Grand Challenges for Engineering: Advance personalized learning
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| Audience/Grade: | High School Junior -Continuing Education 11-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
General Engineering, Engineering Science Information Technology Sociology and Anthropology Technology and Society |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Community - Discussion Forum/Mailing List/Newsletter |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Organization:National Academy of Engineering |
| Description: | One of the Grand Challenges in Engineering identified by the National Academy of Engineering. The website has a description of the challenge, along with video clips that highlight specific problem areas. "Instruction can be individualized based on learning styles, speeds, and interests to make learning more reliable. For years, researchers have debated whether phonics or whole-word recognition is the best way to teach children how to read. Various experts can be found who will advocate one approach or the other. Ask an astute first-grade teacher, though, and the answer is likely to be that it depends on the kid. Some pupils respond more favorably to the whole-word approach; others learn faster with phonics. Young brains (and older brains, for that matter) are not all alike. Learning is personal. Throughout the educational system, teaching has traditionally followed a one-size-fits-all approach to learning, with a single set of instructions provided identically to everybody in a given class, regardless of differences in aptitude or interest. Similar inflexibility has persisted in adult education programs that ignore differences in age, cultural background, occupation, and level of motivation. In recent years, a growing appreciation of individual preferences and aptitudes has led toward more “personalized learning,” in which instruction is tailored to a student’s individual needs. Personal learning approaches range from modules that students can master at their own pace to computer programs designed to match the way it presents content with a learner’s personality. Why is personalized learning useful? Some learners are highly self-motivated and self-driven, learning best by exploring a realm of knowledge on their own or at least with very little guidance. Other learners prefer some coaching and a more structured approach; they are typically self-motivated when the subject matter appeals to their interests. Still another type is more often motivated by external rewards and may learn best with step-by-step instruction. Some may resist learning altogether and have little motivation or interest in achieving goals established by others. These general categorizations provide a base for developing personalized instruction, but truly personalized learning could be even more subtly individualized. Within the basic types of learners, some prefer to learn by example, others by finding answers to questions, and others by solving problems on their own. Under different conditions, people might even switch their preferences, preferring examples in some contexts but questions in others. Not surprisingly, many efforts to take this into account make use of computerized instruction, often in the classroom or via the Internet. Among the many projects attempting to meet the personalized education challenge are “intelligent” Web-based education systems, development of “recommender” systems that guide individual learning using Web-based resources, and creation of algorithms that adjust recommendations to the abilities of the student." |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | personalized learning |
| Is Component of: |
Grand Challenges for Engineering |
| Referenced By: |
Professor Woodie Flowers on Educational Reform |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Use of Resource: |
Website from the National Academy of Engineering. "With input from people around the world -- much of it on this website -- an international group of leading technological thinkers were asked to identify the Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century." I have included these grand challenge resources as assignments in my freshman design and analysis class. |
| Difficulty: |
Medium |
| Interactivity Level: |
Medium |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | August 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9127.aspx |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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