Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?
My best learning experience comes from a formal course that I took at UVic. The class that made me really enjoy learning was CSC 361 with professor Jianping Pan. I found this class especially interesting because the topic on computer networks really caught my interest but also the way that professor Pan structured the class. This class had both tutorials and lab sections and most of the weight in the class fell on midterms as well as assignments. Not only were the lectures very engaging but also the labs used the skills in lecture which would later be used again in tutorial to teach you how to do the assignments. I was able to see and understand better what happens when we make a basic google search or how we connect to the internet and I found this really cool.
Looking at this class from the perspective of the foundations of learning and instructional design technology, it can be seen that Pan did a good job of translating principles of learning and instruction into specifications for instructional materials and activities (Smith & Ragan, 1993, p. 12). Pan made it so it was easy to see how the skills we were learning were used in the practical world allowing us to be able to bridge our understanding to potential solutions in the real world.
Another part that Pan did well was with his amazing behaviourism. Pan’s passion in the subject made it much more exciting and gave us stimulus when asking questions or processing information. The most critical factor that influences learning is the arrangement of stimuli and consequences within the environment (Ertmer & Newby, 1993).
Overall, this class that I took was especially enjoyable because it followed many of the different theories and motivations that make learning both effective and interesting. By including real-world application to what we were doing and an environment perfect for learning, the class and students were able to have a more productive and positive learning experience.
References:
Peggy A. Ertmer & Timothy Newby (1993). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism. (n.d.). In Learning Theories and Transfer of Learning. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism
Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (1993). Instructional design. New York: Macmillan.
Hi Kevin! It’s great to hear that you had a positive experience in your class. I completely agree that applying what you learn in a real-world setting is a fantastic way to solidify your understanding of the subject matter. It sounds like Professor Pan did a great job of making the material engaging and understandable. Behaviourism definitely has some intriguing insights into how people learn and process information. If you have any questions about that or other theories you’ve encountered, just let me know. I’m always here to help out with any information or clarification you need.