Week 2 EDUC 633

What do I believe about the following...

• How does learning occur?
• What factors influence learning?
• How should instruction be structured to facilitate learning?
• Think about how you learn. When you hear, read, or see something new, does it help to talk about it and reflect on it to better understand the new information? How about research? Does it help to do some active research on this new information?

I think that learning occurs best when the learner has a vested interest in the subject. When the student is engaged in the subject matter and they know why it will apply to their life or something that they are interested in then the student is more likely to spend extra time studying and working to understand what is being taught.  

The factors that influence learning include the level of interest that the student has in the subject or whether the topic is helping them reach their particular goal. If a student is interested in being a pediatrician for instance, then they know that the have to learn quite a bit about medicine and while all of the classes may not focus on children the overall goal will be to make them a better doctor for children.

Instruction should be structured to allow time to know the students and their objectives and goals.  This will help the instructor help the student to reach their goals. I have often heard about students who hate classes [my son] because they are not connected to the material and do not feel a part of the educational process.  This is a sure fire way to lose the students.  It takes extra effort, time and planning to engage students and get to know who is in your class but it will make for a better instructional and learning experience for all involved if it is taken into account.

I learn best by hearing the instruction and then being left along to process it.  I tend to write my answers down or type them as this helps me to organize my thoughts. I remember  when I was being taught to drive a car, we had classroom instruction and then allowed to actually drive the car with the instruction. When my mother attempted to help me, we made each other too nervous and she finally just let me take the car on my own. I still made slight mistakes when on my own but I relaxed and got the hang of what was being taught when left to process it at my own speed.