EDCI 335 Blog Post 1

– Introduction

Hi everybody, my name is Brooklyn Restell. I’m going into my third year of studying at the University of Victoria. After I graduate I plan to complete my PDPP and work in elementary education. Last semester, I was able to take a few EDCI classes and it helped establish my interest in education and teaching. 

– Your Understanding of Learning: 

Learning can happen at all different points and times in life. Oftentimes, learning is said to be taught in classrooms and work spaces. While I agree with this statement, I also believe that valuable learning and lessons can be made in personal experiences. Learning can be done in ways such as obtaining new skills, gaining knowledge and new experiences. An example of a time I learned effectively was living abroad. One of the most difficult things I had to teach myself in this new transition was the city’s transportation system. In Victoria, I am reliant on my own personal vehicle. But, while living abroad I was no longer provided with this option. Repetitive use of the metro eventually allowed me to get to a stage where I was confident and comfortable getting around town. 

– Learning Theories and How You Learn Best: 

I believe that the cognitivism learning theory approach best aligns with my learning style. While studying I find that I have to read and repeat new concepts and ideas multiple times. This allows me to mentally break down my learning and retain new information. Furtherly, I relate new learning concepts and ideas to personal things or experiences. One way I enjoy studying is through flashcards. It ensures that I write the concepts down, read over them and verbally repeat them. This learning tactic can be done alone or with classmates and peers. 

– Motivation in Learning: 

Relevance has been most important in keeping myself engaged through my many years of schooling. The R1 category of goal orientation really stuck out to me in this model. Setting goals of due dates, grades, work satisfaction, etc has allowed me to keep up to date with my schoolwork without becoming too stressed or burnt out. A motivation in my schooling has been getting work completed in advance. I become very overwhelmed if I leave work to be done on the due date. Being overwhelmed also hurts the quality of work I am able to produce. For example if I am in a time crunch I may be forced to skip a reading or properly read assignment instructions. It is vital for me to keep my grades up to be accepted into the PDPP program after completing my undergrad. 

– Adult Learning and Prior Knowledge: 

My prior knowledge is a direct reflection of how I successfully navigate my schooling. Through personal experiences, I have gotten to know my learning strengths and weaknesses. A weakness I have struggled with in the past is managing my stress levels. My stress usually stimulates from not having a proper or organized plan. For example, during my first year of University I didn’t properly allocate my time towards completing school tasks. Which in result caused a lot of unnecessary stress and tension in my life. To continue on successfully with University I decided I needed to change my habits. This particular experience allowed me to get a stronger grasp on how important it was for me to become better at time management. I now am aware of exactly how much time I need to put away to complete tasks to my satisfaction.