ED 204 - FACILITATING LEARNERS -
CENTERED TEACHING  Behavioral theory says that only observable
Learner-centered includes explicit skill instruction.
Learner centered teachers teach students how to think,
solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments,
generate hypotheses - all those learning skills essential
in mastering material in the discipline.
5 Characteristics of Learner-Centered Teaching
1. Learner-centered teaching engages students in the
hard messy work of learning.
2. Learner-centered teaching include explicit skill
instruction.
3. Learner-centered teaching encourages students to
reflect on what they are learning and how they are
learning it.
4. Learner-centered teaching motivates students by
giving them some control over the learning process.
5. Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration.
Major School of Thoughts
related to Learner’s Development
 A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the
perspective of a group of people who share
common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a
philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement,
economics, cultural movement, or art movement.
 A set of ideas or opinions about a matter that
shared by a group of people.
BEHAVIORISM
Proponents:
1. B.F. Skinner
2. Ivan Pavlov
3. John Watson
What is Behavioral?
 Is an approach to psychology that focuses in an
individual’s behavior.
 Theoretical frameworks was develop in the early
century 20th with the animal learning experiment of
Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman,
B.F. Skinner and others.
What is Behaviorism?
 Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on the
idea that all behaviors are acquired through
conditioning, and conditioning occurs through
interaction with the environment.
 Behaviorists believe that our actions are shaped by
environmental stimuli.
 Behavior can be studied in a systematic and
observable manner regardless of internal mental
state.
Behaviorism
behavior should be studied, as cognition,
emotions, and mood are far too subjective.
 Any person - regardless of genetic background,
personality traits, and internal thoughts - can be
trained to perform any task, within the limits of
their physical capabilities. It only requires the right
conditioning.
Behavior in Education
 Behaviorism focuses on one particular view of
learning: a change in external behavior achieved
through using reinforcement to shape the
behavior.
 Skinner found that behaviors could be shaped
when the use of rewards was implemented.
 Desired behavior is rewarded, while the undesired
behavior is punished.
 Incorporating behaviorism into the classroom
allowed educators to assist their students in
excelling both academically and personally.
 In the field of language learning, this type of
teaching was called the audio-lingual method,
characterized by the whole class using choral
chanting of key phrases, dialogues and immediate
correction.
Role of Teacher (Behaviorism)
 Dominant person in the classroom and takes
complete control, evaluation of learning comes
from the teaching who decides what is right or
wrong.
 The learner does not have any opportunity for
evaluation or reflection within the learning process,
they are simply told what is right or wrong.
 The conceptualization of learning using this
approach could be considered “superficial” as the
focus is on external changes in behavior, i.e., not
interested in the internal processes of learning
leading to behavior change and has no place for
the emotions involved the process.
Operant Conditioning
 Operant conditioning was developed by B.F.
Skinner in 1937 and deals with the modification of
“voluntary behavior” or operant behavior.
 It operates on the environment and is maintained
by its consequences.
 Reinforcement and punishment - the core
tools of operant conditioning, are either:
a. Positive - delivered following a response.
b. Negative - delivered following a response.

Operant Conditioning
 Skinner created the Skinner Box or Operant
Conditioning Chamber to test the effects of
Operant Conditioning principles on rats.
 From this study, he discovered that the rats
learned very effectively, if they were rewarded
frequently. Skinner also found that he could shape
the rat’s behavior through the use of rewards
which could in turn be applied to human learning
as well.
 Operant Conditioning plays the largest role in the
discussions of behavioral mechanisms.
Classical Conditioning
 Classical conditioning is an important behavior
analytic process that need not refer to mental or
internal processes.
 Pavlov’s experiment with the dogs provide the
most familiar example of this procedure.
 In classical conditioning, the dog was presented
with a stimulus such as light or a sound, and then
food was place in the dog’s mouth.
 After a few repetitions of this sequence, the light
or sound itself caused the dog to salivate.
Although Pavlov proposed some tentative
physiological processes that might be involved in
classical conditioning, these have not been
confirmed.
 The idea of classical conditioning helped
behaviorist John Watson discover the key
mechanism behind how human require the
behaviors that they do which was to find a natural
reflex that produces the response being
considered.
HUMANISM
Proponents:
1. Abraham Maslow
2. Carl Rogers,
3. Malcolm Knowles
Humanistic Theory
 Focuses on the development of learners (Leaner-
Centered).
 This theory focuses on the idea tha children are
good at the core and that education should focus
on rational ways to teach the “whole” child.
 This theory states that the student is the authority
on how they learn and that all of their needs
should be met in order for them to learn well.
Role of Learners
 The role of the student is to explore and observe.
 Students can use self-evaluation techniques to
monitor and observe their own behaviors and
make necessary changes.
 Students also need to take responsibility for their
own learning and keep their goals realistic.
Role of Teacher
 The teacher's role, according to the humanistic
theory, is to be a role model. The teacher is to
model appropriate behavior and make an effort not
to replicate inappropriate behavior.
 A teacher is also expected to provide a reason and
motivation for each task, teach general learning
skills, foster group work, and if possible, give a
choice of tasks to the students.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Principles of Humanistic Theory
 Humanistic learning is student-centered, so
students are encouraged to take control over their
education.
 Fostering engagement to inspire students to
become self-motivated to learn.
 Self-evaluation is the most meaningful way to
evaluate how learning is going.
 Feelings and knowledge are both important to the
learning process and should not be separated
according to humanistic psychology. Lessons and
activities should focus on the whole student and
their intellect and feelings, not one or the other.
 A safe learning environment. Because humanistic
learning focuses on the entire student, humanistic
educators understand that they need to create a
safe environment so students can have as many as
their needs met as possible.

