Module 5: Enhancing Learning

After reading Ormrod's chapter 13 "Transfer and Problem Solving" the most significant knowledge that I found imperative to teaching and learning is when Ormrod says "meaningful learning promotes better transfer that rote learning; the more thoroughly something is learned the more likely it is to be transferred to a new situation; the more similar two situations are the more likely it is that something learned in one situation will be applied to the other situation" (399-400). After reading the above factors that affect transfer, it became apparent that if a teacher is aware of the different ways that students learn they would take this into consideration when planning lessons. This means planning for building the knowledge that the students already have or increasing the knowledge they may have about a particular subject. Effective strategies a teacher can use are K-W-L organizers, entrance and exit tickets, concept mapping, and web building. All strategies ask for students to share their knowledge of what they know, others ask for students to make connections about what they know to what they learned. Once a teacher is aware of what they know, it is easier to make the situation similar or meaningful. Once the meaning and background is acknowledged then the new learning is easier to transfer. As an administrator is it imperative that these questions are asked of teachers to ensure they truly understand how their students learn best and enhance the learning for each and every student.

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/concept_maps/
http://www.edrawsoft.com/ConceptMap.php
https://www.msu.edu/course/cep/886/Reading%20Comprehension/7Learn_Serv_Proj_KWL.html
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/kwl/
http://www.litandlearn.lpb.org/strategies/strat_kwl.pdf