This course will help students understand the learning process, including, what it means to learn, how learning occurs, and the many different modes of learning.
Students will explore key aspects of learning and teaching through examining their own learning processes and those of others, with the goal of applying the knowledge to enhance the learning of all students in a variety of educational setting and contexts. A 10-hour field component is required. Three hours per week.
1. What are the major theories of learning?
2. What principles of learning can be derived from each major theory of learning?
3. What major factors influence learning?
4. How have I learned in school, and how do I learn most effectively?
5. How do student factors (e.g., motivation, family and cultural background, temperament, learning preferences, prior knowledge and experiences) impact student learning in educational settings?
6. How do other factors in the learning environment impact student learning?
7. How is teaching and learning impacted by changing social and cultural conditions?
8. How do teaching practices and instructional structures impact student learning in educational settings?
9. How may this knowledge be used by future educational professionals to inform planning and decision making in order to maximize learning of all types in all students?
1. Major learning theories, including Behaviorism, Information processing and neuroscience, Piagetian and Vygotskian theories.
2. Motivation theory
3. Sources and effects of student diversity in learning needs and preferences
4. Developmental aspects of learning
5. Outside environmental influences on learners, including culture, family structure and background, home language, SES, and peers
6. Effects of teacher beliefs and expectations on learners, including the need to avoid bias and stereotyping
7. Elements of effective educational environments for all learners, including teacher/student and
student/student relationships and classroom management
8. Differentiated Instruction
Lesson Plans, TKES, teaching strategies, and EdTPA
Psychological Theories (Behaviorism, Constructivism, Bronfenbrenner, Gardner, Erickson, Dewey, Montessori, Vygotsky, and Piaget)
Metacognition and Memory
Good Effective Teaching (What is Teaching, What is Learning, and Motivation)
Outside environmental influences on learning such as family structures, culture, SES, home language, peers, etc.
Cooperative Learning
The effects of teachers’ beliefs and expectations on learners and the need to avoid personal biases/stereotypes
Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning