|
 Academic Year: |
2014/5 |
| Owning Department/School: |
Department of Education |
| Credits: |
18 |
| Level: |
Doctoral (FHEQ level 8) |
| Period: |
Modular (no specific semester) |
| Assessment Summary: |
CW 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
|
| Supplementary Assessment: |
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites: |
|
| Description: |
Aims: The aims of this unit are to: i. enable participants to develop a critical understanding of key theories of learning, their origins and influences in present society and educational institutions in particular; ii. highlight key similarities and differences between learning occurring at different stages throughout people's lives and in different contexts; iii. encourage participants to reflect critically on probable and possible educational futures and their implications for learning; iv. engage them in a critical analysis of processes and outcomes of learning, including the relationship between learning, teaching and assessment; v. promote meta-learning, involving participants in a deeper awareness of their own approaches to and feelings about learning as they progress through the unit. Learning Outcomes: As a result of the development of their critical understanding, participants will be better able to: 1. critically examine learning policies and practices from a range of theoretical perspectives; 2. articulate how they draw on previous experiences to understand and evaluate the present, so as to shape future action and formulate new knowledge; 3. determine which approaches to learning can best be applied in their own educational contexts; 4. engage in and promote effective learning relationships with other learners to enhance: the development and exchange of knowledge and insight, and the synthesis of such knowledge into wider understanding; 5. design, execute and critically analyse a piece of research on learning in a setting of their choice, using appropriate research methodology. Teaching Given the particular subject matter of this unit, it is particularly important that a range of teaching and learning strategies be used, to model processes of effective learning most likely to ensure that course aims and objectives are met for all participants. Skills: (i) Apply a systematic and coherent approach to critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of ideas, information and issues that is well-grounded in existing educational research and literature in the area of teaching and learning (intellectual skill) (ii) Identify and address complex and/or emerging issues in teaching and learning and make informed judgements in the absence of complete or consistent information (professional/ practical skill) (iii) Continually develop and enhance participants' own practice in teaching and learning through critical reflection and practical action with the aim of improving conditions for the development of all involved in the educational enterprise (professional/ practical skill) (iv) Continually develop and enhance participants' own practice and influence the practice of others in the area of teaching and learning through critical reflection and practical action with the aim of improving conditions for the development of all involved in the educational enterprise (professional/ practical skill) (v) Use networked learning technologies as a means of developing one's own professional practice and scholarship (transferable skill). Content: Section One: Conceptions of Learning i. Perspectives on learning - psychological, sociological, historical, philosophical, including behaviourist, social constructivist, cultural. Also, distinction between learning and pedagogy. ii. The purposes of education and implications for orientation to learning, expected learning outcomes, including policy thrusts, for example the Learning Society. iii. Educational futures and their implications for learning futures, including the knowledge revolution. Section Two: Learning - Ages and Stages iv. Learning from cradle to grave, analysing influences on and distinctions between learning in the early, junior, middle, secondary and post-secondary years. v. Lifelong learning and learning in education-related profeessions - understanding key concepts of adult learning and cross-disciplinary comparisons. Section Three: Processes of Learning vi. The characteristics of learners - what state the learner is in, the notion of learning styles, intelligences, motivation to learn. vii. Understandings from research on the brain and the mind, and their implications for learning. viii. How the learning context influences learning ix. What is 'effective learning'? Section Four: Implications for Teaching and Assessment x. Teaching-learning processes for effective learning xi. New technologies as a tool to promote and enhance learning xii. Assessment for learning. |
| Programme availability: |
ED60281 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Education
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