understanding the personal, socio-cultural and physical dimensions of learning john h. falk, ph.d....
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding the Personal, Socio-
Cultural and Physical Dimensions of
Learning John H. Falk, Ph.D.
Lynn D. Dierking, Ph.D.
Institute for Learning InnovationAnnapolis, MD
Macro View:
• We live in a Learning Society; Learning is 24/7
• Less than 3% of our lives are spent participating in formal instruction.
• Children spend 85% of their waking hours outside of school.
• Most of what we learn, we learn through free-choice learning.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
LIFE SPAN
11:00PM
7:00PM
3:00PM
11:00AM
7:00AM
TIM
E
MONTH
S
2 4
6
8 1
0 1
2K-12 Colle
ge
Learning Infrastructure
Science Centres & Museums
InternetPrint Media
(Books, Magazines, Newspapers
WorkplaceCommunity Organizatio
ns
Friends & Family
Electronic Media (TV, radio,
film)
Schools &Universities
Faith-based Organizatio
nsLibraries
Micro View:
• We currently know quite a bit about the nature of learning; learning not the way we used to think it was.
• We also currently know quite a bit about the factors that significantly contribute to learning.
• We are just beginning to understand how these multiple factors individually and collectively interact to determine the course and nature of learning.
Changing Models
• Behaviorist-Positivist Model– Known Learner + Known Intervention =
Known Learning Outcome (Learning Passive Process of Responding to
a Stimulus in a Controlled Environment)
• Constructivist-Relativist Model– Unique Learner + Constructs Meaning from
Interventions = Multiple Learning Outcomes (Learning Active Process of Making Meaning
in a Complex Real World)
What is the nature of LEARNING?
• Learning begins with the individual.
• Learning involves others. • Learning takes place somewhere.
• Learning occurs over time.
The Contextual Model of Learning
Personal Context
• Prior Knowledge and Experience
• Prior Interest
• Expectations and Motivations
• Perceived Choice and Control
Socio-Cultural Context
• Cultural Values
• Within group social interactions
• Interactions with others outside of social group (e.g., teachers, guides, other visitors)
Physical Context
• Orientation
• Advance Organizers
• Nature of Physical Environment
• Design of Educational Intervention
Time
Don’t underestimate the importance of subsequent reinforcing (and non-reinforcing) experiences!
Brain, Body & World
“Intelligence and understanding are rooted not in the presence and manipulation of explicit, language-like data structures, but in something more earthy: the tuning of basic responses to a real world that enables an embodied organism to sense, act and survive.”
Andy Clark, 1997, Being There: Putting brain, body and world together again.