Principles of Learning Teaching Process PDF

Faculty of Education Department of Education Module; Elements of education UNIT 04 - Principles of Learning Teaching Process Introduction Learning, according to educati...

Faculty of Education Department of Education Module; Elements of education UNIT 04 - Principles of Learning Teaching Process Introduction Learning, according to educationist E.A. Gates, is the modification of behavior through experience. It cannot be limited to the activities students do or the lessons they are being taught. Every teacher should be able to plan meaningful learning experiences focusing the desired learning outcomes. Therefore, teachers and administrators have a responsibility to, Create environments and plan experiences that foster inquiry, questioning, predicting, exploring, collecting, educational play, and communicating Engage learners in experiences that encourage their personal construction of knowledge, for example, hands-on, minds-on science and math; drama; creative movement; artistic representation; Provide learners with experiences that actively involve them and are personally meaningful The following factors also should be taken into consideration when planning such a learning experience. 1) Individual needs and interests of the learners 2) The main causes that influence learning 3) The process of learning or how learning takes place A principle is a rule that governs our environment. A rule is a statement of relationship between two or more concepts. A principle of learning then, is a rule that tells us about the relationship between teaching and learning. Learning theorists generally agree that the following principles can be applied to any teaching learning situation. 1 Readiness Readiness implies a degree of willingness and eagerness of an individual to learn something new. Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to learn — and they do not learn well if they see no reason for learning. Getting the audience ready to learn, creating interest by showing the value of the subject matter and providing continuous mental or physical challenge is usually the teacher’s responsibility. Since learning is an active process, the audience must have adequate rest, health, and physical comfort while learning. 2 Primacy Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong impression which may be very difficult to change. Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase. ‘Un teaching’ or erasing from the mind incorrect first impressions is harder than teaching them correctly in the first place. The learner’s first experience should be positive, functional and lay the foundation for all that is to follow..3 Effect The principle of effect is that learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling — and that learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling. The learner will strive to continue learning as long as it provides a pleasant effect. Positive reinforcement is more likely to lead to success and motivate the learner. Therefore, the teacher should set up the learning experience in such a manner that each learner being taught will be able to see evidence of their own progress and achieve some degree of success..4 Recency The principle of recency states that things most recently learned are best remembered. Conversely, the further a learner is removed time-wise from a new fact , the more difficult it is to remember. For example, it is easier for a child to recall what he ate this morning than to remember what he ate three days back. Information acquired most recently generally is remembered best; frequent review and summarising will help fixing in the audience’s mind topics that have been covered. Therefore, the teacher should repeat, restate or re-emphasize important points at the end of a lesson to help the learners remember them..5 Intensity The more intense the material taught, the more likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear, dramatic, or exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience. The principle of intensity implies that a learner will learn more from the real thing than from a substitute. 6 Exercise The principle of exercise states that those things that are most often repeated are the ones that are best remembered. Your audience will learn best and retain information longer when they have meaningful practice and repetition. It is clear that practice leads to improvement only when it is followed by positive feedback. The human mind is forgetful and it can rarely retain, evaluate, and apply new concepts or practices after a single exposure. Audiences will not learn complex tasks in a single session. They learn by applying what they have been told and shown. Every time practice occurs, learning continues. The health educator must repeat important items of subject matter at reasonable intervals and provide opportunities for the audience to practice while making sure that this process is directed towards learning something new. 7. Sensory Involvement The learners learn better when there are many senses stimulated by a learning experience. Such activities are called multi-sensory activities. Multi-sensory activities are based in whole brain learning, which is believed to be the best way to teach concepts is by involving multiple areas in the brain. By adding auditory or visual components to reading assignments, like illustrations or online activities, you can help students develop stronger literacy skills. Multi-sensory reading strategies also tie into more established educational methods like Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence. 8. Motivation Motivation that comes within or the internal motivation leads to better learning than the external motivation. 9. Reward When positive reinforcements such as rewarding is compared with negative reinforcements such as punishments, positive ones work better than the negative. 10. Transfer Transfer of learning means the use of previously acquired knowledge and skills (known) in new learning or problem-solving situations (unknown) Thereby similarities and analogies between previous and actual learning content and processes may play a crucial role. The capability of the learner to transfer what is known, to unknown situations is increased by allowing the learners to discover relationships. 11. Distributed practice Distributed practice is a technique whereby the learner distributes his/her study effort in a given course over many study sessions that are relatively short in duration. This is different from massed practice (eg: cramming) in which the student conducts few but long study sessions for a given course. Massed practice promotes rote learning. 12. Learning step by step Most learners learn best when complex material is broken down and taught in step by step or a in a logical sequence. This is ideal in mastering a skill. 13. Learning by doing Most people learn best when they are allowed to do something. Therefore engaging the learners in practical activities at the early stages of the lesson is productive. 14. Anxiety Anxiety or fear may distract the learners from learning and decrease their performance. 15. Intensity Depending on the excitement of the lesson, the learning occurs. Therefore, teacher should refrain from lecture method and use visuals and variety of challenging, fast moving and interesting activities to make learning exciting. 16. Repetition: Students learn through practice. Especially a skill like playing a musical instrument cannot be mastered without regular practice. 17. Reflection Here the learner is guided to look back and think on what is learnt. Without this, learning is incomplete. 18. Physical environment For a successful learning to happen, a conducive environment is essential. A pleasant environment with proper lighting, seating arrangements, ventilation, less noise and suitable weather conditions can increase learner performance. 19. Active learner A learner should be given as many opportunities as possible to participate actively. When this does not happen learners become passive and bored and lessons become less effective. a learner is likely to gain greater understanding of tasks by performing them or getting experiences — rather than being a passive listener. The more immediate and dramatic the learning is to a real situation, the more impressive the learning is upon the learner. Demonstrations and role playing will do much to increase the learning experience of your audience. Examples, analogies, and personal experiences also make learning come to life. Referenses: 1. Study session 6 Principles of learning https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=163&printable=1#:~:text=Principles %20of%20learning%2C%20also%20known,conducting%20your%20health%20education%20sessions. 2. Multi-sensory strategies for teaching students how to read. Retrieved form Waterford.org https://www.waterford.org/education/multisensory- learning/#:~:text=Multisensory%20Learning%20Strategies%20for%20Teaching%20Students%20How% 20To%20Read 3. Steigner.G,(2001),International encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral sciences: Transfer of learning, cognitive psychology of,15845-15851