Learning Theory for Education: Questions and Answers

How can learning inform teaching practice?

Since students will/can learn in different ways based on their own culture, experiences, and development stage, teachers can use all of this information to create lesson plans best suited for the students. Since learning is influenced by thoughts, emotions, and culture, teachers can use one or all of these aspects to provide a positive teaching experience. For example, knowing that a student's learning is influenced by the mood or mental state the student is in can give the teacher a cue to use more positive and supportive tactics during lesson exercises.

How can teachers support students' development and learning?

Teachers can foster the learning environment for the students by catering towards the key developmental processes and different ways the students learn. It's important that the teacher be aware and attentive of the developmental stages student/students are going through in order to determine what learning style would be best to incorporate into the lesson. Students' readiness to learn in respect to their intelligence level and the skills they have acquired is a key concept. This is important when supporting the students' development and learning because activities and lesson plans can include different aspects to them that cover some if not most of the stages the students are in at the time. For example, using Piaget's theory of development, a teacher can determine what exercises would be appropriate for a student still using concrete, formal, or operant cognitive processes.

Building on What we Know - Cognitive Processing:

How do we process information so that we can use it effectively later?

We can build knowledge through: making connections, developing conceptual knowledge, and developing explanation. The successfulness of being able to use information that has been processed somewhat depends on what we have already experienced, how we can relate information in our minds, and the situation to which the information was learned. Learning often occurs when students are able to take new knowledge and apply what they learned within different contexts that have importance or meaning to them. For example, if students in a classroom all have dogs, a lesson pertaining to dogs engage in their interests and makes the material have meaning for them, hence increasing the likelihood that the students will remember and be able to transpose and generalize what they learned.

Different Kinds of Smart - Multiple Intelligences:

How are students "smart" in different ways?

Students can have different intelligences, hence why they can be smart in different ways. There are several different intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.

How can teachers use multiple intelligences in the classroom?

Teachers can consider the MI theory in helping to bring in multiple intelligences into their lesson plans so that they reach the students' strengths while improving their weaknesses through using their own intelligences. They can consider what talents the students have and how they can bring those talents out in the classroom to enhance learning and skills.