1. How do people learn and develop?
2. How can my teaching and classroom environment support learning for understanding?
3. How can learning theory inform my teaching practice?
4. How can interactions among the learner, the classroom environment, and the teaching/learning process produce motivation to learn and build strong learning communities?

Participants in the course will explore learning theories, examine their own teaching, and discuss applications for classroom practice. The first sessions (one through four) look at students as learners:  how they develop, process information, and use their multiple intelligences. The second group of sessions (five through seven) looks at how teachers construct a positive, productive environment for learning. The third group of sessions (eight through eleven) focuses on how to help students master content and develop the skills they will need in life. The final two sessions (twelve and thirteen) focus on motivating students and creating a school culture that supports learning in everything the school does.

The Learning Classroom: Theory Into Practice includes two other primary components besides this Web site – 13 video programs and an accompanying print guide. To find transcripts of the programs or to download chapters of the print guide, follow the links under Support Materials in the left-side navigation bar.

To find out more about using these and other components of the course, click on About the Course in the left-side navigation bar.

To begin exploring the content of the individual sessions, follow the Session Overviews link in the left-side navigation bar to find an index of the session titles and topics.

"The most neglected part of teacher education is learning theory. And to develop a real profession of teaching you have to have knowledge of how people learn. It's at the core, because it allows you, then, to be inventive in a professionally responsible way, it allows you to think about what's working and what's not working, and what you need to do to help students learn. So I think this is the core of what professional teachers need."

- Linda Darling-Hammond