What do you think ‘learning’ is?
How do you think people ‘learn’?
I believe that learning is the acquiring of knowledge and/or skills. I agree with the Dearing Report (1997) and elaborate by saying that learning can happen through repetition, observing, problem solving, through academic class room teaching, by watching, doing, listening, talking and social interaction with working together or independently. It can be purposeful or accidental, it can be ‘declarative or functioning’. (Biggs,J; Tang,C. 2011). It can be short term or a lifelong task.
I think that different people learn in different ways depending on their background, ability, learning needs and motivation. I enjoyed reading about the Robert’s and Susan’s in the classroom and really relate to the Biggs, J.; et al. (2022) concept in ‘Teaching for Quality Learning at University’.
Peer Response:
EP:
Your reference to the Dearing Report and Biggs' work provides a solid framework for understanding different learning approaches. I can relate to your view about learning happening through multiple channels - I see this daily in my fashion design teaching, where students learn through a mix of demonstrations, hands-on practice, and peer interaction.
Your point about learning being both purposeful and accidental is particularly relevant to my teaching practice. For instance, while teaching costing methods, students often learn not just from the planned lesson but also from sharing experiences about real market prices and production costs with their peers.
I'm particularly interested in your reference to 'Roberts and Susans' from Biggs' work. How do you find this concept applies to your teaching practice? In my experience with diverse student groups, understanding these different learner types has helped me develop more inclusive teaching strategies.
A.RW:
Thank you for your comments. It is really great to hear from you as you are teaching on a creative course, as am I. I really enjoyed reading your view to the set question above and will comment on yours shortly.
In reply to your question, I think what I meant is that by reading Biggs' theory on the 'Roberts and Susans' of the classroom, is that now I can be more mindful and inclusive in the classroom to all students. When thinking about inclusivity in the past I have had a limited and naïve understanding of how to be inclusive to students, only thinking about being inclusive to learners who have declared reasons to supply further support (for instance leaners who have English as their second language).
It has really opened my eyes to how I can adapt my teaching in order to make it more inclusive to the types of learners we interact with, whether they are Susans or Roberts, and involve students who may need further motivation to be an intrinsic learner.
Examples of how I tried to achieve this in my microteach session (which I am in the process of uploading now) I broke down the task into bite sized pieces so that it felt more logical and a more achievable to reach the outcome. I also tried to come across being enthusiastic and talked about my experience using methods which they were learning about at the time. One thing which I forgot to do was to mention that they would be able to take away what they made and use it in their own personal projects. I feel this might have added another layer of motivation to produce something which was relevant and worthwhile.
Biggs, J.; Tang,C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does. Chapter 7: ‘Designing intended learning outcomes ’ pages 86-96 (ebook)
Biggs, J.; et al. (2022). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 3: ‘Setting the stage for effective teaching’ pages 36 – 51 (ebook)
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