Learning Revisited

Learning does build on learning.  Take the example of the Suzuki method of young children learning to play the violin by ear (not note reading).  These children usually start this method at age 3 or 4 and they listen over and over to a set of tapes, or CDs nowadays, of the same melody and variations of that melody.  They are instructed to find those notes on their violins and then “put them together” in the same order that they hear.  They mimic what the instructor plays.  They listen again and again to the same set of notes played in the same order.  It takes about a year for most students to learn “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”  After they learn “Twinkle,” the next piece comes much faster, and the next and the next, similar to learning a language, starting with a few words, building to sentences, and then conversation.  The learning builds on the previous learning.

Learning requires doing.  A U-C Irvine mathematics professor always said, “Keep your pencil moving” when instructing students on how to master story problems.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed with the details of the story and how many miles per hour some train was moving in some direction and how fast could Johnny get there on his bike from some other direction, etc., this professor encouraged the students to just write everything down as they came to the information. He told them to draw a picture and start writing some equations that were familiar and then start plugging in values and before they knew it, they were solving problems.  They were “doing” math and not just staring at the paper trying to think it through in their heads. 

The part of the reading in Scientific Inquiry and How People Learn regarding Metacognition was interesting to me, especially the work of White and Frederiksen and their curriculum called ThinkerTools.  It was interesting to see the results of their study where the students were actively involved in the scientific process and asked to reflect and analyze their project as opposed to just participating in a traditional curriculum.  This also goes back to “learning requires doing.” 

I would not change my definition of learning but would expand it to include these ideas.

Teaching Philosophy Reflections

I liked Dereck’s comments about teaching being an evolutionary process and I agree with his comment “that there are not parallels in class dynamics.”  I like his concept of initiating imagination and encouraging the student to form a personal connection to the subject matter.  I found Steve’s comparison of teaching and learning to jazz music, comparing the individual instruments and then the whole band together “flowing and organized” to be very insightful.  Steve also talks about the importance of applying what they learn in class to real life which is very important to me.  Jody makes a good point about how not every student learns the way she does and this is important to address when we are teaching a course.  I agree with her regarding having a “fun and open atmosphere.”  I also like the idea having not only lecture based classes but introducing group work, class discussions, etc. Jody states how she wants to “inspire” her students to enjoy learning.

Regarding my own teaching philosophy, I would plan to have more of a variety of  coursework as opposed to just lectures.  I really like the idea that teaching is an evolutionary process that takes place with each class in each semester.  I already feel strongly that I want to inspire my students in the subjects that I teach so that they will walk away from my class, taking some knowledge with them, and not just being glad the semester is over and forgetting everything from my class because they were there just to “get through it.”  

What is Learning?

I would define learning as a "durable change in behavior brought about by experience."  Learning and memory are connected.  The acquisition of new information or skills comes from instruction or experience.  Then, memory allows this new information to be stored and recalled when necessary.  Let's take the example of a person touching their finger to a hot burner.  As their finger touches the burner, a reflex mechanism causes them to quickly take their finger away.  This reflex happens so fast that the incoming message doesn't even have a chance to get to the brain before a reaction takes place.  However, while the reflex was coming into play to protect the finger, another message continued up to the brain for the person to process what had just happened.  It is here that learning occurs.  The person now knows that touching a hot burner is something unpleasant and should be avoided. They have learned from the experience and will change their behavior when next presented with a hot burner near their hand.  If only the reflex mechanism was in place, even though the finger would be taken off the burner, the person would not learn to avoid this situation in the future.

Another example in physiology is when a hormonally driven behavior becomes a learned behavior.  When a young stud dog first encounters a bitch in heat, his reproductive system kicks in and he instinctually exhibits breeding behaviors.  At this point, his endocrine system is responding to the bitch's endocrine system.  If this dog is used for breeding, he starts to learn that bitches in heat mean "time to breed."  He remembers what to do when presented with a bitch in heat.  Later in life, if experienced stud dogs are castrated, taking away the hormones that were the driving force of the breeding behavior in the first place, they will still willingly breed bitches.  The experience of breeding has produced a durable change in behavior.  

