The emotional side of learning
The theme I have been working on for the last month started in the pose on Brain-Based Learning. I started with a set of statements described as findings from brain research (Stevens and Goldberg, 2001) with possible implications for online instruction . I concluded that these might be worth a little study and that in studying them, I could create an example of how a person might deal with abstract content.
That study led me to the questions of how I would use the information. Focusing specifically on the assertion that brains are specialized and unique, I considered the implications it would have for instructional design. After three posts on that, I think I have a good idea how I would use the information. If I actually had to study the material, I would go on to read the details and compare them to my ideas of what to expect.
Since I don’t have to study the material, I will go on to look for some ideas that I have used or might use in the Thinkerer. This time I’ll take them in order of importance (another element of self-directed learning).
3. Emotions are critical to successful learning.
I think this is a generally accepted principle. But the denotation of emotions is tricky. The satisfaction you get from success is an emotion, but often overlooked in the term. Psychologists use the term reinforcement and may not always regard it as an emotion.
One thing often overlooked in instruction is the value of immediate reinforcement. People will work on a puzzle they think they can solve. They will play a game they think they can win. Theses efforts are supported entirely by the immediate reinforcement of (frequent) success.
Perhaps when instruction depended on lectures and books, it was difficult to design for immediate reinforcement. Online instruction may offer greater potential. Here is an example I found recently.
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free open-source audio editor. I installed it recently to try out some audio things on the Thinkerer. I then found a tutorial (http://www.edhsonline.org/other/audacity/) which provided a step-by-step introduction to the basics of editing a .wav file. I could easily open the instructions and the program in separated windows. I could follow the steps of the instructions and get immediate feedback.
I would recommend that anyone interested in online instructional design should try the Audacity demonstration. Even if you don’t need to do audio, you will learn something about instruction. Besides, who can resist a program called Audacity?
That study led me to the questions of how I would use the information. Focusing specifically on the assertion that brains are specialized and unique, I considered the implications it would have for instructional design. After three posts on that, I think I have a good idea how I would use the information. If I actually had to study the material, I would go on to read the details and compare them to my ideas of what to expect.
Since I don’t have to study the material, I will go on to look for some ideas that I have used or might use in the Thinkerer. This time I’ll take them in order of importance (another element of self-directed learning).
3. Emotions are critical to successful learning.
I think this is a generally accepted principle. But the denotation of emotions is tricky. The satisfaction you get from success is an emotion, but often overlooked in the term. Psychologists use the term reinforcement and may not always regard it as an emotion.
One thing often overlooked in instruction is the value of immediate reinforcement. People will work on a puzzle they think they can solve. They will play a game they think they can win. Theses efforts are supported entirely by the immediate reinforcement of (frequent) success.
Perhaps when instruction depended on lectures and books, it was difficult to design for immediate reinforcement. Online instruction may offer greater potential. Here is an example I found recently.
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free open-source audio editor. I installed it recently to try out some audio things on the Thinkerer. I then found a tutorial (http://www.edhsonline.org/other/audacity/) which provided a step-by-step introduction to the basics of editing a .wav file. I could easily open the instructions and the program in separated windows. I could follow the steps of the instructions and get immediate feedback.
I would recommend that anyone interested in online instructional design should try the Audacity demonstration. Even if you don’t need to do audio, you will learn something about instruction. Besides, who can resist a program called Audacity?
posted by Selby Evans at 8:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home