Learning Theories and The Brain

This week we were asked to look for two sources that either dealt with the brain and learning, information processing theory, or problem-solving methods during the learning process. I found this website http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/49710646/Instructional%20Design that is dedicated to instructional design. However, it did have some good, clear information on learning theories. There was one page that did a great job of comparing behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism learning theories.  The side by side comparison makes it easy to understand how the learning theories are different from each other. There was also a section that showed the different instructional approaches and how much student involvement would be attained from each approach.

The next site is titled “Problem-Solving Skills in Education and Life” and can be found at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/methods.htm#thinking-skills-education.  This site has a wealth of knowledge on helping students to learn to think. There is a page called Active Learning Theories & Strategies that captivated my attention. This page talks about the importance of keeping the learner mentally stimulated which is necessary to produce learning. This page looks at learning theories before diving into teaching strategies to produce active learning.

I also found some information on how the brain learns at the different stages of a child's maturity level at http://www.apa.org/education/k12/brain-function.aspx. In designing instruction it is important to understand the capabilities of the learner. Even learners that are the same age may not have the soae maturity level as each child may develop at a different rate perhaps having dissimilar skills and temperament. 

Instructional Design Resources

After our first discussion on looking at the learning style that works for us, I decided to search for a resource regarding how do people learn and found “http://how-we-learn.blogspot.com/. This blog site provides a summary and links to information on current news and research that relates specifically to learning.  This way, we can hopefully bypass making some mistakes in how the instruction is implemented by looking at some of the research data that has already been collected. For instance, there was a link to a video that showed today’s students’ perspective of the current learning environment. With this information, an instructional designer could perhaps deliver their curriculum in way that will more effectively engage their students. I feel that this site would be a good start to build the educational foundation and method of delivery before designing the instruction.

http://how-we-learn.blogspot.com/

The next site is like an instructional design bible. The home page, “http://www.instructionaldesign.org/index.html”, starts off with the definition of instructional design at the top and has a great graphic of the many ideas of what instructional design entails.  It has an extensive library on the different instructional design models as well as information on assessment. There are a couple of pages that looks at the theories of the actual design of the interface and the different types of usability testing. There is even a page that goes into detail of the necessity for storyboarding. Another good site that gives instructional designers some insight of design process from start to testing.

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/index.html

The last site that I chose is a webpage of a business that provides organizations with workplace training. I felt the free “Training Resources” page, “http://trainingtoday.blr.com/employee-training-resources”, has some very valuable information for instructional designers pertaining to the legal requirements of various trainings. The site also offers “free”, free here means you have sign up for their newsletter, white papers on various topics such as tips for effective safety training, avoiding lawsuits, audits and fines, teaching OSHA requirements and many more. I think this site would be a good place to start your research before designing your specific instruction for an organization. It might also be a good place to work as an instructional designer.

 http://trainingtoday.blr.com/employee-training-resources