This class was taken with Dr. Jones who is one of my favorite professors. He emphasized that the time teaches have is limited, thus teachers must use the most effective practices when teaching students. I learned the differences between initial acquisition of knowledge, deep learning, and transitioning learning stages. I was most shocked to learn that most schools teach to mastery, which lies at the end of the initial acquisition of knowledge stage, or surface learning. Dr. Jones taught how teachers must help students go beyond just memorize information. I will remember his methods and effective practices as I teach.
My enhancement project was to create surveys and access the amount of time special education teachers spent teaching mathematics for each learning stage (surface-, deep-, and transitioning level of learning). The surveys reviled that many teachers taught in math skills in surface learning and rarely moved to the transitioning stage. This project was very insightful, but I learned that my project design could have been improved. If I would create a follow up project in the future, I would take inventory of the teaching methods each teacher used in each phase of learning and access each method’s effectiveness.