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Pattern Based Learning Model :
As Applied to the Learning of French as a Foreign Language

° Abstract   ° Task   ° Principles   ° Method   ° Evaluation   ° References

Abstract Pattern Based Learning Model assumes two basic kinds of patterns : internal patterns of knowledge or schema - personally constructed knowledge based upon the interaction between current experience and preexisting internal schema; preexisting external knowledge - knowledge already organized into patterns. The degree of congruency between internal and external patterns defines learning of correct information. The more students can discover the patterns in presented information, the easier it will be for them to learn and use. Instructors should take time to learn what their students already know, the better to help present information to them in a recognizable pattern. (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)

Task The task to which I apply this model is the teaching of French as a foreign language. Foreign language has a preexisting external pattern with which students will be to become familiar with and build their internal schema to be more or less in accordance with. (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)

Principles Learning At the very basic level, psychologists tend to agree that people learn by association. As events occur in our lives, our minds come to see connections, or patterns, to the information we’re receiving and the experience we’re having. (Myers, 1995, pg258) Memory Recent scientific research has made significant progress in creating stronger theories on how actual learning occurs in the brain, for instance : "Our memories are rich because they are formed through associations. When we experience an event, our brains tie the sights, smells, sounds, and our own impressions together into a relationship. That relationship itself is the memory of the event. Unlike computer memories, a human memory is not a discrete thing that exists at a particular location; instead, it is an abstract relationship amongst thoughts that arises out of neural activity spread over the whole brain." (Ranpura, 2001) I call those relationships "patterns" or "schema." Remembering and Understanding essentially cannot be separated. Even information that is remembered but not understood will be not remembered well, and I argue that information which isn’t organized in an easily recognizable (therefore understandable) pattern will be much, much harder to put to memory. Thus, even knowledge that "is not understood" (meaning : the "true" meaning of the knowledge isn’t known) must be understood in some sort of pattern to some extent in order to be memorized. Preexisting External Patterns The other significant reason for calling this theory Pattern Based Learning Theory is the idea that knowledge which has already been gathered, studied, researched and developed by society and its members has already been given and underlying pattern by which it has already been understood. While I agree with the Constructivists on the belief that every individual must create their own patterns in the mind by which to understand this knowledge, I cannot ignore the fact that such organization already exists. Thus, a learner of language must learn the preexisting external patterns to a degree by which she may be understood and understand other people. The more her understanding, and therefore memory patterns, are different from those of others, the more difficult it will be for her to understand the language of others and make herself be understood. Therefore, the greater the degree of congruency between the schema the learner has developed and the preexisting external patterns of knowledge, the greater the percentage of knowledge which can be shared and used with others. (Joyce, Weil & Calhoun, 2000, pp 249-255) Assimilation and Accommodation Pattern based learning theory draws heavily upon Piaget's theories of accommodation and assimilation. Piaget labeled "structures" in the brain schemas, and while I do the same, my vision of schema is that they are literally patterns of neural connection in the mind, not merely a hazy definition of some unseen, unknowable structure. Assimilation is the act of using our preexisting schemas to make sense of the current situation. This occurs when no significant changes are being made to our schema, for instance, a small child might understand the pattern of dogs being horizontal and having four legs; using this schema he might call all horizontal, four legged creatures dogs. This would be assimilation, the application of our schemas to make sense of our environment. We accommodate new information when we incorporate new information into our preexisting schema; we discover how the new information fits into our current patterns of knowledge and make any structural changes that must be made in order to make sense of and therefore be able to remember the new information. Following the same child as in the above example, when he learns that different four legged creatures have different names, he'll hopefully accommodate this new information into his schema and learn that he needs to learn the names for the different varieties of horizontal, four legged creatures. (Myers, 1995) As a teacher, I am most concerned with inappropriate applications of assimilation (being when a student's preexisting patterns of knowledge are incongruent with the reality of the situation, or just inadequate to make sense of the situation) and then help the student to accommodate new information as easily as possible. Context Context should not be the spice of a learning activity; it should be the basis of a learning activity. Knowledge is not learned in abstract bits, rather information patterns are built in the brain. As one takes in information and builds associations, how different events or sensations are connected, one begins to understand the world. Patterns of behavior, physical sensations, and language are all observed and remembered in the mind. No single bit of information can be learned except in how it relates to others. People learn, remember, and understand things in patterns. This should certainly be considered in how we teach. Knowledge should not be separated from the field in which it is used, but presented in such a way that students are able to connect it to their own lives, and therefore see how it connects to their preexisting information patterns. Granted, this cannot be done all the time at elementary levels, but as ability to recall increases with ability to discover patterns in the knowledge, it should be presented in such a way as to try and maximize this pattern building. Teaching Implications The chief goal of a teacher should be to provide the students with the information to be learned organized in a pattern which they can easily comprehend and/or to give them the opportunity to learn the knowledge and organize it into patterns which they can comprehend while maintaining the validity of the information. It would be unwise to allow a student to learn the information incorrectly merely because it’s easier for the student to do so. Teachers should teach the course material in a way that they students will be able to make sense of the new information and either see the innate patterns which the information is already organized into, or build their own especially unique patterns of the knowledge, so long as their patterns and understanding are not wrong, in the sense of being knowledge which doesn’t correspond with the course material. As cited in (Daniels & Bizar 1998) Methods that Matter page 170 : "Carl Rogers and Jerome Freiberg (1994, p36) talk about two different types of learning on opposite ends of a continuum. At one end is the learning of isolated fact and nonsense syllables, which they the call 'learning from the neck up,' and the other end is "significant, meaningful, experiential learning." This kind of learning has a strong component of self-discovery. When a child moves to a foreign country and is allowed to play freely with her companions for hours, she will probably learn the language and be able to speak with a native accent. "'But let someone try and instruct her in a new language on the elements that have meaning for the teacher, and learning is tremendously slowed or even stopped'." (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)

