Blog Post #1

Understanding of Learning

Learning to me is based on reputation and practice. By applying knowledge or skills in real life situations, wherever if it’s at school or elsewhere, I can contribute to society in a meaningful and impactful way. From an early age my family has stated that knowledge is power, and how I can achieve said power is by having a higher form of education.

Example:

When studying for human anatomy, what I figured out what worked best for me was:

• Going into the anatomy labs early in the week and studying the content for the week everyday and taking pictures of the models and laminated sheets.
• Watching tutorials on anatomy specifically crash course to help me understand.
• Going to each lecture and taking notes by hand which helped embed the content into my mind.
• Practicing each week going over notes and writing down key points.

This helped me feel more confident and prepared going into the quizzes every week. I no longer felt helpless and unprepared as I knew what was expected of me and holding myself to higher expectations.

Learning Theories and How You Learn Best

The approach that aligns with me the most is cognitivism, as I learn best when the information is organized clearly, and how the project/task fits together that makes it easy to remember. Breaking down the steps and completing them in an organized list helps me to clarify and solve any issues that come up. If criteria is spread out in sentences or paragraphs and involves visuals and links that take me to other resources, instead of it being laid out in single clear document, becomes difficult for me to follow.

Jobs	Application	Takeaways
Mountain bike coach	Instead of a google sheet in which it was shared with all the coaches, I would create a google doc with images and type out hour by hour the plans for the day.	Being able to see the plan laid out each day in a quick format that I was familiar with allowed for smooth classes and easy transitions to each activity without worry.
Out of school care leader	My boss had set the agenda for each week but my co-worker and I where tasked with planning out each days activities that weren’t planned out by my boss. We would meet and had a google doc with a template for the days that weren’t already planned.	By having a document with the materials outlined that was needed, and time stamps when activities where happening, was easy to memorize and allowed the leaders to play with kids and prep games and snacks without it being overly complicated.

In my educational experiences the cognitivist approach keeps me more engaged as I’m constantly looking for structure and strategies to help me retain and apply what I’ve learned. Adults and children these days have shorter and shorter attention spans. By communicating and transferring my knowledge to the students based on what I’ve learned and past life experiences, it becomes easier and easier overtime to explain concepts clearly, adapt to different learning styles, and build confidence in my ability to teach.

Motivation in Learning (ARCS Model)

Out of the four elements of motivation in learning from the ARCS Model, relevance is the most important factor in keeping me engaged.

If I can see what I’m learning and how it connects to my goals and real-life situations, I stay motivated to work hard. Teachfloor states that you need to make the material relevant. This means the material should relate directly to the needs and interests of the audience. (Teachfloor, n.d.)

From the ARCS model, I believe relevance is the most important when it comes to keeping me engaged. I incorporate my parents teachings and how they modeled their behaviour when I was growing up. My mom, a teacher, and my dad who worked in construction, had very different jobs. I see myself connecting with them because of their work ethic and how they each take responsibility. Their work ethic shaped the lifestyle they provided for our family, which is directly relevant to my own goals. It is something I hope to replicate one day for my kids. When I am in school studying, I take it upon myself as a path to connect my future to a career, to provide the same opportunities in life as my parents did for me.

Adult Learning and Prior Knowledge

It seems the old saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, is far from the truth after all. In this video, Harry from Growth Engineering (Adult Learning Theory, 2021) explains why before World War ll, therapists focused on the different ways children learn, but states how crucial it is how we learn as adults, compared to when we where younger. He says there as six assumptions of adult learners:

• Need to know – Adults need to know the reason why they are learning something.
• Self concept – Adults need to be more self-directed and independent learners.
• Adult learner experience – Learning from previous experience.
• Readiness to learn – New material must be highly relevant.
• Orientation of learning – Problem centered and task orientated.
• Motivation to learn – Intrinsic factors or internal motivators.

How I see my prior knowledge influencing the way I approach new learning is self-concept and how adults need to be more independent learners. How I have learn’t best is by going at a task on my own and not asking questions all the time. However, when I get in a rut I need a way out which is why I ask for help. For example, in this class I was stuck trying to navigate tasks and complete everything thoroughly and to a high standard. When I tried on my own I had to reach out for help, and when I got past that part of feeling “stuck” I persevered on my own. The application of self-concept will help me overcome barriers and challenges that I face in this class, as the tools are laid out in front of me.

References

Adult Learning Theory: How Do Adults Learn Best? [Video]. (2021, December 7). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx1uOCsy72k

Crash Course. (n.d.). Anatomy & physiology. Crash Course. https://thecrashcourse.com/topic/anatomy/

Teachfloor. (n.d.). What is ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction)? Teachfloor. https://www.teachfloor.com/elearning-glossary/what-is-arcs-attention-relevance-confidence-satisfaction