Doolittle, Gardner and Assessing Learning

I wrote the piece below in response to readings for my ED 626 Instructional Design class.

My current understanding of how to effectively assess learners and their needs is to consider multiple facets of my learner group. I need to objectively observe and research learners’ characteristics such as background knowledge, emotional capacities, social interactions, influences of peers, influences of parents, influences of environment and learning capabilities.

As Howard Gardner explained with his discovery of multiple intelligences, there are myriad ways to learn new information. A group of thirty students are not all going to learn in the same ways.

More so, teachers need to teach to all students. Inclusion within the classroom is essential. In order to reach each and every students it’s important to accurately identify students’ needs. Sometimes the approaches that teachers wish to take in teaching certain subjects is not what students actually need to be successful. For example, creating a lesson plan to introduce fractions by making a batch of cookies could be fun and entertaining for the students. However, the lesson of fractions is lost if the excitement of having chocolate chip cookies deters from reflective questioning and synthesis on the students’ parts.

Another thing to consider is the nature of learning contexts. When I think of elementary-aged students, I often picture children within a four-walled classroom. However, learning can take place anytime, anywhere. Many students aren’t learning face-to-face; they’re learning via online courses, hybrid courses, long-distance learning and other settings like one’s home. The context in which a person learns greatly affects how the teacher should deliver the content.

Overall, what I’ve learned from Doolittle’s exercises and other readings thus far is that in order to successfully design instruction firstly we must know who our learners are. Then we must be able to identify the learners’ need(s). Once we know who they are and what they need, then we can determine how they will best receive that which will satisfy their need(s).