Best Practices

How People Learn

Theories of learning, whether explicit or tacit, informed by study or intuition, well-considered or not, play a role in the choices instructors make concerning their teaching. The major trend in understanding how students learn has been a movement away frm the behaviorist model to a cognitive view of learning. This teaching guide highlights learning theories and examines their implications on teaching.

Commissioned by the National Research Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School presents the conclusions of recent research in cognitive science, and then develops their implications for teaching and learning.  First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice.   New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it and how we assess what our students learn. 

Topics include:

• How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain.
• How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn.
• What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach.
• The amazing learning potential of infants.
• The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace.
• Learning needs and opportunities for teachers.
• A realistic look at the role of technology in education.

To access a free PDF version click the following link:  http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9853/how-people-learn-brain-mind-experience-and-school-expanded-edition

More information about the book can be found here:  https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/how-people-learn/

How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice provides a broad overview of research on learners and learning and on teachers and teaching. It expands on the 1999 National Research Council publication How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Expanded Edition that analyzed the science of learning in infants, educators, experts, and more. In How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice asks how the insights from research can be incorporated into classroom practice and suggests a research and development agenda that would inform and stimulate the required change.

The committee identifies teachers, or classroom practitioners, as the key to change, while acknowledging that change at the classroom level is significantly impacted by overarching public policies. How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice highlights three key findings about how students gain and retain knowledge and discusses the implications of these findings for teaching and teacher preparation. This books highlights principles of learning applicable to teacher education, professional development programs as well as to K-12 education. However, many higher education institutions can benefit from the findings of the research given the research-based messages found in this book are clear and directly relevant to classroom practice. It is a useful guide for teachers, administrators, researchers, curriculum specialists, and educational policy makers.

To access a free PDF version click the following link:  http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9457/how-people-learn-bridging-research-and-practice

These resources include research-based overviews of learning theories and models, offering context for instructors who are interested in learning about the theory behind recommended approaches to teaching and learning.

• What do we know about student learning?  by Patricia Cross (2005).  This article provides an overview of current research on learning.  http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bh4k013#
• Theory into Practice Database.  From the "Theory into Practice (TIP)" database webpage, this database contains summaries of major theories of learning and instruction.  http://icebreakerideas.com/learning-theories/
• Learning-Theories.com provides more than 80 learning theories, models, and frameworks that address how people learn. http://www.learning-theories.com/
• Angles on learning. An interactive site introducing learning for college, adult, and professional education. http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/
• The Learning Theory Jungle by Robert Minter (2011).  This article addresses the myriad of pedagogical and andragogical issues facing university educators in the student learning process.  It briefly explores the proliferation of learning theories in an attempt to develop awareness among faculty who teach at the university level that not all theories of learning apply to the adult learner.
• Experiential learning publications Links to articles and publications from Experience Based Learning Systems, Inc.  http://learningfromexperience.com/research/
• Enquiry-Based Learning from Theory into Practice from the Academic Practice and Organisational Development, University of Birmingham, 2010.  This review seeks to introduce a range of theoretical principles and practices that will enable higher education staff to design teaching and learning activities in an informed manner.
• A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Enhancing Academic Practice 3rd Ed.  This handbook offers advice on the essentials of effective teaching and research=based reflection on emerging trends.  Chapter 2 of this text introduces some of the major learning theories that are relevant to higher education.

Atherton J S (2013) Learning and Teaching; Angles on learning, particularly after the schooling years [On-line: UK] retrieved 25 May 2016 from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., Marshall, S. (2009).  A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Enhancing Academic Practice (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.