Proctor Academy’s Post

The process of learning is social and cognitive. It is cognitive since it entails observing, reasoning, evaluating, interpreting, and ultimately giving meaning to what is observed. https://lnkd.in/ghuQMwGX

From students seeking to learn more effectively to educators looking for improved teaching methods, cognitivism offers valuable insights for everyone involved in the learning process. https://bit.ly/3RFJuG8

Is learning truly effective if it doesn't lead to behavioral change? Recently, I worked with an individual who struggled to implement meaningful changes in their behavior. Upon inquiry, they confirmed their desire to change and detailed their efforts: reading extensively, attending classes, and creating comprehensive plans. However, despite these preparations, no tangible changes materialized. The reason? A lack of follow-through in altering their actions. This situation prompts an important question: Can we consider learning complete if it doesn't result in behavioral modifications? This inquiry delves into both the theoretical and practical aspects of learning. Many education and personal development experts assert that genuine learning should manifest in behavioral changes. Let's examine this concept more closely: Key Points: 1. Behavioral Change as Evidence of Learning: John Dewey, a prominent educational philosopher, posited that authentic learning is intrinsically linked to experience and should lead to action. Dewey viewed education not merely as knowledge acquisition but as practical application, resulting in behavioral changes. 2. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning: Educational theory recognizes Bloom's Taxonomy, which comprises three domains: cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitude), and psychomotor (skills). For learning to be comprehensive, it must extend beyond knowledge acquisition to influence attitudes and behaviors. 3. Experiential Learning (Kolb's Cycle): David Kolb developed a learning cycle that involves concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Kolb's model emphasizes that learning is a cyclical process requiring the application of new knowledge. Without behavioral changes or practical application, the learning process remains incomplete. 4. Neuroscientific Perspective: Neurological research demonstrates that learning induces changes in neural pathways. If these neurological changes do not manifest in new actions or behaviors, it may indicate superficial or incomplete learning, potentially limited to conceptual understanding without practical application. Conclusion: If learning fails to induce behavioral changes, it may be considered incomplete or lacking in transformative power. Authentic learning should result in modifications not only to our understanding but also to our actions, decision-making processes, or habitual behaviors. Otherwise, it risks remaining theoretical knowledge without real-world application. In essence, learning holds the most significance when it leads to tangible behavioral changes. Does this align with your personal experiences and observations? More importantly, how do you track and measure behavioral change to guide individuals in their pursuit of their next best self? #LearningAndDevelopment #BehavioralChange #ContinuousImprovement #ElevateYou

Vicarious learning is learning by observing the experiences of others without performing them directly. Humans can learn new behavior by direct experience or observing others’ behavior and consequences. Babies learn by mimicking their parents. Toddlers learn to talk from hearing conversations. We adopt complex behavior and views, such as social etiquette or gender roles, because “this is what others normally do.” This kind of learning experience is called vicarious learning, also known as observational and imitative learning. In vicarious learning, the learner attentively observes the actions of others, retains, and then mimics them. In the 1960s, Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura did a series of experiments to acknowledge whether social behaviors could be accrued by observation and imitation. The experiments were collectively known as... Keep reading: Explore the full picture and discover valuable insights. Click here to access the full article. https://bit.ly/3TbvKnF #VicariousLearning

When we, as educators, seek to grow, learn, and evaluate the tools we use to climb out of the Learning Pit, we act as models for our students. Whether walking beside them on a trail in the White Mountains or seeking new knowledge, students learn to trust that we are all in this TOGETHER. Read more - Learning and the Brain: The Brain Takes on a Challenge https://hubs.ly/Q02NY4BD0

https://lnkd.in/gZshUDCp My TRIO Coach sent me this article a while ago on ways to help my learning retention. What interests me in this article was the Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence theory, he came up with 8 different ways of how people are intelligent and how that fits to how that person learns. Now learning styles and intellect is not linear. We have a various way of how we learn, and it is kind of why professors and educators cannot teach how everyone learns. The student shows up to class and take notes from how the professor teaches and what they want the students to learn. In our self-study whether you are in class or not, just learning for fun. You know how learn and how you interpret material. In school setting you have to adapt in the classroom to the professors teaching and then afterwards you find a way to retain that information and lesson based on your way of learning and how you best connect with the material. How do you learn? What is your multiple intelligences from the 8 ways Gardner mentions at the bottom this article? Comment below! #8multipleintelligences #HowardGardner #LEARN #YOURALLSMART #retention

