QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Module 4 Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

Learning Principles Associated to Cognitive, Metacognitive, Motivational,
and Affective Factors
Competencies
1.explain learner-centered psychological principles;
2. discuss implications of the learner-centered psychological principles to teachers and educators;
3. analyze specific classroom situations where the 14 learner-centered psychological principles are used; and
Discussion

It is not about what teachers cover;

It I about what student discover.

-Anonymous

In the early 1990s, the American Psychological

Association (APA) appointed a group, a Task Force on
Psychology in Education, to conduct further studies in both
psychology and education. The 14 psychological principles
are categorized as follows:
(1) Cognitive and metacognitive factors; (2) motivational
and affective; (3) developmental and social; and (4)
individual difference factor.
All these principles influence the teaching and learning
process (APA, 1997) In this lesson the cognitive,
metacognitive , motivational and affective factors of learning
are discussed .
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

Cognitive factors refer to the mental processes the learners undergo as they process an information. The
way learners think about their thinking as they engage in mental tasks is the concern metacognitive
factors.
1. The learning of complicated subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process
of constructing meaning from information and experience.

Teachers play a significant role in guiding their learners to become active, goal-directed, and self-regulating, and to
assume personal responsibility for their learning. The learning activities and opportunities provided by the teacher
are very important situations where learners can integrate knowledge and concepts to their experiences. Whenever
teachers plan their lessons and topics, they always need to consider how they can bring reality in the classroom.
Learners need to have a clear and concrete understanding of knowledge and concepts presented so that they
would also know in what particular situations they have to apply them. Learning through experience is the most
effective way of teaching. An intentional learning environment is one that fosters activity and feedback and creates
a culture that promotes metacognition, that is, one in which the learner becomes aware of his or her learning
process and can use tools to enhance this learning process (Bereiter& Scardamalia, 1989).

2. The successful learner, over time and with support and

instructional guidance, can create meaningful, coherent
representations of knowledge.

Learners need to be goal-directed. Teachers have to guide learners in terms of

determining their personal goals. They need to set their goals, not dictated by
others, to ensure their willingness to achieve them. Meaningful learning takes
place when what is presented to learners is very much related to their needs and
interests. When learners have good understanding of the concepts discussed in
school, they can reach long-term goals most likely. Indeed, it is challenging to
motivate learners to succeed.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

3. The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
In planning a new lesson to be presented, teachers would usually find it more effective when they connect
the learners existing knowledge to new information. The integration of prior experiences to a new concept to be
leaned is a way of making connections between what is new and what is already known. That new knowledge is
created from old knowledge is the very heart of constructivism. Teachers should initiate more opportunities for
learners to share ideas, experiences, observations, and readings as the need arises. Sharing prior knowledge can
be done in creative strategies like concept mapping, group activities, and other collaborative techniques where
learners are also able to learn from each other's experiences.

4. The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to
achieve complex learning goals.
Strategic thinking is a person's ability to use knowledge in different ways to solve problems, address
concerns and issues, decrease difficulties in certain situations, and make sound decisions and judgments in
varied conditions. Strategic thinkers do not easily give up even in difficult situations. They are more challenged to
find ways to solve a problem no matter how many times they already failed. They are not afraid to commit
mistakes because they perceive them as meaningful learning experiences to continuously discover other ways of
arriving at solutions. Teachers are supposed to give them as many opportunities to learn, experiment, solve, and
explore new ideas and concepts. Thus, to motivate and encourage the learners to be more creative and innovative
in their ideas, opinions, and responses are musts for teachers.

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

One of the most challenging roles of the teachers is to develop among their learners" higher order thinking
skills (HOTS). It means that their learners can do evaluation, synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of varied
concepts, information, and knowledge. As previously mentioned, learners develop their thinking skills when they
are provided with opportunities and learning experiences to process varied events and situations, specifically if
given real problems. This context means that aside from mastering information, discovery, problem-solving,
creation, and evaluation should also be integrated into their learning experiences. Assessment tools in school
should be authentic. Students can make inferences, sound judgments, and relevant conclusions, and use their
learned knowledge to varied situations. HOTS are very much needed in this fast-changing world.

6. Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and

instructional practices.
Learning does not only take place inside the classroom. Much of what learners learn in the classroom with
their teachers can only have meaning once they see them concretely in their everyday life. Examples given in the
classroom should be a reflection of their actual life experiences. The digital tools and instructional practices must
be carefully selected to facilitate a motivating, stimulating, and encouraging learning environment geared toward
effective acquisition of knowledge, concepts, and skills among learners.

