Wk 12 – Final Blog Post

• What is learning?
  

  
   

  People are not blank slates. We are always assessing the world around us. People have preconceptions (usually misconceptions) about how things work because we inherently want to make sense of the world around us. Learning takes place when the preconceptions are changed. The change can take place in many different places and can be caused by many different reasons. The classroom is one of the most formal settings in which we can change preconceptions.
  

  
   

  Learning also takes place when something new is introduced and you are able encode it properly to store it in long-term memory. Then be able to retrieve it when proper cues are presented. Also, as educators, we also need to recognize the role that experience and culture play in building one's knowledge. Experience and culture shape how we interpret given situations that, in turn, affect how we learn.
  

  
   

  Another way students learn is through expectation failure. They use an old strategy to solve a new problem that is similar to an old problem they had. However, it doesn't work therefore students learn because they have to actually think about the process and how to modify it to make it work with the new problem.
  

  
   

  
   

• How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
  

  There are many ways that a teacher/trainer can best effectuate learning. I think the key is to mix teaching styles up since every learner is different. Here is a list of ideas a teacher can use.
  

1. Linking new knowledge/information to previous knowledge
   
   1. Can be accomplished using advanced organizers.    
      
      1. Concept maps
         
      2. Venn Diagrams
         
      3. KWL charts
         
      4. Graphic Organizers
         
      5. T-chart
         
      6. Flow chart
         
      7. Time Line Chart
         
      8. Spider Map
         
2. Motivate by showing the usefulness of what they are learning
   
3. Provide a lot of positive reinforcement
   
4. Using mnemonic devices for learning
   
5. Breaking material into "chunks" to aid in processing new information
   
6. Actively solve problems in groups or pairs and asking them for comparisons and explanations
   
7. Telling stories or giving case studies
   
8. Scaffolding
   

 

To conclude, there are many ways to learn and many ways a teacher can bring about learning. Having a strong foundation of learning theories and applying them can make any teaching situation successful.

 

I am currently designing a new AP Psychology curriculum and I am trying to apply all these different learning strategies to different lessons. I teach for 90 minutes and that is too long to sit and listen to a lecture, so the review of all the learning theories this semester has been really helpful to apply them to my new curriculum.

Wk 11 – Social Constructivism

• What is learning?
  

Learning is when students are able to perform new tasks or act appropriately in new situations through assistance from an adult or more advanced peer.

• How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
  

Learning can best be effectuated by a teacher or trainer by scaffolding. The teacher (more capable than the students) gives assistance to solve problems and gradually removes the assistance as they learn to perform tasks. I do this on a daily basis with Algebra 1 students. They watch me do an example, then we do a couple of examples together, then I give them practice problems to work on their own as I go around the class and help individuals that need extra assistance.

Wk 10 – Bruner

• What is learning?
  

Learning is discovering new situations where old cognitive structures do not work to solve the problem in the new situation. Therefore we learn when we analyze the old cognitive structure and then modify it to solve the new problem.

• How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
  

Learning can be effectuated by teacher when the teacher creates a situation where a cognitive conflict will occur for the students. Also using multiple modes of representation to present ideas makes learning more effective.

The first reading also made some really good points and I had one of those "ah-ha" moments. We really can teach anything to any student as long as we are teaching on their level. The reading was talking about some in-depth math theory that I remember learning in college. (Number theory, set notation, etc.) I remember finding some of the work quite complicated and difficult. I thought to myself that there is no way to teach an elementary student this. Then he went into examples and I remembered doing some the activities in elementary. (I was really fortunate to have outstanding math teachers all through school.) The author and my former math teachers took complicated math theory and broke it down so that an elementary student could understand it. When I was learning the theory in college, I never linked the two together and how simple it really is! Now that I have linked the two together, I am amazed. I wish I could have made this connection in college. We need more elementary teachers that get math and can teach it on the student's level.

Wk 9 – Situated Cognition

• What is learning?
  

Learning is doing. When we can get in and get our hands dirty, we learn. Learning occurs when knowledge is applied to real-world situations.

• How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
  

Learning through real-world examples and scenarios is very effective. Apprenticeships are also effective. During my student teaching, I was responsible for all the duties of my cooperating teacher and I learned the most about classroom management through student teaching than I learned from any book. I also learned that there is more to teaching than just having content knowledge.

Wk 8 – Case-based Learning

• What is learning?
  

I believe one way students learn is through expectation failure. They use an old strategy to solve a new problem that is similar to an old problem they had. However, it doesn't work therefore students learn because they have to actually think about the process and how to modify it to make it work with the new problem. This is a perfect example of simplifying trigonometric identities or proving trigonometric identities. In math many student want the steps to follow on how to solve a problem, but with trig identities, no two are the same so it requires a deep understanding of algebraic principles to know how to modify the process to make it work.

• How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
  

Telling stories or giving case studies is a great way to bring about learning. Every year when I am teaching trig, I tell my students a story about how a friend came over and on my way to answer the door I stubbed my toe. Then my friend proceeds to tell me how to make it feel better and she tells me to SOH CAH TOA, which stands for Sine= opposite/hypotenuse, Cosine = adjacent/hypotenuse, and Tangent = opposite/adjacent. My students always remember SOH CAH TOA.