In class we discussed the book, How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom by Suzanne Donovan and John D. Bransford. The part of the book we discussed explained three principals of learning. In class, we first began discussing them separately, by simply summarizing each principal, but soon we moved into the idea that these principals could overlap or be combined.
As stated above, the three principals, engaging prior understandings, the essential role of factual knowledge and conceptual frameworks in understandings and the importance of self-monitoring, were being discussed in class as related and overlapping ideas. Although the three principals are closely related, I don’t think any can necessarily be combined into one. Each principal is important and valuable for it’s own reasons and without one, or by combining two, I don’t think the learning can be as effective.
I believe the first principal, engaging prior understandings, is so important for teachers to consider. Engaging in student prior knowledge is so important and sometimes I think taken for granted in some classrooms. Every neighborhood, street and community feeding into a school can be very different. Students are coming from a wide variety of backgrounds and knowledge.
This concept especially hit home with me when Ruth was talking about the students in her classroom having a different term for “outlet”. At first some of her students didn’t understand what she was talking about but once she took the time to explain it in a different way students were able to make a connection and realize they knew exactly what an outlet was. These students simply called it something different. The book stated this idea very well by saying, “If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information,”. (pg. 1)
I also liked what Christine said during the discussion about this principal. We were discussing misconceptions and if they can be barriers for students. In the book the authors gave the example of how children usually think the Earth is a flat round shape because of their experience with balls. (pg. 5) Some classmates felt that misconceptions can help deepen understanding and aren’t barriers to learning. If the misconceptions are shared, they can be discussed in class and cleared up for students. They can also serve as a starting point for teaching the new concept. On the other hand, Christine talked about how some students with misconceptions might not speak up about their misunderstandings. This I agreed with and related to. I was a student in elementary school who was very shy and not willing to speak up when I felt I might be the only person not understanding something. I always felt relief when other students would ask questions about topics I didn’t understand. For students like this misconceptions would definitely be a barrier. Their misconceptions don’t have the opportunity to be cleared up in the classroom and therefore can hurt continued learning about a new topic.
Overall, I appreciated the way the authors discussed the principles of learning, as I’m sure any teacher can appreciate. I loved how Donovan and Bransford used the book Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni to illustrate the principals of learning. Not only did it help me better understand the principals, but I found myself more “into” the reading. I wasn’t just reading the article to read it and get it over with, I was reading it and understanding it because it was relatable. What elementary teacher wouldn’t love an adult topic being connected and explained through use of a children’s book?
References
Donovan, S., & Bransford, J. D. (2005). How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom. The National Academies Press.
STEM inside 
I appreciate your use of anecdotes from class discussion to help support and explain the principles for learning discussed in the Donovan & Bransford chapter. I’m intrigued by the idea that the three principles may overlap in classroom contexts. What would this look like? How could overlaps be productive for teaching and learning?
Kayla, I really liked how you pointed out that the three principles of learning should be kept separate and not combined into one. I think each principle plays a specific role in each child as well! Like you noted, all students have different experiences and it’s important to try and find out what those experiences are so that connections can be made in different ways. I also enjoyed the book Fish is Fish because it did a great job at explaining how students may try to apply their learning to things that they only know without having the “why” aspect to bridge the connection.