Reflections on Learning Theories

Reflections on Learning Theories

To begin with, I have summarized what I took away from the reading about learning theories:

It was clear that each of these theories developed over time, beginning with behaviourism, and that each model was seen to supercede its predecessor in some ways.

I don’t think any one of these models is the “correct” way to learn or teach. In fact, seems that constructivism is currently the dominant paradigm, but when I first read about it, I felt that statements such as “In a constructivist classroom the students are the focus and the teacher a facilitator who asks good questions.” were extremely simplistic. In a science classroom, I think experimentation is an area that would lend itself to the constructivist model. But there are some concepts that simply need to be explained and then memorised. How would one use “good questions” to teach the periodic table, or mitosis and meiosis. I felt that constructivism has limitations in a science classroom, and that there was still a lot to be said for traditional lecturing and rote learning when it comes to foundation principles.

After examining constructivism further, I came across the 5Es instructional model. This model seems particularly useful for a science classroom. It proposes five stages of learning: engage, explore, explain, extend and evaluate.

 Source:

http://wilkes.discoveryeducation.com/horvathj/2013/10/13/5e-instructional-model-backward-design/

Engage

Pique students’ interest, get them involved

Assess their prior knowledge

Explore

Students get directly involved with material or phenomena

Students are guided to make hypotheses, test them and draw conclusions

Explain

Students verbalize what they have learned or explored

Communication occurs between peers, with the facilitator and through reflective processes

Extend

Students use their new knowledge and continue to explore its implications

Students expand on concepts learned, relate to other concepts and apply understandings in new ways

Evaluate

Both students and teachers assess how much students have learned

Students can demonstrate their understanding through portfolios, performances, interviews etc.

I attempted to make a rough lesson plan for teaching mitosis based on this model. I came to the conclusion that students will still need quite a substantial amount of guidance from teachers in the explore stage. There are some great activities you can do to explore such as looking at cells in the process of dividing under a microscope, or making a flip animation book to show the stages of mitosis, but none of these will really show the students exactly what mitosis is without the teacher explaining the concept.

To this end, I think that while constructivism is great, and would lead to lessons that really engage the student, other learning theories such as behaviourism and cognitivism have their place. Behaviourism in the science classroom is key to helping students learn the many facts they will need to master before they can attempt problem-based learning. Cognitivism offers good insights into how to help students remember the right information, from ideas as basic as writing key points in a different colour on the board.

And finally, I think that connectivism is more of an over-arching concept. This diagram worked well for me:

Source:

http://stephenslighthouse.com/2013/01/03/a-simple-guide-to-4-complex-learning-theories/

The idea that there is simply too much for any one person to ever know or retain, and that the most important thing is for a person to know how to find information is something that I believe strongly in. I also feel that in this digital age, where anyone can post information and the integrity of a source is no longer assessed by editors and proofreaders, it is critical that students analyse the information they find for veracity and intent. I’d really like to make that one of my main aims as a teacher: to help students develop the skills for finding and analysing information.

References

What is constructivism? http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html Retrieved: March 11 2015

Smith, M. K. (1999) The behaviourist orientation to learning http://infed.org/mobi/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning/. Retrieved: March 13 2015.

5Es Overview: “The 5E instructional model”

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/5eteachingmodels/ Retrieved: March 11 2015

 

 

The Neuroscience of Learning

In week 1, we have been asked to reflect on the readings and videos about individualised learning and the neuroscience that underpins all learning.

Using multiple methods to impart information gives students the best chance to learn.

In the classroom, this has obvious implications for us as teachers. We need to incorporate a mix of methods from those based on behaviourist design to those that require the students to engage with each other. In science, one way to do this would be to include some practical, hands-on components that demonstrate the objective of the lesson. ICTs would be useful here to help mix it up. If you can’t demonstrate the concept physically (and there are obviously some scientific concepts that you’re not going to be able to demo in classroom lab), maybe there is a great YouTube video out there that will hook your students from the get-go.

• Mix of methods, not just lecturing
  Give students a chance to engage different senses

Look at each child as a “mosaic”, with areas they are strong in and others they struggle with.

 

• Being bad at one thing does not mean you will be bad at everything 
• Find the thing the student is good at, use that to pull the student in then gradually get them using their weaker skill sets once they are involved

Neurological profiles are not set in stone, our destinies writ large in dendritic spines.

“Use or lose it” is commonly heard, but hearing the science behind it (and how could you not be a little bit thrilled at the thought of “neurosurgery on your own brain”!) makes it seem like more than just a platitude. I’d like to incorporate that into my classes. If I can help students to see that there is very clear evidence (and the visuals of fMRIs are quite impressive) that using an area of the brain improves its capacity, I think that would help them to feel a sense of power and control over their own learning.

• Empower students by explaining that they have control over their own brain morphology: “neurosurgery on your own brain”

Dr Judy Willis explained how information gets filtered and routed, and how we can package information in lessons to give it the best possible chance of finding its way to the “thinking” cognitive part of the brain, thus increasing the likelihood that it will be retained.

I decided to have a go at putting all the information into a diagram, because that’s one of the ways I personally learn best. To be honest, I’m more of a coloured pens and texta kind of diagrammer, but I thought I’d have a go at doing it digitally. I have a whole lot more respect for graphic designers now!

Anyway, here is my summary:

• Non-threatening classroom, limit stress
  Provide a hook, get students curious

I think this is an area where ICTs could be invaluable. Kids like technology, so it’s a natural way to try to garner interest. I still remember sitting through my grade 9 Japanese class at high school when we were learning about Japanese food. Seeing pictures of food in a textbook was distinctly unexciting. How much cooler would it be if you had a video letter from another student in Japan showing how to make their favourite dish!

The final point that I found interesting was mentioned in two of the videos. Dr Willis noted that she believes many of the misdiagnoses for learning impairments that she sees can actually be attributed to the student not being able to engage in the lesson. Their RAS and amygdala filter the sensory input they receive and decide that there is a threatening element to the situation, and henceforth all information is shunted to the reactive brain. This triggers the fight (oppositional-defiant), flight (ADHD, walking around classroom) or freeze reflex (social anxiety syndrome, staring straight ahead).

If we can adopt the classroom strategies outlined in this week’s materials, we may be able to lessen these behaviours.

As for the implications for the traditional classroom and curriculum, I feel that something that has come out of this body of research is the damage we are doing with our culture of testing. In the traditional classroom, and indeed in our curriculum, testing is a vital tool. In fact, we have legislated the national use of testing with NAPLAN. If a teacher feels the need to “teach the test”, the atmosphere in the class will obviously suffer. And classroom environment is critically important in setting up the students so that their brains are receptive to new input.

As there isn’t much we can do in the short term about this testing culture, it would seem that what we can do is use all the tools we can get our hands on, from the traditional to ICTs, to keep our classrooms as flexible and interesting as possible.