Learning approach
Learning approach is based two main questions:
- Why student learn?
- What do they learn?
Then the learning style could be:
- Teachers have to know the learning student style;
- Discussions in group, individual work or with diagrams;
The learning has to avoid the class to be bored.
Meaningful learning and rote learning:
Proposed by David Ausubel (1968), this theory contrasts rote learning to meaningful learning. It presents learning as a process where new knowledge is linked to existing knowledge. Rote learning involves memorizing and result in new knowledge is arbitrarily incorporated into the cognition structure. Meaningful learning involves understanding and integrating knowledge into one’s cognitive structure but newly acquired knowledge and the existing cognitive structure may be modified in the learning process.
Then Novak invented a process to help students to organize what they learn into meaningful: Concept Mapping.
Concept Mapping is a learning tool which schematically is a representation of set of interrelated, interconnected conceptual meanings. Concept mapping is used for:
- Assessing pre-knowledge of a topic to be taught or a topic that has been taught
- Measuring of longer their retention
- Planning lessons, presentations, articles for publication
How do I measure what the student learns? How do I test large class?
Assessing classroom assessment techniques (CAT) is a technique to reveals what student learn. It has been found that CAT enhances and improve student learning. This technique is composed in a range of activities that may be grouped into the categories of summative and formative.
Summative assessment technique occurs mostly at the end of the lecture to evaluate what the student has retained from the lecture.
Formative assessment is reflective and used as an ongoing process to improve learning. E.g.: The student has to show a draft of his work and a chance to improve it is given to him.
Classroom can be assessed by making concept mappings (Cmap tool) or using footprints puzzle or also by a group work where each member is assigned with a job, this impacts students learning.
Bloom discussion
Blooms’ taxonomy can be used for formulate statements of objectives and outcomes. Students will be engaged in six level of thinking for the evaluation of his assignment or in class. Bloom’s object is linked with the kind of learning expected from the student.
Aims | Outcomes |
Remember | Recognize, recall, identify, retrieve, name |
Understand | Interpret, paraphrase, translate, represent, clarify Exemplify, instantiate, illustrate Classify, categorize, subsume Summarize, abstract, generalize Infer, extrapolate, interpolate, predict, conclude Compare, match, map Explain, construct models |
Apply | Execute, carry out Implement, use |
Analyze | Differentiate, discriminate, select, distinguish, focus Organize, outline, structure, integrate, find coherence, parse Attribute, deconstruct |
Evaluate | Check, test, detect, monitor, coordinate Critique, judge |
Create | Generate, hypothesize Plan, design Produce, construct |
Reference:
- Adam Robinson, What smart students know?
- Holtman L (2009) Using Wikis in the teaching of a short course on the history and philosophy of science.
- Krathwol David, Anderson, Lorin et al. (2000). A taxonomy of learning for teaching: A revision of bloom’s taxonomy of education objectives. NY: Addison-Wesley-Longman.
- Lee Carlson D and Marshall P A (2009) Learning the science of research the art of teaching: Planning Backwards in a college genetics Course. Bioscience Education.
- Rollnick M, Identifying potential for equitable access to tertiary level science, Springer.
- Simpson-Beck V. (2011) Assessing classroom assessment techniques. Active learning in Higher Education 12: 125.
