Chapter 8
Learning Activities

“Good intentions, fine goals and objectives, excellent content, flawless evaluation procedures, then, are all for naught if the learning activities in which students engage do not provide them with experience whose consequences are educational.”

(Robert Zais, 1976:350)

“This chapter will define the term learning activities, examine a range of appropriate teaching–learning strategies available for inclusion in a curriculum; outline a model for selecting learning activities, and analyse how learning activities may be organised within a curriculum.”

“Learning opportunities, learning activities, learning experiences, teaching–learning strategies and method are terms frequently used interchangeably to explain what the teacher does to facilitate learning within the student.”

“That is, how the teacher imparts content and provides opportunities for learners to acquire that content.”

“A slightly different way of expressing this concept is to see it as those opportunities offered to learners to achieve the stated objectives.”

“While educators often use the above terms synonymously, a distinction is becoming increasingly apparent within the literature, emphasising the difference between intent and result.”

“Learning opportunities and learning activities emphasise what is offered to learners, while learning experiences suggests what results from those activities.”

“As well, students may learn something that was not planned, something that could even be in contradiction to the stated objectives.”

“. . . planners can readily prescribe the learning activities that students will be engaged in, but they can only hope that these activities will result in the desired experiences” (1976:352).

“Learning activities may be defined as those activities offered to learners in the teaching–learning situation which are designed to enable them to acquire the designated content and thereby achieve the stated objectives and more broadly, the curriculum’s intent.”

“This definition incorporates all teaching or instructional strategies planned by teachers as well as those methods by which students may learn by themselves within the context of the classroom or learning environment (such as independent study, fieldwork and excursions).”

“In the cycle of the curriculum process, learning activities are integrally related to content and curriculum intent.”

“Just as content is derived from statements of aims, goals, and objectives, so curriculum developers seek to implement that content effectively through the use of appropriate learning activities.”

“In this way the various methods not only teach the content but also help achieve the initially stated objectives.”

“After all, the developer’s intention is to provide the best possible guidance to teachers who will implement this curriculum.”

“Consequently curriculum developers who are in close contact with current school practice are more likely to incude appropriate teaching–learning strategies in their curricula.”

“The selection of appropriate teaching–learning strategies reflects the curriculum developer’s professional understanding of the task at hand and the needs of students, given the directions from the earlier curriculum elements.”

“Techniques that have subsequently become familiar in business education involve case-study analysis, simulations, small group inquiry, role-playing as well as interactive teaching sessions.”

“These methods have had the effect of making the task of learning business management more realistic and more valuable.”

“There are numerous ways whereby a teacher may facilitate learning in schools.”

“In many ways, this group of strategies is similar to those analysed in some depth by B. Joyce & M. Weil now in the fourth edition of their well-known book Models of Teaching (1992).”

“Experience and research indicate that a variety of methods is important for effective teaching and therefore all teachers should have an effective repertoire of teaching–learning strategies.”

1. “Not all students learn equally well when the same strategies are employed.”
2. “Certain teaching–learning methods are more applicable to particular situations. . . . No one strategy is appropriate, or can hope to be appropriate, to all learning contexts.”
3. “No single method is superior, particularly in terms of student performance, to another in all learning situations.”

“The principal groupings of teaching–learning strategies are:”

1. Expository teaching.
2. Interactive teaching.
3. Small group teaching/discussion.
4. Inquiry teaching/problem solving.
5. Individualisation.
6. Models of reality.

“Furthermore, it is useful to view this variety of strategies as a problem-solving device to overcome the difficulties experienced in classroom teaching.”

“This method involves the transmission of information in a single direction from a source to learners.”

“The source may take a variety of forms (books, television, persons), although it is commonly a teacher in a classroom.”

“Learners are essentially passive receivers of information in this strategy.”

“Common examples of expository teaching are lectures, demonstrations, set reading tasks and audio-visual presentations.”

“Efficiency and effectiveness of resources are hallmarks of expository teaching.”

“A single source, a lecturer, for example, could provide the necessary information to groups of several hundred/thousand students simultaneously.”

“Finally, through the use of expository teaching, instructors may feel confident that they have covered the course.”

“The final effectiveness of the learning, of course, rests with the learner.”

“These methods emphasise passive learning behaviour on the part of students.”

“Finally, students receive minimal immediate feedback and hence are not aware of the accuracy of their learning.”

“. . . the most powerful single moderator that enhances student achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback’.” (1992:9)

“Overall, expository teaching is very efficient in terms of the use of teaching resources and addressing the curriculum, but generally less effective in terms of student learning.”

“Similar in nature to expository teaching, the essential difference with interactive teaching is the deliberate encouragement of interaction between learner and teacher.”

“This usually takes the form of question–reaction episodes interdispersed with expository information.”

“Sometimes known as the discussion or question–discussion technique, it incorporates the successful features of expository teaching with interactive and feedback elements.”

“Essentially learners are more active in this approach and thinking skills are enhanced through the interactive element.”

“Interactive teaching incorporates effective and efficient use of resources, provision of immediate feedback, more active learner participation and more opportunities for remedial and extension work.”

