What is your "Epistemological Approach"
There was a time when this question would have evoked a deer-in-the-headlights response. But nowadays I just hope someone will ask me. (They usually don't.)
Epistemology is that branch of Philosophy that, in a nutshell, deals with two questions:
If this sounds simple and easy to understand... you are way ahead of me.
Each one of us who is involved in creating or delivering learning content has a personal epistemology. Really? Yes. And it is built upon layers of concepts, assumptions, and bias that is in turn driven by basic philosophical beliefs (i.e., objectivist, interpretivist, or pragmatist).
Epistemology is that branch of Philosophy that, in a nutshell, deals with two questions:
- How do we know what we know?
- And what are we doing when we know it?
If this sounds simple and easy to understand... you are way ahead of me.
Each one of us who is involved in creating or delivering learning content has a personal epistemology. Really? Yes. And it is built upon layers of concepts, assumptions, and bias that is in turn driven by basic philosophical beliefs (i.e., objectivist, interpretivist, or pragmatist).
I am basically an objectivist, because I believe in the existence of absolute truth/knowledge. It's there, even before we discover it. But when we ascend to the next layer where our learning approach is formed, I realize that I am neither a diehard instructivist nor constructivist. So that makes me something of a pragmatic objectivist.
I apply a pragmatic approach to teaching and learning. Use what works; discard what does not. After reviewing the strengths and weaknesses, theoretical base, and applicability of several instructional approaches that include Discussion, Direct/Explicit, Problem-Based, and Simulation, I prefer to use a blended approach – applying Heinze and Procter’s (2004) expanded definition of blended that “combines different modes of delivery, models of teaching to accommodate multiple styles of learning.” Therefore, I choose to incorporate four separate theories or models of instructional approach. My blended approach includes a foundation of Direct or Explicit Instruction, while providing opportunity for Experiential Learning and even simulations to amplify the learning content and enable student participation in more than one learning mode. When possible, this is applied as part of a larger learning environment that provides an arena for classroom discussion or virtual classroom threaded discussions that enable a social-learning aspect inherent in the discussion approach.
Although my preferred foundational theory and approach (Direct or Explicit Instruction) is historically based on a one-way delivery of learning content, I believe that Direct/Explicit Instruction can be a structured and systematic methodology for teaching academic skills that focus on the interaction between teachers and students. When lecture is the most efficient method for delivering learning content, I strive to include complimentary media to anchor fundamental concepts, examples, and non-examples. Other key components of DI that I employ include modeling, reinforcement, feedback, and successive approximations (Joyce, Weil, & Calhoun, 2000). As influenced by Huitt, Monetti, and Hummel (2009), my preferred approach includes:
I apply a pragmatic approach to teaching and learning. Use what works; discard what does not. After reviewing the strengths and weaknesses, theoretical base, and applicability of several instructional approaches that include Discussion, Direct/Explicit, Problem-Based, and Simulation, I prefer to use a blended approach – applying Heinze and Procter’s (2004) expanded definition of blended that “combines different modes of delivery, models of teaching to accommodate multiple styles of learning.” Therefore, I choose to incorporate four separate theories or models of instructional approach. My blended approach includes a foundation of Direct or Explicit Instruction, while providing opportunity for Experiential Learning and even simulations to amplify the learning content and enable student participation in more than one learning mode. When possible, this is applied as part of a larger learning environment that provides an arena for classroom discussion or virtual classroom threaded discussions that enable a social-learning aspect inherent in the discussion approach.
Although my preferred foundational theory and approach (Direct or Explicit Instruction) is historically based on a one-way delivery of learning content, I believe that Direct/Explicit Instruction can be a structured and systematic methodology for teaching academic skills that focus on the interaction between teachers and students. When lecture is the most efficient method for delivering learning content, I strive to include complimentary media to anchor fundamental concepts, examples, and non-examples. Other key components of DI that I employ include modeling, reinforcement, feedback, and successive approximations (Joyce, Weil, & Calhoun, 2000). As influenced by Huitt, Monetti, and Hummel (2009), my preferred approach includes:
- An introduction of the lesson’s goal, purpose, and importance/relevance to student,
- Lesson segments to review students’ prior knowledge/skills,
- Content delivery, followed by review/practice/demonstration with monitoring and feedback,
- Discrete lesson segments to distribute new information over several lessons, and develop sequence of chained instruction,
- Extensive scaffolding to ensure a clear understanding of the purpose and rationale for learning the new skill, before progressing to next segment,
- Abundant use of examples, explanations and demonstrations of new information, and
- Ample application or practice sessions with monitoring and feedback to ensure mastery of the knowledge skill.