How People Learn
How People Learn introduces the research and science of learning, integrating theory and case studies focused on learning principles and high-impact practices. Learning takes place in all stages of life: young adults who go
directly from high school to college, adults who “stop out” and return to school after years of work or family commitments, and older adults who pursue learning made possible by expanded leisure time or to prepare for encore careers. Some education takes place formally within higher education or certification programs; other opportunities are informal, sponsored by organizations such as museums and libraries or available for free online. This course focuses on learning in F2F, online, and mobile environments.
Course Syllabus
Signature Assignments
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Gathering the Gumption: A Case Study
Linked here.
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Reflective Practice in the learning cycle: A conference poster
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Personal Reflection and Professional Competency Model
Reflection
The How People Learn course introduced me to educational theories in an academic environment. I see a marked difference in my ability to support ideas with concrete, research-based text after this course. While I previously might have known, for example, anecdotally, that students do better with frequent, timely feedback, I can now point to and share the major works and studies supporting this idea. It is one thing to think you know something, and another to be able to support it with evidence.
In my professional life, I have used this course to make myself a sharper resource in related discussions. When the conversation around why a change is necessary becomes vague, or the hard work of the change detaches us from its meaning— I am able to ground our progress again in academic evidence discovered through this class. For example, yes our asynchronous online students need a discussion community of some kind, but why? Well, let me remind us of the benefits of social presence, an invitation to reflective practice, and the power of collaborative assimilation in optimizing student outcomes.
The course has invited me to support existing hypotheses, yes—but it has also promoted creative thinking towards new ones. By immersing myself in literal centuries of learning theory, I am able to understand the greater ideas at play around new developments in the EdTech industry. I now feel that I can speak the same language as educational theorists. In continuing to hone this fluency, I feel the stage is set for me to contribute my own innovations.