Description
Traditionally, schools have been seen as the place where learning occurs, yet people are continually learning all day, every day. In this assessment, you will explore how you learn best when you are learning something of interest, and you will compare and contrast your preferences with a case study.
Part 1
Imagine you have inherited a ton of money and will never have to work for income for the rest of your life. Think of something you have wished you could experience or learn or figure out if only you had the time or money or energy. What would you learn, and how would you do it? Is your unique way of approaching learning this thing like other people’s, or is it different?
Apply learning theory terminology and concepts to describe the learning situation.
Identify what you will learn.
Using a learning theory of your choice from any presented in the course, explain your understanding of this topic, concept, or skill so far.
Describe how you will learn your new topic, concept, or skill.
Predict what you should be able to do or understand after your learning experience, using terms from this theory.
Justify which learning theory best supports your personal learning situation.
Explain why this plan works best for you. Is it your personality, experience, knowledge, or something else that makes this the best plan?
Critique this theory: what could it explain well about you and your learning plan and what could it simply not?
Part 2
Analyze the ability of a theory to explain and predict a case.
Identify what the person in the case was hoping to learn.
Explore whether your approach to learning your topic, concept, or skill from Part 1, above, would work effectively for the person in the selected case to learn their topic, concept, or skill.
Explain any challenges that would be involved for the person from the case study learning this way.
Critique the learning theory you chose in Part 1 for its ability to explain and predict learning for the person.
Note: You are asked to write from your perspective for many of the elements of this paper. When you are presenting your own theoretical orientation and learning plan, it is most appropriate to use the first person.
Written communication: Write coherently to support central ideas, in appropriate APA format, and with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Tone: Write in the first person when you are presenting your own theoretical orientation and learning plan.
Length of paper: 4–6 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page or reference page.
References: At least five scholarly articles (from peer-reviewed journals). Books and other sources can be used, if needed, in addition to the journal articles.
APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources in the body of your paper and in alphabetical order on the reference page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Evaluate the strengths, limitations, and applications of the foundational learning theories.
Justify which learning theory best supports a personal learning situation.
Analyze the ability of a theory to explain and predict a case.
Competency 2: Evaluate the strengths, limitations, and applications of learning principles and concepts.
Apply learning theory terminology and concepts to describe a learning situation.
Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
CASE:
Ari describes himself as being an “awkward geeky sort”. His very favorite thing to do is play video games, particularly creative and multiplayer games, and he is quite famous in his online communities and has developed a popular YouTube channel mostly with his Minecraft server.
At 10 years old, Ari is 5’ 7” tall. His physical development is “off the chart” and physical education teachers have tried to coax him into athletic activities for years as they see his height as a true advantage. Ari’s parents say “his body hasn’t caught up with itself yet. He stumbles on stairs and bumps into walls… he just doesn’t have much coordination. Everyone in our family is tall (both of us are over 6’2”), and we all took this same path. Sports don’t tend to work well until about 13 or 14 years old, sadly.”
At school, Ari has begun to notice that all the popular boys are athletes, and has now shared with his parents “I just want to be able to run fast and throw a ball… I’m tired of being picked last all the time in gym class, and I just want to fit in”. They have noticed that Ari’s performance at school seems to be suffering lately; he claims it is a result of being a social outcast. The parents said “well, he’s learning something at this school, but maybe not what we would hope he is learning. Maybe we should look at a different kind of school.”
