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.

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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.