During the course of EDUC 613: How Students Learn, I learned about the different learning theories and their theorists’ main ideas on how children learn. I believe that every learning theory has something that explains how students learn, and it is not like one theory is better than the other one. For example, while the Social Learning Theory says that people learning occurs by observation and imitation, in the Constructivist Learning Theory, Vygotsky tells us that learning comes from our culture. These two theories are very similar in that they both suggest that children learn from example, which believe is true. I have always thought that education starts at home, which means that children learn from their parents’ example. Then in turn, they will be learning from their teachers and their peers. Moreover, the Cognitive Learning Theory proposes that Cognitivism is when the information goes into the brain and then it gets storage into a folder, sorting it out into file cabinets. This theory makes a lot of sense and it is the way I have always thought of information going into my brain. Also, Cognitivists mention that people learn more easily when they relate that information with something they already know. This is why I teach Spanish vocabulary to younger students through songs and tunes that they have heard before, because it is easier for them to memorize when they just add information to something they already know.
I enjoyed writing the Case Study of a Learner, because not only it helped me to learn more about a particular student’s type of learning, but also it helped me understand how every child learns in a different way, which I knew before, but had not really understand it in its entirety. I now understand that, not because a student is gifted, it means that he/she learns like every gifted student. Just like every person is physically different, there are no two students who learn alike. Therefore, I learned that I need to differentiate my lesson plans, something that I have never done before. Moreover, I enjoyed reading the book by Eric Jensen, Teaching With the Brain in Mind. I personally have always liked reading and learning about how the human brain works, and reading a book that focuses on how a child’s brain works and learns was very fun and interesting.
From the Eight ASTL Learning Outcomes, these are some of the points I believe were addressed during EDUC 613:
- Student learning: Teachers are committed to students and their learning. Teachers have to provide the best environment for their students to learn, and provide lesson plans that are in accordance to each and every student’s needs.
- Monitoring student learning: Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. We as teachers need to understand how each of our students learn and, from there, differentiate our lesson plans so that every child gets the most out of each class.
- Learning communities: Teachers are members of learning communities. Teachers need to always keep learning new ways to better teach their students. There is really never enough information when it comes to teaching children; there is always something new that teachers can learn.
- Diversity: Teachers attend to the needs of culturally, linguistically, and cognitively diverse learners. As mentioned before, teachers need to differentiate their lesson plans and provide each student with the best type of learning, regardless of learning ability, language that the student speaks, or background.
In conclusion, EDUC 613 was a very interesting class because I learned about the different learning theories and their own ideas on how children learn, and it was interesting to learn their differences and similarities. I also enjoyed learning about a particular student’s learning background, which in turn, taught me that every student is different regardless of his or her own learning style, or label. This, therefore, has made me realize that I need to differentiate my lesson plans so that every one of my students can get as much learning as possible. EDUC 613 Integrative Case Study of a Learner