FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING

1. FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING

2. CONSTRUCTIVISM • Children construct their own knowledge of the world rather than it being transmitted from an external source (e.g. the teacher). • Learning is self-directed and active. • Learning derives from experience. • Learners continually reorganise and restructure their knowledge – adaptation, assimilation and accommodation. • What someone knows is not passively received but actively assembled by the learner. • Learning comes through exploration and experimentation. • Knowledge is creative. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

3. IMPLICATIONS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING(1) • Teachers as facilitators, supports, guides and models of learning. • Learning to adjust mental models to accommodate new experiences. • Learning concerns making connections between information. • Instruction to be built around complex problems rather than problems with clear, correct answers. • Students should help to establish the criteria on which their work is assessed. • Student interest and effort are more important than textbook content. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

4. IMPLICATIONS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING(2) • It is sometimes better for the students, rather than the teachers, to decide what to do. • Sense-making and thinking are more important than knowing content. • Experimentation and investigation replace rote learning. • Teaching uses skill-based and open-ended approaches. • Motivation is intrinsic (personal) rather than extrinsic (for marks). Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

5. IMPLICATIONS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING(3) • Learners often produce unique and personal knowledge. • Naïve beliefs are useful starting points rather than being wrong. • Active, discovery and guided discovery, and experiential learning are important. • Applying not just repeating knowledge. • Learning if collaborative and cooperative. • Higher order thinking is significant. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

8. Do Apply Review Learn

9. LEARNING IS . . . • An active process of relating new meaning to existing meaning, involving the assimilation and accommodation of ideas, skills, thoughts etc. • Making connections between past, present and future which do not always follow a linear fashion; knowledge is constantly modified. • A process influenced by the use to which the learning is to be put, and whether the learning may be effectively retrieved in future situations. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

10. EFFECTIVE LEARNING IS . . . Related to context Related to goals Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

11. OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING • Deepened knowledge. • Higher order skills, strategies, approaches. • Action towards greater complexity and more learning. • Positive emotions, excitement, enthusiasm. • Enhanced sense of self. • More sense of connection with others. • Further learning strategies. • Greater affiliation to learning. • Personal significance through a changed meaning of experience. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

12. PROCESSES OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING • Making connections about what has been learned in different contexts. • Reflecting about one’s own learning and learning strategies. • Exploring how the learning contexts have placed a part in making the learning effective. • Setting further learning goals. • Engaged with others in learning. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

13. KEY PROCESSES • Active learning • Collaborative learning • Learner responsibility • Learning about learning • Application of learning Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

14. FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING (1) • Learning is a social as well as an individual activity. • Higher order cognition is socially learned. • Feelings, motivation, interest, engagement, enjoyment and effective learning are closely linked. • Learning begins ‘where the learner is’. • Activity, investigation, inquiry, exploration, experience and application are essential. • Learning is problem-solving. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

15. FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING (2) • Knowledge is integrated in the learner. • Trial and error are significant aspects of learning. • Social and emotional factors are essential features. • Learning must be meaningful. • Competitive activity inhibits long-term learning; learning must be unhurried. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

16. FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING (3) • Pressuring students is frequently counter-productive. • Punitive environments restrict learning. • Enjoyment promotes learning. • Students must be rewarded for taking risks. • Positive and rich feedback are essential. • The experience of success is essential. • Monitoring, assessment and diagnostic teaching are essential. • High student self-esteem is essential. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

18. THE OUTCOME OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING IS EFFECTIVE LEARNING • Students’ response to challenge. • Gains in knowledge and understanding. • Students’ adaptability to new situations. • Working with a sense of purpose, enjoyment andcommitment. • Motivation to succeed. • Asking questions, and persevering. • Looking for alternatives and applying new ideas. • Self-aware of own progress against known targets and teacher’s expectations. • Learning from own (corrected) mistakes. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

19. PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE LEARNING Learning potential Learning skills Models of learning Learning styles Schemes of work School standards Curriculum materials Assessment Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004

20. LEARNING STYLES • Focusers v. scanners • Divergent v. convergent thinkers • Visual learners • Auditory learners • Kinaesthetic learners • Tactile learners • Concrete learners • Analytical learners • Communicative learners • Authority-oriented learners Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004