Section 2: Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction

If someone was to ask me to define epistemology before I read Section 2, I would have had no idea where to start.  But after my readings I discovered that epistemology is “the philosophy of how people learn”, I wouldn’t call myself a scholar in epistemology but I do know more now on how people learn than I knew last week. Yeah me!  According to the text book, epistemology “is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and understanding – their foundations, assumption and validity.” (pg. 54) There are two main theories/models that researchers developed to help better understand the way people learn and they are positivist (also called objectivist) and relativist (also called constructivist). Truths vs Beliefs. 
In a nutshell here is a basic breakdown of the differences of the two.
Positivism:  (truths)
Analyze * Content * Setting * Learner
Identify * Instructional Needs
Establish *Instructional Goals

Relativism: (beliefs)
Visualize * Learning environment *Learner * Problem * Key Concepts
Set * Learner goals * Learning Styles
Evaluate *Context-Dependent

When I study the difference of the two theories and reflect on which theory I teach more like, I would have to say relativism. I spent some time pondering why that is…. and I decided it’s because that is the way I was taught in college back in the late 90’s. That got me to wondering what method are today’s teachers are being taught to teach? Then I started to think what about the learner… are we teaching to them using the right method? Lots of things for me to consider about my teaching methods.

Just when I thought I knew all there was to know about learning theories, the text book gave me a curveball... a third method  called hermenutical. I need to explorer the hermeneutical theory more but in my research I found this definition, which I like. Hermeneutical: “Theory of interpretation and understanding that no observation or description is free from the effects of the observer's experiences, pre-suppositions, and projections of his or her personal values and expectations. Hermeneutic is Greek for, interpreter.”    (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/hermeneutic-circle.html#ixzz2BwdEpZF8) To me, it’s different from positivist and relativist theories because hermeneutic is based off of ones knowledge as a whole. One cannot understand without knowing the individual part building to the whole text. And the meaning of the text must be found within its cultural context.

We all know the old saying “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” Well this holds true when we look at one of the ultimate goals as a teacher and that goal is to teach problem solving. The difference between behaviorist and constructive perspectives is the teacher will either teach by a style that is “tell information” or “show portrayal”.  Reading section 2 got me to thinking about the way I learn, I’m more of a visual learner. Which makes "show protrayal" style the way I problem solve. And I tend to teach that way. To me, motivation is the best tool in a teacher’s tool box. We need to learn what motivates our students and tap into that behavior. It’s important to learn how to motivate students at the three levels of motivation: 1. Learn 2. Work 3. Self-motivation. I believe that good motivation will turn out good performances in the field of instructional design. I warn myself and my fellow colleges that it’s impossible to motivate all students all the time due to the variability of learners, individuals, attitudes, expectations, and/or situations. So don’t give up or get discouraged. Just keep teaching and trying!

In conclusion, knowing my students and knowing my style of teaching will help me teacher teach better and my students learn more successfully.  As educators, we must not be hung up on only one style of teaching but learn many styles. This will allow all students to succeed as well as us teachers.