Interview Format for EDU 542: How does Long Term Learning

Happen
Interview One: Age____24________ Gender______F________

Your response notes should be comprehensive. No one line responses because this is intended to
be an in depth interview which brings out complexities in the learning process that would have
implications for teaching and learning and which guide you to understand more about learning.

1. What is something that you have learned in the past that you still know and understand
today? Describe the place and your age when you learned this information.

I learned how to cook at a really young age. I made my first full “big” dish when I was 7-8
years old. I still know how to make the specific dish because it was my first cooking lesson,
which made that moment memorable. I remember the time spent with my grandmother which
helps me remember how to complete each step of the meal. I learned how to cook Caldo de
Res in my kitchen on a Saturday.

2. Describe the learning process and explain why you think you learned (remember) that
information? For example, if the learning took place in school what did the teacher do to help
you learn?

The cooking began really early before learning how to cook this I had to go to the store with
my grandma to buy all the items necessary. At the store she would pick out them and then
tell me what it would be used for. I listened to her tell me what each item is for about 5
minutes. Once we got home, she read to me again the ingredients and the steps needed to
cook the soup. All the repetion helped me remember why I needed all the ingredients for and
when I needed it in the recipe. Once we started cooking, she started repeating what it was for
again.

3. What particular study strategies did you use to learn this matter? Please describe any
strategies or experiences that might have helped you in this learning process. Do you find
these strategies helpful in any other learning situations?

Repeated instruction helped me remember for what each item was for. And how I need to cut
each vegetable.
This strategy has helped in other areas of my life because I constantly will repeat my notes
by writing them over and over again. I also will repeat information aloud in order to grasp the
information and memorize it.

4. How did you know you were learning? Please provide evidence that told you that you were
learning.

I knew I was learning because I was able to list the steps for the recipe while my grandma
read them. I repeated the names of the vegetables and said what they were for and how it was
 important to include them in the dish. I knew that no longer needed the actual recipe because
I could just dictate it to my grandma.

5. Would you consider learning this information hard or easy? Interesting? Explain or describe
your learning experience.

 I would consider learning this information difficult in the beginning because the recipe
looked so long and complex that I had no idea how I would be able to do this alone. Through
all the repetition I was able to see that it was easier for me to complete the recipe because I
kept seeing and saying the same thing over and over again.

6. What currently motivates you to work hard to learn something new?

 I think that currently what helps me to continue to learn is knowing that i grow from it. I know
that in order to accomplish more things in life or become more knowledge in any given subject I
have to be available to learning. I also always remind myself of something my father in law says,
and that is “when you stop learning you die” life is a constant time for us to learn and grow.

7. Please explain how you remember new information today. Did your prior learning help you
learn better today?

In order to learn more information I currently will write down the information needed to be
learned. I write this out repeatedly. I then say it out loud. I will constantly go back and forth
between these two things. I will then create acronyms for the concepts that i am learning.

8. Do you believe you are naturally smart or are you smart because you work hard? Provide
examples/evidence for your answer.

 I have always said that I am smart because I work hard. I think that i have always been a good
student and just really good at studying. Early on I found what works with me and used that all
the time. I feel that none of us know things automatically. We learn them and then continuously
work hard to learn them even more.

9. What do you do to learn that is beyond or not required in school or work?

 I currently like to learn more about the word of God. I like to listen to various preachings and
read the word. I like to complete devotionals in order to understand more of what the word says.

10. What would you like to tell educators about helping others learn?

I think that as an educator it is important to provide students with enough time to practice on
the material being taught. I think that it is great to have students write out what they are
learning, create pictures, read it out loud. Students need to use the information learned and
connected to other concepts and then explain it. I think that repetition is great as well.
Reflection- 2-3 page:

This interviewee got to experience things many children do not. Many children do not

learn how to cook at all, let alone at 7-8 years old. I think it is also rare that grandparents take

such interest in teaching their children in such an involved manner. With technology and so

many other devices to appease students, it is rare that a child would rather learn to cook that play

their favorite game in their tablet. This grandmother taught the interviewee using the social

learning and constructivist learning.

Links to Theory

She used social learning by allowing her to explore what cooking was and going through

the process together. They were learning from one another and experiencing what it meant to

cook, not just once but over and over again. Her knowledge of cooking was constructed and

reconstructed as she had more experiences with cooking and all of this learning happened in their

little group.

She used the constructivist learning model when learning the process of cooking. She

built off very little prior knowledge but was strategic in the way she constructed the knowledge.

She began with the recipe, then the ingredients, shopping for the ingredients, prepping the

ingredients, and then following the recipe to create their masterpiece.

Links to Motivation

I think that this individual was intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to learn. She was

first motivated to learn because it meant spending time with her grandmother and extrinsically

motivated by the success in cooking food that she could later eat. I think that she was engaged in

learning because her grandmother was treating her as an equal, letting her be involved in every

step of the process. I think that when students feel important, they are motivated to engage in
time spent learning. I think we need to make the learning fun and show our students that we care

so that they are motivated to do so. I also think that her success is also a motivator. I think that

she is driven by being successful with new experiences. She enjoys the journey and the process

of learning because her grandmother guided her to success.

Growth/Fixed Mindset

I think that she definitely had a growth mindset throughout this whole process and about

her learning in general. She wanted to learn the steps and never stopped along the way. She went

to the store and followed through on the essential steps to achieve success. I think this mindset

continued on throughout her learning and she really learned some valuable things about how her

mind learned. I think that her success continues her growth and her grit to keep learning.

How the Brain Learns

She learned how to best teach to her brain through learning how to cook! From cooking, she

realized that repeatedly retrieving that information made it stick in her mind. From cooking, she

learned to have concrete examples. She learned to write down important information and retrieve

it over and over again to make it relevant. She also finds concrete examples so that she

understands the material.