Philosophy & Science of Learning
What we need to know about how we learn
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Learning from Experience: recognition of Prior Experiential Learning
Want to gain admission to a course but your qualifications do not meet the entry requirements? You may be able to use a Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) process Many people have asked for more information on Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL). I have prepared a presentation that explains the process and how it works in National College of Ireland. Comments are welcome. posted by Leo Casey
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Viktor Frankl: Man’s Quest for Meaning
If ever you think your life is miserable and you start to get downhearted then I have a book I recommend you read “Man’s Quest for Meaning” by Victor Frankl. Frankl was born in Vienna in 1905 and even before the outbreak of World War 2 was an accomplished academic and psychotherapist. He was also a Jew and, along with his entire family, was imprisoned in a concentration camp. Man’s Quest for Meaning documents his personal experiences of Auschwitz and other camps. Only he and his sister survived everyone else who mattered to him: his wife, parents, siblings and friends were killed. A good summary of his life and work…
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Bateson
These days this is my favorite book. I have blogged previously on one of Bateson’s “Metalogues” – look here to review. Bateson’s metalogues are styled as father daughter conversations. Here’s another one I would like to consider – this is a short extract from the opening: Mealaogue: About games and being serious Daughter: Daddy, are these conversations serious?Father: Certainly they are.D: They’re not a sort of game you play with me?F: God forbid … but they are a sort of game we play together.D: Then they’re not serious! Through this conversation Bateson goes on to introduce many ideas about how we “play” together. The core of this idea is not…
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Learning and Motivation
Motivation is used as a catchall term to describe how people are moved to act in a certain manner or direction. In everyday use there is a tendency to conceptualise motivation as mono-dimensional we often seek the motive for why a person acted in a particular way. Single explanations for people’s actions or goals are often inadequate and misleading. People tend to justify past-behaviour and will report a retrospective rationale. However, models of motivation, if they are to be of use, need to provide predictions of future behaviour. The term motivation is used in many different contexts and can mean different things in everyday language. Motivation is often used…
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My Philosophical Development by Bertrand Russell
I am reading a wonderful book called My Philosophical Development by Bertrand Russell – I picked up a 1959 first edition in a wonderful second hand bookshop, Trinity Books in Carrick On Shannon. This is like a beginners guide to Russell by himself and, in it he traces his thinking down through the years.There is a particularly poignant section where Russell reproduces copies of his notes from his teenage years. He writes (p280): Just before and just after my 16th birthday, I wrote down my beliefs and unbeliefs, using Greek letters and phonetic spelling for the purposes of concealment.What Russell was at pains to conceal at this young age were…
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Problem Based Learning
Students from the Post Graduate Diploma and Masters in Learning and Teaching participating in a Problem Based Learning Workshop in the Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching at National College of Ireland This year we are running a new course at National College of Ireland – the Post-Graduate Diploma and MA in Learning and Teaching. I am course director for this course and I present a module on Theories of Learning and Cognition. We have a core of sixteen students with some additional attendees from the PhD course and faculty development. The students come from a wide variety of backgrounds with one thing in common –…
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Learning Identity and Learning Italian
In previous posts I spoke about learning identity. I emphasised that we all carry many (often unquestioned) assumptions about who we are and who we can be as learners. The notion of learning identity is proposed as a component of one’s overall self-identity. I argued that learning identity is often framed in one’s school years and can remain fixed through life especially for non-participants in further formal learning. In my own research on participation in the digital world I came accross learning identity as an important influence on people’s decisions to enroll on basic computer courses. The recurrent theme is captured in the phrase “I was no good in school”.…
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TED Talks Arthur Benjamin does “Mathemagic”
Have a look at this – Arthur Benjamen calls himself a math magician but there’s no magic involved just a great level of skill with numbers. Now have a look at what Arthur Benjamen says about teaching mathematics: Does he have a point? posted by Leo Casey
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Course Entry Requirements – Recognising Learning from Experience
If you are thinking about taking a course, for example any of the NCI courses in the prospectus, you may see in the entry requirements that it is necessary for students to have a specific level of degree (e.g. honours degree) or a certificate or diploma to gain entry. These conditions are necessary so that all students are able to participate effectively and teaching staff can make certain assumptions about the level of prior knowledge people will have. However, there is a down side to this in that sometimes very good potential students miss out because on paper they are not deemed to meet the entry level requirements.We’ve all come…
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