Behaviourist, Cognitivist & Constructivist
I would consider my current instruction style to be constructivist. I personally believe I benefit from constructivist learning the most because of how it builds from personal experiences and interactions, as well as very hands on learning. This helps me the most because it keeps me involved and continuously engaged in the classroom setting. I think that constructivist teaching methods help expand beyond teaching and introduces other thinking techniques such as, critical thinking, analyzing and creativity. Examples of constructivist teaching styles that I have grown up with and still experience used throughout university is teaching others your methods, this can be seen through discussions – sharing your own viewpoints or explanations – explaining to another your thought process on how you got to the solution. I also tend to attain information better when trying to verbally explain or physically show someone how something works. It is very interesting to see how everyone prefers a different instruction style and it shows how crucial it is to meet everyone’s needs.
One story of how I overcame a learning challenge was learning to ski. I began skiing at a pretty young age. I skied for 8 years, but then was intrigued in trying something new. I decided to try out snowboarding, that lasted for about 7 years. I was then convinced to go back to skiing, which I was nervous about. After trial and error without lessons and just going down the ski hill, I found what helped me most was sharing with my friend – who was also learning to ski, the techniques that helped me to be more confident in my skiing. I paid off as I am now confident in my skiing abilities and comfortable on most places on the mountain.