My Education Timeline

Teresa Heilman

EDEX 891

Throughout one’s life many experiences can affect the way you think students learn. In

my life, I have had several different experiences that have changed the way I have thought about

how others learn or have added a different perspective to my thinking. Some of these

experiences have been personal and others have been through the academic instruction that I

have received.

My personal learning experience of how I remember learning affected the way I think

students learn. Growing up I remember learning by memorizing things. I would have to

remember facts, times tables, spelling words, etc. I do not remember learning too many tricks or

methods on how to come up with answers or solutions. Spelling I think affected me the worst as

I have gotten older. I know how to spell the words that I know. If I have never seen a word then

I have no clue what the word is. When I try to sound out words I completely mess it up. As I

reflected on that experience over the years, I began thinking that there had to be other ways to

learn. I also thought that not all students are going to be able to learn the same way. This

experience started me off thinking about how students learn.

Another personal experience that added more perspective to the way children learn is

growing up with my younger brother. My younger brother had dyslexia and diagnosed with a

learning disability. Seeing him grow up and struggle with learning made me once again realize

how everyone cannot learn the same. I saw a huge difference in his learning when he received

the instruction that he needed. For him it was very hard to learn by memorizing things. It took

him a lot of extra practice to learn key idea or concepts. He learned best when mnemonic

devices or tricks were used to help him remember the steps to problems. Learning is not the

same for everyone. I started to realize at this point that different methods of teaching needed to

be used to help students to learn. I also saw firsthand how there is no cookie cutter way to teach

to every student. In order for students to be successful accommodations may be needed to show

what they have learned. For instance, my brother was very successful on tests when they were

presented orally. In my experience when things are presented orally it is much harder for me.

While growing up, I decided that I wanted to teach students and help them to learn. For

my undergraduate, I received a degree in Elementary Education from the University of South

Carolina. During this experience, I learned a lot about Jean Piaget and the cognitive constructive

theory of learning. Piaget was a developmental psychologist who created a theory about

cognitive development of children. His theory consisted of four different stages that children

would move through while learning and developing. I definitely believed in his stages that

students are supposed to naturally go through. I thought that by knowing these stages that it

would help me know how students should learn.

Another idea that I was introduced to in my undergraduate studies was Gardner’s

multiple intelligence theory. Howard Gardner is a developmental psychologist who came up

with seven different intelligences. These intelligences explained how different groups of people

would learn best and what method of material should be presented to them to create ideal

learning experiences. For instance the visual-spatial intelligence student can easily recognize

patterns and visualize things in their mind. This student would do best when ideas or concepts

are presented in a visual manner. This is another theory that I learned during this time and

thought that it would benefit me to help students learn. I believed that everyone had a preference

to learning and a method that worked better for them.

During my undergraduate studies, I was introduced to another concept that I began to

believe during this time which is inquiry based learning. This method I liked because the

students would set up their own questions. Once these questions are formed they would then

research those topics. I remember in my undergraduate years that I thought a lot about this. I

thought that if students took some ownership in their learning than it would make them more

willing to participate and discover. I feel that with anything in life when you take ownership in

something you master the topic that you are learning about. When students have to research a

topic they are interested in they are responsible for learning about it. I felt that this would push

students to learn about specific topics when they are responsible for researching it on their own.

With inquiry based learning, the student is motivated by the interest in a specific topic or idea

which leads to them learning about it.

Most recently I have once again returned to the University of South Carolina to receive

my Masters in Special Education with the focus being Learning Disabilities. After being in the

program for a few years and being at the end of my classes, I have begun to see how another

theory of learning may take precedence over the cognitivist method of learning. This theory is

called the behaviorist theory. Several key points stick out as to why this perspective may be a

better fit for teaching children. The first one being that a behaviorist focuses on the things that

can be seen. Miltenberger (2012) describes these behaviors, “Human behaviors is defined as an

individual’s actions that have one or more physical dimensions and can be observed and

recoded” (p.15). I believe that it is important to focus on the observable or overt behaviors.

When helping students to learn it is important to remember that we can only change what is

observable. In terms of students learning we can only change what we see students know. For

example, we can monitor students learning by seeing how they perform on independent work or

on a graded test. This would show us how students are learning and catching onto material that

is being taught. Miltenberger (2012) also describes overt behaviors, “An overt behavior is an

action that can be observed and recorded by a person other than the one engaging in the

behavior” (p.3). Focusing on observable behaviors is important so that others know what the

student is learning. If it has been observed that a student is not doing well then changes may be

needed to help the student to learn. Maybe the material needs to be retaught or it may just be

needed to be presented in another way. When we are focused on the observable aspect we can

see exactly what the student has learned. Boghossian (2006) agrees that behaviorists focus on

the overt behaviors, “…behaviorism’s focus is on the external observation of lawful relations

between and among outwardly observable stimuli and the responses that follow.” This statement

reiterates the importance on focusing on the observable aspect as to how students are changing or

learning.

As a teacher it is important to focus on the things that can be changed. By focusing on

the observable behaviors we can change the environment to get the behaviors that we see more

desirable. Overskeid (2008) states “…behaviorists were interested in the relation between

behavior and environment.” Focusing on the observable behaviors is what individual education

plan goals should be written from this way you can easily see if a student has met the goal. Data

collection is also easier to maintain and manage since you are only focusing on the observable

aspects.

Problem behaviors are another area where it is important to focus on what you can see. It

is not possible to change the inner workings to behavior but you can change the observable

aspect. I have also come to believe that our environment has a big influence on our behaviors.

Miltenberger (2012) has this to say about how the environment affects human behavior, “Human

behavior is controlled by events in the immediate environment, and the goal of behavior

modification is to identify those events” (p. 5). When the focus is on the observable behaviors it

is easier to track progress that is made from the student. Although changing problem behaviors

is not academic these behaviors often affect the ability for students to learn. As educators we

must help the students to learn academics but also learn desirable behaviors.

Another key idea that has become prevalent in my thinking is direct instruction. I have

seen while working in the different classrooms that explicit teaching of a skill is essential for

students learning. Mercer, Mercer, and Pullen (2011) have this to say about direct instruction,

“Because most students with learning problems need much teacher assistance, explicit and

interactive instruction are emphasized” (p.123). When using direct instruction students know

exactly what they need to know and are taught through errorless teaching. Nelson and Price

(2007) state “Direct Instruction is explicit teaching” (p.137). I have seen direct instruction taught

by other teachers and also have taught using this method myself. Through this model they are

first going to see the correct way, then practice it, and then practice the skill on their own. “That

is, the teacher demonstrates the skill, the teacher and students do the skill together, and the

students do the skill by themselves” (Nelson and Price, 2007, p.137). When teaching a skill or

topic directly students are able to learn the correct way and practice those skills in the

appropriate way.

Throughout my life I have been introduced to different theories on how students learn.

There have been some big impacts that have changed the way that I have thought about this idea.

Some of these experiences have been personal and others have been from my own learning.

References

Boghossian, P. (2006). Behaviorism, constructivism, and socratic pedagogy. Educational

Philosophy and Theory, 38(6), 713-722.

Mercer, C. D., Mercer, A. R., & Pullen, P. C. (2011). Teaching students with learning problems.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

Miltenberger, R. G. (2012). Behavior modification: Principles & procedures. Belmont,

California: Wadsworth.

Overskeid, G. (2008). They should have thought about the consequences: The crisis of

cognitivist and a second chance for behavior analysis. Psychological Record, 58(1), 131-

151.

Price, K. M., & Nelson, K. L. (2007). Planning effective instruction: Diversity responsive

methods and management. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.