Practice Analysis

Group Member	Commented on:
Allison Hillis (Interview, reflection)	Group 1, Group 3
Joe DeGraaf (Introduction, analysis)	Group 2
Byron Ballard (Implications)	Group 1
Casey Schultz (Interview, table, post to blog)	Group 1

Introduction

            The learning process is a part of every learning experience. When accomplished successfully, learning flows more smoothly and there is a greater ability to understand and develop as a learner. When the learning process is halted or incomplete, learning can stagnate and the experience may provide little of value to the learner. To better understand the learning process in its practical application, we interviewed two current educators in adult and higher education.

            Ms. Sarah Aldridge is an Instructional Design and Technology Consultant for the Division of Online and Strategic Learning at Ball State University. In addition to assisting faculty members with creating courses that promote successful learning by utilizing technology both old and new, Ms. Aldridge teaches courses for Ball State both online and in person. Ms. Aldridge has been teaching for eight years, beginning at Central Michigan University and eventually moving on to Ball State University.

            Jenny Jones (pseudonym) is currently an instructor at an in-state university. Throughout her career, she has taught adults at various levels of education. She has facilitated short one-time workshops, entry level college classes, as well as other undergraduate and graduate courses. She has experience in providing traditional, face-to-face courses in addition to online asynchronous opportunities.

When asked about her most memorable teaching experience, Ms. Aldridge spoke of an introductory Communications course that she taught on campus at Central Michigan University in 2011. She described the diverse background of the students in the class and the bond that they were able to create, despite the vast differences in their previous experiences. In particular, she recalled a discussion on marginalization and how groups can be muted through communication. She noted how the students took ownership of the material, sharing their experiences to one another and speaking from the heart (Aldridge, personal communication, October 19, 2017).

For this Communications course, Ms. Aldridge noted the common bond that each of her students shared in being all first-time freshmen (Aldridge, personal communication, October 19, 2017). This shared experience, along with Ms. Adridge’s own honesty about being new to the university and city, allowed the students to gain confidence and grow more comfortable with their setting.

Ms. Jones also commented on the importance of beginning a course in the right way in order to ensure the success of the students. She compared her former experiences as an online educator with the changes she has made today, arguing the importance of setting the student up for success. She accomplishes this through a variety of means, not least of which is the transition to new technologies. She explained that if learners have to spend their time learning about how to use the technology, they subsequently lose time in learning the content for the course. To accommodate this need, Ms. Jones creates easy and recognizable buttons and labels as well as helpful links to aid in navigation. She then keeps all of these items consistent for the course. She also posts the syllabus, schedule, and course calendar a week before classes begin in order to allow the students to interact and grow familiar with their new setting (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017).

Ms. Jones discussed the strengths of courses that allow for individualization for each learner, utilizing discussion questions to allow for learners to apply the knowledge to their own lives. She mentioned that her best classes use small groups to allow students to respond more appropriately to the information and have more engaging conversations. Ms. Jones reflected on a course about human development that affects her teaching to this day. The course taught the changes that happen physiologically as a person ages and how these affect learning. How an individual is able to process or physically react to information changes with age. With adult learning, she explained, the learning process remains the same. However, the way in which an educator presents and distributes materials impacts the effectiveness of the experience based on the limitations of the learners. While facilitating online trainings for a former job, Ms. Jones answered several questions for a student taking a training on child abuse and neglect detection and prevention. While the frequency of the questions was frustrating at the time, she later learned that this particular student had been a victim of abuse in the past, making the training particularly difficult for this student. This helped to remind Ms. Jones that each learner, as they work through the more universal process of learning, is an individual with their own backgrounds and needs (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017).

In a similar vein, she discussed the importance of reflection to each learner through the learning process. Reflection, she explained, should be with someone who knows more about the given topic, allowing the student to explore the content and think more deeply about the material. This can be a good time to apply things on a personal level and delve deeper into the importance of the information (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017).

Analysis

Both Ms. Aldridge and Ms. Jones demonstrated an understanding of the underlying learning process throughout much of their conversations. According to MacKeracher (2004), a basic form of the learning process can be defined in five parts. In this basic model, the learner “Participates in experiences and activities resulting in the intake of coded and uncoded information from internal and external sources as input to learning” (MacKeracher, 2004, pg. 53). This experience transitions the learner into assigning meaning to the experience and information, finding ways to utilize these meanings, acting on the newly assigned meanings, receiving feedback, and using that feedback to present new experiences (MacKeracher, 2004, pg. 53).

This learning process allows for the learners to understand and make meaning out of their experiences, allowing them to grow and develop. This definition of the learning process is similar to what Criss (2008) describes as the Natural Learning Process (Criss, 2008, pg. 43). In this natural process, the individual observes, forms a mental image, imitates, acts through trial and error, and then practices the newly found understanding (Criss, 2008, pg. 43).

