- Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?
My best learning experience was from a fellow student when I was in high school. A senior student oversaw teaching other students and me the basics of audio/visuals for school events during high school. This student always guided us with hands-on experience and visual stimuli, like identifying cables with pictures and demonstrating what would happen if a specific knob were turned a certain way. Furthermore, this student also noticed how we would react to different teaching styles, for example, positive reinforcement after completion of a task, increasing the pressure during the task, etc. I enjoyed learning from this student since the material we were learning was interesting, which motivated me to learn and improve. Also, after completing a difficult task, there was a powerful sense of accomplishment because, as a team, we worked hard together to overcome a challenge. Furthermore, after a large school event, our team would celebrate, which kept morale and expectations high.
Lastly, after experiencing this type of teaching from the student, I began to alter the way I teach by also paying attention to the reaction of different teaching styles. The kind of reaction I see from a student after trialing different teaching styles is the way I attempt to curate the best learning experience for the student.
- Based on your reading, would you consider your current instruction style more behavioralist, cognitivist, or constructivist? Elaborate with your specific mindset and examples.
Based on the reading, I believe my current instruction style is mostly constructivist. When teaching, I think real-life examples and habits/memory are essential in understanding and applying knowledge. For example, I believe that using visual representations and having a story is more effective than having simple algebraic symbols and numbers for learning. Real-life examples are also an essential factor in the learning experience because a complex problem with various symbols and equations is often hard to visualize; however, using real-life examples will allow students to visualize the problem and interpret the situation as they see fit.
Hi Jason, I enjoyed reading about your experience learning from another student. I think it’s easy for people to only think of learning occurring in a school setting between instructors and students. It’s important to remember that learning happens in all formats. I also enjoyed that your senior student used many different teaching methods, and used your reactions as a guide to which was the most effective. I’m glad you also learned these techniques and have employed them in your teaching as well.