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Building a Mental Framework for Understanding (200 Points) media type="custom" key="23668534" align="center"

This project will guide you to build your framework. This course is a smorgasbord of theories and research findings that can help you build that framework. ||
 * Introduction:**
 * || You are only at the beginning of your journey of learning about the field of education. This journey will last your entire career. A mental framework for understanding is like a filing cabinet in your mind which will organize and make meaning out of all you are learning. What is your understanding of learning? How do the various theories of learning fit together? How do they fit in with your understanding of learning? How might you organize the hundreds of teaching strategies you will be learning?


 * What is a mental framework? [[image:http://photos1.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP434/k4340810.jpg width="90" height="122" align="left"]]**

The purpose of this assignment is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the field of education (course content).
 * || A mental framework is a series of categories and their relationship to one another. It can be used to organize a body of knowledge in order to remember and understand the knowledge and concepts of the field of education. ||
 * Purpose:**

Your assignment is to build a mental framework of categories for yourself to organize all of your current and future knowledge about education. You may borrow ideas from other frameworks or start with someone else’s framework and then modify it as you go. You will be presented with several examples in class. (Your framework does NOT have to be original.)
 * Task:**


 * Procedures:**
 * 1) Framework Assignment #1: Identify your philosophy of education and what you believe the ultimate goal of education is. Write a succinct explanation of your philosophy on your wiki page.
 * 2) Framework Assignment #2:
 * 3) Begin to categorize your current knowledge of educational theories, strategies, and practices.
 * 4) Create some type of list, chart, or graphic organizer to organize your categories.
 * 5) Briefly illustrate and explain your categories and organizational structure
 * 6) Create a draft of a visual display of your framework with an explanation of the organizational structure.
 * 7) Framework Assignment #3: Weekly Blog - Consider the important ideas of this course relative to your framework **each week.** Write a short narrative for each chapter outlining the key concepts of the chapter and how they fit into your framework. (i.e. Piaget’s concepts of assimilation, accommodation, stages of development, etc.) Modify your framework if necessary along the way.
 * 8) Framework Assignment #4: **(Collaboration - 25 points)**
 * 9) Work collaboratively with your assigned group to give each other feedback and modify your framework project as appropriate.
 * Note:** This project is purposely open ended to allow you to use your own reasoning and creativity. If you find yourself struggling with the ambiguity, please talk to others in the class and/or speak with the instructor for assistance