Content summaries
Dr. Jeff Karpicke
Karpicke (2013) advocates for the use of concept maps as a means of effectively encoding and organizing new information in regards to how the connections are made. He notes that when learning and assessment are analyzed, many focus knowledge going into the students’ mind and that they can simply recall it. Karpicke speaks on the direct effect of retrieval, every time you retrieve information you enhance learning. He argues two key points: 1. Students who reread the material repeatedly thought they learned it well, but consistently overestimated their retention 2. Reading and then repeated retrieval leads to the best results. |
Do Learning Style Really Exist?
We are all familiar with the 3 Learning style; Kinesthetic, Auditory, Visual. This video dispels the common notion that if you teach a learner specifically in their preferred learning style that the outcome would prove greater than if they were taught in the other two. Research showed that learners were tricked into thinking they learned something because of the ease they learned it with. As we learned in previous chapters, you are much more likely to remember something you had a hard time learning. The video discusses that educators should focus more on the best way to present the information rather than simply focusing on the learning style most appropriate. |
Connection to Discipline & Suggestion for Implementation
Biggest thing I have taken away from this week is when interacting with a student or any child at all you should not take everything as fact and try to apply it to your student. Not all students are the same and just because your student is a hands on learner doesn’t mean you should only teach them. While that is the PREFERRED method in a way you are in fact limiting the child’s ability and ultimately their intelligence. Do your student or child a favor and challenge them as we know that the hard it is to learn, the easier it’ll be to remember.
I was in a classroom with some young learners and a teacher I was working alongside of followed the idea of learning styles so closely that she had them grouped into 3 different colors in the classroom for her different breakout sessions based on their learning style. She would essentially prepare 3 lessons, one for each learning style, and as the groups circulated the classroom she would help with the lessons as she interacted with each group. One thing I noticed was that it created a pretty hectic classroom music in one corner, a mess of colors from crayons and markers in one and manipulatives hitting the floor in the other. I noticed a few students who would look around and see what one group was doing and would ask to switch groups, so I asked what did she do with the students who were between two or perhaps all three and she stated she let them chose their own groups.
This speaks to the ideas presented throughout this week, while the students perhaps preferred to learn one way they are capable of learning in other methods as well. She even mentioned that the groups didn’t always do as well she thought when she worked with them on their assessments at the end of units. One thing she did mention was that there were 4 students who bounced around groups the most who would excel the most and without knowing I realized it was because of the training of the difference senses from the different lessons that made things connect for the students which benefitted their learning. She switched up the classroom and instead of each group doing one lesson based on learning style, the entire class would do all three so not only are they using all three learning styles, but are getting exposed to the information 3 times.
I was in a classroom with some young learners and a teacher I was working alongside of followed the idea of learning styles so closely that she had them grouped into 3 different colors in the classroom for her different breakout sessions based on their learning style. She would essentially prepare 3 lessons, one for each learning style, and as the groups circulated the classroom she would help with the lessons as she interacted with each group. One thing I noticed was that it created a pretty hectic classroom music in one corner, a mess of colors from crayons and markers in one and manipulatives hitting the floor in the other. I noticed a few students who would look around and see what one group was doing and would ask to switch groups, so I asked what did she do with the students who were between two or perhaps all three and she stated she let them chose their own groups.
This speaks to the ideas presented throughout this week, while the students perhaps preferred to learn one way they are capable of learning in other methods as well. She even mentioned that the groups didn’t always do as well she thought when she worked with them on their assessments at the end of units. One thing she did mention was that there were 4 students who bounced around groups the most who would excel the most and without knowing I realized it was because of the training of the difference senses from the different lessons that made things connect for the students which benefitted their learning. She switched up the classroom and instead of each group doing one lesson based on learning style, the entire class would do all three so not only are they using all three learning styles, but are getting exposed to the information 3 times.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Use the things from today's lesson to help you complete the ASSESSMENT below!
References
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Demystifying Medicine. (2014). Do learning styles really exist? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYyVWBJn59g
Karpicke, J. (2013). Student assessment [Video file]. Address at the FFMS Conference: Key Questions on Education '12 Retrieved from https://youtu.be/CioabgMyFlA?t=5m40s
Lamott, A. (2007). Bird by bird. New York, NY: Anchor.
Demystifying Medicine. (2014). Do learning styles really exist? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYyVWBJn59g
Karpicke, J. (2013). Student assessment [Video file]. Address at the FFMS Conference: Key Questions on Education '12 Retrieved from https://youtu.be/CioabgMyFlA?t=5m40s
Lamott, A. (2007). Bird by bird. New York, NY: Anchor.