Reflective Essay On Learning Activity: Components And Evaluation

Write a reflective essay based on the observation of a learning activity.

The process of learning involves a myriad elements. It is a fact worth noting that each of these aspects work collectively towards the achievement of core learning objectives. One of the main objectives of teaching and learning is to enhance a partial or holistic change in behavior. Learning equally plays a part in adjusting the learners’ perspectives and ways of thinking in relation to specific arguments, theories or themes (Bodner, Klobuchar and Geelan, 2011). In addition to changes in behavior, effective teaching and learning activities play a pivotal role in enhancing the development of cognitive abilities; an aspect which is often based on the nature of conditioning given by the trainer. It therefore implies that effective teaching leads to the development of positive experiences among the learners. In order to achieve the basic teaching and learning goals, it is therefore important to factor in the various components of learning. The facilitators therefore have a role to create the right environment and equilibrium which does not only make learning an informative experience but equally interesting and enjoyable.

In line with the brief overview above, this essay shall comprise an account of my personal experience during a teaching and learning activity. With references to the basic components of learning in addition to theories of learning, the sessions shall be critically evaluation. The reflection shall eventually be summarized with a number of recommendations on the areas that require the necessary adjustment for the learning experience to be more educative and informative (Books and Brooks, 2009). The sessions under scrutiny were two. In the first case, the activity involved a team of 13 qualified nurses while the second session comprised a group of inter professionals. The learning activity was facilitated by both a lecturer and a module leader.

The session involved an in-depth discussion of the functions and importance of portable oxygen cylinders in the provision of health care especially during emergency cases. The introduction and the rationale of the study was distinct and clear. It effectively drew my attention to the concept of the day. The speaker was audible and eloquent enough which created the right environment for learning. I would like to disseminate this analysis with references to the basic components of learning. The components include: the content, learning environment, the students as well as the method of content delivery.

To begin with, the speaker was efficient enough in creating the right introduction to the module which made it easy for the audience to relate with the content. The content in a learning process is vital as it forms one of the core reasons behind the culmination of the activity. In other words, learning may not be practical without a clear outline of the content to be passed to the learners (DeJong, 2010). In our case, the facilitator made it distinct right at the beginning of the session that the activity would involve a lesson on the various uses of portable oxygen cylinder. Despite the fact that we interact with oxygen cylinders within the healthcare set up almost on a day to day basis, the facilitator created a totally different and a rather interesting perspective by bringing in the idea of a portable oxygen cylinder. Through the lesson, it was possible to derive the importance of such developments in the health care sector as such a component would be handy in improving patient experiences through immediate responses especially in emergency situations. The content did not only involve an outline of the various uses of a portable oxygen cylinder but a thorough exposure on how to operate the cylinders. By noting that several patients had died due to the nurses’ inability to properly operate the cylinders, the facilitator created the right mood among the audience hence keeping them interested in knowing how to operate the cylinders. The content also draws from numerous real life experiences as the facilitator highlight the happenings in various hospitals within the United Kingdom. This approach was convincing especially with reference to the aspect of information validity. Due to the fact that the contents were effectively packaged, the learning experience was greatly improved as well. I can therefore deduce that that the nature of the content goes a long way in impacting the experience of the learners (Devries and Zan, 2013). From a personal point of view, my interest on the day’s content was largely expanded when the facilitator noted the various casualties and individuals who have been victims of inexperience among nurses when it comes to using portable oxygen cylinders. In a nut shell, an attractive content packaging triggers positive learning experiences.

Content

The second notable component of learning is the environment. The sessions were conducted in conducive environments hence giving room for learning and proper gain of insights as highlighted by the facilitators. The facilitators were not only jovial during the presentations but also made sure they incorporated interesting and captivating aspects during the presentations to help keep the audience at their feet. The module leaders would draw their arguments from a list of daily experiences within the healthcare sector which the audience could easily relate with. This added to the fact that the topic was current and relevant made the learning environment a uniquely productive one. Furthermore, the facilitators made the presentations as interactive as possible by consistently giving room for open sessions where the participants asked questions and received clarifications on areas that they never grasped well. The speakers set the right mood at the beginning of the sessions by pointing out the need for an extensive discussion on the use of portable oxygen cylinders following the various challenges that have been recorded due to negligence and less expertise (Kleibard, 2014). The other aspect that is important to note when analyzing the learning environment is the extent to which the learners are kept comfortable and attentive. The ventilation in the learning rooms were appropriate. The chairs were relatively comfortable and the seating arrangement made is possible for the participants to have the best view of the speaker as well as the power point presentation. Each of these factors collectively contributed to the achievement of the learning goals and objectives.

