Susan Koch's Blog

Personal Learning Theory

I am trying to decide how to connect adult learning theory and multiple intelligence theory in my design of a unit of teaching. I know they do have an association and complement each other. Adult learners use their past experience to enhance and clarify thoughts. They strengthen reflection on ideas and skill development because they have previous knowledge from their lives that allow that to happen.

Multiple intelligence theory points out that novices learn best in their own unique way. Whether it is through musical, visual, kinesthetic or another format, they need to have the possibility of learning with their own strategy.

Situating the activities in their chosen format can help them acquire the knowledge they need to achieve the objectives. I think this is a difficult task. Myriad Web 2.0 tools exist but they have to be able to allow students and engage to become active in their own learning. I have found that an online game is often one of the activities that help the students become involved. One I use when teaching about Diabetes and nutrition is a link to “Lenny the Lion”. I am going to include the link here. www.lenny–diabetes.com

It has educational material and games that the students can play to get an idea of what diabetes is like for the client is a less threatening way.

I think this is going to be a challenge in a face-to-face class when about 1/3 of the learners are adult ESL students and about ¼   do not have very good computers skills.

I did find this youtube video that discusses food choices in cartoonish form. It’s at the top.

youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAyoE39cBvU&feature=plcp[/youtube]

My thoughts for now.

The Three learning Theories on which I rely:

I tend to rely most on three particular learning theories. The first is social learning theory by Bandura. His premise was that “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do…” (Bandura, 1977). He believed that modeling should be practiced by the instructor and would be copied by the learners. Variables in this challenge were the complexity of the behaviour, the degree of value of the modeling and capacity of the learner to physically perform the behaviour. He stated that the intrinsic reinforcement was sometimes more important. There is a sense of the pride and satisfaction in achieving their goal.

This concept has been used in our program to demonstrate care-giving skills and have the students (HCA students) demonstrate their ability to perform the tasks. It has also been used to demonstrate an attitudinal shift toward patients/residents so they receive care that is not generic but personalized.

The second is the theory of multiple intelligences by Gardner. He proposes seven primary forms: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal (e.g., insight) and interpersonal (e.g., social skills). In teaching or encouraging learning, we try to use activities that tap into these intelligences. This can be challenging but they can be applied especially when learners act collaboratively and can share their skills as well as knowledge and insights.  Working with SIMS (simulated people)

help the learners operate in tandem or teams to check each other and make sure they provide good care.

The third is the theory of adult learning by Cross. He developed the “Characteristics of Adult Learners “(CAL) in which he saw two sets of variables. One was personal characteristics such as aging, changes in sensory abilities and increases in experience and intelligence in those areas. The other variable is the situational characteristics which consist of part-time versus full-time learning, and voluntary versus compulsory learning or the administrative parts of learning. I have found that having learners who

work in groups that are mixed in age, experience and culture can often bring new dimensions and knowledge to projects and discussions.

References:

Gardner, H. Multiple Intelligences. http://tip.psychology.org

es

Kendra, C. Social Learning theory: An Overview of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

About.com  http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm?p=1

Needs Analysis

I believe we already use a blended format in our Health Care Assistant program. We use Moodle as a platform on which to post readings, assignments and activities. We (the faculty) collaborate about the different courses we teach and share  websites, you tube videos and suggestions for more involving activities for the learners. Our demographic is varied. We have learners who have raise a family and are now returning to school; some of the learners are from other countries so  language  can be a problem at times. In our various courses, we encourage some creativity in presentations the students have accomplished. One group, in presenting information about seniors and preventing falls, chose to make a movie with all of them as actors in the production. Another group made up a rap song to present their safety issue about seniors (fire safety in the kitchen).

I would like to see more incorporation of online presentations and blogs being used in discussing some of our more complex topics. Person-centred care may seem to be a fairly simple idea but it looks very different in practice and some students think more in terms of concrete tasks rather than an approach that treats people as individuals with individual needs.

Not all of the faculty has taken to the Moodle format. One instructor refuses to make a Moodle site but wants to poach others’ sites. As you can tell this is a sore point with me. I believe taking part in sharing information and collaborating to support the students is the primary reason we have our jobs and should be the focus of our concerns.