The Learning Brain

Traditionally, families have inventive means of teaching kids lessons especially when it concerns their safety. Lightly waiving a child’s hand over some heat source so they can feel the warmth and associate fire with danger in order for them to stay away or finding other non-traumatic ways to instill caution and help the child build self-restraint. Many of these methods have to be repeated over time in order for the child to begin naturally recalling the experience. This week course video discusses repetition as an ineffectual means of educating someone. However there is evidence to the contrary. The two resources I found this week pertaining to learning, how we learn and what role the brain plays in that process focuses on the psychology of learning and improving children’s listening comprehension through manipulation.

The first article is from Walden’s free online community for educators -http://connected.waldenu.edu/.

ConnectEd

ConnectEd is a free online community, hosted by The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Walden University, where educators can get informed, engaged, and inspired. While other sites focus on lesson plans, ConnectEd offers practical advice about the professional and personal challenges you face in your educational settings and in your life.

This website provides a valuable resource for educators to connect with other educators and keep abreast of techniques for teaching various groups in a community format. This particular article What Is the Psychology of Learning? – summarizes how individuals learn and defines different learning theories.

…learning is a change in behavior, ability or knowledge that occurs as a result of experiences a person or animal has. In order to be considered learned, a behavior or change in knowledge must be permanent and cannot result from any type of sickness or physical damage. (Psychology of Learning, 2010).

The article defines classical and operant conditioning and cognitive and operational learning. Both classical and operant conditioning could pertain to the previous example I presented in teaching kids safety and self restraint. Classical learning is achieved through stimuli or association with and event or object and operant learning develops through consequences that encourage or discourage.

The second article is a case study on 76 kindergarten and first grade students using physical manipulation.

Improving Children's Listening Comprehension with a Manipulation Strategy.
Journal of Educational Research

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=111&sid=37802334-d2ed-41e0-be79-d97a3d3c5d0e%40sessionmgr112

ABSTRACT. The authors examined the cognitive benefits of physical manipulation. Participants were 76 kindergarten and first-grade students randomly assigned to 2 strategies: stories with pictures or manipulation. In the pictures strategy, participants listened to story content and viewed pictures. In the manipulation strategy, participants moved manipulatives as directed by the stories. After a training period, the pictures or manipulatives were removed and participants were instructed to imagine story events. Significant differences in favor of the manipulation strategy on free and cued recall were observed during all 3 instructional periods. Furthermore, strategy by recall type and strategy by grade-level interactions were identified during the training sessions. After training, the participants were instructed to imagine story events, and a significant difference was observed in favor of the manipulation strategy. (Marley and Szabo, 2010)

The article concludes that educators should use a two part strategy to enhance and improve learning and listening skills and gives suggestions as to how educators teaching different grade levels can utilize this method and tailor it to their grade level. As we have discussed and learn this week the way we learn develops and extend from various sources and cognitive learning is a culmination of these events and develops overtime through our individual processes of problem solving and gaining insight.

References

Marley, S. and Szabo, Z. (2010). Improving Children's Listening Comprehension with a Manipulation Strategy. Journal of Educational Research, 103(4), 227-238. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=111&sid=37802334-d2ed-41e0-be79-d97a3d3c5d0e%40sessionmgr112

ConnectEd. (2010). Retrieved from http://connected.waldenu.edu/about-us

ConnectEd. (2010). What Is the Psychology of Learning? Retrieved from http://connected.waldenu.edu/learning-and-perception/adult-learners/item/800-what-is-psychology-of-learning