How do people learn? A Summary of Ideas

1. People learn by building mental models of reality rather than by “receiving” knowledge

“transferred” to them. They use their current models of reality to understand any new things they

encounter.

2. People don’t store facts away in some bank; they associate things in their brain. If they don’t

learn to use, they usually can’t remember. Learning to remember does not necessarily lead to

improved reasoning ability. Simply learning the facts for an examination usually does not mean

that those facts will have much sustained and substantial influence on the way people think, act, or feel.

3. People learn to use by trying to solve problems about which they care.

4. Extrinsic motivators to learn decrease interest and diminish the quality of performance. Students who have as their chief goal learning for “its own sake” (who have what the literature calls a Task Orientation) are likely to learn and value sophisticated ways of thinking while

student who learn for the sake of recognition from others (an Ego Orientation)–honors, grades, etc.–are more likely to use simple ways of thinking. Students learn best when they feel a strong sense of control over their own education.

5. People tend to learn most effectively if they face sophisticated challenges but little anxiety and have an opportunity to grapple with important questions that reflect the instructor’s faith in their

abilities, and to do so collaboratively while receiving feedback on their efforts in advance of and separate from any final judgments about their efforts. They must have the opportunity to improve on their efforts before facing judgments.

6. Learning to reason occurs in fits and starts and benefits from repeated challenges from a variety of levels.

7. Emotions play an enormously powerful role in learning, both in stimulating interest and in

distracting students from learning.

 

Creating a Natural Learning Environment

Creating Assignments That Captivate and Motivate

People tend to learn most effectively (in ways that make a sustained, substantial,

and positive influence on the way they act, think, or feel) when (1) they are trying

to solve problems (intellectual, physical, artistic, practical, abstract, etc.) that they

find intriguing, beautiful, and/or important; (2) they are able to do so in a

challenging yet supportive environment in which they can feel a sense of control

over their own education; (3) they can work collaboratively with other learners to

grapple with the problems; (4) they believe that their work will be considered

fairly and honestly; and (5) they can try, fail, and receive feedback from expert

learners in advance of and separate from any summative judgment of their efforts.

How do the best teachers create such a natural learning environment in which they embed the skills and information they wish to teach in questions and tasks students will find fascinating--authentic tasks that will arouse curiosity and create a safe environment in which students can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again?

Think of something you want students to learn to do intellectually. How will you create a safe yet

challenging environment in which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again without facing a summative evaluation? Design an assignment that

< Is intrinsically motivating for students and embeds learning in an authentic and intrinsically

interesting project.

< Involves Goal-Directed learning: The learner's goals serve to organize the experience.

< Involves Learning by Doing and Learning by Failing: Provides opportunities for students to try, fail, and receive feedback in advance of and separate from a grade (creates expectation failures).

< Helps students to learn specific reasoning skills.

< Tells you and the students if they have learned to reason in the discipline.

What should students be able to do intellectually as result of doing the assignment (what questions will it help them answer)?

 

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