Derek Wong

Learning Scenario Analysis: Automotive Shop Classroom

Learning Scenario:

The learning scenario is a real lesson conducted in my classroom at the secondary level

in Richmond, B.C. The context and environment include a traditional classroom with desks and

a projector as well as a fully equipped automotive workshop. Within these two rooms, the

students have access to iPads, computers and their own personal mobile devices while the bulk

of the theory is taught by the teacher through a projector, textbook and practical demonstrations.

There is an expectation agreed upon with the teacher and students that we treat the classroom as

a learning commons and the workshop as a work environment and appropriate rules and

behaviors are to be followed in respect to their environments. Students primarily spend their time

in the shop classroom itself with about 3.5 days in the shop and 1.5 in the classroom. A general

outline of the week has 1 day of theory/demonstration at the beginning of the week, 3 full days in

the shop, and half to 1 day for summative and formative assessments. Informal assessment is

also conducted throughout the week during shop activities. The learners are of varying levels

from Grade 10-12 and “Level 1-3” (beginner, intermediate and advanced). The timeline for the

lesson is over 5 days which includes a verbal lecture, a practical demonstration, a lab report in

conjunction with practical activity, and an end assessment in the form of a game. Verbal lecture

includes information related to the theory of how tires are constructed and attached to car axles,

safe removal and replacement with proper tools and emergency procedures involved with

roadside safety. The practical demonstration has the instructor (myself), remove and replace a

car tire and demonstrating all expected behaviors and outlining associated information and safety

knowledge. The assessment at the end of the week is a group game of Jeopardy with all the
subject headings being related to the specific and different parts of the weekly lesson (ie. Safety,

tire specifications, tools required etc.). The objective of the lesson is to teach students a standard

maintenance procedure in working with cars and for the students to understand the theory behind

the practice when maintaining a vehicle. Students will have a major objective in being able to

remove and replace a car tire safely and their knowledge will be supplemented with a secondary

objective of information related to working with tires. Embedded in their learning is building off

prior knowledge in safe tool and equipment use and identifying hazards in the shop when

working with vehicles. The three theories used to analyze the learning scenario will focus on

Social Cognitive Theory by Albert Bandura, Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotsky and

Gamification. Social Cognitive theory focuses on the modeling behavior of various outlets in

order to teach this lesson, ZPD focuses on giving students enough information to take a risk and

succeed within the practical assignment and gamification allows for assessment apart from

traditional dictation.

Learning Scenario Analysis:

A learning scenario in any educational setting can always be marked for analysis to

further understand and improve upon pedagogical understanding, contextual learning and

application of theory. The aforementioned learning scenario is situated to examine a variation in

content delivery, assessment and pedagogical practice throughout the week-long lesson. The

focus of our analysis is formed around the idea of a constructivist classroom and further

considers related theories such as Social Cognitive Theory, Vygotsky’s ideas of scaffolding and

Zone of Proximal Development, gamification and technology in the classroom. As a high school

trades and technology teacher, the learning scenarios within my classroom are presented in a
different manner from most. I’d argue that the interactions and experience students have in my

classroom are uniquely practical, relevant and flexible in relation to a traditional high school

classroom. The students share elements of tradition in which they learn about theory in a

classroom but are given an opportunity to apply the practice in an environment that simulates a

real-world experience. The basis of Social Cognitive Theory sets the foundation of our analysis

as it outlines the “triadic reciprocality model of causality indicates the interplay between three

factors: behaviour, environment, and personal.” (Bandura, 2011, p.12). The understanding of

these three factors and everything in between allows for a de-personalized view of the optimal

ways to learn and switches the focus over to the students. An array of learning situations that is

provided through the classroom, workshop, demonstrations, informal and formal assessments

speaks to a wholesome learning experience as “people are not just shaped by the environment,

but by those around them and by their own moral agency which is self-developing, self-

reflecting, and proactive.” (Bandura, 2011, p.14) While no lesson is perfect, we can only start to

improve by applying a growth mindset towards reflective practice within in our professional

practice.

At the helm of our classroom, we begin with a theory portion of the lesson to be

conducted. In our scenario, we are working with Automotive mechanics and its application in

practice through changing a car tire. Techniques demonstrated include verbal lecture, hands-on

demonstration, practice through play and access to technology for reference which described by

Bandura as human agency. Bandura, through his Social Cognitive Theory, highlights the need

for the incorporation of observation, imitation and modeling. What this lesson offers is a chance

to observe through theory lecture, the behavior is modeled through demonstration and the
students practice imitation by applying the same practices to their activity. This encompasses our

idea that as person-centered learners, “we seek out multiple models of behavior for given

situations and can use our creativity and innovation to implement behavior compatible with our

self-sanctions that we expect will have a positive effect.” (Bandura, 2012, p. 5). In addition, the

context to this lesson wherein the students are already set up with expectations from them as a

student in the classroom and a worker in the shop predisposes them to a certain behavior to be

productive to their learning.

The focus of this culture is attributed to Vygotsky’s fundamental social learning theory to

which he argues “A learner's culture makes a fundamental contribution to the "co-construction of

knowledge." (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996) and that "learning is not development; however

properly organized learning results in mental development" (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996). The

purpose behind those two statements serves to explain a two-fold occurrence in the highschool

shop setting. The students are teenagers first and foremost, and that the expectation of them to

leave their social world and enter a work environment has to be done with careful transition. In

the end, the classroom itself can be used as a tool to facilitate social interaction and translate

those skills into an environment of collaboration in which the students can develop their skills

academically, practically and socially. The second occurrence is that the shop portion with the

expectation of a work environment allows students to enter a role-play scenario which Vygotsky

describes as a “spontaneous concept” (Glassman, 1994, p. 202) to not only allow for problem

solving amongst applying theory to practice on a variety of cars, tires, rims, lug nuts and rotors

but to contribute to the efforts of social learning when working as a collaborative team.

