Theory Of Human Learning Research Articles

Teaching laryngeal endoscopy skills to speech and language therapists

This review was carried out to highlight relevant learning theory and its application to the teaching of endoscopic skills to speech and language therapists (SLTs). This article explains the most relevant models from Constructivist, Experiential and Humanistic Learning Theory, a combination that has been described as Constructive Experience, and describes the relevance and the benefits of applying educational frameworks in course design. This approach has been formally used to design and deliver practical skills teaching in medicine. SLTs carry out endoscopic evaluation of the larynx (EEL) to provide information for evaluation and rehabilitation of voice and swallowing disorders. These are essential procedures in ear, nose and throat, voice and swallowing specialist centres. Training in endoscopy skills for SLTs working in the ear, nose and throat specialist centres in the United Kingdom has traditionally been provided external to the local clinic environment as 1 or 2-day courses. In one survey in the United Kingdom, 79% of SLTs reported that they did not acquire the depth of skill required to carry out EEL autonomously after attending such courses. Course development to teach practical skills should be underpinned by educational theory. One EEL course in the United Kingdom is described, wherein sessions are interactive and experiential, promoting deep learning, constructive feedback and reflection, enriched by the completion of logs and portfolios. From course evaluations, all the learners met the learning objectives, developing and applying skills to become confident endoscopists in autonomous clinical practice.

A Case Study of a Parasport Coach and a Life of Learning

The complex process of sport coaching is a dynamic and evolving practice that develops over a long period of time. As such, a useful constructivist perspective on lifelong learning is Jarvis’ (2006, 2009) theory of human learning. According to Jarvis, how people learn is at the core of understanding how we can best support educational development. The purpose of the current study is to explore the lifelong learning of one parasport coach who stood out in his feld, and how his coaching practice evolved and developed throughout his life. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to extract themes and examples from three two-hour interviews as well as interviews with key collaborators in his coaching network. The findings reveal a coach whose coaching practice is founded on pragmatic problem solving in the face of a lack in resources; an investment in formal and nonformal adapted activity education at the start of his parasport career; and observation, communication, and relationship-building with his athletes and the parasport community. Suggestions are provided for coach developers on how they might invest resources and create learning opportunities for coaches of athletes with a disability.

Strategic Capability-Learning for Improved Multiagent Collaboration in Ad Hoc Environments

We consider the problem of distributed collaboration among multiple agents in an ad hoc setting. We have analyzed this problem within a multiagent task execution scenario, in which every task requires collaboration among multiple agents to get completed. Tasks are also ad hoc in the sense that they appear dynamically and require different sets of expertise or capabilities from agents for completion. We model collaboration within this framework as a decision-making problem in which agents have to determine what capabilities to learn and from which agents to learn them so that they can form teams that have the capabilities required to perform the current tasks satisfactorily. Our proposed technique refers to principles from human learning theory to enable an agent to strategically select appropriate capabilities to learn from other agents. We also use two openness parameters to model the dynamic nature of tasks and agents in the environment. Experimental results within the Repast agent simulator show that by using the appropriate learning strategy, the overall utility of the agents improves considerably. The performance of the agents and their utilities are also dependent on the repetitiveness of tasks and reencounter with agents within the environment. Our results also show that the agents that are able to learn more capabilities from another expert agent outperform the agents who learn only one capability at a time from many agents, and agents who use an intelligent utility maximizing strategy to choose which capabilities to learn outperform the agents who randomly make the learning decision.

PROGRESS IN APPLICATION OF THE NEUROSCIENCES TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN LEARNING: THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING A MIDDLE-GROUND NEUROEDUCATIONAL THEORY

Modern neuroscientific research has substantially enhanced our understanding of the human brain. However, many challenges remain in developing a strong, brain-based theory of human learning, especially in complex environments such as educational settings. Some of the current issues and challenges in our progress toward developing comprehensive neuroscientific-based theories of human learning, particularly in the academic disciplines, are reviewed, beginning with a brief summary of the history of publications in science learning. This is followed by an analysis of some of the large-scale issues and conceptual problems that we currently face in developing a strong, middle-ground “neuroeducational theory” relevant to learning, especially in rather abstract disciplines such as mathematics and science. Finally, some perspectives on possible future strategies and challenges in reaching the goal of a neuroeducational theory are presented.

