THEME 3: HOW PEOPLE LEARN

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THEME 3 HOW PEOPLE LEARN
LEARNING THEORIES

• SESSION 3
• APPROACHES TO LEARNING
• THEORETICAL MODELS

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Think about your own learning

• Would you categorise your learning usually as

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surface
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deep
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or strategic
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Or something else?
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http//www.audiosparx.com/sa/play/port_lofi.cfm/so
und_iid.4696
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APPROACHES TO STUDY

• Marton (1975) Approaches to study
• Students approaches to a task (their intention),
  (perhaps) determines the level of engagement
  thus the quality of the outcomes
• These approaches may be classified as either DEEP
  or SURFACE
• More recently extended to include STRATEGIC
  LEARNING (Entwistle, 1997)
• http//www.learning-styles.co.uk/enh_eyls_msl_.php
  
• http//ericec.org/digests/e638.html

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SURFACE APPROACH TO LEARNING

• Generically refer to inappropriate learning
  activities as comprising a surface approach to
  learning.
• Intention to (merely?) complete the given task
• Memorize the information - Rote learning
• No distinction between new ideas existing
  knowledge
• Superficial cognitive processing gives the
  impression that max. learning has occurred.
• Facts are learned outside a context of meaning
• To cope with course requirements

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SURFACE APPROACH

• Learner sees task as external imposition
• Instrumentally or pragmatically motivated and
  seek to meet demands of task with minimum effort
• Overall involved in study without reflection on
  purpose or strategy with the focus of that study
  on the words, the text, or the formulae.

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• Adopt strategies which include
• focus on unrelated parts of the task
• separate treatment of related parts (such as
  principles and examples)
• focus on what are seen as essentials (factual
  data)
• reproduction of the essentials as accurately as
  possible
• rote memorising information for assessment
  purposes rather than for understanding
• (PROSSER TRIGWELL, 1999) Ch.1

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DEEP APPROACH TO LEARNING

• Generically refer to appropriate learning
  activities as comprising a deep approach to
  learning.
• Intention to seek and understand meaning
• Relate concepts to existing experience
• Distinguish between new ideas existing
  knowledge
• Critically evaluate determine key themes
  concepts
• Facts are learnt within a meaningful framework
• To understand for yourself

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DEEP APPROACH

• Learner aims to understand ideas and seek
  meanings
• Learner has intrinsic interest in task and
  expectation of enjoyment in carrying it out
• Overall focus on meaning in argument, the message
  or the relationships, aware of meanings carried
  by words, text or formulae

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• to help satisfy curiosity e.g.
• making task coherent with own experience
• relating and distinguishing evidence/argument
• looking for patterns/underlying principles
• integrating task with existing awareness
• Seeing parts of task making up the whole
• forming hypotheses
• relating what s/he understand from other parts
  of the same subject and from different subjects
• (PROSSER TRIGWELL, 1999) Ch.1

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STRATEGIC APPROACH TO LEARNING

• Often seen as engaging elements of both
• surface deep approaches
• Put consistent effort into studying
• Find the right conditions materials for
  learning
• Managing time and effort effectively
• Being alert to assessment requirements criteria
• Gearing work to perceived preference of lecturers
• To achieve the best possible grades

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PRACTICAL TASK

• What factors might contribute to a particular
  approach to study being adopted?
• Please provide a practical example!
• How might this awareness impact upon your own
  professional practice?

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BIGGS MODEL of CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT

• To encourage deep learning focus on
• PRESAGE student factors and teaching context
• PROCESS activities focused to encourage deep and
  discourage surface learning
• PRODUCT learning outcomes facts skills
  structure transfer involvement
• http//www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/constructive_alig
  nment.asp

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Factors encourage surface learning from
students side

• Intention only to achieve minimal pass meal
  ticket? Relevance?
• Non-academic priorities exceeding academic
• Insufficient time, workload too high
• Misunderstanding requirements recall adequate
• A cynical view of education
• High anxiety
• Genuine inability to understand particular
  content at a deep level
• BIGGS (1999)

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Factors that encourage surface learning from
teachers side

• Teaching in piecemeal fashion providing lists,
  not bringing out intrinsic structure of subject
• Assessing for independent facts short answers
  and multiple-choice tests
• Teaching and especially assessing in a way that
  encourages cynicism
• Providing insufficient time to engage in tasks,
  emphasising coverage at the expense of depth
• Creating undue anxiety or low expectations of
  success Anyone who cant understand this isnt
  fit to be at university.
• BIGGS(1999)

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Factors that encourage deep learning from
students side

• Intention to engage the task meaningfully and
  appropriately (intrinsic curiosity or
  determination to do well)
• Appropriate background knowledge ability to
  focus at high conceptual level, working from
  first principles, requires well-structured
  knowledge base
• A genuine preference, and ability, for working
  conceptually rather than with unrelated detail
• ( BIGGS,1999)

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Factors that encourage deep learning in the
teaching environment

• Teaching and assessing in a way that encourages a
  positive working atmosphere, so students can make
  mistakes and learn from them
• Emphasising depth of learning, rather than
  breadth or coverage
• In general, and most importantly, using teaching
  and assessment methods that support the explicit
  aims and objectives of the course
• (BIGGS,1999)

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Factors that encourage deep learning in the
teaching environment

• Teaching in such a way as to bring out the
  structure of the subject explicitly
• Teaching to elicit a positive response from
  students, e.g. by questioning or presenting
  problems, rather than teaching to expound
  information
• Teaching by building on what students already
  know
• Confronting and eradicating students
  misconceptions
• Assessing for structure rather than for
  independent facts
• (BIGGS,1999)

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PROMOTING DEEP LEARNING

• PROVIDE CLEAR STATEMENT OF GOALS
• INCLUDE LEARNER INPUT TO COURSE STRUCTURE AND
  CONTENT
• TUTOR/LEARNER INTERACTION
• LEARNER/LEARNER INTERACTION
• ACTIVE/INTERACTIVE EXERCISES
• TEACH LEARNING SKILLS EXPLICITLY
• CHOICE AND/OR RANGE OF ASSESSMENT TASKS
• ENGAGE LEARNERS IN INVESTIGATION AND REFLECTION
• COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
• FULL FEEDBACK

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• Should we be promoting deep, surface or strategic
  learning?
• Do we promote any of these unintentionally?
• How does the use of virtual learning environments
  affect the student or teacher approach to
  learning?
• How does deep learning relate to teaching
  smarter?

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Not everything that is deep is beautiful..
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Or serious
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REFERENCES

• BIGGS, J., 1999,
• Teaching for Quality at University
• Open UP and SRHE, Buckingham
• Especially Chapter 2
• for theory of Constructive alignment
• PROSSER,M. TRIGWELL,K, 1999,
• Understanding Learning Teaching The
  Experience in Higher Education
• Open UP and SRHE, Buckingham
• Especially Chapter 7

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• Deep and surface approaches to learning an
  introduction
• http//www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9512/article1.htm
• http//www.engsc.ac.uk/er/theory/learning.asp
• http//www.learningandteaching.info/learning/deeps
  urf.htm
• http//www.iml.uts.edu.au/learnteach/enhance/under
  stand/index.html
• http//www.lsda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdf
• Read the original authors for detail