This course has enhanced my understanding of not only how people learn but also how I, as a student, learn. This was particularly interesting because as a teacher it has changed the way I look at instruction now. I have been a student most of my life and that too in different countries. The way I learned in India is not the same as I did in France or in the United States. Until recently, I have not thought about different learning styles. Interestingly enough, I found that I was a visual and an auditory learner. Once I came to know that about myself, I was able to be more productive in managing my time as well the method I chose to get the maximum out of what I learned. According to O’Neil (1990), “one of the things learning styles does is focus on student strengths rather than weaknesses” (p.5). Learning styles, though not as concrete a tool as many educators think, is a vital knowledge to possess.
In our course textbook, the chapter 2 “Learning and the Brain” was an interesting read in that it shattered the myth that older adults cannot learn as efficiently as the younger learners and it revealed that “learning and mastery of complex tasks can continue throughout the lifespan” (Ormrod et al, 2008). Something that has always amazed me is how people’s learning methods change as they grow older. I have learned about the role of memory in all this. Old age is accompanied by diminished vision, hearing and a general decline in the brain capacity to store information; notwithstanding, the brain has this amazing capacity of compensating a lack. This plasticity allows older learners to encode, store, and retrieve information when they need to, maybe not like they used to. They train their brain to work in a different way. So learning takes place no matter how old a person is in one form or another. As a teacher, it was an important revelation because my students range from 17 years of age to 70 years of age. How memory, both long term and short term, works for each student was paramount in helping them develop good learning strategies. I learned that it is important to create “new opportunities to learn” and to provide meaningful connections to enhance learning and retention (Ormrod, Schunk & Gredler, 2009, p.70).
Being a French instructor in the United States means following and using my department’s script to teach. There is no opportunity for innovation or creativity. One of the reasons I wanted to leave academia and go into instructional design is because of the lack of interest in teaching the way they ask me to teach language. The knowledge I gained reading about learning theories proved what I was doing was a waste of time. Learning theories, be it behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism, or connectivism, gave me an opportunity to think about what I was doing as a student as well as a teacher. In the field of education, the learning theories play an important role, in that each _ism is a piece of puzzle. When an instructional designer or an instructor chooses the right pieces for a particular situation, he/she creates this beautiful picture called the “effective learning”.
As much as the designer or the teacher is responsible for creating the right environment, the role of the learner is also very important. Instead of being “the sage on the stage”, it is crucial to teach learning strategies. As Gilbert & Swainer (2008) say “identifying each student’s learning style is an extremely difficult task. Furthermore, it becomes an impossible task to accommodate everyone’s learning style in a classroom or tutoring environment.” Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences is a new concept that intrigued me. Gardner suggests implementing the MI theory as a model of personal development for educators. Understanding our own intelligences will affect the way we approach teaching in the classroom (Gardner, 2003). According to Fenwick & Tennant (2004) “the ‘learner’ is not separate from the ‘educator’ in teaching-learning situations. The positionality of the educator […] affects how learners perceive, feel, behave and remember.” (p.55). Technology is a wonderful tool that can integrate many theories and styles to provide a great learning experience. With online education and distance learning, technology has become an integral part of education. Using it wisely as Gardner suggests can bring about many positive outcomes in learners. IDs can use this to the maximum to enhance learning by combining theories and styles and providing effective strategies to learn and retain information.
One of the crucial points for any designer or instructor is to motivate learners. Huett et al (2008) indicate that one of the grave mistakes is the “result of incorrect assumptions on the part of instructional designers that motivation, if taken into account at all, was assumed to be already present” (116). As an instructor, many times I have failed to motivate my students. This course has taught me valuable strategies I can use to become a better instructor and even a better course designer. Instead of spending hours and hours preparing a lesson plan, I have learned to consider many aspects of learning, learners, learning theories, styles and strategies to improve my teaching and improve students’ learning. To end this discussion, I leave with you one of my favourite quotes from Socrates: To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.
References:
Fenwick, T & Tennant, M (2004). “Understanding Adult Learners”. Foley, G. (Ed.). (2004). Dimensions of adult learning: Adult education and training in a global era. McGraw-Hill Education
Gardner, H. (2003, April 21). Multiple intelligences after 20 years. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Retrieved from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/PIs/HG_MI_after_20_years.pdf.
Gardner, H. (2003, April 21). Multiple intelligences after 20 years. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Retrieved from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/PIs/HG_MI_after_20_years.pdf
Huett, J., Moller, L., Young, J., Bray, M., & Huett, K. (2008). Supporting the distant student: The effect of ARCS-based strategies on confidence and performance. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9(2), 113–126.
O’Neil, John (1990). Making Sense of Style. Educational Leadership, 48(2), 4-9
Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.
shyamus 