What is Learning Part 1

Learning is so much more than understanding. I think that learning is understanding plus being able to transfer that knowledge or skill into another situation. For example, in my English class, it's great when students can learn to identify and explain a theme in The Odyssey. I know that learning has occurred when students can take that same skill and identify and explain a theme from Romeo and Juliet. Real learning can be applied or transferred into multiple situations.

As a teacher I can effectuate learning by giving my students plenty of examples as opposed to expecting students to generate successful results from the beginning. Successful learning doesn't just happen all of a sudden; successful learning has to be scaffolded and guided. For example, I must give my students examples of themes in many pieces of literature. I must teach student that simply coming up with a simple truth in a piece of literature is not enough. That is a starting point that must be explained and defended. I need to walk students through this process using multiple pieces of literature. Once we do these steps, it is much more likely that students have learned to identify and explain a theme because they have done the steps in various situations. At that point, I must make sure that we discuss that learning at different times throughout the class so they can stay sharp and keep that learning.