![[ Return to APA Home Page ]](../../../../../pix/new.gif) Online
Syllabus Collection "What Works" Discussion Boards APA Member Survey Other Resources Navigation
|
APA Committee
on the
|
| Topic: | The Learning Spiral |
| Name: | Betsy Decyk |
| Institution: | CSU Long Beach |
| E-mail: | bdecyk@csulb.edu |
| Date Submitted: | 3/21/2000 |
Article
I have found that The Learning Spiral is a very powerful strategy for designing courses. The Learning Spiral is an instructional organization which I learned from David Perkins at Harvard Project Zero. At the center of the spiral is a "generative topic" which forms the informational core. A course may have more than one such topic in a semester. (My classes may have one large core topic for the semester or they may have two or three smaller core topics for the semester.) Each spiral moves around its core topic in 5 stages. In the Getting Ready stage students are asked to think about what they already know about this topic. This helps students have a mental "place" to put new information and opens discussion on the topic. In the Learning From Sources stage students learn from teachers, textbooks, websites, etc. The Learning By Doing stage offers activities to practice applying what the students have learned. This could be in the form of homework, activites, exams, reports, and so on. This stage is connected to a Learning From Feedback stage in which students learn from the teacher and/or peers how well they are mastering the information or skills. The Learning By Doing and the Learning From Feedback stages can be reiterated with additional practice and feedback mini-loops. Finally, the students engage in a Learning By Exploring stage. At this point they are expected to explore the topic on their own or apply what they have learned to new cases or situations. This final stage provides an opportunity to transfer learning to situations outside the classroom setting and encourages students to be self-learners, at least about this topic.