Understanding how Ontario high school teacher-coaches learn to coach

Background: There are approximately 52,000 teacher-coaches coaching 750,000 high school student-athletes in Canada. Despite this large population, Canadian high school teacher-coaches remain relatively unstudied. High school coaches in Canada are often asked to coach sports with which they are unfamiliar, and because they are not required to obtain formal training, they acquire knowledge from various situations in order to meet their learning needs. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how high school teacher-coaches learn to coach, using Jarvis' theory of human learning. Participants and setting: Thirty-one high school teacher-coaches (15 females and 16 males) from 17 schools (12 urban and 5 rural) in Ontario, Canada, participated in this study. All the participants had a minimum of one season of experience as the head coach of a high school sport team. Any sport offered by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations at any level (midget, junior, or senior) was an acceptable fulfilment of this requirement. Data collection: The participants were interviewed in person at mutually convenient time and location. Interviews ranged from 30 to 75 minutes. Two focus groups, with three participants each, were conducted in two separate schools. Focus groups were conducted during lunch or after school hours at the participants' school. Data analysis: Interviews and focus groups were transcribed verbatim amassing 464 single-spaced pages of data. A theoretically driven thematic analysis was conducted and the data were coded under three main headings: formal, non-formal, and informal learning situations, and further coded using concepts from Jarvis' theory of human learning. All of the coded data were re-read and sorted into potential themes and relationships between themes and codes were identified. Findings: Results indicated that a large number of teacher-coaches had formal coach training, despite it not being mandatory. However, their appreciation of this learning situation was tempered by their biographies. Coaching clinics were viewed as an occasion to develop sport-specific competencies, especially when coaching a sport in which coaches had limited knowledge. Informal learning situations, such as past coaching and/or playing experience, were two life experiences regarded as useful for learning to coach. Interaction with colleagues was utilised by all the participants as a means of developing coaching knowledge. Lack of time was a major factor influencing the type of situations from which teacher-coaches chose to learn. Conclusions: Tailoring coach learning resources to teacher-coaches' needs and schedules would help improve their coaching competencies and ultimately maximise the benefits of high school sport for all involved.

It's Not All in Your Head: Viewing Graduate Medical Education Through the Lens of Situated Cognition

Consider the last time you sat down to begin a complex activity, such as writing a scientific article or crafting a persuasive letter to a colleague. When you started did you have, in your head, an exact outline of what you wanted to say and then transferred those ideas, verbatim, to your word-processing software? Or did you have a general idea of the topics you wanted to cover and, as you began writing, saw your text emerge as you typed and interacted with the software? In other words, did your final written document go directly from your brain to the virtual paper or did that text materialize as you wrote, revised what you wrote, and copied and pasted different sections of your text? If you are like me, the latter is a more accurate description of how complex activities, such as writing, occur in practice. Now think about your last patient encounter, and ask yourself this same question: did you know ahead of time exactly what you wanted to say and do in the encounter, or did those details emerge in the context of the doctor-patient interaction? Although there is limited empirical evidence, I would argue that similar to writing and other complex human activities, most clinical encounters are dynamic events that emerge as doctors and patients interact in a clinical environment. The processes described above can be explained by different theories of human learning. The fairly straightforward notion of taking a fully formed idea in one's head and transferring it to the virtual paper is closely related to an information processing description of how humans think and learn. In contrast, the description of a dynamic interaction between a whole person and his environment is closely linked to a quite different theory of how humans think and learn: situated cognition. The purpose of this editorial is to (1) describe situated cognition and contrast it to more traditional information processing theories, and (2) consider how situated cognition theory can be applied to teaching, learning, and research in graduate medical education (GME).

