Week 8: Reflection

 

    The role of an instructional designer is to create useful products and a stimulating environment that facilitates learning. Understanding how people learn and motivating them to commit to the process is critical to success in this role.  For many years, many brilliant people with various alphabets behind their last name discovered what we refer to today as learning styles, theories, and strategies. In this course, I've learned how individuals learn and gained insight into my unique learning characteristics. 

    Lev Vygotsky's Zone Proximal Development (ZPD) is the distance between the current state of existing knowledge and the potential of what can be learned with assistance.  Reaching the potential is fueled by the intrinsic or extrinsic factors that motivate individuals to pursue a learning goal. Those factors include the desire to experience something new or the drive to gain professional recognition.   To successfully reach the desired goal, a more knowledgeable other (MKO) and Robert Gagne's Event of Instruction are a helpful process for bridging the knowledge gap. Gagne's Event of Instruction structures the targeted subject matter learning objectives, review the existing knowledge, focuses on materials to support new learning and repetitious supported application.

    These learning characteristics work with learning styles that offer different modes of study, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and read/write. Designing a learning program that incorporates tactics for each style, accommodates a broad learning audience. However, learning theories focus on how individuals psychologically process learning events as behaviorists, cognitivist, constructionists, or adult learners. Pashler tells us that it's vital to "keep all avenues, options, and aspirations open "to make available every possibility for every learner (Pashler, et all., 2009, p.117).

    Ultimately, I've learned that no one style, theory, or strategy is a perfect fit for all learners and all scenarios. However, designing a learner-centered event wth focused content, objectives, and application is the goal (Cercone, K, 2008).  Creating a delicate mix with relevant educational technology such as adaptive learning is required to effectively deliver stimulating learning events that result in targeted improved performance. According to Ertmer & Newby (2013) instructional designers must have competency in the different learning theory and models to effectively deliver appropriate products (2013).   My learning has evolved because I'm aware of what learning tactics are appropriate to reduce the gap and reach my potential.

 

References:

Cercone, K. (2008). Characteristics of adult learners with implications for online learning design, AACE Journal, 16(2), 137-159.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26, 43-71.

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x