Dr. David Kolb, one of the foundational thinkers regarding the learning process, proposed similar concepts in his own work. Kolb (1976) argues that “learning is conceived of as a four-stage cycle” (Kolb, 1976, pg. 21). The first stage is defined as concrete experience, or “being involved in the world” (Heery & Noon, 2008). The second stage is termed reflective observation. During this stage, learners reflect on their experiences. During abstract conceptualization, the learner draws conclusions or assigns meaning, developing understandings based on their reflection (Heery & Noon, 2008). The final stage is active experimentation, which is the active engagements and testing of the learner’s newly assigned meanings and understandings.

Using these theoretical frameworks as a backdrop, we can analyze the experiences of Ms. Aldridge and Ms. Jones. The first stage of the learning process can be generally described as engaging with an experience. For Ms. Jones, this takes the form of assimilating to the environment and finding comfort with the new setting. Each course is a new experience for the learners, a new situation in which the learner must adapt and grow. This allows for experiential learning, which can be defined as “learning from primary experience” (Jarvis, 2004, pg. 101). Ms. Jones’s strategy of providing easy to understand technology and creating a simple structure for the course allows for an easier transition into the learning process (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017). The disconfirming or destabilizing experience described by Marilyn Taylor’s theory is made easier on the learner by reducing their stress in entering a new experience (MacKeracher, 2004, pg. 64).

Ms. Aldridge also allowed for experience at the center of this first stage. In her Communications course, the students were able to share in the combined experience of being first time freshman. This helped transition the students into the learning process by giving them a common bond. However, she then had discussions that prompted the learners to look to their own past experiences and make meaning of them. In discussing marginalization and muted communication, the learners had to engage in their own experiences and try to understand their meaning, transitioning into the next stage of the learning process (Aldridge, personal communication, October 19, 2017).

As learners in Jones and Aldridge’s cases continued through the learning process, they went through the second stage of the learning process, which can be summarized as actively reflecting and making meaning of one’s experiences. As Jarvis (1987) explains, in order for an experience to become meaningful, “people have to think about it, reflect upon it and, maybe, seek other opinions about it” (Jarvis, 1987, pg. 168). Criss (2008) describes this as a form of “story memory, and it involves the ability to make meaning of learning by finding patterns within life experiences” (Criss, 2008, pg. 43).

Both educators utilized class discussions, whether through in-class dialogue of online postings, to allow the learners to add meaning to their experiences. Ms. Aldridge explained that she prefers a constructivism approach to the learning process, allowing her students to create their own meanings through discussions of shared learning. She demonstrated her understanding of constructivism by explaining that “learning is most productive in a social context” (Hord, 2009, pg. 41). She explained that in order for learners to get the most of their education, it is important for the educator to relinquish control of the classroom. This allows the learner to engage not only with their own experiences, but also with the experiences of their peers, deepening the learning (Aldridge, personal communication, October 19, 2017).

Similarly, Ms. Jones designs her classes with class discussion at the core. Especially for online course, she explained, giving adequate time and resources to encourage and facilitate this discussion is necessary. This allows for the students to engage with the material individually and then assign meaning based on the group’s dialogue. The learner benefits from their own understanding as well as the understandings of their peers (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017).

The third stage of the learning process, active experimentation, is one area that our cases did not touch on as strongly. Kolb (1976) defines this stage as involving oneself “fully, openly, and without bias in new experiences” (Kolb, 1976, pg. 21). As such, both educators hinted at the need for students to actively work with their newly assigned meanings and understandings, but they were not referred to explicitly in their course descriptions. Cox (2015) explains that one application of this stage could be to plan a course of action, noting the importance of action in the learning process (Cox, 2015, pg. 34). In this way, Ms. Jones allows for this stage by setting specific goals and objectives for the students’ learning. As they move through the learning process, Ms. Jones can assess whether they are achieving these goals by testing their understandings through practice (Jones, personal communication, October 18, 2017).

The final stage of the learning process, reflection and feedback, was noted as one of the most important by Ms. Aldridge and Ms. Jones (personal communications, October 18 and 19, 2017). They both noted that reflection helps the learner identify what they have learned and to gain deeper understanding into their experiences. In addition to student reflection, their own reflections as educators, through the use of feedback from students, allowed them to make critical changes to their teaching style. These changes and reminders, such as that each learner is an individual with individual needs and experiential history, allowed them to tailor learning experiences into ones that allow the learning process to continue in its cycle and promote further learning.

