Week 11: "What is learning?" and "How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?"

This weeks learning theory connected with something near and dear to me, and in a broader sense, to my field of teaching. In seminary, we always want the students to get more out of the scriptures than just content. Its nice for them to understand the stories, but its critical that they understand the context, or how to move their content based learning away from just inert knowledge. We, as seminary teachers, try to show them the principles and doctrines contained in the scriptures and then help them see that those same truths can and should be applied to their own personal situations. Ahh, the joys of teaching!

Week 10: "What is learning?" and "How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?"

The concept that has been the most pronounced to me in this and other recent weeks of study is that REAL Learning is demonstrated by retention. The key to most of the recent learning theories is how to make what is learned stick. The more I've thought about it, the more I have come to agree. I still hold to my root definition of learning: the process through which understanding replaces ignorance, but it should be retained.
Now, how can teachers aid retention. well this week talks about expectation failure. Though I sincerely cannot see using this method regularly, I do see value in letting the students fail initially. It adds immediate readiness to most students when you then take them through the process successfully after they've failed on their own.