Learning Sciences

Question 1

Malcolm Knowles

Answer 1

Proposed the idea that adults learn differently than children

Question 2

Andragogy vs. Pedagogy

Answer 2

Andragogy - how adults learn
Pedagogy - how children learn

(Knowles)

Question 3

Pedagogy

Answer 3

• Instructor is the expert
• Instructor is responsible for all aspects of learning process; learner is dependent on instructor
• Instruction is content-centered
• Motivation is external, based on external rewards and punishments

Question 4

Andragogy (8)

Answer 4

• Teacher and student are seen as equals
• Learners have more control over how and when they learn
• Participants are driven by a need to know why the info is important, why they should invest energy/time, how it will affect them
• Learners’ self-concept as autonomous adults and the ability to self-direct their own learning
• The role of the learner’s life experience; building on prior knowledge
• Readiness to learn - need for “buy in” from learners
• Orientation to learning - individual motivation/interests in learning
• Internal motivation

Question 5

Learner-Centered Instruction

Answer 5

Carl Rogers

The learner is responsible for learning and the instructor-learner relationship is one of equals.

Learners:
- Want to control what and how they learn
- Can be trusted to develop their own potential
- Should be encouraged to choose both the type and direction of their learning

Question 6

Role of Facilitators in Learner-Centered Instruction (7)

Answer 6

• Establish the initial climate by clarifying the purpose of the session.
• Create a welcoming, friendly environment to decrease the threat.
• Show learners what’s in it for them.
• Plan the widest possible range of resources to address needs as they arise.
• Limit lectures and incorporate activities that involve learners.
• Time for open discussion.
• A guide, not an expert

Question 7

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 7

Motivation is a key component of learning and basic needs must be met first.
- physiological needs include food, drink, sex, and sleep
- safety needs include freedom from fear and the need to be safe and stable
- belongingness is the need for friends and family
- esteem includes self-esteem and the need to be highly regarded by others
- self-actualization is the need to excel

Question 8

Hierarchy of Needs and TD

Answer 8

Most jobs satisfy the lower needs - wages for physiological needs; a safe work environment; team camaraderie; respect of co-workers.

Number and type of opportunities for growth and development relate to self-actualization.

There is also a need for psychological and physical safety in a learning environment.

Question 9

Chain of Response (COR)

Answer 9

Patricia Cross

A framework of adult participation in learning to “identify the relevant variables and hypothesize their interrelationships” - based on situational and personal characteristics.

• Motivation is a result of positive and negative forces
• Participation in learning events affects how people feel about learning and its outcomes
• Lower-order needs (safety and security) must be met before higher-order needs (achievement and self-actualization) can be met
• Rewards are important to motivation

Question 10

Characteristics of Adult Learners (CAL)

Answer 10

Patricia Cross

Suggests that TD professionals should 1) capitalize on participant’s experience and 2) that adults should have maximum choice in what to learn

Question 11

Neuroscience

Answer 11

a recent, interdisciplinary field that looks at thought, emotion, and behavior using sophisticated technology such as brain-scanning devices and then uses biology to describe what happens in the brain. TD professionals should use the scientific method to determine whether something attributed to neuroscience is actually cognitive science.

Key Takeaways:
- forming long-term memories involves retrieval and rehearsal between the working memory and the long-term memory, supported by the science behind memory being enhanced by firing neurons
- a situation that threatens autonomy may cause the brain to redirect resources from the prefrontal cortex, where decision making and cognitive processing occurs, to the adrenal glands where fight or flight responses are performed. This limits the ability to process ideas and make decisions, which is a less than ideal state for someone to learn

Question 12

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Answer 12

LOs fall in 3 domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective (also known as KSAs)
- Cognitive (knowledge) - development of intellectual skills
- Psychomotor (skills) - physical movement, coordination, and the use of motor skills to perform a task
- Affective (attitude) - how people react to things emotionally, such as feelings, motivation, and enthusiasm

Instructional techniques and evaluation and assessment methods will differ based on KSAs, as well.

