Throughout a person’s life they acquire a vast amount of information, skills and values, most of which are learned. The knowledge and abilities that are thus gained extend across a broad spectrum from the very basic such as knowing the alphabet or walking to the extremely complex such as understanding quantum physics or flying a helicopter. Personal experience clearly indicates that not everything one has learned has been read and remembered, for example how could a person learn those skills they have before they are able to read? In view of the constraints of this essay, it is intended to narrow our consideration of the statement that ‘Learning is just a matter of reading and remembering’ to concentrate on learning in the academic sense. After starting with a suitably appropriate definition, the essay will establish that reading and remembering enable learning as it has been defined. The nature of learning will then be further explored through examination of the work of a number of educationalists and their studies of various learning objectives and styles. These will be used to show that remembering is critical to the learning process and whilst reading is an important skill it is not the only, nor the best, method of learning.
The educational psychologist Fontana (1995, p141) defines learning as ‘a relatively persistent change in an individual’s potential behaviour due to experience.’ So where do the activities of reading and remembering fit into that definition? Reading is a way of experiencing and by remembering an individual brings about a change in their potential behaviour. For example, during an examination a student may recall a number of facts that he has read during his previous studies of texts and thus he has the potential to include those facts in his answers. It can be seen therefore that reading and remembering do constitute learning in accordance with our definition. Consideration must now be given to whether or not they represent learning in its entirety.
The Homework on How I learned to Read and Write
For me, learning to read and write was long and felt like a drag to me; I took reading and writing for granted and never thought of the great advantages that every book had. It all started at home when I was five years old and my mom was teaching me how to write my name. In my head, I had trouble understanding on what I wrote but as far as I know that was my name. Finally the day came and it was ...
An alternative way of understanding the nature of learning is to examine what it is trying to achieve or in other words, what the objectives of learning are. As explained in McKenzie (2000), such work was conducted by committees operating the direction of educationalists like Benjamin Bloom (1956).
Bloom broke learning down into three distinct areas or domains: the cognitive, which deals with knowledge and understanding; the affective, that deals with feelings and attitudes; and the psycho-motor, that concerns the development of motor skills, such as those used in sport and operating machinery. In keeping with our consideration of learning as an academic skill, we shall concentrate on the work undertaken in the cognitive domain. Here, Bloom developed a hierarchical classification of learning outcomes in which each successive objective would require skills of a higher order than the previous objective. His ranking starts with knowledge (exemplified by the simple knowledge of facts, theories and formula etc.) and progresses through comprehension, application, analysis and synthesis to the highest level of evaluation which requires that a person is able to judge the value of something according to certain criteria. When viewed against Bloom’s system it is apparent that although reading and remembering satisfy the knowledge requirements of the first objective, in order to achieve higher levels of learning there is a demand for other skills such as understanding, processing and judgement of information. Assessment methods such as examinations and assignments in which one is required to do more than repeat facts indicate this to be a common aim of learning. It is worthy of note however that in order to reach the higher levels it is necessary to remember facts so that they may be processed and therefore memory is critical to learning of any level.
The Essay on Reading skills
Q1: Explain 5 strategies that a teaching assistant might use to support literacy development. The teaching assistant could read to the pupils on a daily basis, this will help pupils learn how fluent reading sounds and this will help them understand how sentences and text can make sense, and will learn when to pause for full stops, question marks etc, and they will also learn how using expression ...
But is reading the only method of obtaining these facts? Our earlier definition does not specify reading but implies that any ‘experience’ may induce learning. In their extensive studies of learning styles, Honey & Mumford (1982, 1986) recognised that individuals’ personalities may determine the best way for them to learn. Accordingly, students with an activist style learn least from passive skills such as reading but can learn best from ‘hands on’ involvement such as role-playing, whereas for a student who has a reflector style the opposite is usually true. Thus it has been shown that for many people reading may not be the best form of learning activity, they may prefer something that is more suited to their personal style of learning. Additionally, most educational courses now encourage students to make use of the wide range of learning media available. This array includes such things as radio, television, tutorials, and study and discussion groups, all of which enable people to gain the experience that our definition of learning requires without resort to reading.
In summary, without the ability to remember what one has experienced, learning cannot occur. However, although it is an important way of getting information, reading is not the only, nor always the best, method of obtaining such information. Furthermore it has been shown than learning is more than simple regurgitation of facts and in order to learn fully there is a requirement to process, judge or act upon that information, whether it has been gained by reading or not.
Bibliography:
Fontana, D. (1995).
Psychology for Teachers. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan.
McKenzie, I. (2000).
Study Skills. University of Portsmouth: Portsmouth.
[i]References:
Bloom, B.S., Engleheat, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R. (1956).
Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals. Handbook I: cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
Fontana, D. (1995).
The Research paper on Communication Style Case Study 4
Communication style can vary among individuals. Common communication types include assertive, passive, and aggressive. Assertive individuals communicate confidently and speak up for themselves. Aggressive individuals communicate with verbal attacks; they speak their feelings without regard to others, often in a condescending manner riddled with superiority tones. Passive individuals communicate ...
Psychology for Teachers. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan.
Honey, P & Mumford, A (1983).
Using your learning styles. Maidenhead.
Honey, P & Mumford, A (1986).
Manual of learning styles. Maidenhead.
McKenzie, I. (2000).
Study Skills. University of Portsmouth: Portsmouth.[/i]
