Learner-Centered Principles

• Learner-centered principles focus on the learner as the center of instruction, influencing pedagogy at different life stages.
• At the end of this discussion, one should be able to explain the 14 principles, advocate for their use, and identify their application.
• The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 118,000 members.
• The 14 principles focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal and under the learner's control, dealing holistically with real-world learning situations.
• The 14 principles can be divided into motivational and effective (3 principles), cognitive and metacognitive factor (6 principles), developmental and social (2 principles), and individual difference factors.

Nature of the Learning Process

• Effective learning of complex subjects involves the intentional construction of meaning from information and experience.
• Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for their learning.

Goals of the Learning Process

• Successful learners create meaningful knowledge representations, acquiring thinking and learning strategies for lifelong success.
• Success requires the generation and pursuit of personally relevant goals.

Construction of Knowledge

• Successful learners link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.

Strategic Thinking

• Successful learners create and use thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
• It is used in learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and concept learning.

Thinking About Thinking

• Higher-order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical thinking.

Context of Thinking

• Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and instructional practices.

Motivation and Emotional Influences on Learning

• The amount learned depends on the learner's motivation, influenced by emotional states, beliefs, interests, goals, and habits of thinking.

Intrinsic Motivation to Learn

• Creativity, higher-order thinking, and natural curiosity contribute to the motivation to learn.
• Intrinsic motivation is stipulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.

Effects of Motivation on Effort

• Acquiring complex knowledge and skills requires extended effort and guided practice.
• Without motivation, learners are unlikely to exert the necessary effort without coercion.

Developmental Influences on Learning

• Effective learning considers differential development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains.
• Individuals learn best with material appropriate to their development level, presented enjoyably and interestingly.

Social Influences on Learning

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

Individual Differences in Learning

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

Learning and Diversity

• Effective learning considers differences in learners' linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds.

Standards and Assessment

• Integral parts of the learning process include setting high standards and assessing the learner and learning process through diagnostic, process, and outcome assessments.

Summary of the 14 Principles

• Existing knowledge serves as the foundation for future learning, influencing how learners represent new information and make associations.
• Strategic processing and control enable learners to develop skills to regulate thoughts and behavior for more effective learning, known as metacognition.
• Factors such as intrinsic motivation, reasons for learning, personal goals, and enjoyment of learning tasks play a crucial role in the learning process.
• Learning is a unique journey due to each learner's combination of genetic and environmental factors.
• Learning occurs within the context of society as well as within an individual.