A theory-driven testing methodology for developing scientific software

Computer implementations of theoretical concepts play an ever-increasing role in the development and application of scientific ideas. As the scale of such implementations increases from relatively small models and empirical setups to overarching frameworks from which many kinds of results may be obtained, it is important to consider the methodology by which these implementations are developed. Using cognitive architectures as an example, we discuss the relation between an implementation of an architecture and its underlying theory, a relation between a computer program and its description. We argue for the use of an agile development methodology, based around a three-layer scientific test harness and continuous refactoring, as most suitable for developing scientific software. The ideas are illustrated with extended examples of implementing unified theories of human learning, taken from the chunking and template theories.

Coaches of athletes with a physical disability: a look at their learning experiences

Literature has shown that research on coaches of athletes with a physical disability is lacking. The purpose of this study is to examine the learning experiences of coaches in disability sport. Five coaches participated in this study. Data included two semi-structured interviews and two non-participant observation sessions with each coach. Thematic analysis was employed using theory of human learning as a theoretical framework. Results indicated three main themes influencing the coaches’ learning and development: (a) their biographies, (b) how they chose to learn (i.e. through formal, non-formal and informal learning situations) and (c) the learning opportunities provided by their sport. The coaches noted the usefulness of varied learning situations, and identified a lack of resources and few non-formal and formal learning opportunities specific to disability sport.

Twelve tips for incorporating educational theory into teaching practices

Background: Although there is no single overarching theory of learning, there is a group of learning theories that shares some common elements which can provide useful guidance on a range of teaching and learning practices.Aim: This article aims to describe Constructivist, Experiential and Humanistic learning theories, to explain how these three theories are fundamentally related and to demonstrate how each of them suggests teaching and learning practices.Conclusion: Common educational theories can be combined to provide 12 practical tips for teachers and facilitators. This demonstrates how theoretical ideas lead to practical consequences.

Usability of a Patient Education and Motivation Tool Using Heuristic Evaluation

BackgroundComputer-mediated educational applications can provide a self-paced, interactive environment to deliver educational content to individuals about their health condition. These programs have been used to deliver health-related information about a variety of topics, including breast cancer screening, asthma management, and injury prevention. We have designed the Patient Education and Motivation Tool (PEMT), an interactive computer-based educational program based on behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic learning theories. The tool is designed to educate users and has three key components: screening, learning, and evaluation.ObjectiveThe objective of this tutorial is to illustrate a heuristic evaluation using a computer-based patient education program (PEMT) as a case study. The aims were to improve the usability of PEMT through heuristic evaluation of the interface; to report the results of these usability evaluations; to make changes based on the findings of the usability experts; and to describe the benefits and limitations of applying usability evaluations to PEMT.MethodsPEMT was evaluated by three usability experts using Nielsen’s usability heuristics while reviewing the interface to produce a list of heuristic violations with severity ratings. The violations were sorted by heuristic and ordered from most to least severe within each heuristic.ResultsA total of 127 violations were identified with a median severity of 3 (range 0 to 4 with 0 = no problem to 4 = catastrophic problem). Results showed 13 violations for visibility (median severity = 2), 38 violations for match between system and real world (median severity = 2), 6 violations for user control and freedom (median severity = 3), 34 violations for consistency and standards (median severity = 2), 11 violations for error severity (median severity = 3), 1 violation for recognition and control (median severity = 3), 7 violations for flexibility and efficiency (median severity = 2), 9 violations for aesthetic and minimalist design (median severity = 2), 4 violations for help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors (median severity = 3), and 4 violations for help and documentation (median severity = 4).ConclusionWe describe the heuristic evaluation method employed to assess the usability of PEMT, a method which uncovers heuristic violations in the interface design in a quick and efficient manner. Bringing together usability experts and health professionals to evaluate a computer-mediated patient education program can help to identify problems in a timely manner. This makes this method particularly well suited to the iterative design process when developing other computer-mediated health education programs. Heuristic evaluations provided a means to assess the user interface of PEMT.

