eJournal 3 Analyzing Learners

This goal this week is to further analyze the learners for my instructional design.   The scope to consider for students stretch further than their performance in the topic or supporting skills.  To make better instruction, it is well worth the effort to recognize characteristics that make up the learner and to understand how they affect their ability to learn.

Student population data

Reviewing the enrollment statistics for the state of Texas, it seems half of the student population are economically disadvantaged.   The school that will benefit from my design is a Title 1 school which implies that a majority of the students are on free or reduced lunch plans.  Being disadvantaged economically might have implications of lacking supplies to come to school, or the ability to venture outside of the area to learn about how other people live.  The lack of broad experiences would affect their ability to make connections with the content provided in the lesson.   Parents are not as likely to have higher education backgrounds and may not value education and therefore support the students efforts or hold them accountable.   The ability to bring the student to school for extra tutoring or allow them to stay late and arrange transportation may be a challenge as well.

Another statistic is the number of Hispanic learners in K-12 which also accounts for more than half of the population. Some implications of this statistic could be that parents may not have the language skills to understand the instructions.   Parent / Teacher communication is key to student success and language barriers might keep the parent from partnering with the teacher to support their student's learning.    A interesting metric is the Limited English Proficiency percentage which is 15% of the population.   Considering the difference with the number of Hispanics and other ethnic groups, it seems that the students do not typically language as a barrier.

This information was taken from the TEA web site: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/acctres/enroll_index.html, 2011-12 enrollment report

Characteristics of students

Other characteristics of my learners come from a comparison of child learner and adult learner.  Here are some of the highlights of the report.

• Children are not self sufficient, they look to adults for material, psychological support as well as life management
• They may perceive one of their major roles to be a learner (although it might not always be accepted)
• They learn what they are told and I believe they typically expect to be told everything 
• The grade levels are grouped with the same ages and typically experiences with some variation
• They have limited experience
• They can learn quickly
• They are open to new information and able to adjust their views
• Often externally motivated with rewards, praise, recognition
• Their expectations are typically limited in regard to education as their experience is small
• They are still developing their brain and need time and opportunity to make connections 

The report also discussed needs of the learner much along the lings of Maslows hierarchy of needs.  Children are more likely to have some of these needs unmet at the lower levels which will distract them or prevent them from focusing on education and contributing in a positive way to their learning.

This information was taken from:
http://www.itma.vt.edu/modules/spring11/efund/lesson3/learneranalysis.pdf

My personal observations from the classroom.

They may or may not recognize the importance of a positive attitude and how that affects their ability to learn.  Nor do they recognize how that attitude can affect other students (their learning partners).  The concept of being a responsible learner is not typically understood by the middle school student.  Understanding what type of learner and how to adapt to other forms of information is not readily known by the student.   Reflection may or may not be something that they are familiar with.

Middle school students are beginning to branch out socially and are starting to learn the rules of engagement as it relates to peers and the opposite sex.   They can be competitive and their desire to rise to the top of their environment can keep them from seeing the value of cooperation or team work.

They do not want to be embarrassed or thought of as not knowing something that others already know.  The idea of failure is not comfortable and avoiding questions seem to be a coping mechanism employed by many of the students.