Innovation in Curriculum Design ✅ Effective Learning and a Problem-Solving Approach
What is effective learning? After context and objectives have been developed, the word "effective" makes sense.
When is it most effective? What is it that makes it effective? Who is it that says this? The students? The teacher?
Learning is a reflective process that allows a learner to use prior experience to understand and analyze the present in order to influence potential behavior and form new information. (Watkins, p.1, 2002)
Some meanings of learning consider it to be a passive method of knowledge acquisition that is evaluated by tasks.
Learning is a process that requires both reflection and assessment. The model can be used to explain the process of a single learner actively making sense of a learning opportunity or a community of learners working together (Watkins,2002, p.1).
Learners' different conceptions of learning:
• increasing one's knowledge • memorizing and reproducing • applying • understanding • seeing something in a different way • changing as a person
The context in which "effective learning" is defined: society's knowledge base is rapidly expanding, and it now doubles every 373 days. Teaching knowledge is a relic of the past.
Knowledge does not belong to a small group of "experts."
The opportunity to improve and pass learning has a greater effect on work opportunities. It is not enough to provide a long list of qualifications. Learning takes place in a much broader and more complex setting, with various contexts, modes, and sources.
Learning is no longer limited to special institutions; it has become a way of life.
In this case, learning priorities should be based on knowledge generation with others rather than individual knowledge acquisition. Successful learners have developed a comprehensive understanding of the individual and social processes that are needed for success. p.4 (Watkins, 2002)
Effective learning is: a building activity that is performed for (or in the context of) others, is directed by the learner's organization, and is tracked and checked to see whether methods and techniques are working with the specific goals and context.
Efficient learners may employ a number of techniques and methods to accomplish various goals in various contexts, such as comprehending a text, acquiring information, and developing dialogues.
Enhanced action appropriate to objectives and meaning - increased engagement and self-direction - more connected awareness - a broader variety of methods - greater complexity of comprehension - increased engagement and self-direction - a more reflective approach - more optimistic feelings and attachment to learning - a more formed view of one's future self as a learner - greater ease in learning with others - a deeper sense of belonging to an information group (Watkins, 2002, p.4)
Processes of teaching and learning for successful learning:
Productive learning is promoted. For learners to be involved, they must reflect. Productive learning is improved by tasks such as the following: class discussions, study, group work, practical work.
Collaborative Learning Promotion
This style of learning is facilitated when students work together to complete a project; they are more likely to understand things as a group. Learners improve interpersonal and management skills, as well as communication and positive cultural ties, in this way.
Promoting Learning Responsibility
Learners who take on a leadership role are more likely to be self-directed and cooperate.
Problem Based Learning (PBL):
Liverpool Medical School (and others) (1995), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2398141/pdf/postmedj0003 0-0005.pdf Recommendations that the PBL method will help to: Deeper learning Self-directed learning More engaging than conventional, didactic learning Peer encouragement and feedback Critical thinking growth LONG-TERM BENEFITS (Roberts,2017)
Renko et al. (2002) note "lack of involvement, lack of engagement, lack of elaboration, lack of cohesion, lack of encouragement, and challenging personalities" in their pediatrics course.
Final thoughts
This study of PBL has shown that, while educational concepts are legally free of background constraints, curricular models are not. Since "educational conditions and situations inform particular meanings" (Schwandt, 1998), and PBL is a conception of a curriculum tailored for a specific context, context is an important ingredient in both the motivation for curriculum and its successful implementation.
This may mean that PBL, as originally conceived, isn't feasible in certain circumstances. PBL's educational ideals, on the other hand, are not limited to unique circumstances. The cautionary note that emerges from this study is that those who follow such concepts, in part or in full, are aware that they are using principles rather than PBL as a whole-of-curriculum definition built for, and based on, a specific context. We stress that the uncertainty surrounding PBL is an inevitable and anticipated consequence of its widespread distribution and that confusion will almost certainly remain despite our best efforts.
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References
Garrett (2008) Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered Classroom Management: A Case Study of Three Elementary Teachers, Journal of Classroom Interaction, 43 (1), 34 – 47.
Roberts, S. (2017) A problem-solving approach to designing an innovative curriculum. PowerPoint presentation, Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales.
Watkins, C. (2002) Effective Learning. News in Research Matters, 17, 1-8. Watkins, C., Carnell, E. & Lodge, C. (2007) Effective Learning in Classrooms. London: Paul Chapman Publishing The National Capital Language Resource Center (a project of the George Washington University) [Online]. Available at: https://knowledgeworks.org/resources/learner-centered-learning/ (Accessed 2 March, 2021).
