Reflecting on Learning Theories and Instruction

It has been a great next step on my journey to become and Instructional Designer.  I have learned about myself as a learner as well as the theories behind learning.  It has been a long and challenging 8 weeks. Life happens, but my goals are still attainable.

Being an education major in my undergrad studies gave me insight to most of the theories in education. Though I learned about these theories, I only learned from the pedagogical perspective.  After taking this class, I realized that the andragogical perspective is not that much different than what I learned.  I learned that there is a thin line between andragogy and pedagogy.   It was refreshing to learn of newer theories in education.  One for instance is the connectivism theory.  Who knew that your network of friends, family, work, technology had a theory to explain how they aid your learning.  It was also interesting to see how all of those things were connected, and even at times interconnected, through a mind map.  It started out a little difficult, but once I got rolling, my network was easy to map.

Looking at my own personal learning process, I’ve learned a lot.  I learned about the things going on inside, the actual process.  As I get older, learning about my brain functioning/processing has become more important. Learning about how my working memory takes in information repetitively and then associates it with the related information in my long term memory was very intriguing.   I have also learned that many things influence learning.  Motivation is a key component in the influence of the learning process.  My biggest “ahaa” moment came when I learned more about motivation.  Learning about Keller’s ARCS motivational process gave me a deeper insight in the learning process of an adult. Implementing experiences that gain ATTENTION, has RELEVANCE, builds CONFIDENCE, and gives SATISFACTION upon completion of the experience is important to motivation.  I will definitely consider this when I am creating instruction.

As the weeks progressed, we learned more about the theories of learning.  I could see they were all beginning to show similarities.  After completing the Matrix activity, it was clear that these theories were all comparable and interconnected in some way. 

Through this course, it has helped to prepare me to understand the adult learner better.  With this new understanding, I can take the next step and learn how to prepare materials and design instruction with the adult learner in mind. 

Reference:

Keller, J. M. (1999). Using the ARCS motivational process in computer-based instruction and distance education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning (78).