Finding Confidence in a Subject I Despise
I believe that learning can and should be very personal and uncover many layers of oneself which is represented through this week’s theories and readings including, “The Backwards Brain Bicycle” video and Destin’s personal journey challenged by lessened neuroplasticity as he proves, “knowledge does not equal understanding”(SmarterEveryDay, 2015), understanding requires going beyond. Also proven by Keller’s Arcs Model and the importance of personal motivation supported by attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction and how these are approached in learning (EdTech Admin, 2023a). Some of my strongest learning experiences have less to do with pieces like rote memorization or passive reception and much more with finding ways to relate and find mental comfort within the learning process. My best learning experience was not about just solving or mastering equations but really challenging my relationship with a subject I once despised, algebra.
Math and I have a complicated relationship often challenged by testing anxieties and ADHD. However, my high school mathematics teacher, Mrs. Pang helped shift this when it came to our algebra unit. She was somehow a mix of patient, disciplined and accommodating in her approach. She was able to consider my needs even before I had fully known or accepted what these were. In this class we didn’t just sit still and listen, we were constantly engaged in some way, aligning with the cognitive view that “knowledge acquisition is… a mental activity that entails internal coding and structuring by the learner. The learner is viewed as a very active participant in the learning process” (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Going beyond just cognitivist principles, this experience was deeply constructivist. We were actively engaged through collaboration, hands-on activities, representations and real world practices including using algebra to design bridges, calculate paper airplane trajectory, or research how we personally use algebra in our everyday lives.
These fun and interactive projects allowed us to “create meaning from [our] own experiences” (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Mrs. Pang guided me in “organizing that information in… [an] optimal way” (Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 51), by drawing out algebraic frameworks or steps for me to analyze visually, making complex concepts digestible and helping me build a coherent mental framework, which was extremely helpful for managing my ADHD. Learning by doing and relating algebra to real life allowed me to construct understanding through meaningful context, going beyond “retrieving intact knowledge structures” and instead providing “the means to create novel and situation-specific understandings by ‘assembling’ prior knowledge” (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). This strong instructional design and learner awareness can significantly increase motivation and success by helping students feel capable and engaged and that’s exactly what it did for me, allowing me to grow a fondness for algebra (EdTech Admin, 2023a).
Reflecting on this experience, I disagree with two points from the reading. First, behaviourism’s “lack of internal focus.” As Ertmer and Newby describe, behaviourism as making, “No attempt… to determine the structure of a student’s knowledge,” characterizing the learner as simply reactive. Similarly, I disagree with the “objectivistic” assumption in traditional behavioural and cognitive theories, where “the goal of instruction is to map the structure of the world onto the learner” (Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 55). To me, effective learning is dynamic, interpretive, and grounded in experience as these pieces all played key roles in my algebraic journey to success.
References:
EdTech Admin. (2023a, May 1). Motivation and Learning – EDCI 335. EDCI 335 Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/motivation/
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective.Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.
SmarterEveryDay. (2015, April 24). The Backwards Brain Bicycle – Smarter Every Day 133. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0
EdTech Admin. (2023b, May 1). Why is learning hard? – EDCI 335. EDCI 335. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/why-is-learning-hard/