Educational psychologists and pedagogues have identified several principles of learning, also referred to as laws of learning, which seem generally applicable to the learning process. These principles have been discovered, tested, and used in practical situations. They provide additional insight into what makes people learn most effectively.
7 Essential Principles of Innovative :
1. Learners have to be at the center of what happens in the classroom: students have to actively engage in learning in order to become self-regulated learners. It’s important to be able to control your emotions and motivations during the study process, set goals, and monitor your own learning process. It’s about putting the students in the center of activities to gain knowledge and skills to contribute to cognition and growth;
2. Learning is a social practice and can’t happen alone: we learn by pushing and pulling on concepts with one others. Structured, collaborative group work can be good for all learners. It pushes people in different ways. By nature we are social beings and we learn by interacting;
3. Emotions are an integral part of learning: students understand ideas better when there is interplay between emotions, motivation and cognition. This supports positive beliefs about oneself. This is crucial in reaching a more profound understanding. If students understand why it matters, learning becomes more important to them. The power of emotions and motivation is often overlooked in education because it is seen as ‘soft’;
4. Students are different: you really want practices and processes that help teachers engage each student where they are. Innovative learning environments reflect the various experiences and prior knowledge that each student brings to class;
5. Students need to be stretched, but not too much: it is really critical to find that student’s sweet spot. Students need to experience both academic success and the challenge of discovery. Teachers should try to prevent both underloading and overloading;
6. Assessment should be for learning, not of learning: assessments should be meaningful, substantial, and shape the learning environment itself. Good teachers do this informally most of the time. Assessments are important, but mostly to gain information on how to structure the next lesson for maximum effectiveness;
7. Learning needs to be connected across disciplines: learning can’t be meaningful if students don’t understand why the knowledge will be useful to them, how it can be applied in life. Understanding the connections between subjects and ideas is essential for the ability to transfer knowledge, skills and adapt.
INNOVATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT - MPPP1403 