How Do People Learn?

How Can
Learning Theory inform Teacher?
EDPC 605 Karrie Chan

How do people learn and develop?

Develop appropriate teaching on lessons that are adapted to
developmental needs of individual students
o Physical, social interactive, emotional, cognitive and linguistic
development are all important in students learning
Connect from prior knowledge, engage and have them construct their own
knowledge and meaning
o Via Visualization by drawing picture, Articulation by speaking verbally,
or Literacy through writing
Use Multiple Intelligence to learn in variety ways, this help deepen
student understanding by offering different angles
o Linguistic
o Logical
o Musical
o Spatial
o Bodily-Kinesthetic
o Interpersonal & Intrapersonal

How can my teaching and classroom environment

support learning for understanding?
Build prior knowledge and connection so students can actively engage
Start with open-ended questions for students and have students explain
their thought
Build lesson at knowledge level appropriate to the students. Start with
open-ended questions for students, have students explain their thought
Create interactive activities or experiment. Let students involve
Encourage students to take risk and it is okay to fail so they can learn from
their mistakes
Coach students and encourage them to articulate their own feeling
because students learn best when they are happy and motivated

How can learning theory inform my

teaching practice?
create connections, access prior knowledge and experience to help
students feel more engaged and connected, thus more motivation
Create safe classroom, coach students with emotions and conflicts that
can be obstacles in learning
Ask open-ended questions, encourage students to think so they can learn
the subject more in depth
help students accomplish complex tasks by coaching, scaffolding, assisting
and guide them to reflect on their own and revise
Enhance students motivation by encouraging them to be thoughtfully and
critically engaged in the learning process

How can interactions among the learner, the classroom

environment, and the teaching/ learning process produce
motivation to learn and build strong learning communities
Students connect to the real world situation so they may transfer
knowledge in different settings
Students get to explore answer on their own and feel satisfaction to
accomplish and thus more motivation to remember them and able
to use it in wider variety situations
Students gains support on social, emotional, and academic growth
which make them feel competent
Students individual strength are identified so they feel unique and
confident
Students are encouraged to learn from mistakes so they are not
afraid to fail and dare to take risk to succeed