Learning Theories and Instruction – Final Reflection

As this course draws to a close, I find myself thinking that I have learned many things that I will refer back to in my future studies as well as many things I will apply in my future instructional design projects. “Designers must have an adequate repertoire of strategies available and posses the knowledge of when and why to employ each” [Ertmer and Newby, p. 51]

The biggest surprise to me in this course was how much of a role social factors can play in learning.  Previously, I viewed learning primarily as an internal or cognitive process.  Now, I appreciate that there is a social dimension to learning as well.  For example, Vygotsky saw the “interaction of interpersonal (social), cultural-historical and individual factors as the key to human development” [Ormrod, Shunk and Gredler, p. 190].  Also, Bandura showed how observation and modeling in a social context promotes learning as well. Bandura (1977) states: "Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do.”  Thus, learning is not only governed by the mental processes of the learner, but also influenced by a culture, a student peer group, a social network as well as an instructor.

My own learning process was a laboratory for many of the concepts covered in this class.  For example, drawing a mind map of my learning network helped me realize that connectivism is at work in my own learning.  Another concept that came to the fore was metacognition.  “Metacognition comprises two related sets of skills.  First, one must understand what skills, strategies and resources a task requires.  Second, one must know how and when to use these skills and strategies to ensure the task is completed susccessfully” [Ormrod, Shunk and Gredler, p. 101].  Thus, before starting each week’s material, I would plot out a strategy for success before diving into the material.

What is the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation?  They all play a part when designing instruction.  Learning theory provides the structure and instructional strategy of a lesson. “Learning theories are a source of verified instructional strategies, tactics and techniques.  Knowledge of a variety of such strategies is critical when attempting to select an effective prescription for overcoming a given instructional problem.” [Ertmer and Newby, p. 51]. Learning styles offer different ways to present the material to the learner.  Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences offer eight different ways to reach a learner’s preferred (or most developed) intellect.  Education technology provides a means to delivering the lesson.  This is a rapidly developing area and the Horizon Report outlined several technologies that will influence the delivery of learning in the years to come.  Motivation is how to keep the learner engaged in the lesson and progressing toward the intended outcome.  Keller’s ARCS model provides a systematic to designing motivational tactics into instruction.

Overall, this course has provided me repertoire of strategies and the knowledge of when to use them.  I feel confident that I have to tools to address a wide range of instructional challenges for wide range of audiences.

References:

Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple intelligences in the classroom (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50–71.

Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. (2009). The Horizon Report (2009 ed.). Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/

Keller, J. M. (1999). Using the ARCS motivational process in computer-based instruction and distance education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning (78).

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

Fitting the Pieces Together

Given all that we have learned and discussed over the past seven weeks, my view on how I learn has changed in a few ways.   The first way is that is I don’t approach learning with a “one size fits all” approach.  Now, I think that type of subject and the learning resources available will dictate the approach.  For example, if wanted help with anger management, I would view this in terms of behavioral learning that would engage interpersonal intelligence.  Hence, this is learning where some in-person coaching and feedback would be critical to success.   As another example, if I wanted to learn technical stock market analysis, I would view this as cognitive challenge that would rely having on logical-mathematical intelligence.  Hence, I would start out with a good book on the topic.  Once I had an understanding of the basics, then I would take a more connectivist approach.  Meaning that, I would look for people with expertise in this area to help answer questions.  Thus, I would look for blogs, discussion forums and other online media that have interactive discussion on the topic.

The other way that my view on learning has changed is that I see a clear need for employing metacognitive strategies during the learning process.  In other words, planning out a learning approach and then stopping every so often and ask myself the question “am I making progress?”.

Technology plays an important role in how I learn in two ways.  First, the internet is very efficient way to locate information.   For this course, utilizing the Walden Library has been helpful in locating relevant books and articles.  In addition, I rely heavily on search engines for locating information.  The other role that technology plays is helping to connect with other people.   The online discussions for this class have been very helpful in exploring topics in more depth and presenting new perspectives I had not previously considered.  The blogs have also been helpful is seeing other people’s thinking as well.

Overall, my basic learning preferences are still the same.   However, this course has shown me that sometimes I may have to step out of my comfort zone and try a different approach.  Now, I have toolkit of different approaches to use.  Which one I use will be determined by the topic at hand and the resources I have available to me.

Reflections on Connections

In one sense, the way I learn has not been changed by my learning network - I have always sought out written materials and subject matter experts when learning new subjects.  What technology has changed is that material and expertise have become ever more abundant and readily accessible.  Thus, my learning network has evolved rapidly over the last few years.

With regard to experts that I know personally, I make an effort to touch base periodically.  I use the networking sites LinkedIn and Plaxo to keep track of people and know that they are still receptive to a friendly email.  For experts that I don’t know well, there some Yahoo groups that I belong to where I can post a question.  Beyond that, there are discussion forums and blogs with active comment sections that I will also use to pose a question.  So really, this is my social/professional network that I sometimes use for learning.   As such, there is some work involved in keeping the network alive, namely keeping track of people as making useful contributions to discussions.

With regard to published materials, search engines like Google are a valuable resource.  If need to answer a question, often I will start a search by just typing the question into Google.  For fairly simple questions, this approach will usually locate an answer for me.   For more detailed subjects, finding a good book on the topic is most helpful.  So the library is the natural place to start.  Also, my social network is good place to get book recommendations.

Depending on the topic, there may be videos or podcasts available.   I have found YouTube to be a helpful resource in my recent endeavors in home improvement and playing bass guitar.  In sum, my digital world is my laptop and what I can find on the internet.

Given the above, my learning network is an example of connectivism in action.   When I have to learning something new, I have a variety of resources that I can quickly call upon to help shape my understanding of a topic.  I frequently used connectivist learning when I was developing training classes in the technical software industry.  For example, when the company was introducing a new software package, how would I go about learning about it in order to write the training class?   The first step would be to assemble a team of subject matter experts.  Often these experts were located in different locations around the world, so most communication was asynchronous, electronic communications.   Once my team of experts was in place, I would need their help to arrive a consensus as to what to present in the course material.   This consensus could (and often would) change as the software came closer to final release.  Thus, connectivist learning was the best approach in this case.   I had to communicate with a diverse set of experts and use technology to reach them in order to formulate the conclusions presented in the training.

Connectivism

Below is my Mindmap.  I created it from general perspective.  In other words, no matter what domain the topic was in, what resources would I use to learn more.

Two articles to recommend on this week’s topics

The first is from the Brain Connection website:

http://brainconnection.positscience.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-based

First, I want point out a great quote I found in this article:

“Teaching without an awareness of how the brain learns is like designing a glove with no sense of what a hand looks like” – Leslie Hart

What a memorable quote!  Overall, this article is succinct overview of the current theories in brain-based learning.  Specifically, the 12 Mind/Brain Principles and the 3 conditions for learning of Caine and Caine.

This will definitely be something to refer back to when starting new instructional design projects.

The second is from the website for the University of Valdosta Educational Psychology website:

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/infoproc.html

This article is good overview of the material covered in chapter 3 of the Ormrod, Schunk and Gredler text.  I especially liked the table at the end with examples of putting information processing theory in practice in the classroom.

This a good article to bookmark for easy reference.