Surface-Learning Approach (Educational Theoretical Model)
According to Biggs and Tang (2007: 22), the surface approach to learning is structured around the intent of completing the outcomes, by approaching it with the minimal input. As a result, the outcome appears met, without consideration of the knowledge gained or the value of the learning process. In early literature based on surface learning, emphases were on learning through repetition and not seeking understanding (Biggs & Tang: 22).
Considering this in more depth, the writing illustrates a surface approach to learning by gaining disparate pieces of information; reproducing this information and then completing the related task assigned (Entwistle & Peterson, 2004: 415). Mccune and
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Regarding this Ryan and Louie (2007) proposes the surface learning approach as a predecessor to deep learning within the appropriate environments.
Regarding higher education, Wingate (2007: 395) identifies that first years, in particular, have a more natural inclination to adopting a surface approach, with no consideration to their field of learning. Burton et al (2009) realized the same adoption of a surface approach is more evident in ‘school leavers’ than more established learners, finding a surface approach as having a direct relation to lower achievement within first-year students
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The outcome is that only 30% of information is preserved when the teaching is done in a passive manner (Dale, 1969). O’Banion (1997) identifies the millennial learners need to design and to add value to the syllabus context through “inductive reasoning”; they prefer to be in control of ensuring understanding and not only the acceptance of information.
Multiple educators (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990; Skinner & Belmont, 1993; Prensky, 2005) established the importance of ‘engagement’ in education. According to a research study by Howe & Strauss (2009) the millennial student has key traits when it comes to engagement, with the likes of being collaborative and participative. In support of this, Ricks (2009) identifies that Millenials are highly motivated through accomplishment, which suggests a disconnect from the learning environment if a clear end goal is not in
I encourage you to consider the conflicts that arise at the University of Florida due to generational variation. See if the authors’ points in “Bridging the Gaps” and “The Way We Learn Now” can help dissolve conflicts that arise due to the differences listed in both articles.
Nevertheless, the millennials are a commendable generation because we can multitask, see the value in a higher education, and are self-improving. Being able to continuously perform more than one thing at a time has helped accomplish tasks in a timely manner. It’s a great attribute, considering older generations think we are unable to effectively complete a task that was given to us.
Structured, pertinent curriculum is the foundation of a good class. If students are not interested in the information presented, then the class has no value to the student but to merely satisfy a graduation requir...
Fundamentally, development of the brain is an immense determinant of someone’s ability to learn. Therefore, the success of most learning patterns will be premised upon this notion of brain development. Other aspects of learning involves practice, teaching methods applied, the complexity of the concepts being taught and so forth. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of these other methods is dependent upon the brain of the learner. People have different levels of brain development. This manifests itself in the different abilities of learning. Some are poor learners whereas others learn pretty fast (Iba & Miyake, 2010).
Due to the effects of higher enrolment, teaching methods are now directed towards suiting the masses, thus everything has become less personal, as well as, less educationally in depth. Teaching techniques consist of multiple choice tests, rather than written answer questions which require critical analysis, as Jacobs states “So many papers to mark, relative to numbers and qualities of mentors to mark them, changed the nature of test papers. Some came to consist of “True or False?” and “Which of the following is correct?” types of questions” (Jacobs 49). While teachers also no longer engage in one on one conversations with students, but merely in a lecture hall among masses and everyone is seen as just a student number. Jacobs states a complaint from a student “who claimed they were shortchanged in education. They had expected more personal rapport with teachers” (Jacobs 47). Universities are too much focused on the cost benefit analysis, of the problem of increased enrolment, with the mind set of “quantity trumps quality” (Jacobs 49). The benefit of student education and learning is not being put first, but rather the expansion of the university to benefit financial issues. Taylor states “individualism and the expansion of instrumental reason, have often been accounted for as by-products
There are several types of learning styles that are recognised. The basic form, which is well known, is associative learning, making new associations between events in the envi...
Not So Much” had defended the actions of millennials of which had been misinterpreted as have other generations past. However, “A’s for Everyone” by Alicia C. Shepard had voiced the opposition’s side, focusing the student and often times parent harassment on professors for better grades of which student entitlement as well as the inflation of grades have been to blame. With these two articles, one could conclude that although this most recent generation has been misunderstood, certain factors has made this generation expect some comeuppance. To put it simply, Generation Y had been bashed by its elders for their behaviors seen as immoral, lazy, and even negligent in their roles of society. Although some may have proved to increase efficiency in the workplace as well as in personal relationships, the human trait of entitlement has, in fact, been ubiquitous, especially pertaining to academic
Feist, G. J., & Rosenberg, E. L. (2012). Learning. In Psychology: Perspectives & connections (2nd ed., p. 310). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
According to Spigner-Littles and Anderson new information must be related to the learners “goal, experiences, previous knowledge, values, beliefs and socio-cultural factors where learners then construct their own schemas.
Generation X workers resent the labels that have been used to describe them: slackers, arrogant, disloyal, having short attention spans. In fact, these descriptions are less likely to reflect the behaviors of individuals in Generation X than the perceptions of managers who are not attuned to new ways of learning. This Digest investigates ways in which the learning characteristics of the young adults classified as Generation X reflect the need for the new teaching and learning strategies promoted by cognitive scientists, such as learning in context, cooperative learning, and real-world application of knowledge.
Prakash, J. (n.d.). Brief notes on the Thorndike’s Laws of Learning. Retrieved from Preserve Articles: http://www.preservearticles.com/201105206859/thorndikes-laws-of-learning.html
Four decades of psychological research have taught us there is no one right way to learn. Our minds are as unique as our fingerprints. Our ability to learn is not necessarily related to high or low intelligence quotients, but rather a convergence of four important aspects of our perso...
It is better described as a compilation of various points of view from theorists such as Bruner, Vygotski, Dewey, and Piaget, all of which share the collective postulation that learning is developed by deriving meaning from experience (Bierema & Merriam, 2014). Educators have traditionally believed learning to consist of a building block sort of process where each concept learned builds on the previous concept and knowledge is the sum of those parts. Learners, therefore, are often provided information to learn without any context or relevance, which stifles the desire to learn and often causes children to resent school.
The first step of being a successful engineer is to have a systematic and efficient learning. It is very important for a student to understand the fundamentals and basic principles of engineering. For me, an expert engineer needs diverse skills and qualities, which will lift them to the higher level. I am now realizing that my approach to learning is not a way it should be. I found that by memorizing and copying out things are helping me to remember notes, but I know that these only just work for a short period. So I have to set out to understand the meaning of what I have to learn instead of concentrate my time repeating things, which are surface approach to learning. Now, w...
The definition of 21st Century teaching is “not a fixed prescription or known formula [but]... an emerging cluster of new ideas, beliefs, knowledge, theories and practices” (Bolstad et al., 2012, p. 1). It is about promoting various approaches and pedagogies that enable a “knowledge-centred” (Bolstad et al., 2012, p. 1) environment. Children nowadays are constantly being stimulated by the world around them. Except when they’re at school. They’re told to sit down, keep quiet, and listen in order to learn (Robinson, 2011).