A Blueprint for Developing Questions – Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning is arguably the most recognizable educational resource ever published. The original, published in 1956, was the result of work begun in 1948 by psychologist Benjamin Bloom and other colleagues as a means of categorizing educational goals. By the time research was complete, Bloom and his colleagues presented their work as representative of the levels of human intellectual or cognitive thinking. For educators, the taxonomy of educational objectives became a taxonomy of levels or learning. There were six levels and in the 1990′s one of Bloom’s students, Lorin Anderson, revised the original with more precise language. Here are the original labels and their revisions. Level 1: From Knowledge to Remembering Level 2: From Comprehension to Understanding Level 3: From Application to Applying Level 4: From Analysis to Analysing Level 5: From Synthesis to Evaluating Level 6: From Evaluation to Creating At first glance, the changes appear minor, … Read More..
Social Learning Theory and Student Success
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges as an instructor is not simply motivating learners, but continuing to engage, hold the attention, and inspire them to remain active participants throughout the learning experience. More recently, Social Learning Theories, and their practical application, are being explored as a means for improving learner success by offering a more interactive and guided – rather than dictated – learning environment. The instructional shift from dictatorship to instructional guide creates a “Student – Centered” learning environment which places learners back in control of their learning experience. Social Learning Perspectives Social learning perspectives consider three primary factors which influence the instructional – learner relationship: 1. Context – the resources we use to develop knowledge. Books Computers Personal Experience Interactions – social engagements, feedback, communication 2. Culture & Community – our beliefs, sense of community, communication, linguistic differences that contribute to our unique learning and interaction styles which … Read More..
Brain-Based Learning – What Would John Dewey Say
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So said philosopher/poet George Santayana in his book “The Life of Reason” back in 1905. Digital imaging technology in medical research over the last two decades has given us never-before seen insight into how the human brain learns. As a result, a new approach to learning in educational settings from the classroom to the conference room has emerged – brain-based learning. At its core, brain-based learning suggests the need for active involvement on the part of the learners in mentally processing content relevant to their own experience. Although the supportive scientific research on how the brain learns is new, the belief that active involvement based on meaningful direct experience promotes optimal learning is not. Any review of the history of educational thought finds philosopher/educator John Dewey espoused these beliefs as far back as the end of the nineteenth century. … Read More..
Rationale and Relevance – The Challenges of Adult Learning
Does the teaching of adult learners require different assumptions and techniques than the teaching of children and pre-adult adolescents? For centuries, the question was rarely considered, as what could be called the “pedagogical” model of education was universally applied. Pedagogy is what we now call teacher-centered learning. The teacher is the expert who by virtue of his or her superior knowledge and experience over the student determines not only the content of what is to be taught, but how it is taught as well. Teaching methodology is largely a one-way transfer of learning from expert to novice, most often in the form of lectures and reading assignments. In the 1960′s American educator, Malcolm Knowles popularized a new approach called andragogy, which he described in one of his later books, The Modern Practice of Adult Education, as the art and science of teaching adults. Since then, the term is used to … Read More..
Breakthroughs in Educational Technology – From the Humble Blackboard to the Indispensable Smartboard
If you enjoy wandering around the Internet in search of insights into the explosion in the use of technology in traditional classrooms and industrial settings, YouTube should make you feel like the “kid in the candy store.” On a recent visit, we stumbled across something interesting in a video entitled A Vision of Students Today. A graphic towards the end of the video displayed the following comment about a revolutionary breakthrough in educational technology in the classroom. Here is the quote: The inventor of the system deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not the greatest benefactors of mankind. The author of the statement was an American educator named Josiah Bumstead. The year was 1841. And what was the “system” of which he spoke? The humble blackboard/chalkboard! One could speculate that as far back as the time of the Ancient Egyptians, a few people … Read More..
