When Teaching Is in Progress, Students Are Learning - Essay Example

When Teaching Is In Progress, Are Learning It is generally accepted that the brain is the seat of all learning. To understand how learning occurs, it would be important - and interesting - to know how the brain handles information. The senses receive information and transmit it to the brain where it is processed and stored. This information can last for a few minutes or for a lifetime. Psychologists posit that at first, information is stored in Short Term Memory (STM), and most of it is promptly forgotten. Depending on how frequently and recently the information is processed, the brain transfers information into Long Term Memory (LTM). At its most basic level, this method of processing and storing is 'rote learning'. But not everything is learnt by rote alone; people learn by 'understanding' as well. This is because the brain forms constructs or patterns out of the processed information. As more information is processed, not only are new constructs created, but they are linked to existing ones. This is how people make 'sense' out of new information. This is how children make the transition from rote-learning to learning-by-understanding. Moreover, research in psychology shows that not all people make 'sense' out of learning the same way. A teacher who believes that students learn in one particular manner, and teaches accordingly, would end up 'teaching' only those students who learn in that manner; the students who have different learning abilities will stand to lose for no fault of theirs (Petty, 2004, chap. 1). This difference in learning abilities of students and the customisation of teaching methods that incorporates this difference is termed Differentiation (Petty, 2004, p. 541). This essay will explore a few concepts of learning, a few teaching methods that benefit students with different learning abilities, and how some barriers in teaching and learning can be overcome. It will also look at a few strategies that help assess teaching and learning. Learning Styles right-brain and left-brain processors. Research has shown that the right and left parts of the brain process different types of information. The right-brain processes visual images and looks at information holistically, while the left processes verbal information, sequentially. When people learn, they show preferences in the usage of the two parts of the brain. Right-brain processors learn through images, and they prefer to be given the whole picture. They have to know how a particular subject fits into the larger frame of things, to feel comfortable while learning. Contrastingly, left-brain processors prefer verbal teaching and like to break down the subject into smaller, logical bits. They like structure and order, preferring to piece the bits together in a logical sequence to create the big picture. This dichotomy can prove to be a problem. Right-brain processors will display 'learning difficulties', if they are taught exclusively verbally and sequentially, which is the most common method of teaching used. Petty says that the best learning, results from teaching methods that cater to both right and left brain processors because "right- and left-brain approaches are not interchangeable alternatives, [but] are complimentary." (2004, pp. 142-146) visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (vak) learning styles. Just like how people prefer different methods of processing information inside the brain, people also have preferences for accepting information through the senses, namely, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Visual learners like to learn through images, charts, videos, mind maps, models, and they are mostly right-brain processors. Auditory learners like to learn through teacher-talk, lectures, seminars and they are mostly left-brain processors. They prefer information that is logical and sequential. Kinaesthetic learners learn through touching, feeling and doing things by themselves; they prefer hands-on experience, like making models, using tools and computers, doing a demonstration for other students, dismantling a device and putting it back together, and visiting a manufacturing plant. These activities are not only excellent learning experiences for all kinds of learners but are also great fun. However, supervision is of utmost importance when students 'do' and learn. To make learning both interesting and very effective teachers need to plan activities that use all the three styles of learning (Petty, 2004, chap. 32). kolb's cycle and learning style. David Kolb developed the "experiential learning cycle" which has four stages, namely, activist (concrete experience), reflector (reflect on experience), theorist (abstract conceptualisation) and pragmatist (plan active experimentation). Any skill can be learned through this cycle as long as all the four stages are covered in cyclic order. It is not mandatory that all learning begins with the activist stage. It can begin with the theorist stage for example, but has to continue cyclically through the remaining three, that is, pragmatist, activist and reflector stages. Taking the example of a student, who wants to learn how to write essays, one can get a feel of the experiential cycle. The student could start by writing an essay which is the concrete experience. The next step is to reflect on the essay and identify what went right or wrong, and why. The teacher has an important role here in helping the student to be confident and skilful enough to evaluate his/her own strengths and weaknesses. This ensures that the learning continues, even after the teaching has stopped. The student then draws conclusions and makes generalisations, and applies these abstract ideas to another essay or a totally different activity like writing a report. This forms the concrete experience for the next cycle and the process continues. By using the Kolb cycle, teachers can amalgamate practise and theory, and set the stage for a continuous learning experience (Petty, 2004, chap. 31). Teaching Methods teacher talk. It is the most commonly used teaching method where a teacher teaches by talking to the students. It is also the least effective, because the learner is passive during the process and is restricted by the concentration span of about fifteen to twenty minutes. There is no opportunity for the learner to test the learning as and when the teaching occurs. Nevertheless, it is an excellent tool to deliver an explanation to a group, and a rapid method to deliver material. Teacher talk can still be effective; the process can be made interesting by working on not only what is said, but 'how' it is said; making eye contact with the learners, using positive body language and facial expressions, using the voice to induce curiosity, using humour, exaggeration, understatement, anecdotes, setting