Reference no: EM13458754

Becoming a professional in the field of early childhood education requires you to become familiar with the various developmental theories as well as research that studies the effectiveness of various learning approaches. Throughout the last two weeks, you have learned about these different theories and approaches to learning. After engaging in discussions with your classmates, you now have ideas about which theories and approaches you would like to use in your work with children. Using the steps below, you will sort through these theories and approaches to shape who you are as a teacher and what you believe about how children learn best. This assignment will also help you prepare for your final assignment.

Step 1: Reflect back on your initial response in the "Aspects of Theories" discussion from Week Two.

• Using the theories that were discussed, create a table that ranks the theories according to how you connected with them ("most connected" at the top and "least connected" at the bottom).
• Then, create a second table that ranks the different learning approaches that were discussed in this week's "Learning Approaches" discussion in the same fashion.

Step 2: Using the tables that you created in Step 1 as a guide, research your top two theories and top two learning approaches. You will create either a Prezi or a Glog that contains your responses to the points below as they are applied to each of your top two theories and top two learning approaches.

• Summarize the underlying principles or ideas for this theory/approach.
• Explain why this theory/approach is important to understand and how it will benefit your work with children.
• Discuss how this theory/approach will help you to be an effective teacher.
• Explain why this theory/approach is ranked at the top of your list.
• Summarize the similarities you see between the theory and model of those you ranked first. For example, if Piaget's theory of cognitive development was your top theory and the Reggio Emilia approach was your top learning approach, share how these two ideas support one another.

Step 3: Submit your assignment to your instructor as a Word document that contains your tables from Step 1 and the hyperlink to either your Prezi or Glog from Step 2 that includes your responses to the questions from Step 2.

• Your Word document will also need to follow APA format and include title and reference pages.
• In addition, the information in your assignment needs to be supported by the textbook and at least two additional scholarly sources. Be sure to cite your sources in the Prezi or Glog and list them on the reference page.
• If you need assistance with making sure that your paper or references are properly formatted in APA, please utilize the APA Guidance link that is located within the Learning Resources tab on the left hand side of the course or visit the Ashford Writing Center.

If you are unable to use Prezi or Glogster due to accessibility reasons, please reach out to your instructor.