Learning in Everyday Life

By Maxim Salonine, Vanier College

At a Glance

Discipline

  • Social sciences
  • Psychology

Instructional Level

  • College & CEGEP

Course

  • Introduction to Psychology (Topic Learning Theories)

Tasks in Workflow

Social Plane(s)

  • Individual
  • Group

Type of Tasks

  • Analyzing
  • Presenting

Technical Details

Useful Technologies

  • Laptop and or cellphone to find personal photographs

Class size

  • Medium (50-99)

Time

  • Multiple class periods (2-3 classes)

Inclusivity & Accessibility

  • Diversity of engagement
  • Variety of action & expression

Instructional Purpose

  • Consolidation & metacognition

Overview

The aim of this assignment is to consolidate students’ knowledge of three classical theories of learning: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning.

First, students select 5 photographs of themselves engaged in various everyday life activities (e.g., getting dressed in the morning). Then, they analyze each behavior by applying the relevant learning model that best explains how this behavior was originally acquired (the models are seen prior to this assignment through lectures, individual/small exercises, etc.). By engaging in this process, students increase their awareness of the widespread application of learning theories and thus their usefulness in explaning human activity.

If time permits, students can present a behavior of their choice to their peers in small groups.

This assignment is best suited as a unit capstone.

Instructional Objectives

Apply various learning theories to everyday life activities.

Workflow & Materials

Workflow

Activity Workflow

View on CourseFlow
Document

Assignment

Maxim Salonine

Contributor's Notes

Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits
  • Emphasizes the role of learning theories in explaining everyday life behaviors.
  • Encourages self-reflection by examining personal photographs.
  • Increases students’ awareness of learning beyond the academic context.
Challenges
  • Students who don’t have a solid understanding of the theories may struggle to correctly identify and apply the chosen model to a particular behavior.
  • A common problem is distinguishing between Classical and Operant Conditioning. If this case, the teacher may pause the activity and discuss the similarities / differences between the two models.
Tips
  • Weaker students may benefit by working with a peer to receive feedback on their assignment draft.
  • Teacher can present an example of their own everyday life behavior with an appropriate analysis and photograph to help illustrate assignment requirements. This can be done when presenting the assignment to students or when students are working on it in class. The latter is especially useful if the teacher observes several students struggling with the task.

Applied Strategies

Inquiry-Based Learning

Research, Problem solving and Lab-based methods