My definition of learning is growing each week. This week I have been thinking about how learning is starting with a foundation and then building upon it. It's so important to connect new information to something concrete and meaningful. If the student does not see the value or future use, they will not retain the knowledge. There will be no need to. If they can connect new knowledge to something important to them or a previous experience, it will be worth remembering. They will more likely learn to know instead of learn to pass a test or because they are expected to. I think learning is making attachments. By connecting to your solid foundation (your previous knowledge) you build a higher plane from which to keep learning.
An example of this is in math, algebra in particular. Each concept you learn has to be well understood for the next concept to make sense. You really can't move on until you are solid with the previous information.
How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/ trainer?
A teacher can help the student make those strong connections to their foundation. I have learned a lot about concept maps this week. This has been new to me. They are useful for many things but I especially see their use in detecting incorrect or incomplete knowledge. A teacher can modify or enhance lesson plans based on information learned from the concept map. A small amount of time spent in correcting a misconception would be invaluable as a student continues to learn.
In the math example, if a student truly didn't understand the concept of a variable, they would either be lost very quickly or just churning out answers based on memorization of the formulas. You could end up with a student that understood and a student that didn't understand a concept getting the same score on a test, but which one really learned and is prepared to continue building?
Sharee
ReplyDeleteYou used some great examples and helped clarify different points from the reading.
Diana
Sharee,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the idea of using a concept map to find misconceptions and incorrect information that students bring to the classroom. I have always used concept maps to help students make connections to prior knowledge but not to check for correct understanding for prior knowledge. This idea could be very useful in identifying what knowledge a student has and how to teach the new information so that they can transfer it to new environments. You gave me a great idea- thanks for sharing!
I think it is of supreme importance to correct "mismappings" as well. For some reason I still occasionally say orange when i mean green and vice versa as a result of some incorrect mapping when i first learned colors. (and no i'm not even color blind, so i seriously have no excuse:)
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