Tuesday, November 25, 2008
How People Learn by John D. Bransford
Today, we had a brief look at Chapter 6 of the book by Bransford.
In designing classroom environments, Bransford suggests that:
1. To be learner-centred, learning environments (including teaching practices) must consider carefully the knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs that learners bring to the classroom. Schools and classrooms must be learner-centered.
2. To provide a knowledge-centered classroom environment, we must focus on what is taught (subject matter), why it is taught (understanding), and competence.
3. In the assessment-centered classroom environment, formative assessments help both teachers and students monitor progress. Formative assessments allow the teacher understanding of the students' level of competence, and design instruction accordingly.
4. A community-centered approach means there are norms for the classroom and school, as well as connections to the outside world, that support core learning values. Learning is thus influenced by the context in which it takes place.
Some reflections on the group sharing today:
- the concern on self-assessment by students is an interesting one. I believe self-assessment adds value to the idea of a positive classroom environment. Students who feel they have a part to play in assessing their own and their peers' learning will be more attuned to what learning outcomes are important and be better learners as a result. Or course, preparing students to be competent and fair assessors is a pre-requisite, as mentioned in class today.
- a point made by one of the groups on striking a balance between a learner-centred and a knowledge-centred environment is certainly valid and needs to be a teacher's focus in the classroom.
- the community-centred environment encompasses all the other three and is necessary in our local context, given our multi-racial, multi-religious setting. Eg, National Education is an important initiative that helps to embrace all these into one.
3:09 AM |