STUDY GROUP OUTLINE

1. During the mid-Twentieth Century and, in many places into the 1990s, the “behaviorist” approach to learning was predominant (Pg iv). Depending on your age, reflect back (either as student or teacher) on your grade school, junior high and senior high school years. What do you remember about your educational experience that is different than the experiences you offer to your students now?
2. Research in cognitive psychology now shows that people learn not by repetition but by integration. The authors identify 15 facts about how the mind works (Pgs iv-v), including contextual and subject-specific instruction, transference of skills, practical and immediate practice of new skills, and development of background knowledge prior to presentation of new knowledge. Select one or two of these to discuss that surprised you.
3. “Teaching means teaching students to think. It assumes that teaching is not just about communicating facts or mechanical skills . . . but is a process of coming to understand the world.” (Pg v) How does this statement relate to your own idea of what teaching means?
4. Since you became a classroom teacher have you performed research projects (informal or formal) on your students? (Pg vi) Have you referred to published research to learn new ideas . . .or to confirm your own ideas? If you have consulted research, what did you find? If you have not, why haven’t you?
5. Very little research has been done specifically on how adults learn, except in the context of university education and senior citizens. (Pg vi) Why do you think this is so?

Next | Table of Contents