Question 13

Bloom’s Revised 6 Levels

Answer 13

Remembering (Knowledge)
Understanding (Comprehension)
Applying (Application)
Analyzing (Analysis)
Evaluating (Synthesis)
Creating (Evaluation)

Question 14

Gagne’s 5 Types of Learning

Answer 14

Intellectual skills - learning concepts, rules, procedures; knowing how to perform a task
Cognitive strategy - taking in information, remembering, and applying it
Verbal information - information the learner can declare or state that they will use to make sense of new information
Motor skills - carrying out practical tasks or following a procedure
Attitude - the bias or values that influence a learner’s action toward something

Question 15

Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction

Answer 15

A model for lesson planning.
- Gain attention - Creates a foundation for the lesson, sets the direction, and motivates the learner
- Inform learners of the objectives - Allows learners to frame information
- Stimulate recall of prior knowledge - Displays how knowledge is connected; provides learners with a framework that helps learning and remembering
- Present the stimulus (content) - Introduces learners to new content
- Provide learning guidance - Helps with long-term retention
- Elicit performance (practice) - Initiates responses from learners and allows them to confirm their correct understanding; repetition increases retention
- Provide feedback - Shows whether the trainee’s response is correct; analyzes learner’s behavior; corrects problems early
- Assess performance - Determines level of mastery and general progress information
- Enhance retention and transfer - Ensures skills and knowledge are implemented

Question 16

Lesson plan

Answer 16

A sequential set of events that lead to a desired goal

Supports conformation to content and quality standards when content is delivered repeatedly in different environments.

Research shows that the teaching sequence enables learners to better retain concepts, skills, and procedures

Question 17

Criterion-Referenced Instruction Approach

Answer 17

Robert Mager

The use of specific, measurable objectives, also known as behavioral or performance objectives, which includes provisions for measuring the ability of the learner to meet specific criteria upon completion of learning

A learning goal should be broken into a subset of smaller tasks or learning objectives

The first to emphasize the use of specific verbs as opposed to vague language when writing LOs.

Application: Start and end with LOs

Question 18

3 Components of Mager’s Behavioral Objective

Answer 18

• Performance: behavior written as specific, observable action, described using a verb
• Condition: the setting under which the behavior is performed and should include any tools or assistance required
• Criteria: the level of performance; should be stated using an acceptable range of allowable answers (e.g., 80% accuracy)

Question 19

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Answer 19

the process of forgetting or “memory decay” happens naturally and uniformly. More than half of memory is forgotten within an hour.

Practical techniques can be used to arrest the rate of decay, specifically mnemonics and repetition.

Question 20

Spaced learning technique

Answer 20

Strategy to slow the rate of forgetting where learners retrieve a memory sequentially over a period of time with increasing spaces of time between each retrieval. Application: design recall opportunities for learners over intervals of time.

Question 21

Social Cognitive Theory

Answer 21

Albert Bandura, evolved out of social learning theory; drew on Skinner’s theory that effective learning is dependent on positive reinforcement.

• Modeling effect: used as a vehicle for reflection by modeling a behavior and then asking learners to provide constructive feedback
• Inhibitory effect: reduce existing patterns or behaviors

Said to bridge behaviorism and cognitivism

IDs can design experiences that enable facilitators to model ideal behavior and participants can model behaviors with their peers

Question 22

How to apply Learner Centered Instruction? (2)

Answer 22

1) limit lectures and incorporate activities that involve learners and
2) prepare discussion questions that help the facilitator be a guide, not an expert.

The relationship between learners and facilitators is equal, and the learner is responsible for learning. Facilitators should encourage learners to choose both the type and direction of their learning.

