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How people learn II

HUM-432(b)

Lecturer(s) :

Tormey Roland John

Language:

English

Withdrawal

It is not allowed to withdraw from this subject after the registration deadline.

Summary

The students will understand the factors which affect the learning of professionals (such as engineers or teachers). They will understand differences between learning during (a) initial training, (b) induction into the workplace, and (c) the on-going development of experienced professionals.

Content

See the full description of the course in the Introduction to project of the fall semester.

Social and Cognitive Factors in Professional Learning

General Aim: To enable participants to understand the ways in which professionals learn their profession, in the initial training stage, the induction into practice stage and the continuing professional development stage.

General Description of Material:The ability for individuals and organisations to learn is often regarded as central to their survival and success in the contemporary world. But how do professionals (like teachers, or engineers) learn their profession? What are the differences between how we learn (a) in initial training, (b) during the transition into work and (c) when an experienced professional?

Learning is partially a psychological concept, but professionals operate in social contexts and so an understanding of professional learning also draws on sociological research. Therefore understanding professional learning will involve a multi-disciplinary approach.

Plan of the course:Students will design and conduct a piece of research in small teams with advice and supervision. Inputs on aspects of research design, data collection and analysis will be provided.

Keywords

Learning, Education, Social and Behavioural Science Research, Interdisciplinary Studies

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

How People learn I: HUM-432(a)

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Design an experiment or a survey on learning
• Hypothesize relationships between learning and social or psychological factors
• Interpret literature to generate hypotheses
• Conduct the experiment or survey
• Analyze the data collected using appropriate statistical approaches
• Interpret the data in light of the literature and initial hypotheses

Transversal skills

• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Assess progress against the plan, and adapt the plan as appropriate.
• Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
• Evaluate one's own performance in the team, receive and respond appropriately to feedback.
• Negotiate effectively within the group.
• Respect relevant legal guidelines and ethical codes for the profession.
• Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.
• Collect data.
• Write a literature review which assesses the state of the art.
• Write a scientific or technical report.

Teaching methods

Supervised team work sessions, mini-lectures

Expected student activities

Participation in planning collaborative research and in executing the plan

Assessment methods

Written report

Supervision

Office hours	Yes
Assistants	No
Forum	Yes

Resources

Bibliography

Bell, Judith (2005) Doing your research project, A guide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science, 4th edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press

de Vaus, D.A. (2002) Surveys in Social Research, 5th Edition. London: Routledge

Field, A. (2005) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, 2nd Edition. London: Sage.

Cohen, L., Mannion, L., and Morrison, K. (2011) Research Methods in Education, 7th Edition. London: Routledge.

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Surveys in Social Research / De Vaus
• Doing your research project / Bell
• Discovering Statistics Using SPSS / Field
• Research Methods in Education / Cohen

Moodle Link

• http://moodle.epfl.ch/course/view.php?id=13956