Creating Significant Learning Environments 5313
This course explored how to design learning environments where students are active, engaged, and empowered. Through frameworks like Fink’s Significant Learning, the COVA/CSLE model, and Thomas & Brown’s A New Culture of Learning, I learned how to move beyond traditional instruction and intentionally create experiences that spark curiosity, promote ownership, and support deeper understanding. The course connected directly to my VR Innovation Plan, helping me align outcomes, assessments, and activities in ways that make learning meaningful, equitable, and transformative for all students.
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This assignment analyzes Thomas and Brown’s A New Culture of Learning and connects its key principles to my innovation work in DeSoto ISD. I explain why today’s learners need Significant Learning Environments (SLEs) and how curiosity, play, collaboration, and adaptability strengthen learning. I also show how virtual reality supports these ideas by giving students authentic, hands-on experiences that build agency, identity, and real-world readiness. This work outlines the purpose, rationale, and impact of my innovation plan while calling district leaders to intentionally design learning, not just deliver instruction.
02
This assignment presents my personal learning philosophy, grounded in constructivist and humanistic theory. I explain how students learn best through exploration, connection, and meaningful experiences, and how these beliefs shape my teaching and leadership. I also connect my philosophy to my district’s VR innovation plan, showing how immersive technology supports curiosity, equity, and deeper understanding. This philosophy guides the way I design instruction and lead change across DeSoto ISD.
03
This assignment demonstrates how I aligned learning outcomes, assessments, and activities using Fink’s 3-Column Table to support my VR Innovation Plan for DeSoto ISD. I identified TEKS-aligned goals, designed meaningful learning experiences, and created assessment strategies that measure engagement, understanding, and equity. The work shows how immersive VR, UDL principles, and performance-based assessments come together to create significant learning environments where all students can explore, apply, and demonstrate learning in powerful ways.
04
This project presents my completed Understanding by Design (UbD) unit aligned to my VR Innovation Plan. It includes TEKS-based goals, essential questions, assessments, and a full WHERETO learning plan. I also compare UbD with Fink’s 3-Column Table to show how both frameworks guide my work by balancing structure with meaningful, student-centered learning.
​This piece explores how growth mindset must move beyond slogans and become part of a meaningful, student-centered learning environment. Drawing on current research and my own innovation plan, I examine how emotional safety, instructional design, authentic tasks, and intentional feedback work together to help learners shift from simply “trying harder” to truly taking ownership of their learning. I also connect growth mindset to my VR initiative, showing how immersive experiences create safe spaces for risk-taking, reflection, and iterative improvement. This plan highlights my commitment to designing learning environments where students feel supported, challenged, and empowered to grow.