Learning Theory and Implications for Instruction

Catalog description

This course will examine the major theories and models for understanding how students learn. Attention will be given to the cognitive, affective, sensory/psychomotor, and sociological domains and implications for learning through differing modalities. Contributions of neuroscience to understanding child and adolescent research are explored, and structural barriers to learning such as stereotype threat are discussed. Students will gain insights into the interplay of learner characteristics, prior knowledge and experiences, the medium of instruction, and cultural influences that construct learning environments, and understand that learning is contextual, with no single theory universally applying to every student in every situation.