Learning Theories: Understanding How People Learn
From the Illinois Libraries and Information Centers, this article provides an overview of the major learning theories including behaviorism, humanism, cognitivism, constructivism, and social constructivism. Each theory is followed by a brief lesson planning exercise. It goes on to cover developmental stages, andragogy, and motivation. In short, this is succinct guide offers a primer on the major schools of thought in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
This Marshall resource comes from the Design Center Newsletter archives, and it provides an explanation for why transparency is particularly important for the success of online students. The TILT framework, or Transparency in Learning and Teaching framework, developed in an effort to make course design more intentional, equitable, and engaging by demystifying many of the processes we may take for granted as instructors; thus, when we use the TILT framework, we are working to address the hidden curriculum.
Transparency in Course Description
This annotated course-catalogue description provides a thorough example of the kinds of details that would offer enough transparency to students. The template includes questions to help identify substantive content and target the most crucial course information. This Harvard model serves as best practice for the course description appearing in your syllabus and posted to your Welcome module at least one week prior to the class start date.
This article emphasizes that teachers should establish desirable norms and habits from the first day of class, with activities and interventions adapted to the specific context. It acknowledges that we may not fully understand how people learn, but highlights knowledge about conditions influencing learning. The four key beliefs for a productive academic mindset are outlined:
- Belonging: Teachers should create a sense of belonging in the class, making students feel welcome and accepted, especially first-generation, minoritized, and non-normative students.
- Growth Mindset: Encouraging the belief that abilities can improve with effort, promoting the idea that grades reflect a starting point for improvement rather than fixed traits.
- Academic Self-Efficacy: Instilling the belief that students have the knowledge and skills to succeed, using mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, and verbal persuasion.
- Value: Teachers should demonstrate the value of the course to students, linking it to personal and professional benefits, and even self-transcendent purposes.
Psychologist Thomas Gilovich studies the barriers that prevent us from feeling gratitude, and how we can overcome them in this podcast from The Hidden Brain.
The University of Arizona Gratitude Project
Research shows that regularly expressing gratitude improves various facets of wellness and resilience for individuals and has a positive impact on larger communities. Gratitude does not cancel out negative emotions or experiences, but regularly expressing gratitude can help some individuals when they experience difficulties. Expressing gratitude can also help individuals be more compassionate toward themselves during challenging periods. Take a look at how this university community is cultivating belonging and resilience through expressions of gratitude.
Promoting Belonging, Growth Mindset, and Resilience to Foster Student Success, National Resource Center for The First Year Experience & Students in Transition, (2020).
This book aims to deepen the conversation about the “noncognitive factors” that significantly impact student success. Not just a book about how to support the development of learning mindsets such as belonging, growth mindset, and resilience in students, it will also include strategies for college personnel to consider as they create initiatives, programs, and assessments to develop these noncognitive factors
This Marshall resource page provides an introduction to research at the intersection of belonging, mindset, and persistence as well as a practical guide to supporting learners in their mindsets throughout the semester.
Faculty Spotlights: Belonging & Growth Mindset
From the Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington University in St. Louis, this webpage features four interviews with faculty across the disciplines sharing how they incorporate strategies to foster belonging and growth mindset in the classroom.
Epistemological Growth Model for Lifelong Learning
This Marshall resource comes from the Design Center Newsletter archives. In this short article, you are introduced to the research on the intellectual development of college students, including that of Marcia Baxter Magolda, who coined the term “ways of knowing.”
Baxter Magolda’s Epistemological Reflection Model
“Four knowledge stages that describe the various levels of reasoning exhibited by students are included in Baxter Magolda’s epistemological reflection model: absolute knowing, transitional knowing, independent knowing, and contextual knowing. These represent four stages that students experience as their manner of knowing and reasoning changes in conjunction with their overall development and in relationship to the social context of their learning.”
Explore Instructional Methods: Inquiry Based Learning
This webpage by the Curriculum and Instructional Support Team at Central Michigan University provides a straightforward definition of the model as well as brief descriptions of various levels and techniques.