Month: September 2022

Alecia’s post is linked here Alecia Post#1

Hi Alecia,

I loved reading your first post about learning how to drive! this is such a great example of how we all learn in different ways and how our learning style changes depending on what we are learning. I also found that a behaviorist approach was the learning style that I used when I first started to drive too. I find that when learning many of my daily tasks like driving, or even using money I was taught using repetition and feedback to reinforce how I learned these tasks. I find personally that tasks that are needed all of the time and are a part of my routine I learned best using a behaviorist approach, however more complex tasks that I need a deeper understanding off I use a constructivist learning style.

Thank you for your post,

Catriona

September 20th, 2022

Prompts: Based on your reading, would you consider your current instruction style more behavioralist, cognitivist, or constructivist? Elaborate with your specific mindset and examples.

Readings: https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/why-is-learning-hard/ and https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/learning-theories/

It is amazing to think about how we learn new things, sometimes things just click after repeated attempts, as Destin Sandlin suggests in his bicycle video. Other times we think we have learned something, so we do not attempt to question it we just accept the answer as Derek Muller suggests. For me and for other people I learn in many different ways, I tend to learn the best from constructivist instruction styles, however, I find depending on what I am learning different styles help me understand better.

Currently, I would consider my current instruction style to be constructivist. I understand a concept much better when I can relate to the topic and have experienced the learning outcome we are trying to understand. Once I can connect to the topic and have experienced it, I am fully able to understand the concept and have the background information to answer questions related to the topic. By experiencing what I am learning I can answer why things are wrong and the reasoning behind why something is right without just knowing due to reinforcement. Right now, I am currently in EOS 110, which talks about the ocean and atmosphere. Our professor has given us visual cues as well as real-life examples like using a fish tank to demonstrate water density to help us with the course topics. Due to the experience, I can understand not only the answer, but I can tell people the reasoning behind the answer and know why answers are wrong.

When taking physics, I struggled to understand the course topics I would think my answer was correct, but it would end up wrong and I would be confused on why. Like Derek Muller suggests in his video, I was getting these answers wrong because I would have ideas about the question so I would not pay attention to understand why it was wrong. To overcome this, I would draw a picture so I could visualize the question, or I would try a real-life example if possible. By using constructivist learning mechanisms I would be able to have an approximate guess of what the written answer was before even calculating the answer allowing me to check my work.

Muller, D. [Veritasium]. ( 2011, March 17). Khan Academy and the Effectiveness of Science Videos [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVtCO84MDj8

Sandlin, D. [ SmarterEveryDay]. ( 2015, April 24).The Backwards Brain Bicycle- Smarter Every Day 133 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0

• EDCI335

Hi everyone! my name is Catriona Borys (she/her), I was born and raised in Red Deer Alberta, but decided to move to Victoria for University. I am 20 years old and am the author behind “Unfinished Education”. I choose this as my title for my Website since I feel that even once we are done school and have received our education, we never truly finish learning and therefore never complete our education. With being in EDCI 335 A02 I hope to continue learning and hopefully learn how to enhance my learning through the use of technology.

I am currently in my third year at UVIC, and I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education. After I have achieved my Psychology degree I am planning on taking an after-degree in Elementary Education as I hope to be either a teacher or a school counselor after my education. 

I am excited to be going into my third year at UVIC and to meet everyone online!