Taylor Burger
SPLL Paper
What does integrated learning mean to me?
The first thing that comes to my head when I think of integrated learning is the crap they
would try to sell you in a Preparatory Academy. It’s where you would picture a dean in his
expensive suit discussing the main focus of the academy. You hear him in his nasally voice
saying, “Why here at Briar Prep we like to focus on cultivating the mind of our young ones. We
like to focus on integrating our learning so that students retain more and become better-rounded
individuals who are ready to tackle challenging life questions.” Quite frankly who actually pays
attention to that stuff? You don’t really care that much about integrated learning until you are
trying to better yourself. You don’t care about integrated learning until you want to make
something of yourself and focus on the future.
Integrated learning is looking for connections between the knowledge you have learned
and what you are currently learning. It allows you to cognitively create pathways in order to
remember. It has been proven that when one makes connections with course material to their
lives or things that have learned previously that material is recalled more readily. This is
something you will need in college in order to build upon previously learned information.
All the classes you took in the beginning of your educational career are like the piles of
bricks for a house they don’t really form anything until you stack them up. Through integrating
you are able to stack the bricks on top of each other. You build upon what you have previously
learned. You make connections in order to build higher and when you truly understand the
coursework and how it relates to other subjects then you can add the mortar in-between the
bricks to actually build your knowledge house.
At the matriculation ceremony the speakers kept emphasizing integrating learning. The
Sofia classes were invented in order to create well-rounded women. Through integration of
learning women become better-rounded. Women should be knowledgeable in every aspect. At
least enough to put up a well-crafted argument when the need arises. Also not only do we need to
know how to support our argument. Another reason that integrated learning is a great thing is we
are better able to portray our point of view to those who don’t understand. For instance, how
would you explain the titration of a chemical to a history major or the reason for the starting of
WWII to a chemistry major? With integrated learning you can relate you knowledge to other
people by changing you manner of speaking so they can understand better.
At Saint Mary’s I plan to integrate my knowledge. I don’t want to just memorize flash
cards in order to pass the test. I want to be able to use the words on my flash cards in order to
sound like a more intelligent individual. I want to strive you knowledge and not just exist at Saint
Mary’s. If I integrate my knowledge then I will succeed much easier in the future.