Online Teaching Tip: The Six Types of Learning

As Winter Term 1 winds down and Winter Term 2 approaches, consider beginning the process of planning your course by clarifying what kinds of learning you are aiming to facilitate for students in the course.

Professor Diana Laurillard of the Institute of Education at UCL suggests there are six types of learning that underlie most university teaching and learning: acquisition, inquiry, discussion, practice, collaboration, and production. These basic patterns can be used to select relevant online teaching and learning and assessment activities.

Read a recent UCL Digital Education blog post that lists examples of different possible online activities for each type of learning. Another helpful places to start for clarifying your intended learning outcomes and generating a plan for your course are L. Dee Fink’s “Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning (PDF)” and CTLT’s Online Teaching Program.