The influence of theory and student feedback on learning design

Abstract

The papers in this issue put paid to the simplistic objective binary that teachers teach and students learn. The complex reality is that teachers design and scaffold student learning experiences based on theoretical constructs and discipline standards. Xia ( this issue) concisely explains that “goals are set in order to reach a specific performance outcome” and that “learning outcomes can be defined in general as acting as a benchmark for ensuring teaching quality” (p. 25). These experiences are then customised to meet particular student needs and contexts and, in turn, modified for logistical reasons such as timing or access to human and physical resources. The main reason for modification, however, is clearly from student feedback. This feedback, in turn, is substantively drawn from affective responses and inherent goals and capacities which can include: prior experience, background, personality, academic background, interests, cognitive ability, quality of teaching and student expectation (Xia, this issue ).