Borderline deficiency
50 – 70
Mild mental retardation
35-50
Moderate mental retardation
20 – 35
Severe mental retardation
< 20
Profound mental retardation (1%)
GIFTED ACHIEVER
Gifted
Kim Ung-yong & Marilyn Vos Savant
How to teach SS to a gifted Child
• give choices.
• use compacting.
• allow making
independent plans for
independent learning.
• use theory of Multiple
Intelligences.
• use mentoring or
Apprenticeship with
Professionals.
• teach entrepreneurship.
• teach scientific method.
• allow tutoring/peer
coach.
• use Socratic
questioning.
• encourage increased partnerships with
specialists, regular classroom teachers, and
staff developers toward better meeting
academic diversity in the regular classroom
setting.
• increase awareness of specialized student
learning needs.
• expand classroom teachers ability to meet
student needs in a time of more limited
resources.
• encourage teachers to consider further
training in specific strategies and techniques.
• UNITS are interdisciplinary;
• use abstract concepts such as systems, cause
and effect, and how things change over time;
• place heavy emphasis on higher order
reasoning;
• provide historical analysis using primary
sources;
• include in-depth study of content; and employ
the skills of discussion, writing, and research.
• Mentoring with highly qualified and
experienced professors
• Self study and own research works at library
• Field/site visits
SLOW LEARNERS
SLOW LEARNER
• The teachers first identify the slow learners.
• The term slow learner implies to those who
are unable to cope with the work
• normally expected of their age group. Some
children by nature have limited intellectual
capacity and are termed as slow learners.
• Children cannot be called as slow learners by
considering their intelligence quotient alone.
• They are capable of achieving academic
success at a slower rate.
• They are normal like other children in many
aspects. However, they differ from average
students in the rate of learning.
• Children who perform inadequately in class
tend to be labeled ‘retarded’, ‘disturbed’, ‘back
ward’, ‘slow learner’, ‘under achievers’ and so
On ...
Catering to the needs of the slow
learner
• Child-centered
education;
• Established rules in the
classrooms;
• Simplified textbooks
and instructional
materials;
• Focus on familiar
current events;
• Use of: the Unit
approach,
• The Inquiry approach,
• Community Resources,
• Dramatic Plays and Role
Playing,
• Self-directed free time,
• Student Research,
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Field Trips,
Story Telling,
Debates,
Political Cartoons,
Educational Television
and Radio,
• Art,
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Games,
Bulletin Boards,
Scrap Books,
Inductive Approach,
Verbal Praise, and
Tradebooks.
• Mostly, slow learners are more successful
when allowed to participate in classroom
activities at their own level.
UNDER ACHIEVER
UNDER ACHIEVER
• An underachiever is a person and especially a
student who fails to achieve his or her
potential or does not do as well as expected.
• Studies of individuals who have not realised
their apparent potential have identified
learning disabilities, ADHD, and many other
educational problems, and enabled methods
of addressing these problems.
• Academic under-achievement can also be
attributed to relatively intelligent or gifted
students, who not perform as expected either
because they are bored or choose not to
excel.
• For example, the academically successful
daughter of two college professors who drops
out of university may be looked upon as an
underachiever.
TYPES OF UNDER ACHIEVER
• THE CONFORMIST
ACHIEVER
• THE DISTRACTED
LEARNER
• THE BORED LEARNER
• THE COMPLACENT
LEARNER
• THE STRESSED
LEARNER
• THE STRUGGLING
LEARNER
• THE VICTIM
• THE SINGLE-SIDED
• THE REBEL
• Published research on intervention with
Underachieving Gifted Students can be
grouped into two conventional areas.
• The first group focuses on intensive counseling
to address problems of low self-image and
feelings of inferiority, while
• the second group focuses on manipulating the
classroom environment.
• Programs that have taken an individualized
holistic approach have reported promising
results.
• One such intervention, Joseph Renzulli’s
Enrichment Triad Model, is an active process
in which students choose to learn.
