Forward-thinking towards my future career goals as an instructional designer, my concentration on workplace design and passion for the medical field combined into an ultimate dream of designing courses for medical students. With a focus on workplace and adult learning, the approach to teaching and my approach to design is focused to fit the unique needs of adult learners.​

 

My personal philosophy for the education of adults and strategies to foster their learning originates from a combination of many historical cognitive theories of learning. The constructivist learning theory proposed by Piaget, Froebel, and Montessori offers that newly gained information is constructed in the mind. To thrive in any field, learners need to obtain a very deep understanding of all topics and to do so they gain a base knowledge of field specific content then "as new information enters [their] minds through experience, [they] develop increasingly more complex understandings of how the world works" (Drew, 2022). Building off the constructivist theory is the social constructivist theory that incorporates constructivism concepts but believes that the process of learning is characteristically a social practice. This implies that students will learn best when they interact with a "more knowledgeable other" based on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development concept which "highlights that students need to be taught things that are just too hard for them to complete alone, but achievable with the support of the more knowledgeable other" (Drew, 2022). Adult learners are typically seen as independent learners but, in many cases, there needs to be an individual with a deeper understanding of the topics mentoring the students that are newer to the concepts such as superior class level students, teaching assistants, tutors, and teachers themselves available for the less knowledgeable students to learn from. 

 

Multimodal learning, or the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, concentrates on how learning is promoted in the age of screen-based technologies. This theory suggests that individuals learn through two channels, aural and visual. For effective learning to take place it is required that the aural and visual inputs from these screen-based technologies are in sync and not overwhelming. Mayer's 10 teaching strategies offer insight on how to teach using technology to ensure that the inputs are used in a way as to not overstimulate the learners and prevent cognitive overload. Cognitive overload is extremely prevalent in higher-level education as "the professional activities to be learned require simultaneous integration of multiple and varied sets of knowledge, skills, and behaviors at a specific time and place" (Young et al., 2014, p. 371). Utilizing Mayer's 10 strategies to reduce the cognitive load on students stemming from technology use will help to lessen the overall cognitive stress.​ To read my full instructional design theory for adult learners, and more, follow the "Explore More" button below:​​​

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References

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Drew, C. (2022, July 5). 31 Major Learning Theories in Education, Explained! Helpful Professor. https://helpfulprofessor.com/learning-theories/ ​

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Young, J. Q., Van Merrienboer, J., Durning, S., & Ten Cate, O. (2014). Cognitive Load Theory: Implications for medical education: AMEE Guide No. 86. Medical Teacher, 36(5), 371-384.  https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2014.889290