Week 9: Selecting learning experiences
This chapter talks about the ways of selecting useful learning experiences to attain learning objectives.
In this chapter, learning experience refers to "the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment to which he can react". It focuses on learner's behaviors during learning process, not what the teacher does. That is to say, students will have various learning experiences in the same class. The author then suggests that teachers need to have some understanding of students' interests and backgrounds, so that they are capable of predicting students' reactions for a given situation.
There are several general principles in selecting learning experiences. The first one is that teachers need to provide the chances for students practicing the kind of behavior implied by the learning objectives. For example, if Marry is going to develop her skill in counting numbers, this cannot be attained unless her teacher offers ample chances for her counting numbers.
The second one is that students can obtain satisfaction from their learning experiences, which leads to effective learning. Intrinsic motivation in learning will be evoked, if students obtain satisfactions during the learning process.
The third one is that teachers need to set appropriate learning conditions for students, according to their predispositions, levels, present mental states, and the like.
The fourth one is that teachers need to have amounts of creative possibility in planning particular work.
The fifth one is that teachers should know that every experience tends to bring about more than one learning objective. For example, while Mary is solving problems about counting numbers, she is also acquiring certain information in the math field. She is more likely to be developing certain attitudes toward the importance of calculate ability in her life.
The principles mentioned above makes me recall the famous saying "practice makes perfect", "infer other things from one fact". It is not easy for educators evoke learners' constant intrinsic and external motivation in class, and keep them being attentive to learning in the whole class. Educators need to be always familiar with learners' present mental states and backgrounds, so that they can provide useful and effective learning activities to improve learners' skills and academic achievements in the long run.
Thank you for the blog! I very much agree with you and Tyler that it is important for the teacher to consider learners' motivation when designing lessons and learning environments. This is something that I do in my classroom. I always begin the year by showing students some of the different countries I've gotten to experience by learning to speak Spanish to try to spark intrinsic motivation to learn Spanish. We also talk about the benefits of learning Spanish in terms of needing it to graduate from high school, as well as being helpful in getting into college and getting a job to lay out the extrinsic motivations for students learning the language. I try to keep lessons relevant to students' lives, allowing them to answer questions based on their real-life experiences and be creative by working on projects, not just on worksheets. I think you and Tyler both capture how much work it is for teachers to craft a positive learning environment for students.
ReplyDeleteHi, Lingling. I agree that “teachers need to have some understanding of students' interests and backgrounds, so that they are capable of predicting students' reactions for a given situation.” The question is how to fill the generation gap. Sometimes I think I understand my target students, but actually I didn’t. For example, I used a famous band TF Boys as an example to instruct my students grammar. I thought they all liked this band, because they are so “famous” that I can saw them on any social media. However, when I asked my students “Do you like them”, most answer is No. It was at that time that I realized I didn’t n know my students very well. So, how could a teacher know students’ interest better?
ReplyDeleteHi, Lingling, thank you for your sharing. I think the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment to which he can react is just like what we should focus today. I think it is really right that we should focus on learner's behaviors during learning process, not what the teacher does. I really agree that students are the center of teaching progress and we teachers should guide them not just teach them. The students will have a long journey during his learning and we should guide them and let them learn by themselves and help them find a way in learning and use it in the future. I also agree that intrinsic motivation in learning will be evoked if students obtain satisfactions during the learning process. We should help our students development their intrinsic motivation in learning, and if they want to learn more things, they can go further in the future.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog. I agree that learning experiences that students have during learning process is very important and the teacher play a key role in this process.I think students' performance in class mostly depend on teachers. If the strategies teachers use can arouse students' interests, students will have various positive behaviors in class. I agree with what you said that, "students will have various learning experiences in the same class", then teachers are required to pay attention to students' individual needs and provide them with appropriate learning opportunities and conditions. I thinks this is helpful to promote students' learning motivations.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! Too often in teaching do I see professionals settling for mediocrity in regards to how they present students with information. I think that many provide various learning experiences for children is vital to them retaining information and making the connections to real life. Learning experiences go beyond just basics lessons and tend to hit on more than one learning standard. We also have to keep in mind that social emotional learning is valid and important. Team building skills, collaboration, turn taking are all skills that will better are students in one way or another. These skills should be attached to the implementation of academic learning standards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog this week. After reading this article, I think it is very useful that I maybe use this theory for my own classroom in the future. I was in touch of this aspect of learning last semester. When I did research about a curriculum that I need to design, I saw a teaching method called “Reflection Journal”. I think this method and this article have connection. Such as the second principle is that students can obtain satisfaction from their learning experiences, which leads to effective learning. Intrinsic motivation in learning will be evoked, if students obtain satisfactions during the learning process. “Reflection Journal” is that students need to take a journal to write down their thoughts and opinion about each class or each part of semester. In the end of semester, both students and teachers can do assessment according to the reflection journal. This sounds fun and effective. Also, the reflections don’t have to be too long but maybe one paragraph. The real reactions can help students and teachers do better in the next semester. That is what I was thinking about this after reading article and your blog.
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