ESEB3493 LEARNING DESIGN

TOPIC 4 Approaches to Learning

We should be aware of the pedagogies that are
possible as much as we are aware of the
affordances of the technology. The two together
make up technology-enhanced learning. They
have got to be well formed partners that align
completely with one another.

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 Achieving the right mix of learning
activities, tools and technologies for
each unit of learning is the art of the
learning designer.

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KINDS OF LEARNING

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Active learning

• Active learning requires students to participate in their

learning rather than being passive recipients of others’
knowledge, as occurs in traditional lectures or taught classes.
• The advent of technology has done much to promote active
learning by getting students to do a greater range of things
(research, practice, discuss, present, self-assess, publish
online) and by encouraging reflection about what they have
done (e-portfolios, blogs, online debate or chat).

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Authentic learning

• This model of learning is also based around the belief that learning should
be active, practical and challenging rather than theoretical and passive.
And as before, digital tools can play a significant role by enabling ‘close-
to-real’ learning experiences in disciplines as diverse as automotive
engineering and medicine.
• With the focus firmly on curricula that are responsive to the needs of the
labour market, authentic learning based on simulation software, virtual
worlds and gaming technologies and interactive role play in online
learning environments will play an increasingly important role in the future.

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Blended learning

• Blended learning is a combination of face-to-face activities and digital

tools and resources designed to deliver the best possible learning
experience.
• The use of learning tools can occur before, during or after a face-to-face
session and support a variety of pedagogic purposes. The blended
component, for example, might aim to extend the time students spend on
task, develop their information literacy skills, stimulate their interest before
a class, or enable them to work at their own pace afterwards.
• The term suggests careful and deliberate integration of online and face-to-
face activities.

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Flipped learning

• Flipped learning reverses the traditional sequence of

delivery by a teacher followed by reinforcement activities
for students.
• It is sometimes called 'upside down pedagogy' or 'just in
time' teaching.
• In a flipped approach, students engage with selected
resources – usually learning content - before joining a
virtual or face-to-face session during which they deepen
their understanding of the topic.

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Inquiry-based learning

• Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is based on the investigation of questions,

scenarios or problems. Teachers as facilitators help students identify
issues to research to develop their knowledge and problem-solving ability.
Inquiry-based learning, as a result, may contain elements of problem-
based learning.
• Inquiry-based learning can also form part of research-led or problem-
based learning. Both approaches to learning design allow students to
further their understanding of their discipline by undertaking relevant
challenges and/or carrying out research of their own.
• Inquiry-based and problem-based learning both entail students selecting
the research methodologies and digital tools that best suit their purpose. It
goes without saying that students learning this way will need a range of
digital capabilities

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Online learning

• Online learning has long been associated with distance learning – now largely a
technology-supported mode of learning which enables students to study for
qualifications without attending classes.
• And increasingly, today’s time-poor and economically challenged students have
been attracted by the flexibility of online distance learning.
• This mode of delivery can also enable an institution to maintain choice for students
by offering low-enrolment courses or modules online.
• However, the ubiquity (being common) of access students have to the internet can
mask how fundamentally different an experience a wholly online model of learning
can be. Both students and staff need support and training to gain the most from
this mode of learning.
• Nonetheless, partial or wholly online learning increases learner responsibility and
control. Students learning online develop habits of self-regulation and digital skills
that support their lifelong learning.

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Research-led learning

• Research-led learning places students in the role of

researchers to enable them to experience how knowledge is
developed and applied in their discipline.
• Research-led students work in partnership with their lecturers
to construct new forms of knowledge and to deepen their
understanding.
• This enables students even at undergraduate level to become
immersed in the practices of their discipline. 

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Team-based learning

• Team-based learning is a specific approach that can involve flipped

learning and elements of inquiry/problem-based learning.
• Students work in the same group over a period of time to collectively
develop their understanding of core concepts and to solve problems. As in
flipped learning, students engage with learning materials in advance of
face-to-face sessions.
• Multiple-choice questions used at the start of each session then test the
knowledge of both the individual and the team. Tutors can give students
immediate feedback in a type of formative assessment having assessed
their readiness to move on.
• Working in teams in this way helps tutors assess individuals’ progress but
also enables students to develop a range of transferable skills.

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Work-based learning

• Work-based learning bridges the gap between formal education and

training and employment by enabling students to achieve learning
outcomes that are not normally possible in educational contexts. These
include the acquisition of workplace skills and practices that advance their
progress towards a chosen career. Work-based learning can also
encompass apprenticeships.
• Depending on the qualification and the nature of the workplace, the
institution’s role will vary from providing mentorship and tutorial functions
to having full responsibility for students on work placements as part of a
course. Thus a work-based learning model will necessarily entail close
partnership working with employers over learning outcomes, course
content and assessment.

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Behavioral Approaches to Learning

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Approaches to Learning

• How learners learn?

• There are many different ways of learning both formally and informally.
• Furthermore people learn differently at different times in their lives and in different
circumstances.

The Behaviorist Approach which is concerned with learners responding

to some form of stimulus

The Cognitive Approach which is based on knowledge and knowledge

retention.

The Humanist Approach which is based on explanations of individual

experiences.

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Behaviourist Approach to Learning

• Most behavior is learned.

• Important in achieving desired behavior and behavior modification.
• Behavior is directed by stimuli – emphasizes in changes in behavior that
result from stimulus-response associations made by learners.
• Behavioral change occurs for a reason; students work for things that bring
them positive feelings, and for approval from people they admire. They
change behaviors to satisfy the desires they have learned to value. They
generally avoid behaviors they associate with unpleasantness and
develop habitual behaviors from those that are repeated often.

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Behaviorist approach

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Cognitive Approach to Learning

• An internal learning process which involves memory, thinking,

reflection, abstraction and motivation.
• Mental processes that are influenced by extrinsic and intrinsic
factors

The work of two well-known classical cognitive theorists is summarised below:

John Dewey believes learning involves 'learning to think'.  He says the process of learning
is more than doing a task or activity; it also requires reflection and learning from this.

Benjamin Samuel Bloom developed the cognitive approach and considered learning
occurred in both the ‘cognitive domain’, that associated with memory and understanding,
and the ‘affective domain’, how feelings or emotions change as a result of learning. 

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Humanistic Approach to Learning

• Learning is viewed as a personal act to fulfill one’s potential.

• Learning is student-centered and personalized
• Affective and cognitive needs are key to this approach, and
the goal is to develop self-actualized people in a cooperative
and supportive environment.

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Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

• Maslow’s theory, which emphasizes motivation to

develop one’s full potential.
• Rogers’s theory, which addresses both learning and
instruction.

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Teaching strategies, in this 21st century, should:

• teach all learners

• implement technology
• foster student relationships
• be forward thinking: anticipate the future
• be able to embrace change

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THANK YOU

uni tar. my