Ecology of Education

How People Learn: Part 3 – Developmental and Social Learning Theory

In the previous two installments I discussed the myth of learning “styles” and how constructivist learning theory (CLT) can inform teaching.  This part expands on constructivist learning theory and introduces two offspring of CLT: developmental and social learning theories (DLT and SLT).  Developmental learning theory focuses on how prior experience and age affect the ability [...]

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How People Learn: Part 2 – Constructivist Learning Theory

Learning is not the rote memorization that is forced upon students by many teachers. The process of learning is how the learner makes meaning of new ideas and experiences by comparison to their current ideas or schemas. Experience is one of the major influences for creating meaning on the part of the learner that will [...]

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How people Learn – Part 1

“Learning styles” seem to be very popular these days in education.  However, the notion that each person learns differently is likely a myth (Olson, 2006; Feldon, 2005; Willingham, 2005). It is not a different learning style students enter instruction with, but different prior knowledge and experiences. In fact, when students receive instruction within their “style” of [...]

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Science Goals for Students

So what is it that we want students to gain from a k-12 science education? What are the goals we should constantly work to promote in students? Considering that rote memorization of scientific ideas leads to little understanding, I have identified ten goals for students that focus on life learning skills, and other traits that [...]

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