Learning, Knowledge and Human Development MOOC’s Updates
6. Productive Struggle in Learning (George Reese)
Comment: Educational psychology is also concerned with the dynamics of learning. In his contribution to this course, George Reese analyzes by way of example the notion of "productive struggle." How can educational psychology help us to understand the processes of learning?
Make an Update: Take one area of the learning sciences. How does educational psychology contribute to our understanding? What evidence does it offer? What interpretative concepts and theories does it provide?
Educational psychology, in particular Vygotsky notions on Social Cognitivism, offers the opportunity to have a more comprehensive and researched-based framework for learning processes.
For instance, the notion of “productive struggle” allows a parallelism with Vygotsky’s notion of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which is meant as the level of challenge /zone at which learning can happen (by not being too easy, leading to boredom, nor too difficult, leading to frustration). Educators should be able to provide a culture in which the ZPD can happen to allow effective learning.
The notion of “productive struggles” represents a tool thanks to which educators can provide a rightly challenging and inclusive environment for students to learn effectively.
In fact, by encouraging a culture of collaboration including asking the right questions (i.e. “What are you trying to do”, “What have you tried already”, “what would happen if..”), peer iteration, and perseverance, “productive struggle” encourages the independence of learners to prevent frustration, develops a growth mindset to trust the learner’s own abilities as examinable and improvable and supports recognizing emotional response to both failure and success.
Motivation, persistence, and scaffolded support through targeted explanatory feedback are key elements of productive struggle in learning. Furthermore, motivation for productive struggle requires a “growth mindset;” the understanding that success is a result of effort more than of raw ability. Productive struggle is fostered through what psychologists have termed desirable difficulties; challenges that compel the learner to repeatedly retrieve information over time, thereby strengthening long-term memory for flexible transfer of the information to a new contexts.
Productive Struggle can be described as learning process in which students expend effort to grapple with perplexing problems or make sense of challenging ideas, they engage in a process of productive struggle—effortful practice that goes beyond passive reading, listening, or watching—that builds useful, lasting understanding and skills.
Struggling learners are students who encounter difficulties in their learning journey for various reasons, such as a lack of foundational knowledge or skills, executive functioning challenges, attention and focus issues, and emotional and behavioural difficulties.
(https://dasint.org.sg/learning-differently/learning-differently-s/struggling-learners#:~:text=Struggling%20learners%20are%20students%20who,and%20emotional%20and%20behavioural%20difficulties
Productive Struggle can be described as learning process in which students expend effort to grapple with perplexing problems or make sense of challenging ideas, they engage in a process of productive struggle—effortful practice that goes beyond passive reading, listening, or watching—that builds useful, lasting understanding and skills.
Struggling learners are students who encounter difficulties in their learning journey for various reasons, such as a lack of foundational knowledge or skills, executive functioning challenges, attention and focus issues, and emotional and behavioural difficulties.
(https://dasint.org.sg/learning-differently/learning-differently-s/struggling-learners#:~:text=Struggling%20learners%20are%20students%20who,and%20emotional%20and%20behavioural%20difficulties.)
Educational Psychologists work with children to find out HOW they learn and process information and look for ways to improve their performance.
And it’s not just intelligence that affect learning outcome but
Emotional issues, attitudes, motivation, self-regulation, behaviour and self-esteem all contribute to learning.
A learning assessment is often the first step in the process.
This is not only to identify any learning disorders or difficulties…
A full learning assessment (or educational assessment) will also reveal:
Specific strengths and weaknesses in underlying learning skills, Academic achievement compared with what is expected for a child’s age and education level,
Positive and negative stimuli,
Environmental problems and other factors that influence the learning process
These assessments may also reveal certain problem areas — such as memory — or emotional factors that affect learning, such as anxiety.
From that point, we make recommendations such as:
Early intervention programs
Specific learning strategies for home and school, how to deal with any emotional or environmental issues but it’s not just the test results alone that make a difference to children’s learning outcomes.
There's need to spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing learning profiles with each other and take great care in writing clear reports and helpful recommendations based on current research evidence”, explains.
This collaborative process produces insights which are actionable – by parents, teachers and children.
Educational psychology employs research methods, observational studies, and empirical evidence to gain insights into the processes of learning. By synthesizing knowledge from various disciplines, it helps educators and policymakers make informed decisions regarding instructional practices, curriculum development, and educational policies.
Overall, educational psychology provides a scientific foundation for understanding how individuals learn and offers practical implications for optimizing teaching and learning experiences. It empowers educators to create effective learning environments, design engaging instructional strategies, and support students' cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Educational psychology through their methodologies, conceptual frameworks and interventions allows us to create especific strategies around the educational and learning process that aims us to greater results. It allows us to achieve students potencial facilitating all and understanding the process that are involved, for example, the social, the cultural, neuropsychological and institutional factors.
educational psychology contributes to our understanding through a combination of empirical evidence, theoretical frameworks, and interpretative concepts. By synthesizing research findings, educational psychologists offer insights into the complex interplay of cognitive, emotional, social, and environmental factors that shape the learning process.
Educational Psychology draws from other fields such as neuroscience and often involves standardised testing to obtain information about children’s learning skills and abilities.
This information enables us to gain insight into how children learn and process information and what their learning potential might be.
And it enables us to recommend specific learning strategies and supports for home and school to help them to reach that potential.
Educational Psychology draws from other fields such as neuroscience and often involves standardised testing to obtain information about children’s learning skills and abilities.
This information enables us to gain insight into how children learn and process information and what their learning potential might be.
And it enables us to recommend specific learning strategies and supports for home and school to help them to reach that potential.