Connectionism & Supported Learning Discussion

Connectionism and Supported Learning
Week 2 – Discussion

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Connectionism and Supported Learning
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read “Connectionism and Learning” (pp. 25-33), “Self-Regulated Learning and Socio-Cognitive Theory” (pp. 34-39), “Vygotsky and Recent Developments” (pp. 40-45) and “Theoretical Bases of Computer Supported Learning” (pp. 46-51) in your text as well as the information from The Critical Thinking Community (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Connectionism & Supported Learning Discussion

Connectionism & Supported Learning Discussion

In your initial post, you will focus on just one of the articles from your text. The articles are assigned by first letter of last name. Please see the list below to determine which of the articles you will focus on for your initial post. Last name begins with:

A through G: “Connectionism and Learning”
H through N: “Self-Regulated Learning and Socio-Cognitive Theory”
O through S: “Vygotsky and Recent Developments”
T through Z: “Theoretical Bases of Computer Supported Learning”
In your initial post of 450 to 600 words, explain what the empirical findings presented in your assigned article mean in the bigger picture of learning and cognition. Describe how these findings might have affected your past or current beliefs about knowledge development. Do they refute or support your current beliefs, and in what ways? Are there variables about knowledge development for which you were unaware based on your article?

Review and apply the Type I thinking style outlined in the Zhang and Sterberg (2010) “Learning in a Cross-Cultural Perspective” article from your text to each of your responses.

Guided Response: Review several of your colleague’s posts and respond to at least two of your peers who reviewed a different article than the one you were assigned to by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week. You are encouraged to post your required replies early each week to stimulate more meaningful and interactive discourse in your discussions. Does your peer’s explanation provide a complete elaboration of the findings and implications to the field of learning and cognition in his or her article? What clarifications would you recommend? Share your findings from your article with your peer. How might the two articles overlap? Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Day 7 of the week and respond to anyone who replies to your initial post. Peer responses may vary in length but should be detailed and thought provoking. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.

Your paper must be proofread.
However, do not rely solely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part, and your grade will suffer as a result.
Papers with a high number of misspelled words and grammatical errors will be penalized.
Before handing in your paper, go over it in silence and then aloud, making any necessary corrections.
It is often beneficial to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors.
Uncorrected mistakes are preferable to handwritten corrections.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point typeface (10 to 12 characters per inch).
Smaller or compressed type, as well as papers with narrow margins or single spacing, are difficult to read.
It is preferable to allow your essay to exceed the recommended number of pages rather than attempting to compress it into fewer pages.

Large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are also unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be formatted neatly, double-spaced, and with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page.
When submitting hard copies, make sure to use white paper and dark ink.
It will be difficult to follow your argument if it is difficult to read your essay.

CLASSROOM ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

Questions for Discussion (DQ)

Initial DQ responses should address all aspects of the questions posed, include at least one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words long.

Successful responses are substantive (i.e., they add something new to the discussion, they engage others in the discussion, they have a well-developed idea), and they include at least one scholarly source.

Responses of one or two sentences, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and off-topic responses will not be considered substantive.
Substantive responses must be at least 150 words in length.

I encourage you to incorporate the week’s readings (if applicable) into your responses.

Participation every week

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ are graded separately and do not count toward participation.

Along with the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.

A scholarly source/citation is not required for participation posts (unless you cite someone else’s work).

Viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments is part of your weekly participation.
These announcements are made to ensure that you are aware of everything that is due this week.

The APA Format and the Writing Quality

Learn how to use APA format and practice using it correctly.
It is used for the majority of your degree’s writing assignments.
For APA paper templates, citation examples, and tips, go to the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, which can be found under the Resources tab in LoudCloud.
Points will be deducted if the APA format is not used correctly or if the APA format is not used at all (if required).

Cite all information sources!
Cite the source whenever possible.
A citation is also required when paraphrasing.

I strongly advise you to use the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Utilization of Direct Quotes

At the Masters’ level, I discourage the use of direct quotes in DQs and assignments and deduct points accordingly.

As Masters’ level students, you must be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other sources.
Simply repeating someone else’s words does not demonstrate comprehension or critical analysis of the content.

It is preferable to paraphrase and cite your sources.

Policy LopesWrite

Please make sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me for assignments that must be submitted to LopesWrite.

Please review your report once you have received it.
This report will highlight grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that are simple to correct.
Instead of being counted off for these errors, spend a few extra minutes reviewing.

Examine your similarities.
Did you forget to include a citation?
Did you not paraphrase correctly?
Is your paper dominated by someone else’s ideas rather than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, which can be found under the Resources tab in LoudCloud, for advice on how to improve your paper and SI score.

Policy on Arrival Late

The university’s late assignment policy is a 10% penalty PER DAY LATE.
This also holds true for late DQ responses.

If you anticipate having to submit an assignment late, please contact me.
With advance notice, I am happy to be flexible.
Due to extenuating circumstances, we may be able to work out an extension.

If you do not contact me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will apply.

Unless we have worked out an extension, I will not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late.

No assignments are accepted after the last day of class, per policy.
Any assignment submitted after midnight on the final day of class will not be graded.

Communication

The importance of communication cannot be overstated.
You can contact me in a variety of ways, including:

Questions to the Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask questions about course content or assignments.
If you have a question, chances are that one of your colleagues does as well.
This is the class’s public forum.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum where you can ask me questions or leave messages for me.
At least once every 24 hours, this will be checked.