A similar situation occurs in breeding stallions.  When stallions are first bred, they need natural instinct and drive in order to breed the mare.  Some valuable stallions have their semen collected and need to "learn" how to mount a phantom mare in order to be collected in an artificial vagina.  Well, a phantom mare is a large vinyl covered metal object that is completely inanimate and is of no interest to a passing stallion in any way.  However, leading a mare in heat close to the phantom mare excites the stallion to instinctually mount.  He is guided onto the phantom while he perhaps thinks he's mounting the real mare.  After that, the real mare in heat can be placed in a set of stocks in the same room as the phantom and the stallion will mount the phantom just by visual and olfactory stimulation from the presence of the mare.  Many stallions who are collected often will no longer need a mare in heat present in order to collect.  When they see a phantom, they act like it is a mare in heat and will mount the phantom without any other stimulation.  This stallion has learned from experience that when he sees the phantom, he gets collected. This experience has changed his behavior in the presence of an ordinarily benign object and I would define this as learning.

Teaching Philosophy

While pursuing prerequisite studies for medical school, I was hired to teach the Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Lab at Augsburg College.  I instantly knew at that time that I wanted to apply to graduate school and pursue a career in college teaching.  I am now in my ninth year of teaching college Anatomy & Physiology and related Biology/Pathology courses and loving it.  My goals as an instructor are to inspire my students to appreciate and understand the human body and its functions, to develop an awareness of the biological world around them, and to develop a desire to educate others about what they have learned.

Developing appreciation of the human body and attaining cognizance of body functions requires intense study of foreign terms and delving into dissection with the examination of unfamiliar structures.  In my classes, I make the world of anatomy and physiology less intimidating by using metaphors, games, and group activities to illustrate difficult concepts.  I continue to reference material from previous chapters to the current topic.   My goal is for the student to develop enough physiological insight so that when “Grandpa” says after eating a Thanksgiving meal, “Oh, I’m so tired now,” my student can respond with, “That’s your parasympathetic nervous system kicking in!” In other words, they can take their anatomy and physiology knowledge out of the classroom and into everyday life.  

I want my students to develop an awareness of the biological world around them by piquing their curiosity in science overall.  Through field trips and lab experiments, I am able to open up a new world to my students.  During the chick embryology lab, they can watch a fertilized egg develop through various phases and hatch into a chick.  While studying trees, they can learn what type of tree indicates which type of soil.  Instead of driving down the freeway and seeing “trees,” now they can say “black spruce on acidic soil,” for example.  By performing open-ended experiments and not “cook-book” labs, we can test our hypotheses without having a predictable outcome.

Nothing is more rewarding for me as an instructor than to see my students develop a desire to teach others.  One assignment that is conducive to this is where each student writes their own “exam.”  Then they get together with other students and take turns taking each other’s “exams.”  This is a great study tool because they are looking at the material from my perspective in writing the exam, and then working together as they study each other’s exams.  It is a well known fact that you learn by teaching.   

I do not want my students to walk away from my class as if it is just another class they had to pass for their major.  I want them to remember these lessons throughout their careers in the healthcare field and their lives.  I always have an essay question on the last exam that asks, “What was the most important thing you learned in my class, why was it important to you, and how has it affected your life?”  The feedback I have received has been very rewarding, from students motivated to quit smoking to another student who changed majors from dental hygiene to pre-med.  Although I disappointed my family by not going to medical school, I believe I am

ultimately reaching more patients in the long run through the comprehensive education of my students as they enter the many branches of the healthcare field.  

Jan 12 readings

I found the reading from Ch. 8  to be very appropriate as today was the first day of class and I am teaching three lecture classes this semester and was thinking about how I could "get to know" my students better.  The statement that "each class brings a new group of students" is not only true because of the obvious but also true in the fact that each group interacts differently even when including the same students from previous semesters.

I found the part about "Students Are More Likely to Succeed if They:" to be very significant!  I also found the section on tutoring to be interesting as we have many students where I teach who just want "to be shown the answers."  This connects with the part of the Markwell and Courtney article that describes the student who seeks knowledge of only the material that will be on the test and has no interest or desire in the quest of knowledge in and of itself.

I felt strongly about the type of test questions described in Markwell and Courtney.  This is something I have been working with as a college instructor regarding testing the students knowledge and not just recall.  The other issue is writing a test that can be given in 50 minutes to over 90 students and promptly graded.  This is where the multiple choice/Scantron test has appeal over the several page short answer and essay test.

Going back to Ch. 8, the part about Science Fear and Math Anxiety is very true.  I do think that Science can be a "scary" subject for many students.  I also find it interesting, in daily life, the response I get when people who don't know me find out I teach Anatomy & Physiology.  It is always something like, "Oh, wow, really..."  Sometimes I get the feeling that because I'm a woman I can't possibly be "smart" enough to teach science or that these people are surprised that I can do this because they perhaps have preconceived notions about women in science, I don't know.