EDUC 1203 Modules 2&3: learner-centered principles

• EDUC 1203, Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching, explores the principles, processes, and practices of learner-centeredness, incorporating educational psychological theories for various teaching-learning delivery modes.
• Prof. Bryan Paul Espinosa is the course facilitator for EDUC 1203

Modules 2 & 3

• Modules 2 and 3 cover learner-centered psychological principles and a review of developmental theories.

Module 2: Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

• The learning outcomes for Module 2 include explaining and advocating for the use of the 14 learner-centered principles in teaching and learning.

Why Be Learner-Centered?

• Learner-centered (LC) classrooms are engaging places where students are motivated to learn.
• LC classrooms accommodate learner differences.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving are fostered in LC classrooms.
• LC promotes responsibility and independence.
• LC considers real-world applications.
• LC can lead to improved academic outcomes.

Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

• The 14 learner-centered principles pertain to the learner and the learning process, applicable to children and lifelong learners.
• These principles primarily focus on internal factors controlled by the learner, rather than physiological factors or conditioned habits.
• The principles acknowledge the influence of external environments or contextual factors.
• These psychological principles are divided into four categories: cognitive and metacognitive, motivational and affective, developmental and social, and individual differences.
• Note: The principles are to be understood as an organized set (holistic perspective) and should not be viewed in isolation.

Categories of Learner-Centered Principles

• Cognitive and Metacognitive: includes nature of the learning process, goals of the learning process, construction of knowledge, strategic thinking, thinking about thinking, and context of learning.
• Motivational and Affective: includes motivational and emotional influences on learning, intrinsic motivation to learn, and effects of motivation on effort.
• Developmental and Social: includes developmental influences on learning and social influences on learning.
• Individual Differences: includes individual differences in learning, learning and diversity, and standards and assessment.

Principle 1: Nature of the Learning Process

• Learning complex subjects is most effective as an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
• Intentional learning is deliberate and purposeful, not passive or accidental.
• Learners engage with material, set objectives, and seek strategies to achieve goals.
• Forcing students to do a task does not make learning intentional; choice must come from the students themselves.

Principle 2: Goals of the Learning Process

• Successful learners can, over time with support, create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
• Discovery learning, spiral progression, and scaffolding enables learners to create schemas as representations of knowledge.
• Modes of representation include enactive, iconic, and symbolic stages.
• Spiral Curriculum: revisiting topics periodically deepens understanding.
• Scaffolding is the supportive guidance that enhances children's learning capabilities.
• Discovery Learning: Children learn actively through exploration and problem-solving.

Principle 3: Construction of Knowledge

• Successful learners can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
• It is a common misconception to assume all students have prior knowledge on a topic.
• One method for linking new information with existing knowledge involves asking students questions to tap into their stored knowledge.
• Other methods for linking new information with existing knowledge include using analogies or metaphors and using graphic organizers.

Principle 4: Strategic Thinking

• Successful learners create and use thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.

Principle 5: Thinking About Thinking

• Higher-order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitates creative and critical thinking.
• Strategic thinking involves seeing the bigger picture, setting goals, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Strategic thinking is important in regulating metacognition.
• Metacognition uses strategic thinking, self-awareness, self-monitoring, and self-regulation.

Principle 6: Context of Learning

• Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and instructional practices.
• Environmental factors that influence learning encompass classroom conditions, the social environment, socioeconomic factors, and cultural factors.

Jigsaw Puzzle Discussion

• Jigsaw Puzzle Discussion involves dividing participants into groups, granting each group expertise on specific principles, that participants will later share with other groups through reshuffling.

Principle 7

• What and how much is learned is influenced by motivation.
• Motivation to learn is influenced by emotional states, beliefs, interests, goals, and habits of thinking.

Principle 8: Intrinsic Motivation to Learn

• A learner's creativity, higher-order thinking, and natural curiosity (intrinsic motivation) all contribute to motivation to learn.
• Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks that are of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.

Principle 9: Effect of Motivation on Effort

• Acquiring complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and guided practice; willingness to exert effort is unlikely without motivation

Principle 10: Developmental Influences on Learning

• As individuals develop, opportunities and constraints for learning will vary.
• Learning is most effective when differential development within and across the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains is taken into account.

Principle 11: Social Influences on Learning

• Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication with others.

Principle 12: Individual Differences in Learning

• Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning based on prior experience and heredity.

