Chapter 6 Case Study Analysis

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?
I think they would remember the events that went on better. They would remember what is it was like to be in the war. What the tasks you had to do daily, or how you had to live. They would put into their knowledge what was worn by the soldiers, the different sights, and settings that were involved in the Civil War. When recalling about the Civil War they would have visuals and experiences to go back on that would help them remember. Having that opportunity would help keep the information they were taught instead of losing it. Having the opportunity to re-enact would also bring a respect and a better understanding for the soldiers and families involved in the war. On the other end the student's who just read about the war wouldn't have the emotions and experiences to relate to the information they are reading about. It would be just the surface of understanding that these students would have instead of a bigger picture. I believe this is what most of the students would remember and relate too, but you will always have a few who because it was such a long activity will remember the length of it rather than the detail. Even though you may have some like this I still think they will remember better the information about the Civil War and will have emotions and experiences to help keep that knowledge.
2. How does Mr. West's use of the Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?
He pulls the emotions into the re-enactment that the soldiers who were in the war might have had and gives it to the students. This helps the students to relate to emotions they have had before that may be similar. This also gives the students a better opportunity to remember the event because now it has made a place in the emotional memory. It pulls different emotions that help knowledge form better rather than just a cognitive facts of the war. He brings in visuals like clothing, the camps, and tasks that involve real life situations. Bringing in the real life experience can bring related emotions like fear, excitement, or frustration they may have had. While bringing in emotions this will make the students really think and ponder about the events and what it was like then.
3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?
He could follow up with real pictures of events and places that took place in the war. Adding those pictures will refresh their memories of the experience and the he can add additional facts that occurred then. Bringing in these pictures you can describe the event or that captain in this battle. You can also bring in memories of the different battles that were staged in the re-enactment. Having pictures of major turning points or crucial leaders will help them to relate to the re-enactment. Also having a map to show where the battles took place and what the setting was can also help to engage with their memory on the Civil War. One other thing he could do is bring in a war veteran to give stories and experiences of the War.
4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective.
Both teachers seem to be extremes on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Both can provide great instruction for different learning types. Because there are so many ways people learn it is hard to say which one would be better. With the first teacher who does the same thing weekly it would be nice to be prepared and organized because you would know before hand what was coming. You would be able to know what is coming on the test and how the teacher would be testing. Although there would be no room for having different avenues for learning because it is the same thing over and over. The second teacher who has a variety of ways of teaching a topic would bring excitement to the class that could provide better learning. The students would probably be more involved and active with the class discussions. Having different ways of teaching and learning also provides creativity for the students. This will give them different avenues for learning. Although there would be more ways of learning this can cause the students just to learn bits and pieces of a topic rather than in depth. The students would probably remember what was on the tests better because they were really involved with the learning rather than just reading word for word. For instruction purposes I would say the first teacher but for learning benefits I would say the second teacher.
5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?
The first class because of the lack of involvement the students have with a topic. Also the students would have the same emotions to pull information from and would lose the information faster. There would be more forgetting in the long-term memory because of the learning tactics used. The second class will have experience and emotions with information attached to them for remembering. This will have a better affect in the long-term memory because they can relate and bring up experiences that influenced them. Also the students will have different avenues for learning which will cause more memory to take place.