Final Reflections

Throughout this course, I’ve been intrigued by how little we know about how humans of all ages learn and digest information. From antiquity, the quest for learning perfection led philosophers to theorize what it was that would unlock the minds of students. Socrates questioned and pushed the conversation. Even now, as advanced students, we are instructed to follow Plato’s guidance and include “Socratic questions” in our discussions to keep the academic conversations and learning moving. Aristotle felt that the learning process was more concrete, and his theories provided the basis of the scientific discovery method. Following those ancient teachers, theorists have explored observable behavior, neurologic processes, documented outcomes, and surveys of student feelings, all to find THE way of teaching that would reach every student across every topic. They have failed, but in that failure, they have created a rich tapestry of techniques that the modern instructor can draw from as we attempt to reach as many students as possible. The learning is in the journey, and we have not yet reached the finish line.

With an eye to those theories and expanded knowledge of each, I’ve realized that my learning process is more connected to others than I thought. Perhaps due to my rather solitary upbringing, I’ve been an independent learner from a young age. I now know that my efforts to follow trains of thought, search out more information, and explore new and different viewpoints connected me to a world of learners and knowledge I could not see then. Each time I cracked open a volume of my family’s encyclopedias, I felt alone in my reading. I now understand that I was building a network of connections to scholars and authors who had researched that topic before me. Learning a primary topic allowed me to construct my scaffolding to another more advanced idea. Still, it was not without the coaching and instructions of those who guided me to those resources. Librarians, teachers, peers, and parents directed me to another path, source, and viewpoint. My zone of proximal development was continually expanding, and while I’ve never relied on Skinner-esque rewards to motivate me to learn, they are nice to get!

During my years in education and training, I’ve heard the term “learning styles” repeated so many times that it became stale. I’m pleased to learn that there are those who, like me, feel that the term lacks substance and imposes limits in its application. Even if the number of learning styles is expanded beyond the three basics of visual, linguistic, and kinesthetic, assigning a style to a student limits that student’s potential to absorb and comprehend information. How do students analyze and synthesize information when they have internalized the notion that they are limited to only learning by movement? The fact is that they are not limited, but the nomenclature of the learning style view puts those limits in place. Each of the theories we’ve studied has moved beyond those limits and has treated information as a pure input to a learner’s brain. This allows the instructor, the designer, and the educational theorist the freedom to branch out into various delivery methods, rewards, frameworks, and interactions. How would we have approached the academic challenges of the COVID-19 shutdowns without that variety? Thankfully, educational technology was in play that could embrace and advance that depth of experience. Ever-evolving products and programs promise to enrich teaching and learning even further, allowing teachers greater creativity and learners a broader opportunity to find the perfect match between content, construction, and capabilities. The learning strategies and motivational tools will evolve as this technology evolves. Outside of the delivery or structure of the content, learners are motivated in ways that a cookie-cutter approach cannot address. Emergent technologies are allowing even more customization of motivational tools to align with the age and ability of learners and support instructional objectives.

Knowledge of the theories we have discussed in this course will allow me to create more enriching content designed to reach as broad a variety of learners as possible. While I currently work in adult education, creating instructional content is not bounded by age or subject. Knowledge of neurological processes across a spectrum of learning strategies will allow me to tap into instructional needs across industries and institutions. This familiarity will also allow me to pivot quickly when I find a learner is not as engaged or motivated to learn, providing that learner with a more meaningful experience. Stakeholders will also appreciate my ability to mesh the varieties of delivery methods and strategic emphasis and reduce the need for retraining or extensions of instructional time. Time and resource conservation will encourage more engagement with organizations and advance my value as an instructional designer.