Nur Sholihah 15301241020 PMI 2015

Facilitating Meaningful Learning Experience

T. Grady Roberts

One of the most important question for the evaluation of a class is that how does it like when
students are “getting it”?

The first answer is when students start to volunteering to ask questions. When students are
getting and interesting with the matetrial we talking about, they’ll start to think deeper about
that until questions rise on their mind. These questions is the one that will develop student’s
knowledge later on. Furthermore, the level of student’s understanding could be seen in their
body languange as well. Some simple body languange like nodding head and humming could
show that students are getting the matter.

What is something you can do to make your teaching more meaningful for the student :

Principle 1 : Begin with the existing knowledge and experiences of the learner
We have getting to know who are our student, where they want to go, what they
wanna be, and what experience they have. Dont assume that they are all the same , such as
the brain and the stick.
There’s no such thing like blank slate. Student will process information that we
give based on their level understanding. Teacher must think about what is on their slate
and building over that.
Something that teachers can do to improve learning in class are:
 Do some sort of assessment whether its for more information to kind of gather
what’s the student know
 Try to connect what they already know with concept map.
Principle 2 : Learning is a cyclical process
First we have an initial focus with concept. Then the teacher give the student an
experiences. After they have an experience student will do some reflection about what
they learn from the experiences. If they make some mistake, they wouldnt make the same
mistake then and look for the other ways, its called generalization. And then, the another
experience follows.

Experience

Next Literation
Initial Focus of cycle

Generalization Reflection
 Nur Sholihah 15301241020 PMI 2015

For example, experience riding a bike. First, we was riding tricycle, then we fell
because it doesnt balance. We do some reflection and think that we can learn about
balance so we wouldnt fall again.
As a teacher we should help our students to reflected and generalized from the
experiences, because learning experience its not always successful, we can learn from the
unsuccessful too.
Principle 3 : Learning is about transforming experiences
As teacher we have our goal that is take things in the whole wide world to the
brain of the students, its called transforming experiences of the students.
How does the brain get information : creating opportunity for the student to use
their sensory to know the concept we want them to know. As the information travelling
into our braint the more ways we can get it in there the deeper it’s going to be embedded.
This is the information processing model,

Input Sensory Input Working Memory Longterm Memory

Experential Process Cognitive (mental) Process

Experience Reflection, Generalization

An input through our senses, then our sense transformed into working memory and
than stored into long-term memory and then we need to use its pull back into working
memory.
Principle 4 : Learning is about building connections
Learning process actually causes Physical changes in human brain. In psychology
there is a cognitive schema that makes a lot of sense in how to think about how people
learn. Schema visualized as kind of a web of existing knowledge.

New knowledge

existing knowledge
 Nur Sholihah 15301241020 PMI 2015

About a novice versus an expert, these schema might different. The expert is going
to have more connections and probably also have more modules, so it will be much more
connections.
The existing schema of every students will never be the same. So, the challenges as
a teacher we present that new piece of knowledge, we can create a lecture, an experiment,
a reading activity, etc. We can do this very well, we can get lots of new knowledge but
whats the problem here is its not connected. To help students build the connections is give
them different opportunities.
Processing an Experiences:
Assimilation : if the experience is consistent with what you know.
Accommodation : if the experience is new and diferent, new schema are developed to
accommodate that information.

Principle 5 : Teaching is about creating meaningful learning experiences

The differences between teaching and facilitation:
Teaching Facilitation
Teachers delivers knowledge Teachers construct knowledge
Instruction is rigidly planned Instruction is flexible and spontanous
Teacher has control of the environment Teacher and learners share control
Learners are passive Learners are active

So, you can immidiately change in the way you teach to better facilitate
meaningful learning : Help the student draw the connections.