The third component of learning is the student or the learners who in this case could also be referred to as the audience. The learners make the process complete. In other words, it is possible to compile the best content and establish the most effective environment but without a group of receptive learners, the achievement of the learning objectives is greatly hampered. The sessions involved a group of inter-professionals who were trained by a lecturer and a module leader. In the first observation, the audience mainly comprised a group of trained nurses. It is a point worth noting that each of these individuals had a prior knowledge in line with the topic of study (Leonard, 2012). This would give the facilitators a good ground from which they could base their presentations. In my opinion, the topic was adequately relevant to the healthcare sector which therefore implies that the facilitators did not have to go through the lengths of having to make deep introductions. The nature of the audience therefore made the sessions faster and more effective since it comprised a group of individuals who had prior knowledge with respect to the topic of study. The facilitators therefore went straight to the core points hence making the learning process as objective as possible. Furthermore, the audience were receptive, the students kept asking questions while also responding to the assessment interactions as outlined by the facilitators. The high extent of learner activity during the sessions consequently enhanced the quality of the process hence making learning effective.

Environment

The last component of learning which shall be used to analyze the learning activity is the mode of presentation. The content, learners and the environment are crucial components in the learning process. However, the mode in which the contents are conveyed to the students plays a crucial role in determining whether or not learning shall be achieved. Based on my analysis of the situation, the mode of presentation was not only interesting but also attractive and overly informative to the viewers. The facilitators depended on the use of power point presentations. The presentations were a combination of pictorial demonstration in addition to use of words to emphasize the visuals (Lombardi, 2011). According to my personal evaluation, the presentations were clear and the facilitators did a good job by accompanying the demonstrations with further explanations in a bid to increase the scope of understanding. The positioning of the power points was also strategic hence the students/audience could easily see the models and the accompanying presentations. The facilitator did well in continuing with the presentation even when the PowerPoint failed at some point hence indicating good lesson preparation and proper content mastery. In a nut shell, the effective achievement of learning goals and objectives is always anchored on the four basic concepts namely: content, environment, learners and mode of presentation. The reflection above factors in how each of these elements were factored in during the presentations and how they collectively led to the realization of the lesson’s objectives.

Various individuals have come up with numerous arguments with respect to learning. These theories were developed with the core aim of bringing out a clear correlation between the learning process, environment as well as the associated outcomes. At this point, I shall fuse my analysis of the learning activity with reference to various theories of learning which include; behaviorism, cognitivist perspectives, constructivism, experientialism and social theory of learning.

To set the ball rolling, Thorndike and Pavlov in the theory of behaviorism associated learning with a complete or partial change in behavior as a result of the impact of a stimuli in the environment. The theory relies on the concepts of reward and punishment on a new behavior. It therefore implies that the nature of the stimuli impacts the nature of behavioral change. Positive stimuli lead to positive impacts on behavior hence reward. On the other hand, negative stimuli lead to negative changes in behavior hence punishment. This argument can be fused into the analysis of the learning activity by highlighting the various stimuli which impacted behavior change among the learners (Merriam, 2007). The topic of discussion as well as the mode presentation could be regarded among the environmental stimuli which impacted behavior in this case. By pointing out the deaths which have occurred due to poor use of the portable cylinder, the facilitators triggered interest in the topic among the audience. The use of power point and visual presentations played a further role in facilitating the easy delivery of this content to the learners. At the end of the exercise, the students/audience were equipped with more skills and expertise on how to operate the portable cylinders. This is an indication of positive behavior change as a result of effective teaching methods and right choice of content.

Students

The learning theory of cognitivism proposes that learning occurs when information is passed from a person who knows to another who doesn’t. This theory bases learning on thinking, motivation and reflection. At the beginning of the learning activity, I must confess that I did not have as much information about portable oxygen cylinders as I did at the end of the session. This implies that the facilitators adequately transferred the information that they knew about this component to the students leading to learning. Additionally, the motivation to gain more insight about the issue being discussed gave me the right platform as it was easier to receive and memorize the details.

The behaviorism and cognitivism theories are largely countered by the theory of constructivism which notes that learning occurs when an individual is able to form abstract structures to aid their understanding of the concepts instead of wholesomely receiving and memorizing them as given by the facilitator (Soltis, 2014). I agree with this point of view as it eliminates laziness and challenges the learners to delve more into the topic hence increase their depth of understanding. The session was confined by the constraints of time hence the facilitators could only cover a given portion of the content within the given time. This therefore reveals that there are various other gaps which would be completed with the students went out of their way to research more. Giving learning a constructivist perspective therefore leads to a holistic experience where the students is able to dig deeper and gain more than what the facilitator or lecturer gives during the classroom sessions.