Principle 13: Learning and Diversity

• Learning is most effective when linguistic, cultural, and social background differences are taken into account.

Principle 14: Standards and Assessment

• Setting high and challenging standards and assessing the learner and learning progress, including diagnostic, process, and outcome assessments, are integral parts of the learning process.

Review Questions (True or False)

• Learning is a constructive process where learners actively build understanding. (True)
• Construction of knowledge is most effective alone rather than through collaboration. (False)
• Strategic thinking is most effective in evaluating performance. (True)
• Metacognition is relevant to some learners. (False)
• The learning environment, including social and cultural factors, significantly influences learning. (True)
• Motivation is within the control of students, teachers have little influence on student motivation. (False)
• Standardized tests are the only reliable way to measure student learning. (False)
• Intrinsic motivation is often enhanced by challenging, relevant, and autonomous tasks. (True)
• Learning is most effective when done in isolation. (False)
• Developmental differences across learners should be considered in instructional planning. (True)

Module 3: A Review of Developmental Theories

• Explain the main concepts and principles of major development theories.
• Apply development theories to teaching-learning situations.

Theories Related to Learner's Development

• Freud's theory includes Id, Ego, Superego, and the Psychosexual Stages.
• Erikson's theory focuses on Psychosocial stages
• Piaget's theory includes Cognitive Development & Schema.
• Kohlberg's theory includes Moral Development.
• Vygotsky's theory includes the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
• Bronfenbrenner's theory focuses on Bioecological systems.

Sigmund Freud: Three Components of Personality

• Word Focus: ID, Superego, Ego
• Id: Instinctual desires.
• Ego: Balances desires with reality.
• Superego: Internalized moral standards.
• Together, they form Freud's structural model of the psyche.

Sigmund Freud: Iceberg Analogy

• Word Focus: Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious, Psychoanalysis
• Conscious: Current awareness.
• Preconscious: Middle ground, not in immediate awareness but not deeply repressed.
• Unconscious: Repressed thoughts, desires, and memories.

Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development Theory

• Word Focus: Fixations, Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency (Sublimate), Genital, Erogenous Zone
• A fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage of development.
• It arises from unresolved conflicts during that stage, leading to a "stuck" point in development.
• Sublimation is a mature defense mechanism where unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable behaviors.

Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development Theory

• Word Focus: Lifespan Perspective
• Erikson's Lifespan Perspective emphasizes that development is continuous throughout life, not just childhood.

Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development Theory

• Word Focus: Conflict/Crisis, Virtue, Malignancy, Maladaptation
• In each life stage, individuals face a conflict/crisis with successful resolution yielding a virtue, a positive strength.
• Unresolved conflicts lead to negative outcomes like maladaptation (overemphasis on the positive) or malignancy (overemphasis on the negative).

Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development Theory

• Word Focus: Sensorimotor (object permanence), Preoperational (egocentrism), Concrete operational (conservation), and formal operational (abstract)
• Piaget proposed four distinct stages, each marked by unique thinking methods.
• Stages:
  • Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Infants learn through senses and actions, object permanence develops.
  • Preoperational (2-7 years): Children use symbols but think intuitively and egocentrically.
• Concrete Operational (7-11 years): Children develop logical thinking about concrete events and conservation. -Formal Operational (12+ years): Adolescents develop abstract thinking and can reason hypothetically.

Jean Piaget: Schema Theory

• Word Focus: Schema, Assimilation, Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Accommodation
• Schema: Mental framework organizing knowledge and assumptions. -Assimilation: Fitting new information into existing schemas.
• Equilibrium: A state of cognitive balance. -Disequilibrium: A state of cognitive imbalance.
• Accommodation: Changing schemas to fit new information.

Sigmund Freud: Teaching Implications

• Many behavioral problems in the classroom can be attributed to childhood impulses.
• Understand the underlying behavior and its triggers.
• Encourage consistency with classroom rules and routines.
• Conflict Resolution:
  • Take a minute to calm down.
  • Talk about how you feel.
  • Come up with a solution together.

Erik Erikson: Teaching Implications

• Preschool: provide more play opportunities rather than study.
• School Age: Teachers should welcome competition with clear winners and losers.
• Adolescence: Rules should be imposed to lessen rebellious behavior.

Jean Piaget: Teaching Implications

• Identify which activity suits which stage and explain why
• a. “I Spy” or “Guess What I see” -b. Debate on issues related to justice -c. Peek-a-boo -d. Use blocks to visualize math concepts