Learning and Assessment: Written
Assignment Part 1.
Surface and Deep Learning
Surface learning is termed ‘fast thinking’ and deep learning is
termed ‘slow thinking’. With surface learning it generally associated with a
reaction to an immediate problem in which the student uses association to try
and solve the problem, however, without deeper understanding this method of
learning can be open to mistakes and the student may not understand the
proposed concept correctly. Whereas with deep learning the student takes time
to solve the problem and comprehend what the question is asking them about.
With deep learning students try to make sense of abstract meaning and relate it
to the real world. They have a much more deeper understanding of the concept.
Whereas with surface learning its more of a quantitative increase in knowledge
where the learning os acquiring knowledge, it ‘knowing a lot’ but not
necessarily understanding it and being able to relate it to the real world.
Surface learning is more about memorising facts, skills and methods and being
able to use them when necessary. I do think with the time constraints and the
content of the course that lessons are fast paced and sometimes I feel that the
students do not have the chance in lesson to pursue deep learning. However,
outside the class they can but students need to develop their self-discipline
in order to do this.
Learning Theorists-which of these resonate with your own practice?
I believe that may role as the educator is to structure the
content of the learning activities within the lesson as the view of the
learning process that I tend to mainly focus on in class is that of the
cognitivist where the learning is an internal mental process focussing on
cognitive development, intelligence and learning how to learn. The theorists
Koffka, Kohler, Lewin, Piaget, Ausubel, Bruner and Gagne proposed that learning
requires cognitive structuring in which students must be able to learn new
material in order to understand the concepts and with A level Biology there is
a high content level in which the students must be able to learn and apply so
students therefore develop a capacity and skills to learn better. They are
older students so the behavioural learning process is not needed to be
developed as much in the class as they are students who want to be there and
are there to learn, however, that is not to say that behaviour is not an issue
in the class. As the educator I have had to arrange the environment within the
classroom to elicit the desired response to the topic we are discussing for
example a seating plan, working is specific allocated groups etc in order to
prevent disruptive behaviour. The humanist approach has also needed to be
employed in order to motivate students in what they can aspire to be in terms
of career. Social and situational learning has also been utilized in class as
students can learn a lot from other members of the class through conversation
and participation in class activities and questioning as well as from outside
speakers from the community coming into class to discuss careers and topics
studied. Sutton Trust data (2011) states
that a student taught by an effective teacher gains 40% more in their learning
than a child who is taught by a poor teacher with insufficient skills. Developing
good practice with regards to teaching and learning is available in the Ofsted
framework (2011) and Lorin Anderson’s modified version of Bloom’s Taxonomy,
however Claxton warns of flow diagrams and checklists as “a very good place to
start thinking about learning-but they are an awful place to stop”.
Fight vs Flight-why is this relevant to our classrooms?
All students are different, they have different personalities,
capabilities, intelligences, learning styles, social and economic backgrounds
and when given an activity to do, some students react to it better than others.
For some students it may not be clear what it is that they need to do. They can
then go into the ‘fight or flight’ mode in which they start to become
overwhelmed, feel pressured and start to panic which results in them avoiding
the activity, copying off someone who does or being disruptive. This is
important as a teacher in that I need to be able to understand all my students
abilities and be able to produce differentiated resources in order for my
students to progress.
Gardner-Multiple intelligences
From conducting the Multiple Intelligences Test based on Howard
Gardner’s MI model which states that you are happiest and most successful when
you learn, develop and work in ways that make best use of your natural
intelligences. This acts as an indicator to help you to focus on the sort of
learning and work that will be most fulfilling and rewarding to you. I tended
to score highest in musical and intrapersonal intelligence types. These indicate
my natural strengths and potential (my natural intelligences). From the
description for intelligence type ‘Musical’ it states that I have a musical
ability, awareness and appreciation and use of sound; recognition of tonal and
rhythmic patterns and understands the relationship between sound and feeling.