Question 23

Interleaving

Answer 23

multiple skills are woven in throughout all sections of learning; topics alternate but also repeat

Question 24

Cognitive learning

Answer 24

Key concept is that long-term memories are strengthened through retrieval or rehearsal of information as it passes between the working memory and long-term memory

To ensure content is remembered and stored in the long-term memory, it needs to be practiced; not all forms lead to sustained memory retention, though (“deliberate practice”).

Question 25

Deliberate practice techniques (4)

Answer 25

• Interleaving
• Spaced practice
• Elaboration - learners put content into their own words and connect it with existing memories, skills, knowledge
• Retrieval practice - learners build retention by recalling a skill/knowledge by recalling directly from memory instead of re-reading text or watching demonstration

Question 26

Working vs. Long-term Memory

Answer 26

Working memory is where learners make sense of learning by manipulating existing memories with new information.

Long-term memory is formed through deliberate practice and involves retrieval and rehearsal between working and long-term memory.

Question 27

3 filters to move something from working to long-term memory

Answer 27

• Attention - give attention to what you’re learning
• Meaning - you understand what you’re learning and have a context for it
• Emotions - strong negative emotions can suppress the parts of the brain that are needed to process and move it to long-term memory. Instructors needs to create an open, welcoming, safe environment in the classroom. Teach with a personal, open style.

Question 28

Cognitive load theory

Answer 28

Cognitive load refers to the amount of effort needed to process new information in the working memory, which has a very limited capacity (some research shows it holds just three to five chunks of information).

Application: TD professionals need to design content so that it does not overload that capacity. Create experiences where learning is easier. E.g., Modality effect - cognitive load is reduced when info is both auditory and visual instead of just visual

Question 29

Behaviorism

Answer 29

behavior is shaped by the consequences of reinforcement or punishment (external factors); highly specific and focused on what can be observed

Question 30

Cognitivism

Answer 30

learning occurs primarily through exposure to logically presented information and that retrieval or rehearsal leads to retention (internal factors); focused on the mental processes a learner goes through - perception, critical thinking, remembering, learning, solving problems. How a learner thinks.

Question 31

Constructivism

Answer 31

learning through carefully designed experiential opportunities similar to those learners would encounter in the real world

Question 32

Assimilation and Accommodation

Answer 32

Associated with Constructivism; learners learn through both.

• Assimilation - incorporating new experiences into already existing frameworks without changing that framework
• Accommodation - reframing one’s mental beliefs of the external world to fit new experiences

Question 33

Pros of Behaviorism (4)

Answer 33

• The results are observable
• Helps learners acquire behavioral skills
• Ensures behavioral practice, not just theory
• Objectives are clear and unmistakable

Question 34

Pros of Cognitivism (4)

Answer 34

• Focuses on thinking skills.
• Emphasizes foundational knowledge.
• Builds a base of information, concepts, and rules.
• Provides rationale upon which action is based.

Question 35

Pros of Constructivism (4)

Answer 35

• Discovery oriented
• Builds understanding with real-world relevance.
• Allows for differences in learner backgrounds and experiences.
• Facilitators guide learners through the learning process.

Question 36

How to apply behaviorism?

Answer 36

Learning experiences with clear, observable objectives
Content and processes broken down into achievable tasks
Clear, observable outcomes at the end - you did it or you didn’t.
As learners respond, they immediately know if they got it or didn’t.
Great for physical skill development.
Predictable reinforcement also good for developing accountability, communication, and other less tangible but still observable skills.
Learners are given rewards as motivators.

Question 37

How to apply cognitivism?

Answer 37

Answers the question, “What does a learner need to perceive new content, encode it into long-term memory, and access that information?”
Learners gain foundational knowledge and understand the rationale behind the concepts through thought.
Answer questions in learning that stimulates recall.

Question 38

How to apply constructivism?

Answer 38

Create safe, low-stakes environment where learners can practice and fail
Discovery-based learning environments
Learner-centered approaches that meets learners where they are.
Learners can share ideas/approaches and learn from one another.