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Lizabeta Pepkolaj

Dr.Smith

Eng 101 2COB

June 5, 2017

Relevant Learning

Are we ever going to use all the information that we learn in school, in real life? There is

so much information that you are not sure of which one to pick first or which is actually a good

lesson for you. Relevant learning means efficient learning. Relevant, meaningful activities that

both engage students emotionally and connect with what they already know are what help build

neural connections and long-term memory storage. If a student doesnt believe a particular

activity is interesting, relevant, or within the scope of his capabilities, it is probably not going to

sink in. In order for the Education System to get better results, it should bring materials that

students can relate. College students would have better results if they would practice active

learning at school based on information that students already know.

Active learning is a more efficient learning method than passive learning. Annie Murphy

Paul on the New York Times wrote about active learning:

The partiality of the lecture format has been made visible by studies that compare

it with different style of instruction, called active learning. This approach provides

structure, feedback and interaction, prompting students to become participants in

constructing their own knowledge rather than passive recipients. (Are College Lectures

Unfair?)
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What exactly the author is trying to say is that, when students are taught with an active learning

method they built their information more unified than using a passive learning method. Using the

active method, students are required to interact with each other, giving feedback

Students are participating on different discussions giving their own ideas or opinions; which

means that this students understand what the essential meaning of that topic is. In order for the

students to be active learners, the educators should give a topic that would grab the readers or

writers attention and hold it all the way to the end. Relevance could be established through

showing how theory can be applied in practice, relating material to everyday applications or

finding applications in current daily issues.

According to Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, active learning is a process

whereby students engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving

that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.

Matter supports the thesis, by explaining that with the new form of learning, students

attended class more often and achieved higher test scores. The act of putting ones own

thoughts into words and communicating them to others, research has shown is a powerful

contributor to learning. Active-learning courses regularly provide opportunities for students to

talk and debate with one another in a collaborative, low-pressure environment, writes the

author.

When students use the active learning to talk to each other or debate with one another on group,

they are more open to others opinion and that is a powerful learning method. Studies has shown

that working in group is more productive because the students will most of the times be talking
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about something that all have something to say about; even if not all the students will understand

the topic, their fellow students will explain it to them on a way which is easier for them to

understand. It is a low-pressure environment which means that all students that are part of the

group are open to learn and share with others without judging.

By establishing both personal and real-world relevance, students are provided with an

important opportunity to relate the course subject matter to the world around them, and to absorb

it in accordance with their previously held assumptions and beliefs. Relevance is a key factor in

providing a learning context in which students construct their own understanding of the course

material. When a teacher provides relevance for a student, the teacher conveys his or her

intentions to the student by tapping into that students cognitive need to make sense of the world.

From my own experience I can say that students get to understand and learn more if the

information that is given is something that they can relate to. The reason why is because the

students get to remember that after. A very helpful way to make the learning process easier is to

get students to talk about the topic given; in this way they can really talk about something that

they experienced before. If students are going to have a good interactive lecture day, they are

going to remember it, which is what all educators aim for. Students would definitely have better

result if they are talking about something that they are interested in.

Relevance can help students realize how useful all knowledge can be. Fulfilling students need

for relatedness, showing them how seemingly unrelated content fits together and then into their

own plan of things, and giving students real reasons why todays content will be useful to them

later on are all good ways to provide relevance for students.

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Works Cited

http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsal