April fields. At the horizon you will see the ski jumping hill of Lahti (twelve miles from the camera)
Symmar 150mm, Fomapan 200, Xtol 1+1
Let me make it clear - I'm not saying that presenting things in different ways has no value, or that people don't have preferred modes of receiving information, but according to many there is not sufficient evidence to indicate that understanding is greater when presentation is matched with the preferred mode.
Here's a starting point:
http://www.aft.org/ae/summer2005/willingham
Others echo what he says, but I'm open to reading any studies suggesting otherwise!
Corran,
I would suggest that your need to get your hands dirty simply suggests that the things you are learning involve getting your hands dirty - the referenced article alludes to matching the learning approach with the content.
Not to veer too far off-topic but what I mean is after I do something with my hands once I know and understand it, such as writing out a math problem and going through the steps to solve it, while just listening to a lecture or seeing it done on a whiteboard doesn't do anything for me. Another example was a tough class with a lot of reading. I read while walking a 1/2 mile to the class and for some reason retained more than I have ever done in a heavy reading class, which I was never good at. Anecdotal I know, but there it is.
Yes, a person must actively engage in learning for it to be effective!
Again, for those of you that have any interest at all, the two books I referenced initially are both enjoyable and informative. (And both are based on research.)
OK, I'll let it go now.
I hope no one minds. I find educational theory quite interesting. When I got into the classroom with little snot-nosed punks, I found it less so (no offence to those with children...).
I enjoy teaching in a collegiate setting much more.
Ha ha ha
Naw, its just a derailment started by Stone's learning Russian comment, resulting in a twenty comment pileup on the internet superhighway!
Off topic comments in the right thread tend to keep me paying attention, No one knows if I'm learning anything, or how.
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