Pixabay. Adult Education. (n.d.)

The learner is at the core of any learning activities. As learners gain experience and sophistication in their thought processes, their level of engagement with learning activities needs to adjust. The role of instructional designers is to understand the learning needs of the students and to adapt to them. Based on this notion of adapting to the learners’ needs, my pedagogical stance is fluid.  Learning is a complex and continual process that is influenced by one’s prior knowledge and belief systems (Ertmer and Newby, 2013, p. 60). Hence, rather than reflecting on my pedagogical stance, the question I am asking myself is, what is the appropriate learning theory that should be applied to a particular situation?

The learning process is a continuum. As novice learners progress in their environment and acquire new skills and methods of engaging in their world, it is vital to adapt to their learning needs. This adaptation is where the shift to cognitive and constructive learning approach transpires, and providing straightforward instructions to get a response from the learners will no longer suffice. Context and meaning become pivotal in the learning process. Intermediate and experienced learners may ask questions; what does this mean to me, and how do I apply this to my real-world? In my organization, my team provides clinical application training for staff and clinicians, and with their varying degrees of experiences (mix of new graduates, experienced clinical staff, and leadership positions). Therefore, in my situation, it is essential that my team knows and understands our audience. In essence, the question ‘why’ is essential, and this underscores the necessity to keep asking the right questions to design an effective and meaningful learning program. Merrill’s first principles of instructions (2002), asks the question, how do learners learn?  Learning occurs when it is activated, demonstrated, applied and integrated (Merrill, 2002, p. 45). This design model translates into ensuring learners previous knowledge is considered when introducing a new concept and providing them with opportunities to practice using real-world examples, and lastly, they are applying the new knowledge back into their environment.

The learning cycle of Star legacy (Merrill, 2002, p. 52, as cited in Schwartz et al., 1999), demonstrates the application of both the cognitivist and constructivist approach to learning design. The model depicts the learning cycle in which my team tries to incorporate into our training approach. We acknowledge that our learners bring with them a wealth of knowledge from their past experiences and rather than imposing our views of what the training should look like, we instead partner and collaborate with them in developing a program that they can consider their own. As we all can imagine, life is complicated, and learning is complex. As we progress, we will encounter more novel issues that require our ability to adapt our expertise to solve these problems.  Hence, my pedagogical stance is fluid. I could be learning a new skill where I would need direct instructions, and once my confidence increases, I will need practical examples and problem-based scenarios to apply my newly acquired skills. Finally, as I develop my expertise, I will require coaching to hone my skills.

References

Ertmer, P., & Newby, T. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21143

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43-59. https://doi-org.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/10.1007/BF02505024

Pixabay. (n.d.). Knowledge is power [Picture]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/adult-education-write-knowledge-572269/