Week 9: What is learning? How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?

window.onerror=function(){return true;}; What is Learning? As I’ve created lesson plans for this class, I’ve sensed an underlying theme. I’m not sure if it’s because of my own beliefs about education, or if it stems from the different learning theories we’ve read about and discussed, or if it comes from the other blogs I’ve read from my classmates. However, we all seem to agree on a couple key parts of a whole definition.   First, learning occurs when a student can integrate the concepts into their own life experiences. For example, “I need to know this because it helps when I” … *insert experience here.* Second, learning affects decisions that students make. For example, “Because I learned *this*, I will make *that* decision in the future.”     How can a teacher/trainer best effectuate learning?   As I created this week’s situated cognition lesson plan, I found that one way I can best effectuate learning is by instilling a desire for students to know more. Teaching about different careers is very personal to the kids, and I think that their behavior will change as a result. They may take specific classes because of what they’ve learned from me, for example.   My lesson this week was Disease Detective, something that CTE teachers around Utah use to teach students about healthcare informatics careers. If I teach this lesson well, the kids will want to know more about what they could do for a healthcare career. We research a lot of different careers, and while at the beginning of the rotation, it seems that all students want to either be a vet or a professional athlete, I do see some of them looking into healthcare informatics-related careers after we have this lesson.   Teachers working hard to excite students about their subject is very important in creating well-rounded and informed future adults!