Saturday, October 9, 2010

Rethinking Learning Theory


Although Chapter III of Bender’s book is called “Rethinking Learning Theory within the Online Class,” I found that many of the ideas discussed had strong relevance to teaching in any setting. Bender’s theories prompted me to rethink some of my current classroom teaching strategies, and also stimulated thoughts about applying these ideas when I eventually teach online.

One concept that truly resonated with me was related to the story about students who held onto incorrect information (about why it is warmer in summer than winter) despite being taught corrected information. The idea that in some cases prior learning facilitates learning while in other situations it blocks learning is compelling to me.

I teach nurse case managers who have many years of nursing experience and in some cases, many years of longevity working at my company. They tend to have preconceived notions about how things should be done. Thinking back on a series of recent in-services on new protocols and processes, I realize that the nurses’ prior assumptions about how things should be done may have detracted from the learning process.

Whether teaching online or in the classroom, it occurs to me that it is incredibly important to assess how the nurses think, and what their assumptions are, before I try to impart new knowledge. Thinking about how to accomplish this, I plan to increase the use of pretests, and scenario-based exercises that require student responses, at different points during a class, i.e., before I start the class, during the class, and afterward. I also plan to consciously ask more questions and elicit more participation to validate true understanding and learning of the material. Lastly, I intend to be more conscious of this issue during future trainings and continue to think about strategies that might capitalize on learners’ past knowledge while simultaneously ensuring that past knowledge does not impede current learning

7 comments:

  1. Hi Marcia - I agree with your point on preconceived notions and how they can detract from the learning process. I've found that sometimes people are so attached to "the old way" that they will completely shut down and close off to the idea of "the new way" of doing something. Understanding where they're coming from and what their past experiences are can definitely help to stave off the battle before it begins.

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  2. Great self awareness Marcia, I totally agree. I too came away from the chapter with an understanding of starting every session from here on in with an assessment. Where are they, what do they believe, and can they move or open to a new idea.

    Sometimes we focus on the teaching objectives and forget about the learning objectives. Good insights, thanks.

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  3. Hi Marcia,

    It seems like we took similar things from today's readings. Your example with the nurses made me wonder about how online learning can create new memories when the longer term ones have been created in vivid settings. We have been discussing the importance of making online learning as interactive and vivid an experience as possible. I was thinking, though, that nurses may have very vivid initial learning experiences in hospitals and this would be quite a difficult intensity of experience for an online training to live up to. Quite a challenge we've got!

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  4. That last one was me- forgot to sign it!
    Hallie

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  5. Great thoughts Marcia! I found you posing problems and coming to solid conclusions all within the post! Definitely encouraging learners to discuss their thoughts and beliefs and then eliciting their assumptions about the beliefs they hold and how they came into being is a great way to help sort of loosen those faulty thoughts from their foundations.

    I've suggested a book to several people in the class that helps us all develop critical thinkers in our classes. The book is "Developing Critical Thinkers," by Stephen D. Brookfield. Brookfield has written somewhat extensively on critical thinking and his work I think will give you some ideas about how to encourage your learners to let go of old beliefs in favor of more "defensible" beliefs.

    I think that encouraging cycles of experience and reflection as you suggest by giving people scenarios and case studies, having them work together to resolve problems and create solutions is a great way to go!

    Best,
    Kiki

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  6. Hi Marcia,

    Getting your class to discuss their past experiences can help break the ice at the beginning of a class and can also help to lead to discussions of thoughts on specific topics you'd like to learn more about before moving forward with the training.

    Great blog :)

    -Sarah

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  7. Hi Marcia:

    You really got me thinking about students' assumptions and how these can get in the way of learning. With some of the live instructor led courses we give at our company, we are able to do some pre-analysis which is very helpful to us in undertanding our learners. This issue of assumptions that you pointed out will be important for me to consider as I work with our training team in developing our on-line training classes. Thanks for your insights!

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