Kind of Significant Learning Description (in your own words)

Learning how to learn This aspect of significant learning is highly pivotal for those students
who aim to become better students and self-directing learners.
It assists the students who aim to become keen learners in their
respective disciplines. In concise, this form of learning enables the
students to be comfortable with the process of learning new
materials/subjects.
Foundational knowledge This deals with the basic knowledge that the students already
possess and how they utilize it in their future learning. These known
concepts may range from biology to history etc. A firm grasp on
foundational knowledge is of benefit for students to excel in other
fields of learning.
Application Learning how to engage students in various kinds of thinking like
creative, critical and practical. Moreover, developing different skills,
related to the subject, beneficial to the student.
Integration This aspect of significant learning helps students to transfer their
learning abilities to other settings. Through critical thinking and
creativity, learners can implement one idea to the other. It also helps
to incorporate knowledge of one subject into other. Integrated
learning process enables the learner to make connection between
basic skills in different content areas to develop constructive attitude
for continued successful learning
Human Dimension This type of learning enhances learner’s skill to know about himself
as well as others. This type of learning allows a learner to better
understand himself and interact with others in an effective way.
Caring It motivates the student to learn by developing interest, feelings and
values. When students care about something it gives then energy to
learn it more and make it a part of their life.

Item Description
1. In no more than one paragraph, describe one specific learning activity from a selected
discipline in your Group and explain how the learning activity relates to one or more of Fink’s
kinds of significant learning.
Response:
Learning Activity: Development of Homemade Water filters by selecting different adsorbent
materials for domestic water treatment.
Discipline: Environmental Sciences
Description: Preparing homemade water filters is a part of learning activities of
Environmental Sciences students. For this activity, different students are asked to bring the
basic materials needed for preparation of water filters. They can use the help of their basic
knowledge and literature to select those materials that have the ability to adsorb or stick the
pollutants on its surface so that it cannot pass through the filters. Therefore, selection of
material will need the fundamental knowledge technique of Flink’s taxonomy. After getting
materials, there is need to implement the Application learning technique to effectively use
 the information and concepts to develop the water filters by organizing the materials. They
will integrated different ideas to make the water filters and critical think on real world
situation for its practical approach. For this purpose, they will maintain the water quality after
filtration and thus interaction of Integration and human Dimension and Caring is critical. The
method they will implement for Development of water filter will represent Learning How to
learn Technique
Fink’s Taxonomy
Selecting different adsorbents (Fundamental Knowledge)
Development of Water filter (Application)
Domestic Water Treatment (Integration, Human Dimension, Caring, Learning how to learn)

2. In no more than one paragraph, describe the interactive nature of Fink’s taxonomy, why it is
important, and present an example of this interactivity from the perspective of one discipline
in the Group.
Response: Flink’s taxonomy focuses on significant learning and one of the most important
aspect of this taxonomy is that it is interactive as compared to bloom’s taxonomy. It is
interactive in a sense that all learning key points are interconnected. We can explain this with
an example of an ultrasound in physics. If a teacher explains how images of internal body
structures can be done using ultrasound (Application learning), this will make students excited
about the value of subject (caring). When a student learns how to relate this concept of
physics to other fields and subjects I.e. medical field (Integration), this makes it easier for
students to see the significance of the course material (Human dimension). In this way all six
kinds of learning promoted and learning become truly significant.

3. In no more than one paragraph, Explain the differences between Bloom’s and Fink’s
Taxonomies.
Response:
Bloom’s taxonomy has been in use since the 1950’s and has been an essential component in
teaching and learning over the last half a century. However, modern times call for change and
to learn something new a change in thinking is required. Fink’s taxonomies concentrate on
modern needs and thus are more practical with relation to modern day learning. Cognitive
taxonomy is the center of Bloom’s ideology and has been used by academia in the evaluation
of student learning. On the other hand, Fink’s taxonomy has broader objectives with
significant learning as the core component. Another important aspect is that this kind of
learning is not hierarchical but has a more interactive nature to it.

4. In no more than one paragraph, critically examine Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning to
identify one aspect that may be missing or may be difficult to implement in activities or
assessments from the perspective of one discipline in the Group. Explain your reasoning.
Response:
With regards to my practical experience, I would like to share the example of some students
that I came across as a teacher. This experience was about the importance of foundational
knowledge for students. The students I taught were undergrads in Agriculture and I was their
TA for Microbiology. This was their first ever course in Microbiology and they lacked the
foundational knowledge of the subject. This made my task even more arduous and as they
lacked the basic concepts, this resulted in an awkward situation in the class. I had to go to the
very basics of the subject to articulate matters to the students. In doing so, I was unable to
effectively complete the course contents in a timely manner. I strongly believe that
foundational knowledge of a subject is pivotal in understanding its concepts. Therefore, it
may be difficult to fully implement this aspect in activities and assessments of students.