Typical roles that I would excel in include becoming a musician or acoustic
engineer and a plethora of others. Related tasks I would perform well at
include performing a musical piece, playing a musical instrument or coaching
someone to play a musical instrument. My preferred learning style is though
rhythm. This intelligence type could originate from the fact that I have a deep
passion for music and have been since a young age because I have come from a
musical background which has always inspired me. My second intelligence type
was that of ‘Intrapersonal’. The intelligence description that accompanies this
is that of self-awareness and the ability to understand oneself and one’s own
relationships to others and the world. Related activities would be to consider
and decide one’s own aims and personal changes required to achieve them. I
would say I prefer to do a lot of self-reflection and self-discovery in order
to become a better person and to succeed to the best potential that I can. This
tool could be employed in class to students for them to find out what career
that would be best able to excel at based on their natural intelligence
types. There are various methods that
students can use that utilize their learning styles which also encourage
creativity, these include: ImageSmart, BodySmart, LogicSmart, NatureSmart,
SoundSmart, WordSmart, PeopleSmart and SelfSmart. For example, SoundSmart
requires the student to make up a song about the information, thinking of
background sounds that they associate with the learning, match the concepts
with appropriate background music, imagine different rhythms or beats for the
information and experiment with different ways of speaking to explain the
information (loud, soft, fast and slow).
Claxton-the 4Rs-how we get students to learn
Professor Guy Claxton (1947-) is a British cognitive scientist and
education theorist who has conducted influential work on the learning skills of
children and young people. Claxton is renowned for his work on the ‘Building
Learning Power’ project. Claxton believes that too much emphasis has been put
onto importance of literacy and numeracy and schools have neglected the more
general learning skills. Claxton suggests that the four R’s are involved when
the brain is exercised and are important in the learning process. These include
resilience (never giving up), resourcefulness (learning in a variety of ways),
reflectiveness (being able to review one’s own learning) and reciprocity (being
able to work alone and with others). I believe that these are important in
learning successfully and effectively. Claxton has also identified eight
‘building blocks of learning power’ which teachers are encouraged to use in
their work in order for students to learn best. They include curiosity (to
develop a healthy scepticism), exploration (to look for solutions to problems),
courage (when taking risks in learning), experimentation (trial and error to
find appropriate answers), imagination (find creative breakthroughs),
discipline (rigorous framework for learning), sociability (sharing ideas with
others and listening to their views) and thoughtfulness (time and space for
more creative learning). Claxton has also carried out work on ‘slow ways of
knowing’. This very much reflects deep learning as opposed to surface learning.
In Claxton’s publication, ‘Hare Brain Tortoise Mind’, he suggests that modern
day thinking is fast and unreflective ‘hare brain’ and at the expense of slow
more reflective ways of thinking ‘tortoise mind’ this can affect deeper
understanding and perception. A further area of Claxton’s work involved looking
at creativity and how it can be supported in the classroom. Claxton has
suggested eight ‘I’s to creativity, they include immersion (being knowledgeable
about the area to be developed), inquisitiveness (being curious and accepting
there are no easy answers), investigation (knowing what to do when you get
stuck), interaction (sharing relevant ideas with others), imagination (to find
creative breakthroughs), intuition (what your gut feeling tells you), intellect
(recognising that creativity requires careful thought and determination) and
imitation (acknowledging the need to teachers to model creativity). I do
believe that there is a massive emphasis on numeracy and literacy in class and
this has stifled the ability of students to be creative and its trying to
encourage students to become creative in lessons. Students are encouraged to
use different methods of learning in class, students I have found generally
prefer the teacher to stand at the front of the class and for students to take
notes. However, I have tried to get away from this as there are other ways in
which students can learn relating to the four R’s proposed by Claxton.
Resilience in that students have had to get themselves back up again after poor
performance in assessment, reflectiveness in that students are to assess their
weaknesses and strengths in assessments to improve, resourcefulness in that
students have to use a range of methods to acquire their knowledge be it online,
textbooks, practice papers and reciprocity in that students should converse
with others to seek out the knowledge that they need.
(1672 words)
References
Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research https://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BERA-Ethical-Guidelines-2011.pdf
(Date seen 2/12/17)
A Chapman and V Chislett MSc 2005, based on Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligences Model. From www.businessballs.com
Guy Claxton. http://www.guyclaxton.com/
(Date seen 16/2/17)
Robin Attfield. National College for School Leadership. Schools
and Academies. Improving the quality of teaching Level 2.
