Learn to Improve!

One of the reasons why I enrolled and studied my education units in this distance learning university is to enhance my teaching strategies and develop myself as a mentor of the college students in our beloved university.

Enrolling in this course while working is not an easy task to have. Every week is a struggle for me to finish my assignments at the same time, finish my work. However, I see it as a positive response to build myself as I continue the legacy of my parents, relatives, and grandfather as a teacher.

In this module, I learned a lot of Cognitive Learning Theories, particularly in the information processing approach. I learned the three theories which are information processing theory- gives an idea that the human mind is like a computer in the learning process, dual coding theory- assumes that cognition is with verbal associations and visual representations, and cognitive load theory- the load should not exceed to the capacity of the learner.

These theories give me a head on how to put up my learning strategies, assessments, and discussions of my class this coming August. It gives me an understanding that I did not experience for the long three years in the academe. With this knowledge, I already know the various areas that I need to improve in my teaching strategies so that students can have attention, memory, and understand the lessons that I will impart to them easily.

In my previous classes, I usually emphasize the middle part of my class which is according to the primary- recency effect, it is not efficient. It explains that the first and last part is the most important part of the discussions since this is the time that students can easily remember. It also helps me to change the mindset of purely verbal associations in presenting the lessons in the class. According to dual coding theory, we need to equally bought in visual representations and verbal associations. And lastly, as a teacher, I now understood that the load of the activities, assignments and information that I need to give to my students must just be enough for them to restore. Overload means they cannot grasp the whole lesson and could forget it at the end of the day.

These theories help me to improve. I am so excited to apply this learning in the class.