“Thus the opportunity for teacher–learner interaction is the major advantage of this category of method.”

“Consequently interactive teaching is less efficient in terms of teaching resources, but for most educators this is more than offset by the enhanced quality of student learning and the nature of teacher–learner interactions.”

“The principal feature of this strategy involves the division of a class into small groups which work relatively independently to achieve a goal.”

“Here the role of the teacher changes from one of transmitter of knowledge to coordinator of activities and guide to information and its processing.”

“Through the interaction engendered by group discussion students acquire the skills of planning and organising work, developing arguments, sharing knowledge, dividing tasks, adopting compromise positions and so forth.”

“One of the more significant lessons educators have learnt from the 1980s is to move away from excessively competitive, individualistic approaches to learning towards more cooperative, group-based learning approaches.”

“Curriculum developers should be deliberately finding ways to include this type of strategy in the curricula they are devising.”

“As well, teachers need to watch that student attitudes, expressed effectively through interaction in the small group, do not become little more than the pooling of ignorance.”

“The hallmark of this strategy is that learners are actively engaged in determining answers to questions or resolving problems.”

“Instead of teachers providing information for learners to digest, students are first posed a problem, a question to solve, a dilemma to resolve or an issue to address, which they learn about through the process of finding an answer.”

1. “Problem awareness: creation of doubt in students’ minds.”
2. “Forming tentative hypotheses or possible solution to the problem or issue by the learner.”
3. “Research and collection of data to test those hypotheses.”
4. “Forming conclusions based on the evidence collected and accept or reject the hypothesis/possible solution.”

“The main advantage of inquiry teaching is the pervasive nature of the learning that occurs within students.”

“That is, learners who resolve problems for themselves retain that understanding more effectively because of the close identification with acquiring that information.”

“In this way students develop a range of inquiry-based skills which may be translated to realistic situations in later life.”

“Finally, the inquiry strategy promotes a logical, rational way of thinking, a positive approach to problem solving and more systematic approaches to decision-making.”

“Classroom teachers often reject the inquiry strategy because it requires a changed role on their behalf.”

“No longer are they the source of knowledge, the arbiter of right and wrong, but more the provider of materials and advice.”

“In this transition, control of learning changes from teacher to students and this may be perceived as a threatening situation for many teachers.”

“Allowing students to inquire into the use of power saws in an industrial arts class on woodwork, for example, would clearly be inappropriate.”

“The essential features of individualised learning are that learners complete tasks appropriate to their ability level and proceed with this learning at their own pace.”

“The focus of responsibility for learning changes from the teacher to the learner and considerable learning is undertaken independently of others.”

“Two forms of individualisation have been quite commonly found in schools in the past (though less evident recently) and they are equally appropriate to curricula in other educational situations such as TAFE and adult learning situations.”

“The advantages of individualisation as a teaching–learning strategy are vested almost entirely with the learner.”

“Many teachers resist introducing individualisation into their classes as it requires substantially more teacher time for organisation and preparation.”

“As some of my students, who are practising teachers, have said, ‘But this means writing 30 programs instead of one!’”

“Finally, individualisation appears to be the very antithesis of group or collective work appproaches and excessive emphasis on an independent, individual approach to learning may well prove counterproductive to effective learner outcomes.”

“An alternative way to facilitate effective learning within students is to involve them in learning situations that are as real life as possible.”

“Sometimes it is preferable to participate in ‘real life’ activities (such as work experience), but for many reasons this option is frequently not available in schools.”

“In these situations we need to replicate the real world by creating models of the salient features of that world, i.e. create models of reality.”

“Simulations, physical models, games and role-playing are examples of these models.”

“The essential procedural steps in models of reality commence with the teacher establishing a scenario (what is happening), students agreeing to abide by the rules of the model, and then a lengthy period of participation.”

“All forms of simulations and role-play should also finish with a thorough debriefing session.”

“Debriefing is a very important feature of any model of reality (especially role-play and simulations) and must be incorporated within the curriculum.”

“For some forms of learning to be effective, the student simply has to learn by doing.”

“Yet the disadvantages of replicating reality have meant that for many students in schools, models of reality are almost unknown teaching–learning strategies.”

“Teachers often don’t employ them because they are very time consuming, have questionable learner effects in terms of achieving curriculum goals, require substantial additional teacher preparation and usually demand teachers change their standard classroom procedures.”

“Consequently models of reality remain, in schools, one of the most underutilised, yet effective, learning–teaching strategies available.”

“Some writers distinguish practice/drill as a separate strategy (Saylor et al., 1981; Marsh, 1986), although they may be considered more a method of reinforcement than a learning strategy.”

“The important point here is that learning is usually acquired elsewhere and the practice or drill serves to consolidate that learning.”

“While reality may be an effective teacher it is rarely an efficient, systematic and thorough teacher where learning through a specifically designed curriculum can be extrapolated from one context to another.”

“It is my belief that curriculum developers have a responsibility to advocate appropriate teaching–learning strategies for a curriculum even if they believe that classroom teachers will make their own strategy selections based upon their own criteria.”

