Reflection for EDUC 6115 - Learning Theories and Instruction

Throughout this course as I furthered my knowledge about how people learn, the most surprising thing I found was how big of a part one’s prior knowledge and experience plays in his or her learning. Being able to relate new information to old information makes a huge difference in how fast and how long one retains the new information. Learning this helped me to understand my own learning process especially. I have always had the idea that repetition was the main cause behind my retaining information. Therefore, when I encountered times where I repeated information a lot but still failed to remember or learn it, I had a hard time understanding what was going wrong. This course helped me to understand that the failure was occurring because I was not aware of the fact that when I am fed information that I can tie to what I already am familiar with, I am able to learn and regurgitate it much faster. This notion is one that I believe to be relevant to all learners regardless of their preferred method(s) of learning.

There are several different styles, theories, technologies and reasons for motivation when it comes to learning. Although they are all different, all however are connected because they have a strong dependency upon each other. Motivation is probably the most important of them all. In order to successfully learn, one must have some sort of motivation to do so. After the motivation is established, the different learning theories can be exercised through different learning styles and technologies. Also, the type of technology and learning style can influence and help maintain an individual’s motivation for learning. Presenting a variety in the two can keep a learner from losing interest in the subject at hand.

As I further my career in the field of Instructional Design, the knowledge I acquired from this course will certainly serve as a good foundation. One of the most important things for me to carry along was mentioned in an article by Merrium. It was stated that adult learning is a complex phenomenon that can never be reduced to a single, simple explanation. This article’s focus was on adult learning but I believe these words have relevance to learners of all ages. This simply says that everyone does not learn the same; therefore, there is no one right answer or way to teach individuals. It’s about tuning into learners as individuals to find out how they learn best.

Sheree