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Enabling and Assessing Learning. Essay

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Enabling and Assessing Learning.

In this assignment I will be exploring a range of concepts, principles and theories of learning and assessment that apply to FE and the lifelong learning sector. I will apply these concepts, principles and theories to review the learning of my own students in my specialist area and how to respond to learning needs.

There are a number of theories and concepts of learning which have been identified by a number of theorists. The four main theories are Humanism, Behaviourism, Cognitivism and Experiential Learning. Beyond these are a range of other theories and concepts that apply to FE. Learning theories not only explore how people learn but how different people of different ages respond in different ways …show more content…

Reactions can be measured in many ways whether it is through observation or assessment.

Beyond behaviourism we can also explore the theory of cognitivism, this is based on the way learners organise their knowledge and patterns of thinking. Many theorists have explored cognitivism including Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and Mezirow. Piaget and Vygotsky based their findings on children while Mezirow concentrated on the study of adult learning. Cognitivist learning forms a social pattern and can work best in group based learning. Piaget and Vygotsky found that as children develop their ability to re-organise their knowledge grew and worked by listening and imitating others.

Vygotsky is renowned for his Zone of Potential Development (ZPD) which demonstrates where the learner is at and where the teacher wants the learner to be. Cognitivism advances from behaviourism which is vague and applies only Andragogy learning processes. The Cognitive theorists argue that thinking is central to the learning process; it is much more than the modification of behaviour through positive reinforcement. They suggest that a learner must gain progressively more and newer knowledge, while at the same time, discarding old knowledge that no longer fits in their new understanding of the subject.

I have found with my learners that cognitivism is demonstrated in their learning process. As learners move for instance from level 1 to level 2 they will discard or

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