Review of Teaching Science for Understanding: A Human Constructivist View edited by Joel J. Mintzes, James H. Wandersee, and Joseph D. Novak Assessing Science for Understanding: A Human Constructivist View edited by Joel J. Mintzes, James H. Wandersee, and Joseph D. Novak

Review of Teaching Science for Understanding: A Human Constructivist View Edited by Joel J. Mintzes, James H. Wandersee, and Joseph D. Novak , 2005 , Academic Press , San Diego , Calif. , ISBN: 978-0-12-498361-8 ; and Assessing Science for Understanding: A Human Constructivist View Edited by Joel J. Mintzes, James H. Wandersee, and Joseph D. Novak , 2005 , Academic Press , San Diego , Calif. , ISBN: 978-0-12-088534-3 . The first part of the book Teaching Science for Understanding (chapters 1–3) begins with an overview of the changes in science education, “Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Human Constructivism” is a brief introduction to theory and research in science education based on a Human Constructivist view of learning. The second part of the book (chapters 4–12), “Theory-Driven Intervention Strategies”, authored by an internationally recognized group of leading science educators and researchers, presents a review of each major instructional strategy, information about how it is best used, and the effectiveness of the strategies for understanding and retention of information. This section exhibits the main strategies used to achieve this depth of understanding, including the use of several graphic organizers, analogies, computer simulations, small laboratories, and journal writing, and it discusses how to use each strategy at the elementary, secondary, and college levels, discussing both teaching and learning strategies for better understanding. Meaningful learning, metacognition, knowledge restructuring, and conceptual change are key themes in this section. The third section (chapter 13), “Epilogue: Meaningful Learning, Knowledge Restructuring, and Conceptual Change: On Ways of Teaching Science for Understanding”, presents a model designed to help teachers reflect on and evaluate new ways of teaching science for understanding. The authors state: “when schools and classrooms are finally organized around sound principles of knowledge construction and focused on meaning making, then and only then we can affirm that our schools do indeed have an authentic commitment to teaching and assessing science for understanding”. Assessing Science for Understanding is a companion volume to Teaching Science for Understanding, and explores how to assess whether learning has taken place. The book discusses a range of promising new and practical tools for assessment including concept maps, vee diagrams, clinical interviews, interactive protocols, problem sets, performance-based assessments, computer-based methods, visual and observational testing, portfolios, explanatory models, and national examinations. There is also a very good chapter on the psychometrics of assessing science understanding that carefully reviews the various issues involved in establishing reliability and validity of assessment measures. Each chapter has references, advanced organizers, and appropriate figures and adequately discusses the cognitive model used with the assessment device and the logic of its use. In the Epilogue, the authors state that: “good assessment practice must be built on a strong and intellectually defensible theory of human learning and knowledge construction”, “no single assessment technique by itself adequately reflects the entire multidimensional nature of understanding and conceptual change”, and “longitudinal assessment efforts that focus on knowledge restructuring are preferable to one-time measures of subject matter attainment”. These are timely and useful books for science educators, graduate students, teacher educators, curriculum developers, administrators, and researchers. The volumes are very readable, but the content is what makes them worth reading. Thus, I strongly recommend everyone involved with science teaching and learning to read them, dig into the references, reflect on the strategies and assessments within the book, and also reflect on teaching practice as they experiment with ways to improve it. Then, certainly, student learning will be enhanced.

2008 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture—The Centrality of Culture to the Scientific Study of Learning and Development: How an Ecological Framework in Education Research Facilitates Civic Responsibility

This article was presented as the 2008 Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York City. It argues that, to generate robust and generative theories of human learning and development, researchers must address the range of diversity within human cultural communities. The argument is warranted on implications from brain science regarding human adaptability and on core findings with regard to relations between cognition, perceptions, and emotions, all influenced by broad ecological contexts that influence human functioning. Implications for education are discussed, with examples of research that address fundamental questions of learning through examinations of practices within communities of color.

On Making Social Psychology More Ecological and Ecological Psychology More Social

J. J. Gibson (1950) was full of surprises. One of those, at least in hindsight, is his claim that the social sciences are badly in need of a theory of human learning. They look to social psychology...

Towards a comprehensive theory of human learning ? By Peter Jarvis

Towards a comprehensive theory of human learning ? By Peter Jarvis

Book Review: Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning

Book Review: Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning

Towards a comprehensive theory of human learning (1st ed.)

