Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?
My best learning experience was in an IED course two years ago. Not only did it help me find my specific area of study, but I got very interested with a more open and mediated style of learning and instructing. The Course IED 371 was based on cognitive and constructive learning/instructing which made perfect sense to me. I am a more hands on/interpret the information to your life kind of academic. It was all about discussion and contribution to the few materials we had, which gave us so much perspective and different interpretations that made sense or make me question my own thoughts sometimes. We also got the chance to mediate a class by a group instruction project which was cool. I think it was such a great experience, the discussions were well thought out and very engaging throughout the rest of my peers.
Based on your reading, would you consider your current instruction style more behaviorist, cognitivist, or constructivist? Elaborate with your specific mindset and examples.
As an instructor, if I were to ever become one, I would mainly work with neurodivergent or Indigenous people like myself who would have similar learning difficulties. I would continue to use a blend of cognitive and constructive methods for students to follow easily and learn through interpretation, connection to material, and information that they have already learned. It is more of a blend because not only is this more geared to land-based open learning, but it also helps me process the information due to my ADHD. I found two quotes from the Ertmer and Newby chapter that helps explain why it makes more sense to me.
“Cognitive theories emphasize making knowledge meaningful and helping learners organize and relate new information to existing knowledge in memory. Instruction must be based on a student’s existing mental structures, or schema, to be effective”(2018. para 36).
By adding in new information that blends with existing info already in my head, helps me process and understand how or what this information is used for.
Regarding constructivism, “a concept will continue to evolve with each new use as new situations, negotiations, and activities recast it in a different, more densely textured form”(Ertmer & Newby. 2018. para 42).
Receiving new material changes my perspective and critical thinking on older material that I remember from previous courses. It may change my mind on some beliefs or facts that I know, or in some few cases, it has completely flipped my learning path onto something new. For example, I was initially on the school of music path, I heard some new information and now I am majoring in Indigenous studies with an education minor. It is all based on how I receive and connect to information and how my brain processes it. For me I need to connect and relate to the material to understand, if not I am so lost and feel trapped in my own head.
Reference:
Ertmer & Newby (2018) Chapter 11: “Behaviorist, Cognitivist, and Constructivist”. in West, R. E. (2018). Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology (1st ed.). EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations
Hello Emily,
Thanks for sharing your blog post 1. I enjoy hearing about your learning experience in an IED course. This is the first time I’ve heard of such a course, and it seems like it can help people engage their individual thinking. I agree with you that a mixture of cognitive and constructive methods helps students learn easily. It makes it easier for students to connect material from a large book especially when they need to write an essay. Thanks.