Note: this post was created as an assignment for the course LDT100x Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories You can learn more about this course (and the Micro-Master's program it is a part of) here.
Learning Experience #1: Behaviorism in Mathematics Education
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
I must admit- at this point in my life I have limited memories of learning in my early educational years. Now, this could mean that I was surrounded by extremely poor educators who left no lasting impression, or, more likely, it is a reflection of remembering the social elements of school (especially the EMBARRASSING ones) more than anything else. Anyways....
One learning experience that does stick out to me from elementary school was learning multiplication tables in 3rd grade. I remember that for each number (1-9) we had a separate worksheet. The goal was to fill out the worksheet -correctly- faster than your classmates. There was a list where the teacher would write which students had finished the fastest and the top 5-ish students would have their name on this board (or perhaps it was one of those large tear-off pads positioned on an easel, I cannot remember).
This type of learning is classical behaviorism. It involved an emphasis on repetition and rote memorization (Hassad, 2011). Additionally, the teacher engaged in positive rewards (i.e., dangling a carrot in front of the class) by putting the fastest students' names on a board (McLeod, 2017). While this particular teaching method did not help me to understand math (or why/how I could use math in the future), it did work to help me (and other students in the class, presumably) learn multiplication tables.
Learning Experience #2: The Impact of a Good Lecture
Photo by Barry Zhou on Unsplash
During my PhD studies, I took a course in Feminist Theory. In this course, we read some of the works of Sigmund Freud and the ways that feminist psychoanalysts tried to reimagine Freud's work through a feminist lens as well as feminist critiques of Freud. It might be surprising to hear that the lecture the professor provided on Freud was one of my most memorable (if not THE most memorable) learning experience I had during my Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD educational experiences.
This class was a graduate seminar, so for all other weeks, there was no lecture. However, the professor chose to lecture this week. Watching her deliver information on Freud, contextualizing his life, his impact, and the responses to him, was the most engaging and interesting talk I have ever heard. I remember after the seminar several of the students went out to eat and we all seemed almost in a daze- saying over and over how we couldn't believe how great the lecture was and how much we learned. Now, almost 10 years later, I can still remember specific details from the presentation and our discussion.
Lecturing gets a bad rap- especially in higher education. It has been referred to as being as archaic as "bloodletting" (Kim, 2016), ineffective as a method of engendering lasting understanding (Stains et al, 2018), inferior to active learning (Deslauriers et al, 2019), and, more recently, antithetical to equitable teaching practices (Harris et al, 2020). While there are certainly more active, and generally more engaging classroom strategies, a well-delivered lecture remains the standout educational experience in my decade plus as a student in higher education.
Learning Experience #3: Online Learning in the Workplace
Photo by J. Kelly Brito on Unsplash
Before I could teach any online courses at my current institution, I had to participate in an "Online Instructor Institute." In this 6-week course, I read and watched videos on online learning, participated in discussion board forums with colleagues, and built my course shell for review in the LMS. The discussion boards provided an opportunity to learn more about my colleagues who were going through the same process as well as demonstrate my experience and knowledge of teaching and learning fundamentals. Overall, the entire process was valuable, as I had a small degree of administrative oversight (a final sign-off on my online course shell); however, I was able to progress through the Institute and create my course with minimal intervention.
As opposed to my early learning experiences, the Online Instructor Institute was more aligned with principles of constructivism and Andragogy. By scaffolding content and assessments, I was able to progress to more and more higher-level learning tasks with minimal oversight (Kim, 2001). Additionally, I was able to demonstrate my own knowledge and expertise while utilizing my intrinsic motivation to complete the materials at my own pace (Kurt, 2020).
Sources:
Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L.S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., and Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. PNAS, 116(39), 19251-19257.
Harris, B., Mack, M.R., Bryant, J., Theobald, J., and Freeman, S. (2020). Reducing achievement gaps in undergraduate general chemistry could lift underrepresented students into a "hyperpersistent zone." Science Advances, 6(24), https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/24/eaaz5687.
Hassad, R.A. (2011). Constructivist and behavioralist approaches: Development and initial evaluation for a teaching practice scale for introductory statistics at the college level. Numeracy, 4(2), Article 7.
Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism.. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/.
Kim, J. (2016). What learning people really think about lecturing. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/what-learning-people-really-think-about-lecturing.
Kurt, S. (2020). Andragogy theory- Malcolm Knowles. Educational Technology. https://educationaltechnology.net/andragogy-theory-malcolm-knowles/.
McLeod, S. (2017). Behaviorist Approach. SimplyPsychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
Stains, M., et al. (2018). Anatomy of STEM teaching in North American universities. Science, 359(6383), 1468-1470.
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