The 6 Learning types

ABC is based on the pedagogic theory of Professor Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework (2002, 2012) and her concept of “learning types”. Her six learning types have proved to be a very effective method to helping teachers describe and discuss the student learning process.  Students and non-teaching staff also find the learning types intuitive and easy to use and can produce innovative and creative storyboards with no prior experience of learning design.

The six learning types are: Acquisition (i.e.to read/watch/listen), Investigation, Practice, Discussion, Collaboration and Production.

As operationalised in ABC, this straightforward taxonomy resonates well with mainstream classroom practice and always stimulates rich pedagogical discussion even for teachers with limited experience with (and sometimes enthusiasm for) educational theory. Behind the deceptive simplicity is a richness derived from, “conceptual learning, experiential learning, social constructivism, constructionism, and collaborative learning, as well as the corresponding principles for designing teaching and learning activities in the constructional design literature” (Laurillard 2012:93). Participants do not need to be aware of any educational theory it to apply it operationally, but the scholarly underpinnings lend authority to ABC, and the robustness of Laurillard’s framework has been demonstrated over hundreds of workshops.

In this six minute video Diana Laurillard introduces the six learning types used in the ABC Learning Design workshop.

References

  • Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking university teaching: a conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies (2nd ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Laurillard, D. (2012). Teaching as a design science: building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. London: Routledge.