When I first started this blog, I was just starting to find web sites and blogs that contained information about Learning Theories and how they impact Instructional Design. Since then, I have gained more experience and found bloggers on the web as well as organizations that provide, free of charge, the kind of information I am looking for in the program. I previously mentioned Eric Jensen and Judy Willis. What I did not point out was that they are both contributing members of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.) By joining this one professional association, I have attended numerous webinars (free to members) by the leaders in the field of learning theories and instructional design. They always follow up with transcripts and additional links for further research on my part.
While our text book stated that “brain-based research give us many clues about how we can best help learners acquire important information and skills” (Ormrod, Shunk, & Gredler, 2008, p. 46), I disagree. Perhaps this was truer in 2008 than now. In just one of the webinars I attended, “7 Discoveries From Brain Research That Could Revolutionize Education” I learned seven of the newest discoveries from brain-based research and how to specifically apply these findings in either classroom teaching or instructional design, or both. (Jensen, 2010).
Additionally, I just received another set of documents from a webinar held by Thomas Armstrong on Integrating 'Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom', held on November 9, 2010. This webinar was very enlightening about the most current ways to develop lesson activities that incorporate most of the multiple intelligences as defined by Howard Gardner.
Then there is Dr. Kathie Nunley’s website and blog about Layered Curriculum. She provides a wide variety of resources each week, as well as making past postings available. For instance, this week she has the following items available on her home page:
· Avoid Internal Tracking,
· Hot Topic: Listening to Music while studying.
· Parts 1 and 2 of a four part series for designing a Layered Curriculum Unit.
For a quick overview of the concept and ideas of how to apply it, read web page "An Overview of Dr. Kathie Nunley’s Layered Curriculum" at http://help4teachers.com/how.htm. It sounds like a lot of lesson planning and designs, but there are teachers around the globe contributing lessons they designed so you can start with those. I like the idea of providing the students with their choices up front, and then allowing them to decide what they will work on, knowing how many points they can earn. Each of the three layers (A, B, and C) provides a variety of assignments for them to choose from to earn points. Assessment is done one-on-one with the teacher, verbally, with the student explaining what they learned and how they learned it. At the end of each unit (usually a two week time frame) each student knows how many points they earned, and therefore, what grade they earned. There are no surprises and each student decided for themselves what grade they wanted to work for. This is a great approach to teaching students self-motivation and responsibility for their decisions.
My last web site/blogger/author to introduce you to is Dr. Judy Willis. She has an interesting approach to how to use the discoveries in brain-based research in math classrooms. The blogs are currently going through selections from her recent book “Learning to Love Math”. This week’s entry is entitled “Why Feeling Good Can Help You Get Good at Math”. (Willis, 2010)
References:
Armstrong, Thomas, 9 Nov 2010. Integrating Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. ASCD Webinar, Retrieved from http://ascd.org/professional-development/webinars/thomas-armstrong-webinar.aspx
Jensen, Eric, 7 Dec. 2010. 7 Discoveries From Brain Research That Could Revolutionize Education ASCD Webinar, Retrieved from http://www.jensenlearning.com/pdf/10MostEffectiveTips.pdf
Nunley, Kathie, 1998. An Overview of Dr Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum, Retrieved from http://help4teachers.com/how.htm
Willis, Judy, 2010. Why Feeling Good Can Help You Get Good at Math. Learning to Love Math. Retrieved from http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2010/12/why-feeling-good-can-help-you-get-good-at-math.html)
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