Themes Of Accelerated Learning
Recent research has generated new conceptions of learning in five distinct areas. New information about human learning has being investigated by psychologists and views of how effective learning proceeds have shifted to focus on students’ understanding and application of knowledge and away from the benefits of diligent drill and practice. Accelerated Learning has adopted these practices to change the way in which learning occurs for the better.
The five areas of Accelerated Learning involve Memory Processes and the structure of knowledge, early learning foundations structure of knowledge and memory, analysis and problem solving, self regulatory and metacognitive processes and community participation and cultural experiences in early learning and each can play and important role the whole learning experience and its successful outcome.
Memory Processes and the Structure of knowledge. Accelerated Learning requires an understanding of the nature of organized knowledge and Knowing how learners develop coherent structures of information has been particularly useful in understanding effective thinking and creativity.. Memory has come to be understood as more than simple associations; encompassing many different aspects including, episodic memory and procedural memory. As well as understanding the function of short term memory,
Analysis of problem solving and reasoning. Accelerated Learning theory can now account for how learners acquire skills to search a problem space and then use these general strategies in many problem-solving situations. One of the most important influences on contemporary learning theory has been the basic research on expert learners. There is a clear distinction between learned problem-solving skills in novice learners and the specialized expertise of individuals who have proficiency in particular subjects.
Early foundation. Scientific studies of infants and young children have revealed the relationships between children’s learning predispositions and their emergent abilities to discover strategies for problem solving, organize and coordinate information, make inferences about the learning environment and bring these to new learning situations.
As a result, teachers and the education establishment are rethinking the role of the skills and abilities children bring with them to school. To make the most of Accelerated Learning educators need to address the different skill levels children bring with them, one size does not fit all. The development of creative methodologies for assessing infants’ responses in a controlled research setting has done much to shed light of these early learning experiences.
Self-regulation and Metacognitive processes. Accelerated Learning also requires individuals be taught to regulate their behaviors. Self motivation and self regulation are important skills that need to be brought to any learning environment. These regulatory activities enable control of one’s performance via self-monitoring. The activities include such strategies as planning and time management, predicting outcomes for the learning task, noting failures in understanding or comprehension, and using existing knowledge to enhance the learning procedure.
Cultural experience and community participation. Participation in social practice is a fundamental form of learning. Accelerated Learning involves becoming attuned to the limits and possibilities and the constraints and resources that are involved in the practices of the community and the learning environment. Learning is promoted if the social norms value the search for understanding.
Early learning is assisted by the supportive context of the family and the social environment, through the kinds of activities in which adults engage with children. These activities have the effect of providing to toddlers the structure and interpretation of the culture’s norms and rules, and these processes occur long before children enter school.
