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Textbook Reflection: Social & Cognitive Constructivism
Gracie Frame
School of Education, Liberty University
EDUC 322: Teaching Elementary and Middle School Social Studies
Professor Triggs
September 4, 2023
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Textbook Reflection: Social & Cognitive Constructivism
Part A – Textbook Information
Read each of the three prompts below and respond by writing one solid paragraph of at least five
sentences. Make sure you use your textbook to support your responses.
1. Discuss at least one experience and/or observation with collaborative and cooperative
learning. Describe the classroom activity that took place with your experience and/or
observation. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
Many people often have difficulty differentiating between collaborative and cooperative
learning. Collaborative learning happens when students break into groups or partners to work
together. Cooperative learning is collaborative learning as students are working together in
groups or partners toward the same goal (Maxim, 2018, p. 95). In high school, we had a
collaborative learning assignment in my debate class. We were paired in groups of three to
gather information on the creation of the earth and challenged to work together to debate against
an atheist. We also used cooperative learning throughout this assignment because we each had
our job to do. One of my friends was in charge of detailing the seven days of creation, another
friend was in charge of scientific evidence of creation, and I was in charge of finding ways to
connect science to the Bible. We put all three of these aspects together to develop a robust debate
and learned something from it. To this day, I remember the impact this project had on my life. It
challenged me to search deeper into something I thought I already knew a lot about, taught me
how to work with others, and showed me that group projects can make the job less stressful and
challenge you more.
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2. Explain how social studies teachers should use collaboration to promote creativity and
inquiry in social studies instruction. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid
paragraph of five sentences.
There are many ways in which a teacher can use collaboration to promote creativity and
inquiry in social studies instruction. A teacher can break the class up into groups and give them a
topic to study and give a presentation about it. For instance, the topic could be about the
transportation that has been used all throughout history. Groups can be given transportation
examples of horses, steamboats, and the Model T car. With this in mind, students will be
challenged to dive deeper into the history of this transportation. They will learn about the
struggles people endured with transportation and the ways in which it was beneficial. During a
project like this, students will ask inquiry-based questions like, “How long did it take them to
travel?” “Where can people take food or belongings on these types of transportation?” Overall,
the method of collaboration can be highly beneficial in the classroom as it involves all of the
students and gives them each a part in the projects.
3. What is the role of questioning and research in these practices? Explain your viewpoint on this
with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
Questioning and researching are crucial in collaborative and inquiry-based practices in
social studies instruction. In the classroom, we want the students to be involved. Children are
often curious and have many questions about many different things, whether about something to
do with an assignment or general news and events on earth. Luckily, as educators, we can use
this opportunity to work on our questioning and researching in the classroom. Locating students'
questions and building assignments off them is one of the best opportunities to guide and
encourage them to begin researching because we know the students are interested in the topics.
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Questioning and researching benefit students in the class and prepare them for real-world
interactions.
Part B – Biblical Worldview
Select one of your responses to the prompts above and fully explain your response utilizing a
biblical perspective. Make sure you include a Bible verse and explain how this verse is relevant
to the prompt and supports your biblical perspective. This section should be two solid paragraphs
of five sentences each.
When I think about applying a biblical worldview to experiences, I have endured with
collaboration and cooperative learning, my mind thinks of so many opportunities and memories.
As I explained, the high school debate between Christianity and Atheism was an experience I
will never forget. At the age of 16, I did not realize that my teacher was applying a Biblical
worldview to my learning in social studies that would have a lasting impact on my life. Looking
back on it, I am so grateful my teacher orchestrated this assignment because it is a memory with
a lasting impact on so many people in my class because it challenged us to know why we believe
what we believe. Learning about the foundation of a different belief provided my class with the
necessary research to complete our assignments and a new perspective on people worldwide. I
may not have ever had to debate between Christianity and Atheism with someone on the street,
but I have learned that everyone believes a different way, and sometimes the best way to witness
to someone is by showing the love of Christ.
As an educator, I want to avoid getting caught up solely on textbook material. I want to
be able to prepare my students for the world they will be facing and teach them the valuable
necessities that will help guide them through life. A verse that comes to my mind is Proverbs
22:6, which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
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depart from it” (KJV, 1611). In the classroom, my job is to train and guide the children. More
importantly, as a Christian educator, whether I am creating a lesson plan for social studies, math,
science, or English, it is my job to provide all the necessary strategies and techniques to teach a
class and strengthen them in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