Vygotsky’s framework of scaffolding and Zone of Proximal Development (John-Steiner &

Mahn, 1996) is also applied on behalf of the teacher, whom acts as mentor in guiding the

students to an adequate level of education known as their zone. The principal component of

scaffolding and ZPD taking place is in the theory and demonstration when translated to practice.

The teacher provides the theory that provides a general understanding of tire information and

models a behavior of safe practice and demonstrates proper completion of task. Upon releasing

the students to complete the task, they will find that different vehicles will have varying bolt

patterns, hub cap covers, wheel sizes, lift points on car etc., but can apply the theory to problem

solve the gaps in knowledge they have in both an academic and practical stance.

As lessons are taught, the way to find success in understanding is through assessment.

While conducting the activity portion of the class, the students are consistently self-reflecting,

self-evaluating and being informally assessed on their ability to follow procedure, model the

demonstrated behavior and establish an awareness of safety and sense in their environment. They

are expected to apply their creativity in conjunction with social ability through asking questions

and collaboration to bridge any gaps in knowledge. In respect to formal assessment, the students

are grouped up in teams of four to play a game of “Jeopardy.” The game elements incorporate a

structured level of difficulty assigned by their dollar value to facilitate the idea of “learning

works best when new challenges are pleasantly frustrating in the sense of being felt by learners

to be at the outer edge of, but within, their ‘regime of competence” (Gee, 2005, p. 10). The idea

aligns with a zone of proximal development with an added game element which is a point of

contention by some. Educators have often challenged the idea of gamification in assessment in

that “some rewards have consistent detrimental effects on intrinsic motivation. Rewards simply

for participating in a task reduce intrinsic motivation.” (Gee, 2005, p. 26) but I would argue that
using gamification as a supportive tool instead of a one and only version of assessment offers

characteristics of “good learning requires that learners feel like active agents (producers) not just

passive recipients (consumers).” (Gee, 2005, p. 6) As this lesson is a portion of a collective unit

of “vehicle maintenance,” it isn’t inherently necessary for more rote assessment method. There is

a need, however, to evaluate a baseline of understanding in order to subsequently scaffold and

challenge students to reach their next level of knowledge. The decision to gamify their

assessment is because “gaming is intrinsically motivating because by and large it’s a voluntary

activity”. Figueroa-Flores (2016, p. 515) Overall, as a unit, the lesson allows a student

"to construct their own knowledge and to reflect on it by guiding them in the meaning-making

process" through observation, imitation, modeling agnd repeated practice. (Ramorola, 2014,

p.658).

In our current education context, the most difficult aspect of pedagogical approach is the

application of new theories and technology. While it is easy to continue our production in a

repetitive manner, it must be undersootd that "the role of the teacher is that of a dispenser of

knowledge," (Ramorola, 2014, p.655) and keeping current is the most effective way to provide

justified learning scenarios for students. Classrooms are now being scrutinzed in the way they

have continued in a traditional pattern and educators are now looking towards a more flipped

classroom model to which this lesson brings. For the level of access, we have to education

technology today, “situated cognitive theory tells us that students who prepare in a setting as

close to future practice are more likely to be able to apply learnings effectively.” (Schrader, p.

27) meaning we have to contribute to a students’ accessibility to technology (iPads, computers,

mobile devices etc.) and to connect the relationship between school and work. Our lesson is

centered around person-focused learning where they have access to technologies and are taught

through these educational pieces and allowed to apply it in practice in the work-shop

environment.

The structure of a lesson and the roles of the teacher and student are continually being

improved upon but a major point of contention which must be understood and well-received is

that “a teacher must understand and use methods of both cognitive and social constructivism if

he or she is to run an effective constructivist classroom.” (Powell, 2009). The idea behind the

statement is that we are moving away from the times that we are in a set role in the classroom

and we all must learn a certain way but a variety of lessons taught, demonstrated, and

opportunity to prove your learning is a necessity to push for the future. The learning scenario

provided has encompassed a variety of learning theories but can always be improved upon. As

Glasersfeld states, “The best we can do is ask students questions about what they think about

different technologies and plan accordingly based on our own biases of their feedback.”

(Glasesfeld, p. 46) This statement is the staple to learning theories analyses as we can always

pick apart a lesson, but effective development of both student and teacher is to continuall, reflect,

evaluate and trend towards refining ourselves as life-long learners.

References:

Bandura, A. (2011). Chapter 17: Social cognitive theory. In P. A. M. van Lange, A. W.

Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychological Theories (pp. 349-
373). London: Sage.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication. Media Psychology,

3(3), 265-299.

Figueroa-Flores, J. F. (2016). Gamification and Game-Based Learning: Two Strategies for the
21st Century Learner. World Journal of Educational Research,3(2), 507.

Gee, J. P. (2005). Learning by Design: Good Video Games as Learning Machines. E-Learning
and Digital Media, 2(1), 5-16.

Von Glasersfeld, E. (2008). Learning as a Constructive Activity. AntiMatters, 2(3),33-49.

Glassman, M. (1994). All things being equal: the two roads of Piaget and
Vygotsky. Developmental Review, 14, 186-214.

John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and

development: A Vygotskian framework. Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206.

Ramorola, M Z. (2013). Challenge of effective technology integration into teaching and

learning. Africa Education Review, 10(4), 654-670.

Schrader, D. E. (2015). Constructivism and learning in the age of social media: Changing minds
and learning communities. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2015(144), 23-35.