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how people learn:a crash course
teaching improvement program
08.28.08
dr. erica halverson, dept. of educational psychology
what is learning?
hint: there is no right answer to this question
hint: i’m not looking for one particular answer
here are some possible definitions…
…and hopefully some ideas about how learning happens!
learning is the acquisition and integration of new information
learning is correcting naïve or false conceptions about a complex topic
learning is becoming an expert
learning is becoming a member of a community of practice
learning is the acquisition and integration of new information
schema
units that contain content and info about how to use that content
A data structure for representing generic concepts in memory
a theory about how knowledge is represented and use
learning is the acquisition and integration of new information
who built the boat?
who picked up the egg?
who quit the job?
who hit the ceiling?
who wrote the play?
who flipped the switch?
who hid the axe?
who flew the kite?
who fixed the sail?
who walked on the roof?
learning is becoming an expert
experts
have well-organized content knowledge
have knowledge that is conditionalized for proper use
recognize patterns
can retrieve knowledge flexibly & with little effort
can be routinized or adaptive
bransford, brown, & cocking (2000), how people learn.
learning is becoming an expert
learning is correcting naïve or false conceptions about a complex topic
conceptual change
the alternative conception must be intelligible
the alternative conception must appear plausible
there must be dissatisfaction with current conception
the alternative conception must appear fruitful
davis (2001), conceptual change.
learning is correcting naïve or false conceptions about a complex topic
“a private universe”
1987
harvard-smithsonian center for astrophysics
learning is becoming a member of a community of practice
legitimate peripheral participation
learning is a fundamentally social and cultural act
learning as doing a practice
learning as belonging to a community
learning as becoming an identity
learning as experience and meaning-making
wenger (1998), communities of practice.
Transcript 4 (Brian, 1st grade)E: What is the shape of the earth?C: Round.E: Which way do we look to see the earth?C: Around.E: Make a picture of the earth so that its real shape shows. (Child draws the picture of the earth,
moon, the stars, the sky which is indicated in Fig 2b)E: Here is a picture of a house. This house is on the earth isn’t it? How come here the earth is flat but
before you made it round?C: Because the earth has…it’s round and it’s flat on each side.E: If you walked and walked for many days in a straight line, where would we end up?C: Mexico.E: What if we kept walking?C: Florida.E: And if we kept walking?C: California.E: Would you ever reach the end or edge of the earth?C: No.E: Why not?C: Cause the ground’s the earth and it’s only…E: Tell me in this picture what is down here below the earth?
C: The moon.
vosniadou & brewer (1992), children’s mental models of the earth.
learning is the acquisition and integration of new information
learning is correcting naïve or false conceptions about a complex topic
learning is becoming an expert
learning is becoming a member of a community of practice
what learning goals do you have for your students?
wiggins & mctighe (2006), understanding by design.
how can you assess whether students have met these goals?
wiggins & mctighe (2006), understanding by design.
what activities can you design that will support your definition of learning and your assessments of
whether your students have learned?
wiggins & mctighe (2006), understanding by design.
what activities can you design that will support your definition of learning and your assessments of
whether your students have learned?
wiggins & mctighe (2006), understanding by design.
how people learn:a crash course
teaching improvement program
08.28.08
dr. erica halverson, dept. of educational psychology