📚Reflective Teaching: A Path to Growth and Excellence🧠 As educators, we are continually evolving, but the question remains: Are we merely teaching, or are we reflecting on our teaching methods to ensure continual improvement? This insightful article from "The Hindu" explores the concept of being a reflective teacher—a practice that goes beyond delivering content. It challenges us to critically assess our own methods, asking ourselves: - Am I engaging students effectively? - Does my teaching approach resonate with different learning styles? - How can I refine my strategies to create more impactful, student-centered learning experiences? The distinction between "robotic" and "reflective" teaching is vital, particularly in an era where technology and AI can automate certain tasks. But teaching is an art—an art that requires human insight, creativity, and constant self-assessment to foster meaningful growth in students. Key steps mentioned in the article, such as maintaining a Teaching Philosophy Statement (TPS) and regularly revisiting our teaching methods, serve as practical guides for ensuring that we stay aligned with educational goals. These approaches also encourage us to build a learning environment that is not just about knowledge transfer but about critical thinking, innovation, and fostering curiosity. The need for a reflective mindset in education is now more critical than ever. By fostering such habits, we not only improve our teaching skills but also model lifelong learning for our students. #Teaching #Education #ReflectivePractice #LifelongLearning #TeacherGrowth #StudentCenteredLearning

I always wondered about the logic to behaviour change. Because for me to get to where I dreamed, I eventually realised that I needed to change my behaviour to adapt to the world around me. A bit like navigating any terrain - No one really has a straight road to anywhere difficult and complex. But honestly, I think it should be an equal give and take. The world should give someone like me as much as it takes from me. So that's when I doubled down on learning - understanding as much as the world was already giving me. (It's incredible how much we can't really appreciate - Each person around us has witnessed so much, learned about it through experience and dedication, documented it in writing and literally given it away for free.) I opened my eyes to learning anything that would help me navigate to where I wanted to go. And along the way, the goal also shape-shifted from fog to seeing right through the dementor. Everything is a language and constantly communicating to us - Writing, Speaking, Poetry, Science, Art, Behaviour, Economics, Chess, Nature, Mathematics, A baby's cry, A broken world, The clash of civilisations, Globalisation, The garden of Eden, Harmony. For me, it was learning poetry and chess that helped unlock the ability to see language in anything. I'm now trying to study learning itself. How do we absorb input, why do we need compelling creative input to register, why does it take a minimum of 3 exposures, why teaching is also a form of learning, why the art of life rising from the fountain of knowledge is the ultimate journey. I may find the answer in Hebbian's Learning. That's a rabbit hole I am going slow on at the moment. But will get there, if I don't give up.

What makes a task feel easy or hard? The perceived difficulty of a task can often be explained by the concept of "cognitive load." When a task exceeds our limited working memory capacity, it can feel challenging or even impossible to complete. We can help students develop cognitive habits that automate thinking skills, enabling them to focus on new concepts. Thinking Maps assist students in creating deep structures for critical thinking, reducing the cognitive load of rigorous assignments. Rigorous academic tasks involve both the content (what students need to learn) and the cognitive actions we want students to perform (apply, evaluate, compare, explain, etc.). Students must grasp both the material and the type of thinking required. Without an understanding of academic vocabulary and critical thinking skills, students spend too much mental energy deciphering instructions instead of engaging with the material. Their working memory becomes overwhelmed, leaving little room for learning and schema building—this is cognitive load in action. A deep structure for critical thinking helps students: -Recognize the type of thinking required by identifying academic vocabulary in prompts (e.g., describe, compare, explain, determine impact) -Activate the higher-order thinking skills needed for the task By explicitly teaching these critical thinking skills, we enable students to develop habits of thinking that lead to success. As students build a structure for critical thinking, these skills become automated, reducing the cognitive load of tasks. This allows students to focus their mental energy on the content rather than the task instructions. #Education #CriticalThinking #StudentSuccess https://ow.ly/pZU850SxwUZ

Throughout my teaching career, I have consistently updated my course materials, informed by personal reflection. Now, I am shifting my focus from improving teaching methods to helping students navigate their own learning struggles. My goal is to guide them in discovering solutions by grappling with the “how” and “why” themselves. While I acknowledge that artificial intelligence offers general insights based on collective knowledge, it lacks an understanding of the deeper reasons behind human struggles. Though I don’t always fully grasp why my students face challenges, I know that my personal experience with struggle equips me to support them in ways that AI cannot. My current understanding of students and this era is that, because they’ve been trained to acquire knowledge efficiently by focusing on achievements, they often miss the opportunity to develop true insight. Instructors frequently provide step-by-step instructions, but genuine insight emerges when students move beyond those steps, understanding concepts even when they cannot fully articulate them. Alongside insight, strong analytical skills are equally important, as they enable students to break down complex problems and think critically. Both insight and analytical skills should be rooted in scientific reasoning if we want our students to apply evidence-based practice effectively in their future work.