Angelica Sandoval

EDU 542

Interview Format for EDU 542: How does Long Term Learning
Happen

Interview One: Age_______23_____ Gender_______Female____

Your response notes should be comprehensive. No one line responses because this is
intended to be an in-depth interview which brings out complexities in the learning
process that would have implications for teaching and learning and which guide you to
understand more about learning.

1. What is something that you have learned in the past that you still know and understand
today? Describe the place and your age when you learned this information.

“I learned all of my times tables up to 12 with immediate recall by the time I was in
the 3rd grade. I learned them both from school and at home with my parents and
siblings. My teacher elicited group practice and my parents required flash card
studying daily.”

2. Describe the learning process and explain why you think you learned (remember) that
information? For example, if the learning took place in school what did the teacher do to
help you learn?

“At school, my teacher would sing the facts with us starting from 1 and working our
way up to 12 facts. She would sing these facts to commonly known nursery rhymes
and we would sing them daily adding on a new set once the previous set’s song was
memorized. At home, my parents would have me study flashcards mixed in any
order and I did this once a week during school and every summer since from 3 rd
grade on till 6th grade. They would quiz me after studying all of the cards, and at
random times throughout the day. Once my siblings learned their facts as well, they
would randomly give us an equation during our normal daily routines to see who
could answer the fastest.”

3. What particular study strategies did you use to learn this matter? Please describe any
strategies or experiences that might have helped you in this learning process. Do you find
these strategies helpful in any other learning situations?

“My parents would have us study our math facts using flashcards and quiz us after
studying and at random moments throughout the day. At school, our teacher would
have us play “around the world” to see if we could answer the facts before our
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EDU 542

partner correctly. We would also complete timed homework worksheets to see how
many facts we could answer correctly under time constraints.”

4. How did you know you were learning? Please provide evidence that told you that you
were learning.

“I knew that I was learning when I was answering multiplication questions

immediately with 100% accuracy. I would be able to complete the entire timed
worksheets, I would move around the entire room during “around the world”, and I
was able to answer my parent’s random questions with little thinking time.”

5. Would you consider learning this information hard or easy? Interesting? Explain or
describe your learning experience.

“I think learning this information was easy. The practice was spread out and I
enjoyed the pressure of writing and answering quickly and accurately. I think I
viewed it as a game and I never knew when I was going to be “tested,” so I had to
be prepared to recall the answer at any moment. It made the learning fun so it didn’t
feel like learning.”

6. What currently motivates you to work hard to learn something new?

“What currently motivates me to work hard and learn something new is bettering
myself. I think I am competitive with myself and I want to do everything I attempt
to the best of my ability. Whenever I take on a new task, I have to do all of my
research and then I use that to attempt that new thing from making paper flowers
to starting my new job this year. I always want to do better, so I try to
continuously work hard at mastering new things.”

7. Please explain how you remember new information today. Did your prior learning help
you learn better today?

“Today, I remember new information through repeated application. I try to use the
new information by playing games with flashcards if I am studying, and if it is
information, I just find interesting that I want to hold onto, I try to share it with others
so that it sinks in a little deeper. I feel like when I talk about the new information, I
remember it better and sometimes I even understand it a little better as well. I think
my prior learning didn’t explicitly teach me how to learn better today, but it modeled
how I could make information more memorable through songs and random recall.”
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EDU 542

8. Do you believe you are naturally smart or are you smart because you work hard?
Provide examples/evidence for your answer.

“I don’t know if I would say that I am naturally smart. I would say that I have been
blessed with the best opportunities to work hard and become smart. I don’t struggle
to learn or focus. I have a supportive family and the means to have a roof over my
head and food for every meal. I have been given every opportunity to work hard and
be able to be smart. I went to a good school that offered me AP classes, extra
assistance afterschool as well as on Saturdays.”

9. What do you do to learn that is beyond or not required in school or work?

“I like to learn things I am interested in through research and mostly youtube. I like to
watch videos or use the information to try to attempt it on my own. I use the videos
as a lesson where I watch them through, then I go back and watch them frame by
frame as step by step instructions.”

10. What would you like to tell educators about helping others learn?

“I would like educators to realize that learning isn’t as simple as working hard or
teaching a great lesson. Your students need you to see them and help them learn to
learn through their circumstances. If we can spark a fire for learning, we set students
up for success despite what life throws at them. When you build safety and self-
confidence within a child’s reality, they have the best chance to not only overcome
circumstance but strive for what they want to be.”

Reflection- 2-3 page:

Angelica Sandoval
EDU 542

Reflect on your interview experience and summarize any new insights

concerning how learning happens. Apply theory, learning sciences, and brain
research and make connections where appropriate to theory. The notion is to
apply learning from research to real life learning and analyze findings.

Reflecting on the students past and current learning techniques I can see that there

are some commonalities and differences. The student mentions how she now can see

the changes in her style of learning. One common factor that boosted learning for this

individual was when learning was fun. Learning to her could be enjoyed, it was not

something that seemed tedious for her to do. Even as an adult she continues to find

ways to make the information being learned fun for her. This common factor also

appeared in my previous interview, which shows how learning needs to be intriguing

and rewarding for students. This common feature brings to my attention that removing

fun from a classroom really distances a student from their ability to engage and

effectively process information. Brain based research has shown that when learning

brings joy and other association of positive emotions, the information is processed

better. Imaging show the opposite for information processing when negative emotions

are associated with learning (Pawlak 2003).

Creating a “fun” learning experience helps develop a student’s motivation to

continue. The student likes to do it and becomes more motivated to get better at what

they do. Students with motivation develop a growth mindset. They are trying to become

a better version of themselves, and this individual clearly states that. She has seen how

her love for learning, has been tied into her development as a person. She has

discovered that this makes her a growing and knowledgeable individual.

A difference I found in her style of learning is that now she explains the information

learned to others. Being able to say things orally really reflects whether our brains truly
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EDU 542

have the information. She is showing her way of elaboration. Elaboration occurs when

she is able to formulate understanding of the information to explain and form broader

connections. She also explains that she learned from others through videos, and then

recreates what she has seen, this shows the theory of Social learning. Through

observation she is able to later recreate what they have demonstrated. Using others as

an example helps her develop confidence because she is seeing how others may

struggle as well before becoming an expert. I have found that using videos, especially

from YouTube have been a huge shift teacher have taken. There are so many videos

that contain the same information we are teaching in the classroom, but with a different

delivery. At times students need to hear a new form of delivery in order to get it. The

skill for studying- concrete examples is a great tool for students to use, and through

videos they can learn new examples that further explain the concept.

After completing this interview, I was able to gain insight in how as a teacher we

need to provide students with many opportunities to show us their understanding. We

need to give students those moments to show us that they are capable of learning.

Students need to see us care about their development in learning, and how that step by

step process is occurring within them. The last response she gave me really reminded

me that as a teacher I have to remember to spark a desire to learn for all students. I

need to find ways to get a student to want to learn, and that will facilitate their ability to

become long life learner.