TEACHNOLOGY: Meaningful Learning Theory & Theory of Instruction

Theory of Instruction play a critical role in one’s learning as a behavior that stimulates recall of prior learning by enhancing retention and transfer. Hence, gaining learners’ attentions is one the emergent component of Gagne’s Theory of Instruction (as cited in Driscoll, 2005, p.349). More significantly, every individual has different type of learning styles so it is crucially important to aware how to present an input effectively in order to prepare learners to offer feedback or to ask for a demonstration to check the comprehension. Gagne’s Nine Levels of Instruction provides us a step by a step approach that can help trainees and facilitators structure their training so that the target learners get most from their learning opportunities. This journal aims to take a brief look at instructional theories of Gagne (1985) and Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning and Schema Theory (1963) by explaining the relationship between instructional theory and learning theory in detailed.

As clearly stated in Driscoll’s Chapter 10, learning occurs whenever the conditions are ripe and it proceeds continually however, instruction can be defined as the deliberate arrangement of learning conditions to promote attainment of some intended goals (Driscoll, 2005). There are some strategies to gain attention such as using intonations and adjusting volume of your voice, demonstrating a warm-up video on the topic of instruction, or using some true/ concocting stories. Next level is to inform learners about what they need to learn and why they need to learn it. Explaining to the learners how their knowledge will shape and what outcomes they will get at the end of the course is an effective way of informing level. After that, matching and connecting new information with the previous knowledge or topics learnt before can be used to stimulate learners to recall of prior learning. Verbal clues, active learning and verbal instruction that suit different learning styles are good to organize information in a logical way for the fourth level called “presenting the stimulus”. Furthermore, semantic encoding is another way of retaining the input through analogies, storytelling, and using graphic organizers so that the alternative way of retaining knowledge is given thoroughly. To elicit, a role play or presenting a demo of what is learnt can be used as a practice of “responding level” and it also gives instructor an opportunity to observe one’s progress and outcomes of a new knowledge. Finally, giving feedback, assessing performance and enhancing retention & transfer are the last three levels of instruction by Gagne (1985). Short tests, pop-up quizzes, questionnaires, and completing a KWL chart are the good examples of assessing performance of learners. Moreover, there are many ways to do this as an instructor but the general idea is to create a learning environment where the learners are committed to process new knowledge of information and transferring the output to the other source of knowledge.

On the other hand, another theory called Schema and Meaningful Learning developed by David P. Ausubel (1963) deals with how much knowledge is cognitively structured and how well it is organized. To put simply, advanced organizer model provides a means of generating the logical relationship and influence learners’ encoding process however it has not been discussed the effectiveness of this model by Ausubel (1963).

As Ausubel considered human nervous system as a data processing and storage mechanism,  he firmly stressed out meaning occurs when learners actively interpret their experiences using their cognitive operations (as cited in Driscoll, 2005, p. 114). Whilst “Reception Learning” refers to expository instruction;  just as a teacher incorporates an advanced organizer when teaching similarities and differences of plant and animal cells, discovery learning, “Discovery Learning” is discovering missing means-end relationship just as conducting an experiment to report how a volcano erupts or how objects sink or float in water. The processes meaningful learning can occurs when the learner processes the input meaningfully to what learner already knows whereas rote learning is like memorizing a national anthem without getting its meaning in general and it does not require understanding.

Regarding to all discussed above, today we are dealing with “Teachnology” that is a portmanteau combines knowledge with technology. Technology and teaching go well together when it is combined with a meaningful and comprehensible input with a tool offering affective instruction. That’s the reason, comprehension check questions; CCQ technique is significant since we should not ask the prototype question: “Do you understand?” instead “Ask me two questions about animals and their habitats” or “ask questions to answer the concepts in your graphic organizers” and so forth. CCQ is an excellent way of increasing students’ participation and lowering teacher talk time as well as allowing teachers to assess comprehension quickly and helping students focused.

Furthermore, there are three types of CCQ: yes/no questions, discrimination question, limited answer question. For instance; after teaching some vocabulary items like a “pen” asking “ is this a pen? “This is a basic yes/ no question. Then, asking questions like “which one is the pen? Which ones can be used as an eraser?” this refers to “discrimination question”. Last component is the limited answer question that refers to the question format like “what do you highlight with a highlighter?” In addition, there are some core points in giving instruction, students should know why the activity is given, whom they are going to work, what they are supposed to do, how much time they will have to complete the task provided. All these forms of questions facilitate learners to interpret a phenomena surrounding our schema. Since it is super easy to miss something that we are not looking for unless we as instructors provide learners the conditions under which learning goals and outcomes will be attained.

References

Driscoll, M. P., (2005). Meaningful learning and schema theory (pp.115-152).

Driscoll, M. P., (2005). Learning and Instruction (pp.349-377).