Transcript I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy.

I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the
classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. When my students
and I discover uncharted territory to explore, when the pathway
out of a thicket opens up before us, when our experience is
illumined by the lightning-life of the mind - then teaching is the
finest work I know.
But at other moments, the classroom is so lifeless or painful or
confused--and I am so powerless to do anything about it that
my claim to be a teacher seems a transparent sham. Then the
enemy is everywhere: in those students from some alien
planet, in that subject I thought I knew, and in the personal
pathology that keeps me earning my living this way. What a fool
I was to imagine that I had mastered this occult art--harder to
divine than tea leaves and impossible for mortals to do even
passably well!
Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach
You Can Lead a Dog to the
Fridge But Can You Make
Him Think?
Aligning Learning Theory and Instructional Methods for
More Effective Instruction
Jeffrey A. Liles, Ph.D.
St. John Fisher College
Rochester, NY
Goal
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Theoretical framework, ideas, methods
as foundation:
 personal growth and effectiveness
 program effectiveness
 further research and development
Method
 Model best practices
 Theory – practice dialogue
 Reflective Interaction
Assumptions
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Teachers as reflective decision-makers: “teacher
designers”
Subject-centered approach
Students control their own learning
Less is more
Multicultural pedagogy is “simply good pedagogy”
The nature of the experience matters: educative
vs. miseducative
Learning is not linear
“Learning Pyramid”
Generalizations
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There is more than one type of learning.
Individuals do not all learn best in the same
ways.
Some things can be learned without a
teacher, other times a teacher is vital.
There is more than one learning theory.
Investigators’ initial ideas have colored their
conclusions.
Search continues for a single,
comprehensive theory of learning.
We begin…
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Socratic Seminar
Premise
What we believe about
learning guides how
we view learners,
teachers (ourselves),
and how we teach.
Who are the learners and
how do they learn?
My
nephew,
Asher.
What do you believe
about “learning”
What is learning?
How do we learn?
How do we know
when someone has
learned something?
Who controls learning?
Dominant Learning
Theories
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Behaviorism (early 20th century)
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Cognitive Theory (mid 20th)
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Constructivism (late 20th)
New kids on the block…
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George Siemens, Connectivism. A
theory of learning for the digital age?
Brain-based learning. A new science of
teaching and learning?
Learning Theory or
Pedagogy?
Learning theory attempts to answer
the questions we posed earlier
 Pedagogy refers to instructional
methods
 Pedagogy should be based on learning
theory
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Animal Intelligence
Edward L. Thorndike (1911)
“The process involved in the learning was evidently a process of
selection. The animal is confronted by a state of affairs or as we may
call it, a 'situation.' He reacts in the way that he is moved by his
innate nature or previous training to do, by a number of acts. These
acts include the particular act that is appropriate and he succeeds
…The profitless acts are stamped out; the impulses to perform them
in that situation are weakened by reason of the positive discomfort
for the absence of pleasure resulting from them. So the animal finally
performs in that situation only the fitting act.”
“Here we have the simplest and at the same time the most
widespread sort of intellect or learning in the world. There is no
reasoning, no process of inference or comparison; there is no
thinking about things, no putting two and two together; there are no
ideas … learning by having ideas is really one of the rare and
isolated events in nature … but the common form of intelligence … is
not by the acquisition of ideas, but by the selection of impulses.”
Behaviorism
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Learning is observable behavior; all
behavior is learned
Learning is the result of actions of the
environment on the learner (stimulus –
response)
Learning is controlled by the use of
reward, punishment, and reinforcement
Learning has occurred when behavior has
changed
Behaviorism in the
Classroom
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Learning is the accumulation of responses
through selective reinforcement:
The learner is a passive recipient of stimuli
from the environment
The teacher is the controller of stimuli and
shaper of behavior through reinforcement
Reflection: Does it work?
But doesn’t it work?
Yes, but…
At a cost.
Short term vs. long term
Concrete vs. conceptual
External vs. internal
 Critique: Alfie Kohn
Jean Piaget
“To express the same idea in still another way, I
think that human knowledge is essentially active.”
“Accommodation of mental structures to reality
implies the existence of assimilatory schemata
apart from which any structure would be
impossible.”
"Knowing reality means constructing systems of
transformations that correspond, more or less
adequately, to reality."
Cognitive Theory
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Learning is the development of new
cognitive “structures”
Learning is restoring “equilibrium”
through assimilation and
accommodation
Learning has occurred when a person
has reached a newer, higher level of
understanding
"Studies have consistently found that
higher order thinking skills are not
acquired through didactic approaches,
but rather through learner's active
involvement with information."
(Collins, Brown and Newman, 1989;
Resnick 1987)
Reflection: How is this view of
the learner different from the
behaviorist’s view?
Prior Knowledge and
Learning
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Fish is Fish by Leo
Lionni
Constructivism
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Learning involves the active construction of
understanding and by the individual
New learning depends on prior understanding
Learning is enhanced by social interaction
Authentic learning tasks promote meaningful
learning
A student who can transfer learning has
learned
What methods align with these ideas?
Constructivism in the
Classroom
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Teacher acts as guide and facilitator; planner of
learning experiences
Prior knowledge of the learner should be
considered and utilized
Learning should involve social interaction
Learning should be “authentic” and relevant
Students should be allowed to take “ownership”
of learning
Assessment and evaluation should be used to
inform future teaching and learning
George Siemans
“Connectivism is the integration of principles
explored by chaos, network, and complexity and
self-organization theories. Learning is a process
that occurs within nebulous environments of
shifting core elements – not entirely under the
control of the individual. Learning (defined as
actionable knowledge) can reside outside of
ourselves (within an organization or a database), is
focused on connecting specialized information sets,
and the connections that enable us to learn more
are more important than our current state of
knowing.”
Principles
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Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes of
information resources.
Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
Capacity to know is more critical than what is currently
known.
Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate
continual learning.
Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts
is a core skill.
Currency is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
Decision-making is itself a learning process.
Essentials of Brain-Based
Learning
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Pre-Exposure and Priming
Sufficient Time for Learning
Low or No Threat
High Engagement
Positive Emotional Engagement
Learner Choice
Moderate to High Challenge
Strong Peer Support
Mastery Goals
Balancing Novelty and Predictability
Safe for Taking Risks
Moderate Stress
Alternating Low to High Energy
Multi-Modal
Frequent Feedback
Alignment Method
Theory to Practice
Assumptions
Instructional Methods
Assumptions
Implications for Practice/
Instructional Strategies
Learning is…
People learn by …
We know people have learned
something when…
© Jeff Liles St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY
Reading circle on learning
 Campus Teaching & Learning Center
 Department or School of Education
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This presentation and a resources
page are available at:
http://keep2.sjfc.edu/staff/jliles/homepage.html