Running Head: DOMAIN C LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Domain C Literature Review

National University

Richard Regal

April 28, 2019

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Abstract

This literature review will cover an article titled “5 Ways to Make Learning More Meaningful to

Students” which provides insight on how to better connect with students through instruction by

appealing to student needs and the variety of learners we have in our classrooms. It begins with

making lessons that connect with students on a personal level while offering plenty of

opportunities for self-reflection, collaboration with peers, and a chance to see real-world resources

related to the topic of study, making it relevant for them in a real way.

Keywords: Professional development, educators, success, effective teaching, engagement

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The concept of teaching is one that nearly everyone uses or adopts for themselves at some

point in their lives. We teach friends or siblings how to accomplish a simple task or show our

children how to play a game or succeed at something far more important in their own lives. For

professional educators, making learning accessible for all students in a classroom and engaging

them on a personal level is a crucial part of becoming a more effective teacher. According to the

California Teaching Performance Expectations (2013) document, making content more accessible

for students means to “provide a balanced and comprehensive curriculum… vary instructional

strategies according to purpose, lesson content and student needs” while doing so through an

array of mediums including “models, visual and performing arts, diagrams, non-verbal

communications, and the use of media and other technology” (p. 12).

Everyone’s mind is wired differently and works in dramatically different fashions.

Therefore, we all learn more effectively in different ways. As teachers, we can simply know or

ask our students which way they learn best and then just cater to their needs, we need to be aware

of the possibility of a variety of learner types and hope to appeal to as many of them as possible.

Relojo-Howell (2017) makes an argument in their article by stating that it begins with connecting

the learning with students in a personal way, “offer[ing] the opportunity to link their classroom

activities to real-life experiences” (“5 Ways To Make Learning More Meaningful To Students”,

2017). Students can relate to what they know in their own lives and make more sense of new

learning by connecting it to their own personal experiences. A great example of this for me is

when my students are working through the novel “The Outsiders”, a story about the difficulties of

human interaction and coming-of-age in a situation that is less than good for our main characters.

I ask my students to think about placing themselves in a similar situation that our main characters
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find themselves in and to write about what that experience would be like for them. Many of my

students can connect to some of the difficulties that those characters face and many of them can

relate in their own personal way. I think that makes the work of teaching the other big ideas and

concepts of the story to them much easier because they can already relate to the story in a more

personal way.

Another tactic that Relojo-Howell (2017) suggests is taking a student-centered approach to

lesson planning by “asking [students] open-ended questions, encourage student collaboration and

group projects” and by giving assignments that allow them ample time to reflect on “and

synthesize what they have learned” (“5 Ways To Make Learning More Meaningful To Students”,

2017). I like to center my lessons around the concept of metacognition and tasking my students

with pushing the boundaries of their learning through unique and challenging lessons. I offer my

students ample opportunities to work with one another and collaborate through discourse and

project work. I think one thing that I struggle with in this regard is giving students time to reflect

on their learning. I want to work on offering students a chance to really take in their learning and

make conclusions about it before moving on. Finally, the article mentions bringing the real world

into the classroom by way of showing students real-world resources like podcasts, YouTube

videos, research documents, and by encouraging students to publish their own work to the web

through blogs or even YouTube (Relojo-Howell, “5 Ways To Make Learning More Meaningful To

Students”, 2017). In coming years I hope to integrate a website creation unit into my English

course, much like our PDQP assignment. I think the prospect of creating a website will be

exciting for students but will also make whatever lessons or learning related to it exciting for

them and will allow them to better connect with the material.
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References:

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2013). California Teaching Performance Expectations.

Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-

prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2013.pdf

Relojo-Howell, D., MSC, MBPSS. (2017, November 17). 5 Ways to Make Learning More

Meaningful to Students. Retrieved April 27, 2019, from

http://psychlearningcurve.org/learning-more-meaningful/