“While teacher professionalism and autonomy should not be diminished, the curriculum developer may have very important reasons for recommending particular strategies.”

“Ultimately, however, it is the teacher’s professional decision as to which specific strategies will be employed to teach the content in the curriculum.”

“McNeil (1985) argued for philosophical criteria, psychological criteria, technological criteria, criteria from pressure groups and practicality as a criterion in the procedure for selecting teaching–learning strategies.”

“While these criteria are valuable, some of them lack direct practical application for school curricula.”

“Zais (1976:355–64) suggested aims, goals and objectives; foundation commitments; content; and students’ experience as appropriate criteria.”

“Brady (1992), however, argues for the selection criteria to include variety, scope, validity, appropriateness and relevance as means by which to judge learning activities.”

“However, there is probably more agreement amongst educators over the principles of learning than there is about learning theories.”

“Figure 8.3 suggests that a ‘percolating’ procedure is helpful to teachers seeking to select the most effective teaching–learning strategies for curriculum development and for the teaching of a curriculum’s content in their classrooms.”

“In this model, the process of percolating through the four levels is set within the broader context of the curriculum conception favoured by curriculum developers.”

“The model advocated in figure 8.3 suggests four criteria that curriculum developers may use which can serve the function of sifting through a range of learning activities to determine the most appropriate for a curriculum.”

“These criteria are objectives, appropriateness, resources available and constraints.”

“The first barrier or sifting layer that curriculum developers must pass learning activities through is to determine if they can achieve the stated objectives.”

“Many learning activities are available to the curriculum developer and the teacher to select from but only a few may be appropriate to facilitate the curriculum’s intention.”

“The major point to be made in applying the objectives criterion of the method-selection algorithm is that the type of method or techniques selected by the curriculum developer is primarily dependent upon the nature of the objectives involved.”

“Having limited the range of potential methods to those which satisfy the needs of the curriculum’s objectives, it is important for curriculum developers to consider which of the remaining methods are consistent with the characteristics of the students involved, namely, the students’ interests, abilities and levels of development.”

“Expository and inquiry strategies, for example, may be more appropriate to the formal operations level, although for different reasons.”

“In earlier stages, drill and repetition may be more appropriate as might individualisation and small groups.”

“Some methods will require access to hardware (for example, film projectors, computers, tape-recorders) and software (for example, films, computer programs, tapes).”

“But do these resources exist within the institution and are they available at the required time?”

“An objective that required students to observe the action of the ocean waves in practice is extremely difficult for students in Alice Springs!”

“When each potential method is assessed in terms of this criterion, the number of viable methods remaining is likely to be reduced substantially further.”

“Closely allied to the criterion of resource availability is the notion that in all teaching–learning situations there is a number of constraints that operate to further reduce the choice of the ideal (or most appropriate) methods.”

“Perhaps the most significant constraint in schools is time.”

“Another constraint might be a teacher’s recognition of his/her own limitations.”

“The model further suggests that developers have an intimate knowledge of the institution for which the curriculum is being developed in order to select methods effectively.”

“Little research or writing is available in the curriculum field that deals with the issue of organising or structuring learning activities.”

“In part this is due to the strong tradition of classroom teachers determining the appropriate learning activities for their students.”

“Teachers claim, quite reasonably, that their experience, their knowledge of the learners’ abilities and the school context places them in a unique position to organise learning activities.”

“Nevertheless, three criteria proposed by Tyler (1949) have become accepted in the field as a rule-of-thumb basis for organising learning activities.”

“Tyler (1949) defined continuity as ‘. . . the vertical reiteration of major curriculum elements’.”

“This means that if an objective emphasises particular processes such as inquiry skills, then these skills require repetition at various points along the curriculum in order that learners may have repeated exposure to and opportunity to practise this activity.”

“This concept is an extension of continuity.”

“Sequence requires that the activity not only be repeated, but also that it progresses from simple to complex.”

“This hierarchical organisation of learning activities may occur within a subject or theme over a period such as a year, as well as progress through many years of schooling.”

“Taba (1962:296) refers to sequencing as ‘cumulative learning’, a term which seems quite appropriate.”

“The third criterion suggested by Tyler refers to the horizontal relationship between learning activities.”

“Tyler’s intention was that at any point in time, the learning activities are so related that they provide a unified and integrated experience for the learner.”

“Traditionally, educators have not performed well according to this criterion, claiming instead that the responsibility for integration lies with the learner.”

“As well, it appears difficult to entice educators out of the shell of their subject areas and so promote integration.”

1. “Learning activities include those specific activities offered to learners that will allow them to understand curriculum content and so achieve the stated objectives.”
2. “A wide variety of activities, particularly teaching methods, is available and should be used appropriately.”
3. “Curriculum developers should recommend the use of a variety of learning activities which are consistent with the objectives and content.”
4. “A model for the selection of appropriate learning activities considers in descending hierarchical order:”
   — Objectives. — The learner. — Resource availability. — Constraints.