How to Learn

Learning Theory and Week 1 Experiences

Know your Learner

Firstly we have been tasked to look at learners and how they learn.

To begin we'll look at Crash Course's Psychology #4 - Meet Your Master: Getting to Know Your Brian, (2014) (12mins)

As we have learnt there are many parts of the brain scientists and psychologists are trying to figure out, and Crash Course does a great job of explaining these things about the brain and the mind.

In Judy Willis' web lecture has brought out to our attention the limbic system, or more specifically the Amygdala is the important stimulus centre of the brain. If we as educators create an environment where the fear perception is raised then we lose the ability to make learning conducive.

The question I like to ask myself is, does my demeanor create a learning positive environment?

Source: www.navy.gov.au

At the moment I work in an instructor's role in the Australian Navy Cadets. When teaching I prefer to have a very informal environment.

I relax the uniform restrictions in the classroom, by removing the over coat and wearing the t-shirt underneath it allows the cadets to relax and learn more especially if it is too warm out as the overcoat can cause discomfort, and a uncomfortable learner does not learn effectively.

Source: Google Images

After creating a learning advantageous environment, Judy Willis' brings to the attention of the web lecture a picture of an iceberg.

The challenge she poses is this, "Can you imagine a  situation where this image will be useful in getting the attention of the learners in your class?"

Looking at this image my mind can go to two places, for my teaching area of Graphics I can say that when you look at a design of a house, the tip of the iceberg, what groundwork has been laid to make that design possible. or a final product of a building there has been weeks and months of work that went into that design and construction.

In my second teaching area of IT, using the example of the video game of Skyrim, how many hours of coding and testing went into the final product. Below you can have a look at the official trailer of the game made by Bethesda Softworks (2011) (3mins)



Not only does this show the tip of the iceberg it gives the learner an understanding of how deep each subject can go, even if they are not classified as "core" subjects, and hopefully this is the sort of education that excites learners.

The next video in this week's learning materials was a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, talking about creativity. His primary thoughts on this matter was that creativity was being quashed by the current education system. Firstly the education system that is in place focuses on Mathematics, Science and Languages as being the top tier, the Humanities being the second tier and the Arts as being the lowest tier of education. His revolutionary idea is that all subjects really have the same weighting, depending on the student in reality.

A creative student to excels at the Arts may also be a fantastic mathematician, however in a school with a three tiered education system will quash the artistic qualities and focus on the maths. I look back on this and my own time as a student in high school. I was a student of a school that focused on academic results, our system at the time was the OP system. Everyone was encouraged to get an OP 1. My focus wasn't on the maths, science and languages, my three favourite subjects were Graphics, Information Technology Systems and Music. I can look back on it now and think my creativity was squashed in the areas of maths and science, there was no different way of coming to the conclusion, it was one way, and one way only.

Source: www.worditout.com

Learning Theories

Our other area of interest this week was learning theories.

Learning theories cover a vast and incomprehensible range of learning styles, because every student has their own combination of many different styles.

We have been given four to broad categories to look at, Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Connectivism.

Source: Google Images (Drafting jokes)

Behaviourism relates to the style of learning that is really the most repetitive, and is primarily used for lower-level content. However it is the fundamental first step into more complex areas. For example rote learning multiplication, addition, subtraction and division. However for my teaching areas of IT, basic coding, what is "<br>", where do you use "/" in coding. In graphics, drawing lines, over and over again, the importance of holding your pen or pencil correctly.

Cognitivism relates to the style of learning that can be of use to us as learners or discarded. Information is picked up by the senses, and transferred to the sensory memory. If it isn't used immediately it is lost. If it is regarded as important, it is stored in the short term memory, with reinforcement and linking to other prior learning areas information is retained in the long term memory. The information that could be conveyed in the IT field that wouldn't be lost would be the concept of coding a HTML file, as this is one of the most simplest forms of coding. In graphics it would be the use of a computer aided drawing (CAD) program, as this is the form that most drawing in a professional setting is accomplished.

Source: Google Images (HTML Jokes)

Social Constructivism is the learning theory that supports the most amount of students. As educators we are "scaffolding" our learners to success, towards a job, a degree or to a better life. The scaffolding process is important as it gives levels to allow the students to gain. Much like a scaffold around a building especially a high rise, we can put the scaffolding there but the student must climb to their level respectively. As educators we can only support the level that the learner can reach to their potential. However we can encourage them to reach for that next level of scaffolding to better themselves. Online tools such as this space here, blogspot, wikis, a moodle site, forums give learners an option to approach the learning from their own prior knowledge. And also can help them because we are living in an ever connected world where a learner in Australia can connect with a learner in the United Kingdom and expand their knowledge base.
Connectivism is the next step in Social Constructivism. It moves beyond the classroom to the virtual classroom and connects the learners to the world. At the moment, connectivism is more a theory about how to support learning rather than a learning theory, however it will continue to be an important and defining way of learning in the twenty first century and beyond.

On reflection, there is not best learning theory. A mix of all learning theories will achieve the best outcome. Starting with the basics of behaviourism and throwing in the more complex ways of cognitivism and constructivism should achieve the best outcome for both the learner and the
educator.

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Finally I would like to end with a final thought. Creativity is the driving force of Science, the Arts and Languages. If Shakespeare had to go to an English class, how would he know that all the words he made up were wrong? Keep thinking outside of the box, both as an educator and a learner.

Source: Google Images

References

Bethesda Softworks. (2011, Feb 23). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Official Trailer [Video file].

          Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRtYpNRoN0

Crash Course. (2014, Feb 24). Meet Your Master: Getting to Know Your Brain - Crash Course

          Psychology #4 [Video file]. Retrieved from

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHrmiy4W9C0

Disruptive Pattern Navy Uniform (SW12) [Photograph]. (2014). Retrieved

          from http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/SW12-All-Ranks.jpg

Iceberg [Photograph]. (2013). Retrieved

          from http://futureofwork.glider.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/iceberg.jpg

Jasmin Harris. (2014). Architecture Jokes - Old CAD [Cartoon]. Retrieved from
       
         https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/98/e1/7e/98e17e4b967beebfd8ca1a7e336bcb6d.jpg

Mind Junker. (2012). 36 Hilarious HTML Jokes [Photograph]. Retrieved

         from http://www.mindjunker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/html_jokes_01.jpg

PookyH. (2013, Jun 3). Re: Best Teacher Jokes [Discussion Group Message]. Retrieved from

         http://media-cache-ak1.pinimg.com/550x/fe/50/6d/fe506da5bc9673c1683791a488ba71d0.jpg

Word It Out. (2015). Make a Word Cloud. Retrieved

          from http://worditout.com/word-cloud/make-a-new-one