This understanding demonstrates the idea that reflection is essential to learning, encouraging learners to explore their experiences “in order to lead to a new understanding and, perhaps, a new behavior” (Jarvis, 1987, pg. 168). Both educators noted the importance of personal reflections on the part of the learner. Ms. Aldridge utilized this information to incorporate journals into the reflection process, allowing the learner to track the evolution of their thoughts over time (Aldridge, personal communication, October 19, 2017). This form of self-directed learning, which allows the student to learn about their own learning process, is vital to the continuation of learning. Educators, such as Dr. Leslie Beach (1968), argue the importance of self-directed learning in teaching a student not only the material, but also how to learn that material (Beach, 1968, pg. 93). Reflection through self-directed journaling allows the learner to better grapple with what they have learned and subsequently have material to specifically discuss with other learners, enhancing the experience twice over.

Both Ms. Aldridge and Ms. Jones demonstrated that the learning process is a part of many forms of education. It permeates the life of the learner and if aided by the facilitator can promote lifelong learning as an individual and as a group. While each learning situation and educational style may be different, many of the key components of the learning process still fit into place. Those that are not as heavily emphasized, such as the active experimentation by Ms. Jones and Ms. Aldridge, can still be added to improve the overall learning process for each learner. This could improve the overall experience for the learner and provide a better basis for reflection.

Implications

            The interviews and analysis show that there are huge commonalities to achieving a cycle of learning process which this paper expresses in four basic stages:

1.     Engaging with an experience

2.     Actively reflecting and making meaning of one’s experiences

3.     Active experimentation

4.     Reflection and feedback

Both interviewed educators, possessing different educational experiences, found academic success for their students. This happens despite the differences in educational setting, student type, subject matter, and varied use of educational theory. With these successes there are basic implications that translate from their processes to actual use.

            The first implication, developed from the third stage is that effective educators must be deliberate in their preparation for the class. This includes a thorough understanding and development of course objectives. This includes being able to clearly explain what will be learned and how it will take place.

            The second implication, developed from stages one and two, is that hindrances to learning must be considered and either removed or limited. The educator must consider new processes the student must engage as well as environmental concerns (facilities, power structures, etc.) that might inhibit progress. Once considered, solutions must be developed that will increase the possibility of learning. Some examples can include improved clarification, introduction to a section, or finding common ground among students.

            The third implication, also developed from stage one and two, is that open communication within the class must be provided. This starts with the educator providing class information (syllabus, calendars, etc.) early to students so there is clear anticipation of the experience. Educators must also be honest with the class concerning the universal value of information being taught. Basically, showing how this information works for the educator as well as the student.

            The fourth implication, developed from stages two and four, is that effective learning is related to the engagement of the learners. Students must be not only allowed to claim ownership of their learning, but encouraged. Students should be able to participate and contribute to the learning/discussion whenever possible.

            The final implication, developed from stage four is that educators must evaluate their own efforts based on external and internal feedback. The educators must also be learners. This includes taking seriously evaluations of others as well as recognizing areas that could be reviewed. There are no perfect educators (even within our group), so growth must be a priority to the effective educator.

Reflection

            One of the unique pieces of this assignment is that both of the adult educators interviewed are involved in both online and classroom teaching. With both educators having shared teaching setting experiences, it is interesting to note that they discussed the opposite settings with Ms. Aldridge sharing of a classroom experience and Ms. Jones sharing of an online experience. Even though they shared different experiences, they had similar components to each other.  From them, we can learn that setting up the environment, whether online or in the classroom, is an important start to the learning process. We also learn that reflection is a critical component to the learning process. 

            Group Four divided the work amongst the group. Each team member stuck to our originally divided roles of work. Casey and Allison completed the interviews and transcribed responses. The group maintained consistent communication through email, sharing drafts and offering feedback. The consistent communication ensured clarity for all team members and kept each member informed. Time with email was both a benefit and a challenge. While members checked as often as they could and were able to share when they had time to focus, there may have been times that email was slow for communication. The team members stuck to the selected timelines, working toward successful completion of the assignment. Clear, open communication and timeliness is critical to developing group work, ensuring division of labor and successful completion.

Table 1. Practice Analysis

References

Beach, L. R. (1968). The learning process in self-directed groups. Improving College and University Teaching, 16(2), 93-95.

Cox, E. (2015). Coaching and adult learning: Theory and practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2015(148), 27-38.

Criss, E. (2008). The Natural Learning Process.  Music Educators Journal, 42-46. doi: 10.1177/0027432108325071 

Heery, E., & Noon, M. (2008). Kolb's learning cycle. In A dictionary of human resource management (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199298761.001.0001/acref-9780199298761-e-681

Hord, S. (2009). Professional learning communities. National Staff Development Council, 30(1), 40-43. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodleadership.com.au/dloads/rsc/professional%20communities%20Hord2009.pdf

Jarvis, P. (1987). Meaningful and meaningless experience: Towards an analysis of learning from life. Adult Education Quarterly, 37(3), 164-172. doi:10.1177/0001848187037003004

Jarvis, P. (2004). Adult education and lifelong learning: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Kolb, D. A. (1976). Management and the Learning Process. California Management Review, 18(3), 21-31. doi:10.2307/41164649

MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.).