1.1 Teaching & Learning Fundamentals

Understanding how learners learn and using evidence-informed teaching practices to plan, deliver, and assess learning. This category provides Emerging Educators with the foundational pedagogical knowledge they need to turn their existing teaching experience into more effective classroom practice.

Sub-topic	Keep / change	Rationale	Research/search keywords
How learning works	Merge learning science + memory	More useful as a practical foundation than teaching separate theoretical concepts	learning science, science of learning, cognitive science, educational psychology, learning processes
Child & adolescent development	Keep, but contextualize	Useful for understanding learners' developmental needs; should remain practical rather than becoming developmental psychology	child development education, adolescent development education, developmental psychology learning
Motivation	Keep	Directly relevant to engagement and persistence; important for classroom practice	student motivation, learner motivation, motivation to learn, self-determination theory education
Active learning	Keep / strengthen	Particularly important for moving Emerging Educators beyond teacher-led instruction	active learning, active learning strategies, experiential learning, inquiry-based learning, student-centred learning
Lesson planning	Keep / strengthen	One of the clearest practical needs identified in your learner research	lesson planning, instructional planning, lesson design, backward design, learning objectives
Assessment & feedback	Keep / strengthen	Essential for knowing whether learners are actually learning	formative assessment, assessment for learning, classroom assessment, feedback, learning assessment
Memory / retrieval	Don't make a separate subtopic	Important, but better integrated into "How learning works" and practical teaching strategies	retrieval practice, spaced learning, spacing effect, memory retention, cognitive load