Principles of Learning

The principles of learning I have identified can be grouped as follows: Principles of PROGRESSION 1) direction---by definition one can only progress if he is moving towards some destination 2) potential---one can only progress if he possess the possibility of extension 3) opposition---in order to move toward some destination one must be moving away from some alternative (not sure about 1 and 3 but solid on 2) Principles of CHANGE 1) repetition 2) time 3) sequence 4) step-size 5) significance 6) contrast 7) feedback Principles of PRACTICE Principles of ENGAGEMENT 1) motivation 2) confidence Principles of CONTEXT 1) content providing 2) performance enabling Principles of AGENCY 1) learner 2) teacher 3) peers

Unlike many theories of learning the goal of this research is not to describe the psychological or biological workings of the mind and body that facilitate learning but to identify fundamental and universal principles that govern the learning process. Without knowing the details of how the mind works or how the cells of the human organism adapt to facilitate learning we can still understand the process of learning and come to understand the principles by which it is governed.

In conducting my observational studies of learning I felt that objective observation alone provided insufficient sensory and experiential data to truly understand what was happening in the learning process. For this reason I revised my approach and adopted a duality of perspective. Rather than simply observe students involved in the learning process I subjected myself to the very same process, thereby experiencing a richer influx of data, simultaneously interpreting the events that unfolded before me with the perspectives of both a bystander and a participant.

An example of changing the beliefs of one person regarding another.... The wife frequently says to her husband, "You never help out around the house." The husband knows this isn't true. He often helps with the dishes, homework, and chores. To change his wife's belief about him, he engages in a concetrated effort to do the dishes every single night, to sweep and mop the floors, and clean the bathrooms. After 3 months of doing this, his wife begins to say things like, "You're super husband." At the end of the 3 months, the husband tapers off his efforts returning to doing the dishes and chores on occasion. Although the wife occasionally says, "you used to do the dishes every night" she no longer says or believes that he never helps out.

A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive By John Stuart Mill http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=IzIIAAAAQAAJ&dq=A+system+of+logic:+Ratiocinative+and+Inductive&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=7T1Ip-Uidg&sig=6ysXVgNWR4M5To_61Re4EHarBO4&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPR7,M1

http://webpub.byu.net/ddw/qualitativebook/chapter5.html Credibility Transferibility Dependability Confirmability really good list here (I especially like ideas under the credibility section)

The online book Dr. Williams asked me to read.