Week 4 readings: Learning Environments and Formative Feedback

From the book How People Learn came the concept of learning environments. Turns out the insight I had last week - about how the concept/method of learning has changed over time - was spot on, and that education used to be more about a standard set of knowledge than the ability to interpret and solve novel cases. The institution of schools has been changing, but methods, cultural factors, and concepts all develop in asynchronous ways. Students today are shaped by an environment that must be student, knowledge, assessment, and community centered; stipulations for an education that is appropriate for each individual in his or her own situation. I found much of this text intuitive, to the point where I wondered just how progressive my own grade school educators and parents were. What really did stick in my mind was the mention of Japanese classrooms, where students can expect to share with the class how they came to an incorrect answer (and, instead the existence of a derogatory or negative stigma, classmates should instead appreciate the value in studying how the wrong answer was found), and Inuit culture, where talkative students run the risk of being seen as less than bright.

The Sadler piece laid out the nuances of feedback, how summative is not the same as formative assessment and what criteria and best practices for critique and advice should be used for a truly dynamic student-educator/mentor relationship. Basically, while we can consider marks and grades a form of feedback, they can't inform our learning process very well; the answer is to foster more of an instructor-student dialogue, preferably during the course of work instead of at the end of or after an assignment or course.

Both readings this week were highly school-centric, but what can be carried over into library service, is the importance of cultivating the proper atmosphere/environment, as much as possible, for patrons and being attentive and engaged with patrons we assist or teach. It is especially effective to cultivate a rapport with those who need involved instructions.