a moderate rate of speech, summarising the topic - all these would help keep alive the students interest and facilitate learning (Petty, 2004, chap. 11). questioning. It is the art of asking questions during a lesson which helps learners jog their memories in earnest. It is advisable to ask questions to the entire group without appointing a person beforehand. This ensures that each student makes an effort to come up with the answer. This helps them strengthen their long-term memory as well as their existing constructs. If the answer they have in mind turns out to be wrong, they immediately rebuild their constructs. Thus, questioning helps in 'unlearning' too. Also, the teacher gets instant feedback and can correct any misconceptions that the students may have developed. Care should be taken that students who give incorrect answers are not ridiculed; instead, the subsequent questions should lead learners to the correct answer. This kind of questioning goes far in motivating students. The importance of recognition and motivation is strongly advocated by psychologists to improve learning (Petty, 2004, chap. 14). games. This involves teaching which is disguised and presented in the form of games. It invokes enormous excitement and involvement among learners. This in turn does wonders to learning and produces positive feelings towards the subject and also the teacher. Moreover, since the entire group is involved, peer-learning is highly facilitated. The simplest of games, useful in teaching any subject are matching cards, grouping similar items, arranging different steps of a procedure in order, ranking events by time, and many others. Incidentally, these help in recalling previous lessons and in consolidating existing constructs. Adding a few 'spurious' items can make the games more fun, and at the same time help in unlearning misconceptions. These games along with quizzes, treasure hunts, modified television/radio games, can be major motivating factors for learners; and motivation facilitates learning (Petty, 2004, chap. 19). group work and student talk. This involves the breaking up of a class into small groups, giving each group tasks to do collectively and presenting the completed task to the entire class. Sometimes, when the task is large and involves sequential work, the process of snowballing may be used. Snowballing involves grouping students in pairs initially, and after a set time or certain amount of work is completed, two pairs are combined to form a group of four, and the process continues, till finally two or three groups emerge. These groups then make the presentation. Group work establishes loyalty and communication within the group; even shy students emerge out of their shells and contribute. It facilitates peer-tutoring and peer-checking which are largely successful - and informal - learning tools. Teachers however, should monitor group work as there are possibilities of a dominant student hijacking the group (Petty, 2004, chap. 18). Assessment Strategies The strategy followed commonly is an assessment done at the end of a term or a session through tests and exams. This is termed 'summative' assessment. This however, tests only how much students know and does not help in learning. In contrast, assessment that happens while teaching is in progress is called 'formative' assessment, and most of the teaching and learning methods explained above facilitate this. Questioning and group work for example, give an immediate feedback on the effectiveness of the learning, but they may not be measurable. Through the use of proformas, mastery tests and self-, peer- and spoof-assessment it is possible to measure learning formatively. Proformas are 'criteria sheets' which are given to students before a task is undertaken. In fact, the teacher can get the learners to 'build' the criteria through guided questioning. This will make it clear to the learners what is expected of them. The students themselves and/or teachers mark the completed task, based on the pre-defined criteria. This ensures that learning occurs both while the task is being undertaken and after it is completed. Mastery tests are simple tests, given frequently (once every week or two) to test the learners grasp of basic facts, principles, theories, and so on. They are not made very tough for the students, but at the same time, the passing mark is fixed high at about eighty or eighty-five percent. Passing the test is made mandatory and any number of re-tests is allowed. Thus, mastery tests ensure that students learn the basics; they help reinforce existing constructs, and are motivating, especially for students who are slow learners. Self- and peer-assessments, are done by the self and the peer, while spoof-assessment is done on a piece of work that is either fictitious or the work of a previous years' student. These assessments help learners realise their strengths and weaknesses because they facilitate comparison of good work - or bad work, if need be - to their own. Learners also make the extra effort to know what the right answers are, especially when they are asked to mark the work of their peers. Motivation, reinforcing existing constructs and building new ones, learning through analysis, are all advantages of these assessment strategies (Petty, 2004, chap. 43). Conclusion B.F. Skinner, a psychologist said, "If a student fails to learn it is the teacher's fault. With appropriate instruction all pupils should get A grades." (Petty, 2004, p. 464). At first glance this sounds harsh on teachers. But when the evolution of teaching during the past century - through the stages of Behaviourism, Neo-behaviourism, Gestaltism, Conginitivism and Humanism - is analysed, the shift of focus from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred process is all too obvious (Carver, n.d.). Many gifted people like Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven and Winston Churchill were dyslexic (Petty, 2004, p. 86). In fact, a teacher once told a young Einstein "You will never amount to very much." (Petty, 2004, p. 472). When these facts are considered, one could conclude that humanity has quite not understood how a person learns and 'understands'. This lack of knowledge in itself is a barrier to teaching and learning. However, what is known is that not all people learn the same way. Therefore, to ensure that their teaching has maximum effect, teachers have to teach in many different ways in order that every individual learns. References Carver, F. (n.d.). Module 1 Task 3: Theoretical Perspectives of Learning. Frank's Education Pages: Study and Teaching Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2007, from http://www.education-pages.co.uk/study/PGCE/module1/module1_task3.doc Petty, G. (2004). Teaching Today: A Practical Guide. 3rd Edition. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes Ltd Read More