UNIT-1(M.Tech).pptx understanding student learning

Understanding student learning

1. Understanding student learning UNIT-1

2. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding SOLO stands for Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes. The taxonomy is based on the study of a variety of academic content areas and the principle that, as students learn, the outcomes of their learning pass through stages of increasing complexity

3. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding The changes are in the amount of detail and the quality of learning. Quantitative changes occur first, and then the learning changes qualitatively. It may be used as a framework for classifying learning and achievement especially in the cognitive domain;

4. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding learning outcomes may be mapped on to it. It may also be mapped against other learning taxonomies

5. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding The SOLO taxonomy is a hierarchical classification in which each level is the foundation for the next: Prestructural : understanding at the individual word level. Students at this level may miss the point or use tautology to cover lack of understanding. Here, students show little evidence of relevant learning. Such understanding should be rare in the context of higher education.

6. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding Unistructural : responses deal with terminology. They meet only part of the task and miss out important attributes.

7. The SOLO taxonomy of levels of understanding Multistructural: many facts are present, but they are not structured and do not address the key issue/s. Relational: consists of more than a list of details, addresses the point and makes sense in relation to the topic as a whole. This is the first level at which understanding is displayed in an academically relevant sense. It involves conceptual restructuring of components.

8. Extended abstract : a coherent whole is conceptualised at a high level of abstraction and is applied to new and broader contexts; a breakthrough has been made, which changes the way of thinking about issues, and represents a high level of understanding.

9. THRESHOLD CONCEPTS Meyer and Land (2006) have developed the idea of threshold concepts which has been taken up by many teachers in different disciplines. Threshold concepts are those key ideas, concepts or processes in a discipline that need to be understood by students before they can understand other parts of the subject that follow from them.

10. ADULT LEARNING THEORY It is questionable how far there really are theories of adult learning and whether adult learning differs in character from that of children. Despite these doubts there are propositions concerning the learning of adults which have had much influence on higher education, if only to cause teachers in this sector to re-examine their premises and adjust some of their views.

11. ADULT LEARNING THEORY Adult learning theories are thought by some to be particularly relevant to an ever more diverse student body (whether considered by age, mode of study, or ethnic, economic or educational background) and to postgraduate work.

12. Andragogy is considered to have five principles: As a person matures he or she becomes more self-directed. • Adults have accumulated experiences that can be a rich resource for learning. • Adults become ready to learn when they experience a need to know something. • Adults tend to be less subject-centred than children; they are increasingly problem centred. • For adults the most potent motivators are internal.

13. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION It is self-evident that experience gained through life, education and work should play a central role in learning; this, constructivist, perspective on learning is called experiential learning.

14. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Kolb describes experiential learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience”

15. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Examples of what could be considered experiential learning activities include: Community outreach Study-abroad or semester exchanges Career shadowing and mentoring Internships Undergraduate research or professional scholarship Leadership activities

16. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Creative activities and performances **An expanded list with descriptions is discussed later in the document to provide additional guidance. In Valdosta State University’s new Quality Enhancement Plan ( VSU QEP ), experiential learning is defined as: Student application of theory, skills, techniques, and/or practices in a context that focuses on applications outside the traditional classroom but may also stem from a course assignment or project.

17. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION An appreciation of experiential learning is a necessary underpinning to many of the different types of teaching and learning activity including work-based (or placement) learning, action learning , teaching laboratory work and reflective practice . The provision of vicarious experience, such as by using case studies or role play, and many types of small group use experiential learning as an underlying rationale

18. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION

19. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Experiential learning is based on the notion that understanding is not a fixed or unchangeable element of thought and that experiences can contribute to its forming and re-forming.

20. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Experiential learning is a continuous process and implies that we all bring to learning situations our own knowledge, ideas, beliefs and practices at different levels of elaboration that should in turn be amended or shaped by the experience – if we learn from it.

21. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION The continuously cycling model of learning that has become known as the ‘Kolb Learning Cycle’ requires four kinds of abilities/undertaking if learning is to be successful

22. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION First, learners are involved fully and freely in new experiences (CE). Second, they must make/have the time and space to be able to reflect on their experience from different perspectives (RO).

23. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION Third, learners must be able to form, re-form and process their ideas, take ownership of them and integrate their new ideas and understanding into sound, logical theories (AC). It is these middle two elements in the cycle that can be strongly influenced by feedback from others

24. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION This moves towards the fourth point (AE), using the enhanced understanding to make decisions and problem-solve, and test implications and usage in new situations.

25. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND REFLECTION The experiential cycle does not simply involve having an experience, or ‘doing’, but also reflecting, processing, thinking and furthering understanding, and usually ‘improvement’ the next time something is encountered or done.

26. REFLECTION Reflection is a key part of experiential learning as it ‘turns experience into learning’ ( Boud et al., 1985). Because of misunderstanding, overuse and its passive and negative connotations, reflection has had a worse press than it deserves, but it is also true that the research evidence about how it works is lacking.

