In-Service:Theoretical Foundations of

Learning and Teaching

Ann Downer, EdD, Co-Director

“Without knowledge I could not play the violin. Without wisdom, I could not play the music.”

Much educational practice is uninspired and results in:

memorization instead of self-discovery; and

knowledge instead of wisdom.

Effective education provides foundation for understanding experience and developing wisdom.

PurposeThis session will:

review the traditional principles underlying curriculum development and adult learning;

compare these with new research; and

discuss the implications of both for instructional design and training.

This session will not:

cover the history of education, principles of adult learning, or theories of behavior change.

Objectives

Following this session, I want you to have a greater:

appreciation for the added value that we bring to technical assistance work as a result of our home base in a research university;

ability to apply principles of instruction more effectively by understanding the origins of the practices; and

belief in the power of good education for achieving positive change.

Foundations of Education

Plato- idealism and Aristotle- pragmatism

Rousseau (Émile in 1762)- tabula rasa

Dewey (1916) and Thorndike (1928), even Marx and Sartre

Freire (1972)- social transformation through education Critical of “banking system” of education, as

was Rousseau

Many wrote about education, but not much about HOW learning occurs.

Big B Behavioralism

Thorndike (1913) and B.F. Skinner (1950) wrote that learning was a process of forming connections between stimuli and response.

Behavioral psychology origin of practices such as: writing learning objectives;

breaking content into small tasks (called sequencing);

giving immediate feedback (for conditioning); and

providing rewards and incentives for learning.

Emphasis only on the observable made it difficult to study aspects of learning such as understanding, reasoning, and comprehension.

Little b Behavioralism

Humanists (i.e., Carl Rogers)- people have a desire and tendency to learn and will do so naturally when the environment nourishes learning

Developmental psychologists (i.e., Eric Erikson)- learning needs unfold in predictable patterns associated with developmental stages

Contemporary ideas about adult learning (i.e., Vella, Knowles)

“When threat to self is low…learning can proceed.” Carl Rogers

Learning with Understanding

One of the most important contributions to learning theory during the 20th century- emphasis on learning with understanding and comprehension

Not simply memorization of facts

Taxonomies for didactic, affective and psychomotor domains (Mager, Bloom, Krathwahl)

Selecting teaching methods for each domain

New Research

Preconception- People acquire new information on top of pre-existing knowledge, which is a powerful influence.

Knowledge- Acquiring a body of knowledge is critical for creating understanding and for high levels of cognitive functioning.

Metacognition- Experts differ from novices in specific cognitive ways- they monitor when they need more information, judge whether new information seems consistent with existing knowledge, and ask what analogies they can use to advance their own understanding.

Preconception

If knowledge is incorrect or underdeveloped, people may not learn or may learn only to test.

All new learning involves transfer from previous learning.

Challenges: developmental issues in children and primacy in adults

Implications?

Organized Knowledge

Ability to integrate new information into existing body of knowledge is most important factor for assuring transfer of learning from classroom to application in the real world

What are bodies of knowledge?

Experts are better able to see patterns, relationships, and discrepancies where the novice sees unrelated pieces of information.

Implications?

MetacognitionAbility to assess own knowledge, skills, and performance

Self-reflection, self-assessment, and sense-making: Am I making assumptions?

Are my personal values affecting my judgment?

What is the source of this information?

Could the source affect my interpretation?

Am I seeing a pattern?

Implications for I-TECH

Challenging learning objectives

Innovative learning methods for multiple domains

Needs assessment

Place information into conceptual frameworks

Many examples

Emphasis on teaching metacognition

What else?