Mr Cowan - Year 7: Topic 2 - Contemporary Learning Design

Contempary Learning Desgin - An Overview

Student-centred Learning

Student-centred learning is concerned with the ability to focus on the needs of the students rather then requirements of education organisations, teachers or administrators. There are many examples that promote this style of learning such as the learning engagement theory, problem-based learning and authentic learning.

Learning Activities

Student-Centred Vs Teacher-Centric Experiences
Lynch's Eight Learning Managment Questions

Learning Engagement

Learning engagement theory (Kearsley and Schneiderman, 1999):

The theory is based on the need for students to actively participate in interactive, worthwhile learning practices
Promotes the Relate- Create- Donate idea

Active Learning and Diversity

Dales cone and pyramid provide a visual representation of the least and most valuable methods for providing active learning and for the activities that provide most effective retention rate.

Dales Cone/ Pyramid

Learning Activities

Maslow's Hierachy of Needs

Maslow organised and categorised the needs of human being's into 5 levels. He noted that one can not be concerned with a higher level until the lower levels have been adequately addressed. The Hierachy can be found here.

Multiple Intelligence

Sir Kev Robinson (n.d) spoke about 3 themes:

Evidence of human creativity
That we have no idea about the future and hence education has to prepare students for the unknown
Kids are extraodinary in their creativity and that they all have talent

Robinson as notes the importance of creativty comparing it to the importance of literacy. He also makes some other interesting points on creativity:

Kids are great at creating because of they don't know they'll have a go
If you're not prepared to be worng then you can not be creative
Kids are educated in such a way that it diminishes their creativity

Finally, he proposes the notion of a human ecology. In this he notes a focus on the richness of capacity and the need to rethink the way in which educaiton is delivered.

My Multiple Intelligence Quiz Results

Overview of Learning Theory

Learning theory is divided into 3 catergories: