Teaching Reflections

Module 3 – Views of Learning

“Both the behaviorist and cognitivist offer important aspects to learning. When deciding which strategies to utilize, it is crucial to consider the level of knowledge of the learners and the cognitive processing demands. The nature of the learning task and proficiency level of the learners should both be considered when incorporating strategies.” (Haberkorn). Behaviorist and cognitive perspectives are learning are crucial to effective and successful teaching, as Harberkorn stated. A student must remember what he or she understood during the lesson which is the cognitive aspect and then later be able to practice and apply the material later on which would be the behavioral perspective. Students who are able to do so in turn will gain much more out of the content and remember the material that is being taught much more efficiently. “It’s all about meta-cognition, the ability to think about your own learning!” (Weber, PowerPoint, 2017).

There are few limitations however that reside in behavioral and cognitive learning perspective. While being able to understand the content that is being given to them, some students find it troubling to remember or recall exactly what it was that they learned. Ways to fix this would be giving students the abilities to try different ways to better remember material based on their needs. This would include things such as hands-on learning, using pictures or tables and charts to understand something in better detail, etc.

With behavioral learning, some students also may find it troubling to apply and practice material learned. Teachers can use other aspects of learning such social cognitive learning, taking charge of their own learning, and have students create and apply content to the best of their ability rather than applying it in a structured way.

I believe that the behavioral learning perspective play one of the key roles in regards to teachers instruction, peer interaction, and students. Being able to “…practice and apply new skills and understand the material, will make them more fluid and automatic – a permanent part of their repertoire.” (Woolfolk, p. 469). I feel as though students who are able to practice what they have learned have a better opportunity to learn even more by learning from their mistakes and changing up the practice to search for the successful outcome.

As a student, I tend to fit more in the constructivist, social/situated category views of learning. I tend to be an active thinker and ask many questions until I get my desired answer/outcome. I also believe that I am an active social participator, engaging in class discussions that are interesting to me and/or in which I have many questions about. I believe that the more questions asked, the more that I myself as a student will learn along with my peers around me.

As a future educator, applying different views of learning into the classroom is crucial for optimal student success. While some students learn better by doing, some learn better simply by listening and viewing. This is important to keep in mind because each student have various abilities in the learning aspect of education. There are multiple paths of knowledge for all students. As a teacher, it is your job to create an environment suitable, knowledgeable, and successful for each one of them!

An excellent video by Katie Martin, discussing the different ways in which kids learn can be viewed here:

Enjoy!

 

References

Woolfolk, A. (2014). Educational psychology: Active learning edition. (12th ed.). Pearson. 

Weber, N. (2017). Educational psychology: Module 3: Views of learning (3/9). PowerPoint. Retrieved from https://uww.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/3643387/viewContent/22807791/View

Martin, K. (2016). Teachers create what they experience. TEDx Talks. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcDpDPwRxvU

Haberkorn, J. 2017. Lesson 11 – Question 4: Cognitivist and behaviorist teachers. Retrieved from http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/jhaberkorn/edpsy399ol/l11q4.html

Add comment March 15th, 2017