Blog #1 Learning, Motivation, and Theory

【My Best Learning Experience】

I still remember the most unforgettable learning experience in a law class when I was in high school. Our professor divided us into several groups and guided us to imagine we were Aboriginal people. At the annual meeting, we discussed if Aboriginal people can could act to freely determine our political, economic, social and cultural development by determining legal issues within our own communities in accordance with our own values. I was in favor of that that we lived in our own organized society and our own traditional laws could give meaning and purpose to our lives. Other Aboriginal groups did not agree with me since it would make indigenous principles and traditions appear overly subjective and “non-legal” because of our social roles. I am so impressive in this learning experience because it models participatory democracy, and is an important part of civic education and democracy modeling. When my professor assigned this topic, she expected us to learn knowledge as well as critical thinking ability at the same time. When students discuss together, they express their ideas critically and everyone is equal to speak out their inner thoughts. It is in accordance with the Cognitivism theory. Ertmer & Newby (2013) propose that cognitivism emphasizes the role which environmental conditions play in facilitating learning. In addition, this cognitive approach focuses on the students’ mental activities that lead up to a response and acknowledges the processes of mental planning, goal-setting, and organizational strategies. Now, I can further explain why I think this learning experience so incredible! My professor tries to mix the environmental cures and instructional components, and inspire us to think, solve problems and process information in different voices. In this way, students can actively interact with the learning process and regard knowledge acquisition as mental activities.

【Reflection on My Current Instruction Style】

Ertmer & Newby (2013) compare behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism from an instructional design perspective. Learning designers should carefully choose the appropriate strategies and resources to meet the learning requirements of students. Different kinds of designers are beneficial for learning. Behaviorists are more likely to develop students’ habits through reinforcement and feedback. They can arrange the environmental conditions and guide students to make correct responses. As a result, students can receive reinforcement for these responses. As for cognitivists, they would make connections to students’ prior understandings and use appropriate learning strategies to guide and support accurate mental connections. Constructivists tend to require students to actively participate in the learning by trying something in a real world context.

Considering my current instruction style, I think I am more like a cognitivist. Before class, I like to invite students to share their learning experience related to the topic, which would greatly arouse their interests in learning and have a positive effect on the learning results. Also, I prefer to organize some activities to structure new information to relate their previous knowledge. During the class, I also like to arrange practice in different methods, such as quiz, discussion, or presentation, with positive feedback. I really think that these steps in designing a lesson are important since they can accommodate with the students’ cognitive structure and help them learn effectively.

Reference

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.