27. REFLECTION To learn from experience we need to examine and analyse the experience; this is what reflection means in this context. It may be a similar action to the one that we may consciously or subconsciously use when taking a deep approach to learning.

28. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Learning styles is one of the most widely used terms in relation to student learning. However, the notion of learning styles is problematic. There are several categorisations of ‘styles’; research-based evidence of their existence is sparse ( Coffield et al., 2004); the term is sometimes misused to mean approaches to learning, or the two are conflated.

29. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Three categorisations of learning style are mentioned below. Pask (1976) identified serialist and holist learning styles. A serialist is said to prefer a step-by-step approach and a narrow focus while holists prefer to obtain the ‘big picture’ and to work with illustrations and analogies.

30. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Perhaps the best-known categorisation of learning style is that of Honey and Mumford (1982). They offer a fourfold classification of activist, pragmatist, reflector and theorist:

31. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Activist srespond most positively to learning situations offering challenge, to include new experiences and problems, excitement and freedom in their learning. Reflectors respond most positively to structured learning activities where they are provided with time to observe, reflect and think, and allowed to work in a detailed manner.

32. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Theorists respond well to logical, rational structure and clear aims, where they are given time for methodical exploration and opportunities to question and stretch their intellect. Pragmatists respond most positively to practically based, immediately relevant learning activities, which allow scope for practice and using theory

33. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS They suggest that the preferred learning style of any individual will include elements from two or more of these categories.

34. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Wolf and Kolb (1984) suggested that learners develop different learning styles that emphasise preference for some modes of learning over others, leading to particular characteristics

35. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS

36. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Learning and teaching in the disciplines There are teaching norms that attach to disciplines

37. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS The idea that the preferred learning style of an individual may have a relationship to the particular disciplinary framework in which the learning is taking place is one that still warrants further research

38. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS The classification suggests that the preferred learning style might be attributable to a relationship with a particular disciplinary framework. This may need to be taken into account when planning learning opportunities in different disciplines

39. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS The distribution in the four quadrants shown in Table 2.2 is interesting, in that those studying the disciplines in quadrants 1 and 2 are described as showing some preference for reflective practice. However, we must ask ourselves, noting that some of the disciplines mentioned in quadrants 3 and 4 are now strongly associated with reflective practice, just how useful this classification is.

40. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS

41. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS Approaches and styles When encountering the term ‘learning style’, it is important to be clear about exactly which categorisation, if any, is being referred to, and whether or not learning style is being confused with approaches to study

42. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS The contrast is between approaches to study (which are modifiable) and learning styles (which are usually held to be part of personality characteristics and traits and therefore more fixed ).

43. LEARNING STYLES AND RELATED IDEAS A consideration of learning preferences is important for the lecturer planning a course module, as a variety of strategies to promote learning should be considered . Teachers also need to be aware that changing firmly established patterns of behaviour and views of the world can prove destabilising for the learner who is then engaged in something rather more than cognitive restructuring

44. VYGOTSKY AND ASSOCIATED IDEAS Vygotsky is associated with emphasising the role of social and cultural context and process in development and learning, as opposed to a more exclusive focus within the individual .

45. VYGOTSKY AND ASSOCIATED IDEAS His ideas about the ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD) in children, the gap between what individuals can understand by themselves and what can be understood with help, emphasise that a learner can be taken more quickly up a learning curve, and their ZPD continuously advanced, with appropriate help.

46. VYGOTSKY AND ASSOCIATED IDEAS Lave and Wenger (e.g. 1991) are associated with a social theory of learning called situated learning. Situated learning focuses on understanding knowledge and learning in context, and emphasises that the learner (or worker) engages with others to develop/create collective understanding as part of a community of practice. T

47. TEACHING FOR LEARNING ‘It is important to remember that what the student does is actually more important in determining what is learned than what the teacher does’ ( Sheull , cited in Biggs, 1993).

48. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Turning theory into practice Selection of teaching, learning and assessment methods should be grounded in and considered alongside an understanding of theories about learning.

49. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Selection of teaching, learning and assessment methods should be grounded in and considered alongside an understanding of theories about learning

50. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Notable among the precepts that emerge from what we understand about how students learn are the following

51. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Learners experience the same teaching in different ways. Learners will approach learning in a variety of ways and the ways we teach may modify their approaches. Prior knowledge needs to be activated. Learners have to be brought to ‘engage’ with what they are learning so that transformation and internalisation may occur . Learners bring valuable experience to learning . Learners may be more motivated when offered an element of choice. Learners need to be able to explain their answers, and answer and ask ‘why?’ questions.

52. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Learners taking a discipline that is new to them may struggle to think in the appropriate manner (an important point in modular programmes). Teachers need to understand where learners are starting from so that they can get the correct level and seek to correct underlying misconceptions or gaps . Teachers and learners are both responsible for learning happening. Teachers need to be aware of the impact of cultural background and beliefs on learner behaviour, interpretation and understanding.

53. TEACHING FOR LEARNING Feedback and discussion are important in enabling the teacher and learner to check that accommodations of new understanding are ‘correct’. Formal and informal discussion of what is being learnt in a peer (small) group can be a powerful learning tool