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General Educational Rules

By Steve Draper, Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow.

Background contextual truths for Learning and Teaching

Never forget to put any current question about the learning and teaching process against the background of some often overlooked truths.

Ausubel's dictum: "Ascertain what the student knows, and teach accordingly."
Ausubel,D.P. (1968) Educational psychology: A cognitive view (San Fransicso: Holt, Rinehart & Winston)
(Or Kathleen Fisher: "Ascertain what the student misunderstands, and teach accordingly.")
Learners are diverse in the activities they choose. They are not all the same. Ideas of identifying what learners want have to be modified in this respect; and catered for by providing redundant, non-compulsory activities and resources. [O'Shea and OU research on what successful learners do. Twigg, and redesigning for "diversity".]
[Scaffolding vs. consistent course structure]. One pressure is to have a regular structure, regular level of support. But we should always be considering front loading support (and contact?), and withdrawing it progressively. It is needed much more at first; it is better that they learn to do it themselves later. This needs to be a regular feature of course designs. Consistency is what we want in a train service and in supermarket food: but it is actively harmful in learning and teaching.
Learning and Teaching, not just one or the other. (Look at where Ls come from and also where they want to go to.)
Compare with the paper equivalent, don't just be mindlessly breathless about what technology does this month.
Time on task. Supporting a feedback cycle. Whether of knowing, or skill/doing.

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