Towards a comprehensive theory of human learning (1st ed.)

Moral reasoning, intercultural development, and multicultural experiences: relations and cognitive underpinnings

The relation between moral reasoning and intercultural sensitivity is discussed. We hypothesize that multicultural experiences are related to both types of development, describe the cognitive processes through which multicultural experiences theoretically facilitate development, and present empirical data supporting the association. Though the underlying developmental constructs were initially conceptualized as stage theories, we borrow from cognitive science and contemporary theories of human learning ( Derry, 1996) to think of moral and intercultural development in terms of increasing sociocognitive flexibility. Intercultural and moral development share the common element of a critical shift from rigid to flexible thinking. In moral reasoning, this is characterized by the shift from conventional to post-conventional thinking. In intercultural development, a similar movement occurs between the ethnocentric and ethnorelative orientations of intercultural sensitivity. In order to test our hypothesis, college students ( n=70) took measures of intercultural development (Intercultural Development Inventory), moral judgment (Defining Issues Test), and multicultural experience (Multicultural Experience Questionnaire). The results indicate that moral judgment and intercultural development are significantly related to one another. Both are related to multicultural experiences, particularly depth of the experiences, as opposed to breadth.

Why reading literature in school still matters: imagination, interpretation, insight

Why Reading Literature in School Still Matters: Imagination, Interpretation, Insight explains how a reader's involvement with literary texts can create conditions for developing deep insight into human experience, and how teachers can develop these interpretive possibilities in school contexts. Developed from the author's many years of research, this book offers both a theoretical framework that draws from an interdisciplinary array of sources and many compelling and insightful examples of literary engagement of child, adolescent, and adult readers, as well as practical advice for teachers and other readers about how to create interesting and expansive sites for interpretation that are personally rewarding and productive. Why Reading Literature in School Still Matters: Imagination, Interpretation, Insight : *provides an overview of theories of human learning that influence beliefs about language, culture, and identity; *shows how these theories of learning influence beliefs about and practices of and interpretation; *introduces new ways to conceptualize that emphasize the relationship between individual and collective identities and language/literacy practices; *explains why access to information does not guarantee that understanding and/or insight will occur--by emphasizing the importance of re-reading and close reading this text shows that development of deep insight depends on interpretation skills that must be taught; and *presents a reconceptualized view of pedagogy. This is an essential text for education courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and a must read for teachers and for anyone interested in more deeply understanding how literary works of art can create conditions for learning about oneself, one's situation, and one's possibilities.

Teaching Affective Competencies to Surgical Technologists

Learning in the affective domain encompasses behaviors and beliefs concerned with values, morals, and caring, and surgical technologists have not been well trained in affective competencies. This article describes the development of a curricular model based on Martha Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings and on humanistic learning theory.

Scaffolding student learning inclinical practice

For many years the profession has acknowledged a schism between theories taught in the classroomand the practice of clinicians. This tends to arise from beliefs that knowledge which has been generalized (formalized) can be readily transferred to informal settings (practice). Whilst apprehension of formalized knowledge is crucial to professional development, a mediator is necessary to demonstrate its relevance to practice. A variety of solutions have been offered which all have value but without effective social support fail to resolve the problem. Findings from a longitudinal study investigating the professional development of pre-registration nursing students indicate the importance of sponsorship by a member of clinical staff and participation in legitimate peripheral activities. In the absence of effective sponsorship, students found it difficult to participate in clinical activities or to learn. As a result, their professional development during placements became stunted with subsequent implications for their professional future. Questions concerned with this phenomena were explored using documentary evidence supplied by research participants, observations of their practice and focused interviews throughout their programme. Sociocultural or activity theories of human learning offer some attractive explanations. One strategy is scaffolding which takes place within sponsored nursing activities and builds on the important concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), where speech becomes a tool to mediate learning and development. As a diagnostic tool, scaffolding enables both supervisor and learner to recognize knowledge-in-waiting and knowledge-in-use and hence learning need, thus stimulating opportunities for further learning and professional development beneficial to both learner and supervisor. It provides a means for theory and practice to become integrated.