Principles of Learning

The questions guiding my study are: 1) What causes learning to happen? 2) By what principles shall we teach? Combining 1 and 2: 3) What are the fundamental and universal principles of learning? 4) By what vehicle are the principles made manifest in learning? (practice) There are additional questions that I've been working from implicitly. I need to state them explicitly here...

- Learning may or may not involve an instructor - Learning may be formal or informal - Learning may be intentional or incidental

This theory is not: - an instructional design theory (an instructional design theory must focus on methods of instruction rather than learning) - an instructional strategy - a learning theory This theory is: - a conceptual framework centered on universal and fundamental principles of learning upon which specific learning theories can be constructed - a foundational theory that provides a framework for growing domain specific theories - a theory about how to design local learning theories (which is similar to what was called by Landa (1983) an instructional metatheory, a theory about how to design instructional theories),

This is a list of all the things I come across in my thinking, and especially in my review of the literature, that I need to consider in developing my descriptive model of learning an teaching. Association Memory On the job training (OJT) Apprenticeship Observational learning (Albert Bandura)

Practice includes: tasks, activities, exercise, experience, and experimentation. The principles that will make a given learning experience effective are captured in (or at least, they should be capture in) the practice activity. Practice can be defined by the learner, the instructor, a peer, an activity in a textbook, an instructional video, an exercise routine. Practice also happens informally in the everyday experiences of our lives. Practice, in my use of the term, also includes one-time learning experiences like burning yourself on a hot stove and saying, I'll never do that again. And then never doing it again.

The learning environment can be one or both of the following: 1) Content providing: e.g. other skiers provide good and bad examples, mountain provides visual input to understand skiing (compared to talking about skiiing in a classroom, chalkboard drawings, pictures, video, etc...) 2) Performance enabling: e.g. the mountain, snow, a ski lift, provide a place to ski; skis, boots and poles provide equipment to ski. e.g. a harness can help a diver safely learn a new dive, e.g. a foam pit can help a gymnast safely learn a new move

- All learning experiences have at least one agent: the learner. - If learning is guided by another individual, a second agent is present: a teacher or mentor. - Learning might also include a third type of agent: peers. Interaction with peers can provide practice, feedback, motivation, examples, etc...

The process of learning is the process of crossing the gap between Current State and Desired State. The successful process of learning is contigent upon the fundamental Principles of Learning . The Principles of Learning are manifest through practice/exercise/experience/experimentation (hereafter referred to as simply Practice). Practice does not happen unless there is sufficient motivation and confidence. Practice is most meaningful in the proper context or environment. The context is created through physical surroundings, other people, multi-media resources, projects, on-the-job integration, etc... Learners or Instructors, or both, can drive practice. Practice can also be driven from instruction that is captured and presented in media resources (videos, audio, textbooks, etc...).

These principles of learning are fundamental (they are the foundation for learning) and universal (they are applicable in all learning situations). - Repetition - Time - Sequence - Step-size - Similarity/Constrast -> Differentiability - Feedback - Focus - Target - Intensity/Effort -> Significance

Current state (of being, knowing, doing, feeling, thinking, ability, ...) Desired state The difference between the Desired State and the Current State is Learning Potential. Learning is the change (the delta) from current to desired state. Fundamental Principles of Learning describe what is needed to close the gap.

Rough outline: Intent, Values, Range of Convenience The Descriptive Model Method of Application Other Applications