• In order to facilitate students becoming
creative producers, this model capitalizes on
the student’s potential by using an interestbased curriculum, bringing together the
student’s ability, interest, learning styles, and
a supportive student teacher relationship.
LOW ACHIEVERS
LOW ACHIEVERS
• Low achievers, however, have a hard time
getting motivated and often find themselves
coughing in the dust of the high achievers’
hustle.
• Inadequate academic achievement
• Inappropriate school behaviors
• Poor attending behaviors
•
•
•
•
Poor memory
Inadequate organizational skills
Poor self-concept
Inadequate social skills
INTEGRATED TEACHING
• Students with disabilities who are placed in
the regular classroom must have appropriate
supports and services to succeed, including
instructional strategies adapted to their
needs.
• Some supplementary aids and services that
educators have successfully used include
• modifications to the regular curriculum,
• the assistance of a teacher with special
education training,
• special education training for the regular
teacher,
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the use of computer-assisted devices,
the provision of note takers, and
the use of a resource room.
Teaching resources continue to play a crucial
role.
• In these classrooms, students are viewed not
as separate groups, disabled and nondisabled,
but as students with shared characteristics
who also vary.
• The following is a list of appropriate classroom
strategies in social studies for special needs
students:
• Activity-oriented instruction
• Instruction related to students’ everyday
experiences
• Interesting social studies activities
• Appropriate linguistic and conceptual social
studies content demands
• Efficient classroom management, establishing
ground rules and procedures for social studies
activities
• Focus on skills development throughout social
studies activities
• Examination of textbooks for the impact they
may have on students
COMPREHENSION OF SOCIAL
SCIENCE
• Five areas that are examined to help students
comprehend social studies resources are
• Vocabulary Level;
• Content In Terms Of Conceptual Complexity
(Concrete Versus Formal Ideas);
• Writing Style;
• Organization Of Materials;
• And Special Features Such As Illustrations And
Graphics.
APPROACHES TO TEACHING
SOCIAL SCIENCE
• revitalized towards helping the learner acquire
knowledge and skills in an interactive
environment.
• adopt methods that promote creativity,
aesthetics, and critical perspectives, and
enable children to draw relationships between
past and present, to understand changes
taking place in society
• Problem solving, dramatization and role play
are some hither-to under explored strategies
that could be employed.
• utilize greater resources of audio-visual
materials.
• shift from mere imparting of information to
debate and discussion.
• Concepts should be clarified to the students
through the lived experiences of individuals
and communities.
• approach to teaching therefore needs to be
open-ended.
• discuss different dimensions of social reality in
the class, and work towards creating
increasing self-awareness amongst themselves
and in the learners.
CONCLUSION
• Individual differences need to be understood
by teachers.
• Teacher training needs to present the variety
of individual differences that students can
show and motivate teachers to modulate their
lessons according to these differences.
• Teachers need to learn how taking into
account these differences among students can
improve the quality of education.
• Individual differences need to be assessed in
order to be taken into account.
• To adequately address individual differences,
teachers must have a way to characterize
students in a scientifically valid way.
• Cognitive ability measures, personality
questionnaires, interest inventories and other
tools are available.
• Teachers need to become aware of these tools
and use them appropriately
• In some contexts, a system can be devised in
which high quality education is provided to
each student (from slower students to gifted
ones) through differentiated instruction to fit
each students zone for future development.
• Teaching a topic using a wide range of learning
styles and activities allows students to find at
least a part that fits their abilities and
interests.
• Thus offering , alternative to differentiated
instruction at the individual student level, it is
possible to conceive of educational programs
that offer a diversity of approaches to all
students.
• All students are exposed to multiple ways to
learn, which will allow each student to find
his/her favourite way and to receive
reinforcement from the additional methods
offered on each topic (Sternberg &
Grigorenko, 2000).
A COMPARISON OF CLASSROOMS
THANK YOU