Week 8 Reflection.Moore.J

 

Week 8: Reflection

What did you find surprising or striking as you further your knowledge about how people learn? Week 8 represents the official close of EDUC-6115, and, as the course comes to its end, it presents a perfect time to look back on the ideas and concepts taught. The course opened with the broad question of what learning is. It is an important question to ask since the career of instructional design has the goal of having the people who are participating in the product learn something. So how do we know? We were presented with several different theories to explain it: Behaviorist theory, Cognitive theory, Constructivist theory, Social Learning theory, Connectivism, and Adult learning to name a few. While each theory names a different way we learn, the few things that they all have in common is that learning takes place in the brain and that attention is required to learn. I found it surprising that there were so many different theories about how we learn and that we have not come to a definitive answer to the question. It makes me wonder if learning is just an amalgam of these different theories, with one having more emphasis depending on what is being learned over the other. Further, after reading so many different theories and studying how they are implemented, I began to wonder how I learned. How has this course deepened your understanding of your personal learning process? Adult learning theory presents the concept of andragogy which states that adults learn based on self-motivated principles. I find this to be particularly true for myself at this stage of my learning journey. I have decided to return to school online to pursue an interest that may lead to a lucrative career. I enjoy taking things that I learn and applying them to real-life situations, and I enjoy using what I know to answer hypothetical questions. This theory, however, does not capture the full picture of how I learn. I feel that I learn via connectivism and social learning theory. I mention both theories together because they are so similar to me. Both require a social connection to convey learning. However, social learning theory involves a sort of imitation behavior vs. connectivism, which is built upon technological connections. In essence, one must be motivated to learn first, and then the best method of learning will present itself. What have you learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation? How will your learning in this course help you as you further your career in the field of instructional design? This course has provided insight into how learning interacts with technology by developing a basic working concept of learning and how we learn. We discussed in this course learning theory and learning styles. With this knowledge, I can better design and implement content curated more towards each learner’s needs. We had a conversation on the discussion board on the “how” to tailor content. Dr. Artino brought up an excellent point: we should tailor the experience or situation to learners to apply their learning style vs. creating so many different versions of the same thing. 

Resources

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

O’Neil, Emma (2020) What is Adult Learning Theory?

Retrieved from https://www.learnupon.com/blog/adult-learning-theory/