Motivational and Affective Factors

How the learners push themselves to learn and how they value learning are the concerns of the
motivational factors. Meanwhile, the affective factors relate to the attitude, feelings, and emotions that learners put
into the learning task.
1. What and how much are learned are influenced by the learner's motivation.
Motivation to learn is influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs, interests, goals, and habits of
thinking. Motivation plays a very important role in learning. It pertains to an individual’s inner drive to do
something, accomplish something, pursue a goal, master a skill, or just discover without necessarily being forced
by anyone. The level of one's motivation would also determine the extent of his or her ability to accomplish desired
tasks. The way teachers motivate their learners is then crucial to make them actively engaged in the learning
process,
In lesson planning, the motivation part of the lesson sets the positive mindset of the learners. No matter how
new, challenging, and technical a topic is, if the level of their motivation is high they would always find the interest
to participate and get themselves engaged. Meanwhile if there were no efforts to motivate learners, then, there
would also be no engagement to learning.
Teachers and parents' encouragements, praises, and rewards can boost the confidence.
They can also establish positive emotional states and good habits of thinking in individuals. Learners will
always feel that mistakes and errors are normal parts of learning. Teachers should also use learning materials and
strategies that would eradicate learner's anxiety, panic, and even insecurities

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

2. The learner's creativity, higher-order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to the
motivation to learn.
There are two kinds of motivation-intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is manifested
when an individual engages in an activity or task that is personally gratifying. It is personally rewarding, and
there is no expectation for any external or tangible reward. Extrinsic motivation, meanwhile, is its direct opposite.
A person engages in a task or activity to earn external rewards or to avoid punishments in some situations.
Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and
providing for personal choice and control.
As teachers and mentors, the most important way to motivate the students is to present the value of that
knowledge or concept to their life. Learning is not only about getting good grades or complying with requirements,
but it is more of knowing why they need to learn such and to what specific instances in their lives that they would
be able to use them. When what is being taught to the students is presented creatively, it stimulates their HOTS,
enhances their curiosity, and heightens their interest to learn more about it. Teaching strategies that allow
personal choice and control, collaboration, and creation for learners contribute to more heightened intrinsic
motivation for learning.

3.Acquisition of sophisticated knowledge and skills requires extensive learner's effort and guided
practice.
The learners’ motivation to learn is also partnered by their extended efforts. Teachers facilitate learning
opportunities and experiences that encourage learners to exert time and effort and at the same time commitment
and enthusiasm toward a task they have to do and a concept they have to learn. It is through the teachers'
encouragement that they will have to do tasks with quality and not just for compliance's sake.
Teachers can praise works that have been done well. They can also acknowledge little achievement of a
person. Teachers can use the students' errors or mistakes as opportunities for mentoring. All these raise a
person's motivation to learn. Positive emotions established in the classroom as well as with others make learning
interesting for everybody in general. The learning environment can also foster positive emotions when there is no
competition between and among leaners, and numeric grades are just secondary considerations as pieces of
evidence of learning.

Summary
Learners acquire knowledge and skills from the experiences that they actively engage in. This scenario
demands the teachers to be in an active role as well to effect the intended positive changes to the learners.
Initially, teachers’ awareness of students background or characteristics is vital input in instructional design.
Common experiences shared by teachers in seminars and trainings reveal the varied methodologies and strategies
they have proven in their action researches to be effective. Cognition is triggered by the varied types of motivation
used by teachers and the strategies they use to build a more positive affect among the learners. Likewise, prior
knowledge has been found useful in the learners’ metacognitive thinking. The stock knowledge and skills have
developed greater confidence for the learners to hurdle the task-in the planning of the strategies to solve a task, in
their monitoring of their solving processes, and in evaluating their output. Based on common experiences by
teachers, learners achieve more if they exert effort in the tasks given to them.
The teachers should consider all the major elements of the cognitive and metacognitive factors of learning
as follows: nature of the learning process, goals of the learning process, construction of knowledge, strategic
thinking, thinking about thinking, and the context of learning. Each teacher's learning plan should be carefully
checked as to its appropriateness and effectiveness in lesson delivery.
Mentoring of new teachers by seasoned teachers should also be a good practice that needs to be observed in
schools. Teachers have best practices in motivating and stimulating their learners depending on their age and
grade levels. Sometimes, extrinsic motivation works effectively among those in the lower grades, like giving tokens,
stars, or any tangible reward. As they progress from one grade level to the other, teachers also modify motivation
from being extrinsic to intrinsic because they are now becoming more matured learners. Their interests as well as
the commitment to finish their tasks are now more critical rather than just the concrete rewards.

Enrichment Activities 1. “This subject is my waterloo” – a statement most learners attribute to subjects
they find difficult. If you were the teacher, what motivation and affective
strategies would you use to alter this perception and attitude?

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Comprehension Activity 1: Read and analyze the statements. If true, write YES before the item;
Check if false, write NO.
_____________1. Differentiated instruction attempts to resolve diversity of
learners in the classroom.
____________2. The motivation of a learner from the urban community is similar
to that from the rural area.
_____________3. The development of higher-order thinking skills is attainable
among the lower years.
____________4. Making learning alive and active initiates students' positive love
for the subject.
____________5. Verbal reinforcements, as they seem fitted for the elementary
level, are avoided in the senior high school level.

References Bulusan, Ferdinand, et.al. 1st Ed 2019. Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching.

Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.
Harasim, L. (2017) Learning theory 7 Online Technology. 2nd edition. New
York:Routledge
Teacher Development Trust (2015). Developing Great Teaching - Lessons from
the International reviews into effective professional dev’t.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”