Selecting a Theory - Dr. Pat Hardre, CASTLE 2005

In preparation for the case studies, we turn to thinking about learning theories.  The CREOLE content is really good stuff!  However,  so much of good stuff can be a little overwhelming.  Thinking of theory as THEORY can also be overwhelming.  So if you are wondering just how to tackle this, try not thinking of it as THEORY but just as a set of principles that define what you know about learning and learners.

One useful way to find a theory that applies is to begin from the end, to select the theory bridge based on what your critical project outcomes are.  First, specify what you are primarily looking to change or enhance in your class.  You can organize these by what you want as primary outcomes.  For instance, is your main interest to improve students' internal processing (e.g., what they know & how they think about it).  Alternately you might want to influence their social behaviors and responses (e.g., how they interact with one another, with the teacher, or with the content when in groups or online).  You might be seeking primarily to change the way they approach applied skills or performances (e.g., how they interact in the setting, apply the content, or perform on assessments).  Then again you might be looking to influence their interest, engagement or motivation, or motivation-related concerns like attendance and retention (e.g., how much they are motivated, self-directed, or "dig into" their learning, or if they stay in class versus drop out).

As you focus your thinking about outcomes, the information on meta-goals (CREOLE Module. 1, Chapters. 3 and following) might be helpful. 

Remember the five meta-goals that teachers have for classes but sometimes keep implicit:

1. Goal 1:  acquire & retain content
2. Goal 2:  attend to and concentrate on course material
3. Goal 3:  develop ability to think critically
4. Goal 4:  become motivated to succeed
5. Goal 5:  become self-directed/self-initiating learners.

You might find these useful in specifying the big picture outcomes you want most.

After you identify the key outcomes, then try to identify the principles that support that outcome.  Ask yourself:  “What do I know supports this outcome?”  You might check the literature (in your field and in CREOLE) for guiding principles.  Generate a list of instructional principles to make your assumptions explicit:

Example for Goal 1: 

1. "spaced, repeated exposure to new information supports students acquiring & retaining content" and

2. "to be able to recall it later, they need to have schematic connections to what they already know and  how they will be expected to use or demonstrate their knowledge"  so

3. "to support them in acquiring and retaining this content in ways that they can later demonstrate, I need to make sure that they have both the exposure to the content and the connections to recall and demonstrate their knowledge later"

Example for Goal 3:

1. "looking at information from different perspectives and exposure to multiple viewpoints supports critical thinking about the topic" but

2. "students also need skills and strategies for critical thinking generally"  so

3. "to enable them to think critically in this area I need to be sure they have both the knowledge of what perspectives are important in this content area, and the general skill set of critical analysis"

Example for Goal 4:

1. "students are motivated for learning and success in a content area by relevance of the content to their valued goals" but

2. "they often don't see and supply these connections for themselves" so

3. "to support their motivation for this content, I need to clearly demonstrate the connections between the course content and the outcomes they value"

All of you have more specific outcomes in mind than these meta-goals, so chase your ideas around until you can identify the principles you can use to support what you want as outcomes for your CASTLE project.  For example, if you are concerned about their performance on tests, you are looking at some combination of Goals 1 & 2, but also on how they show what they know (assessment).  If you have motivational concerns, you may know that you can use incentives to produce immediate results in performance, but you are also probably concerned about the residual effects of things like rewards and grades, which can easily backfire.  Push your thinking as far as possible on these principles and assumptions, to help clarify what you are using to base your project ideas on. 

From here I can help you map back to THEORY, but for the next step, write out those principles and make your thinking explicit about your project.