integrating instrumental learning and relational learning

After the class discussion, I think teachers should integrate both instrumental and relational learning in the classroom. The timing and sequence of applying these methods can greatly benefit the students. I think for younger grades, there should be more instrumental learning. This give the younger students more immediate rewards, helping them gain more confidence and be more comfortable with math. On the other hand, students in the high grades should practice more relational learning. This also improves student’s critical thinking, logical thinking and reasoning skills, which are very important skills they need after graduating.

For a specific lesson, I think teachers should start the lesson with instrumental learning. Instrumental learning is easier to learn at first and the majority of students can follow along. For example, when teaching the Pythagorean theorem, I would show students the formula and how to apply it. After a few practice problems, and when students are more familiar with the formula, I would talk about where the theorem came from and why it works. I hope as we look at this theorem in a more general sense, students can see that Pythagorean theorem works because it is a special kind of triangle and that this formula does not work on any triangle. Students need to understand in which situation this formula can be applied. In conclusion, I would use instrumental learning to lead to relational learning, hoping to improve student’s critical thinking.