comps reading - How People Learn – Chapter1. Learning: From Speculation to Science

1.The meaning of “knowing” has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it (Simon, 1996).

2.Drawing on the empiricist tradition, behaviorists conceptualized learning as a process if forming connections between stimuli and responses. Motivation to learn was assumed to be driven primarily by drives, such as hunger, and the availability of external force, such as rewards and punishments (e.g. Thorndike, 1913; Skinner, 1950)

3.A limitation of early behaviorism stemmed from its focus on observable stimulus conditions and the behaviors associated with those conditions. This orientation made it difficult to study such phenomena as understanding, reasoning, and thinking — phenomena that are of paramount importance for education (P.8)

4.In the most general sense, the contemporary view of learning is that people construct new knowledge and understandings based on what they already know and believe (P.10).

5.“Fish is Fish” (Lionni, 1970) illustrates both the creative opportunities and dangers inherent in the fact that people construct new knowledge based on their current knowledge.

6.The implication of the new science of learning for education (P.14-19):

(1)Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom

(2)To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge; b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application

(3)A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

7.The implication of the new science of learning for teaching (P.19-21)

(1)Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.

(2)Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge.

(3)The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.

8.Designing classroom environment based on learning science:
(1)learner-centered
(2)knowledge-centered
(3)assessment-centered (formative / ongoing assessment)
(4)community-centered