1. Postgraduate certificate in teaching in higher education
p70406 Evaluating and Investigating your Teaching in HE
Learning Theory Workshop
Learning Theory
1 December 2010, Harcourt Hill FG11 1330-1630
That’s all very well in practice, but how does it work in theory?
Do you use theory as a drunk might use a lamp post: more for support than illumination?
Welcome to the Learning Theory workshop. The second in this year’s series of workshops for
p70406. This workshop sets the stage for an integrative turn to the course. You should be
starting to pull it together.
Before the workshop you should:
• In your base group, have prepared your positions: "How is your assessment practice
a representation of what it means to be a good teacher in Higher education?"
• Revisit page 8 of the Course Handbook. Follow up the references, if you can.
• Read at least Chapter 1 of Brookfield (1995) Becoming a critically reflective teacher
and Chapter 2 of Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall (2009)
• Briefly Review 3 online sources. How do they differ, if at all?
o Atherton, J. (2009) Learning and Teaching: Angles on learning, particularly
after the schooling years [Online]. Available:
www.learningandteaching.info/learning
o Kearsley (2010) Theory into Practice (TIP) database http://tip.psychology.org/
o Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2010). Available at: http://www.learning-
theories.com/
• Review your notes from the previous workshops and the basegroup activities; try to
identify common themes that might run through these course components.
• Read and be prepared to discuss this passage:
Most academics - in the humanities and social sciences, particularly -
come at their subject these days from a relativist perspective:
knowledge is "in here"; there is no knowledge without the knower;
knowledge is "constructed" in cultural contexts; knowledge is not
"given" or "out there". There is no "absolute truth".
This position is quite different from the classical approach: knowledge
is "out there"; the "laws of nature" are independent from the mind of
the investigator; there is "truth" to be discovered. This approach
depends on the "independent, objective observer", who can stand
aside from the observed phenomenon and form an unbiased view.
This classical approach is the traditional position of many scientists,
as well the commonsense view of how knowledge is produced, which
(according to Scollon) is held by an international public discourse of
commerce and government. (see Scollon 2003: 71)
Agenda
1330-1430 Base group position papers and discussion
1430-1500 A theory of theory
1500-1515 Break
1515-1600 History of ideas
• Institutions of society
• Hidden Curricula
Critical theory
Academic identity
• VAK
Learning theory models, typologies and toolkits
1600-1630 Open discussion
George Roberts 1 December 2010

2. Postgraduate certificate in teaching in higher education
p70406 Evaluating and Investigating your Teaching in HE
Learning Theory Workshop
References and extended reading list (partial)
Atherton, J. (2009) Learning and Teaching: Angles on learning, particularly after the schooling
years [Online]. Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning
George Roberts 2 December 2010