Method This model can be used at all ages, the task chosen is at the secondary level. (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)

Evaluation I believe that the best way to evaluate students on what they have learned when using the Pattern Based Learning Model is to examine how they have organized their information. This, of course, cannot be directly done, but through testing of the congruency of their knowledge to the preexisting external patterns, one should be able to tell this. Does this amount to mundane exams? No, it shouldn't. The students should have to provide evidence how they understand the knowledge they have learned. While those students who are most comfortable with self-examination and meta-awareness will likely be able to convey how they understand what they've learned and what connections they've made, students who are not so self-aware will more unable to. To facilitate this, I encourage the use of essays in which students are asked to explain how they would explain the information explained in the course to a person who lacks much experience in the area. This should force the students to reveal the way that they themselves understand the information as they try and build connections and parallels by which they might explain the information. Another option would be for students to tape record a session of peer tutoring in which they explain the topic to another student in the class. This could even be used as a classroom activity if the students are "jigsaw"ing the information (see Jigsaw Classroom for more information.) Also, portfolios can also be of use, as in them students can provide projects which could not have been completed had the course material not been learned correctly. This is true also of written assignments. Students might generate a portfolio in which create cognitive maps of how French vowels relate to each other, or how different French sounds are connected. (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)

References ° Daniels, H., and Bizar, M. (1995). Methods that Matter. Stenhouse Publishers. York, ME. ° Joyce, B., Weil, M., Calhoun, E., (2000) Models of Teaching. 6th Ed. Allyn and Bacon. Boston, MA ° Myers, David G. (1995). Psychology. 4th Ed. Worth Publishers. New York, NY. ° Ranpura, Ashish. (2001.) "How we remember and how we forget" Brain Connection, http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/memory-formation ° Social Psychology Network (2000). "Jigsaw Classroom" http://www.jigsaw.org/ Content Copyright 2000 Elliot Aronson. ° Rogers, Carl., and Freiberg, H. J. (1994) Freedom to Learn, Macmillan. New York, NY. As cited in Daniels & Bizar (1995) (goto ° Abstract ° Task ° Principles ° Method ° Evaluation ° References)