The theory of experientialism links learning more to the experience by the learner as opposed to cognitive gains. According to this theory, learning is achieved when the students are exposed to the best experiences which in turn change their approach with regard to the topic under discussion. One of the methods of teaching involves direct explanations to the students. However, the experience is largely improved when the facilitator emphasizes their theoretical presentations with actual demonstrations. With reference to the learning experience, it can be deduced that the explanations by the facilitators were accompanied by demonstrations and visual presentations using models. This approach was effective in enhancing positive experiences among the learners (Taylor, 2008). In addition to verbally explaining to the nurses how the portable oxygen cylinders are operated, the facilitator actually demonstrated using similar cylinders how this is done. At the same time, some of the participants were given the cylinders to have a direct interaction with them and also demonstrate what they had learned from the facilitator. This approach to teaching leads to better memory in addition to the insights gained during the experience. By directly taking part in the learning activity, I was able to gain more skills on the operation of the portable oxygen cylinders.

The social or contextual theory of learning posits that learning does not occur only within but happens based on the learner’s interaction with other members within the group. The theory identifies the process of learning as a collective endeavor and not necessarily an individual focus. The audience in the sessions involved inter-professionals and a team of nurses. By interacting with one another not only during the lesson but also in other avenues, the students were able to learn more from one another. Through group interactions, knowledge is easily disseminated and distributed. This way, the more experience individuals are able to pass their expertise and skills to other practitioners

Mode of Presentation

Conclusion and Recommendations for future development

The teaching and learning process is a crucial happening which goes a long way in influencing behavior change among the learners. This therefore implies that the most effective approaches ought to be embraced to make the learning process not only interesting but also informative. The social theory of learning identifies group work as a major contributor to positive learning experiences. With respect to this argument, I would recommend a more contextual approach to teaching in future. Instead of targeting individuals with the content, the facilitators ought to deliver the content to a group before the members are allowed to deliberate and gain more insights on the topic in question. Secondly, I would recommend a more practical approach to teaching. The facilitators ought to remain keen on actively involving the learners through demonstrations before they are also allowed to perform hands-on activities based on what is being taught. Practical demonstrations lead to better experiences, enhances memory and reflection in line with the topic in question. The last recommendation would be the need to vary the contents in order to fit the various categories of learners. It would be prudent to note that not all the individuals in the learning experience are in the same level based on cognitive abilities. Consequently, the contents ought to be adjusted in order to embrace both the low and high achievers. This would lead to an increase in confidence and motivation levels among the learners which in turn creates the desire to gain more.

In conclusion, the major components of learning play a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness of the learning experience. From a personal point of view, my experience during the learning activity was greatly enhanced by the way in which the content was packaging. Additionally, the learning environment was interactive and interesting. The participation of others within the audience increased the scope of learning while the mode of presentation using the power point presentation was an additional advantage. The four main components of learning which include; the content, environment, learners and mode of content delivery needs to be factored in while developing educational objectives. At the same time, the theoretical propositions offer the right guidelines which could as well be considered especially in the process of content development.

References

Bodner, G., Klobuchar, M. and Geelan, D. (2011). The many forms of constructivism. Journal of Chemical Education, 78(1), pp. 1107-1134. 

Books, G. and Brooks, G. (2009). In search of understanding: The case for constructivist classrooms, revised edition. Alexandria, VA: The association for supervision and curriculum development.

DeJong, T. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory, Educational Research, and Instructional Design: Some Food for Thought. Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences: 38(1), pp. 12-15.

Devries, B. and Zan, B. (2013). When children make rules. Educational Leadership. 61 (1), pp. 64–7.

Kleibard, H. (2014). Scientific curriculum-making and the rise of social efficiency. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Leonard, D. (2012). Learning theories, A to Z. Westport, Conn: Oryx Press.

Lombardi, S. (2011). Internet Activities for a Preschool Technology Education Program Guided by Caregivers. Carolina: North Carolina State University Press.

Merriam, S. (2007). Learning in adulthood a comprehensive guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Soltis, J. (2014). Perspectives on Learning. New York: Teachers College Press.

Taylor, E. (2008). Transformative learning theory. New York: Teachers College Press.