|
 Academic Year:
| 2012/3 |
| Owning Department/School:
| Department of Education |
| Credits:
| 0 |
| Level:
| Doctoral (FHEQ level 8) |
| Period: |
Modular (no specific semester) |
| Assessment:
| CW 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| |
| Description:
| In a society where the knowledge base increases rapidly, governments increasingly highlight the importance of learning, and its role in relation to increasing capacity for and using knowledge. Phrases such as 'the learning society', 'lifelong learning' and 'national grid for learning' are part of today's reality. But what is known about learning and what are the implications of this for policy and practice? In this unit participants will explore their own assumptions about learning and those of others, engage with a range of theoretical frameworks, and consider implications for policy, practice and their own learning. While a major focus of this unit will be on learning in educational settings, it will also be of interest to those who wish to examine learning from other perspectives. 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. Assignment: Students will be expected to complete a written assignment of 8000 words. The precise assignment topic will be negotiated between the course participant and the Unit tutor, but might take one of the following forms: * a case study of learning in the course participant's own workplace, evaluated through critical engagement with the unit literature; * critical analysis of a particular learning policy in relation to the issues and research literature covered in the unit. 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 professions - 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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