CONNECTIVISM
Proponents:
1. George Siemens
2. Stephen Downes
Connectivism Theory
 This is called the theory of learning for the digital
age, it is about explaining complex learning in a
rapidly evolving digital social world.
 Knowledge under this theory is a network product.
 Technology plays a key role in learning and
sharing.
Two Terms under this Theory
1. Nodes
 In connectivism, students are seen as “nodes” in a
network. A node refers to any object that can be
connected to another object, like a book,
webpage, person, etc.
2. Links
 Connectivism is based onthe theory that we learn
when we make connections, or “links, ” between
various "nodes" of information, and we continue to
make and maintain connections to form
knowledge.
Principles of Connectivism
Connectivism builds on already-established theories to
propose that technology is changing what, how, and
where we learn. In their research, Siemens and
Downes identified eight principles of connectivism.
Those main principles of connectivism are:
 Learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of
opinions.
 Learning is a process of connecting.
 Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
 Learning is more critical than knowing.
 Nurturing and maintaining connections are needed
for continual learning.
 The ability to see connections between fields,
ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
 Accurate, up-to-date knowledge is the aim of all
connectivist learning.
 Decision-making is a learning process. What we
know today might change tomorrow. While there’s
a right answer now, it might be wrong tomorrow
due to the constantly changing information
climate.
Pros of Connectivism
1. It creates collaboration.
2. It empowers students and teachers.
3. It embraces diversity.
Connectivism is a relatively new learning theory that
suggests students should combine thoughts, theories, and
general information in a useful manner. It accepts that
technology is a major part of the learning process and
that our constant connectedness gives us opportunities to
make choices about our learning. It also promotes group
collaboration and discussion, allowing for different
viewpoints and perspectives when it comes to decision-
making, problem-solving, and making sense of
information. Connectivism promotes learning that happens
outside of an individual, such as through social media,
online networks, blogs, or information databases.
COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVISM THEORY
Proponent:
1. Jean Piaget
Cognitive Constructivim Theory
 Is based on Piaget’s beliefs that humans cannot be
given information that they immediately
understand and use.
 Cognitive is the mental faculty of knowing, which
involves perceiving, recognizing, conceiving,
judging, reasoning, and imagining.
Four Parts of Cognitive Constructivism
1. Knowlegde
 Actively constructed by learners based on existing
structures rather than socially constructed ir as a
response to environmental stimuli.
2. Learning
 It is an active assimilation and accomodation of
new information on an indiviual basis rather than
in a knowledge community.
3. Motivation
 A learner’s can set their own goals and motivate
themselves to learn rather than relying on positive
or negative reinforcement.
4. Instruction
 It is an environment that promotes discovery and
assimilation/accommodation rather than rote
instruction of group learning.
Teachers Role
 Acts a facilitator of learning rather than instructor.
 To provide a rich environment for the spontaneous
exploration of the child.
 Is to create collaborative problem-solving
environment where students become active
participants in their own learning.

MOTIVATION
 The process of arousing and sustaining interest in
an activity towards a goal.
 The creation of desire on the part of the learner to
perform an activity to satisfy a need.
 An internal state or condition (sometimes
described as a need, desire, or want) that serves
to activate behavior and give it direction.
 Effective learning depends on the teacher’s
ability… to maintain the interest that bought the
students to the classroom.
Emotions
 Emotions are very powerful as they define the way
a human being thinks and they also bias our
learning. According to researchers in the field of
psychology, adult learning is emphatically
influenced by emotions.
Two Types of Motivation
1. Intrinsic Motivation - behavior that is driven by
internal rewards.
2. Extrinsic Motivation - refers to external incentive
or tangible material.
3 Things that Enhance Intrinsic Motivation
1. Autonomy - the right or condition of self-government
2. Mastery - Comprehensive knowledge skill in a
particular activity
3. Purpose - the reason for which something is done.
Motivational and Emotional Influences on
Learning
 Student motivation has to do with student’s desire
to participate in the learning process.
 What and how much is learned is influenced by the
learner’s motivation.
 Motivational and emotional factors also influence
both the quality of thinking and information
processing as well as an individual’s motivational to
learn.
5 Motivational States
1. Agitation (using force, pushing too hard)
2. Flow (enjoyment, absorption, the loss of time)
3. Animation (positive action towards a goal)
4. Rest (active relaxation, recovery)
5. Ennui (boredom, flatness, resistance)
Factors affect a given student’s motivation to
learn:
 Interest in the subject matter
 Perception of its usefulness
 General desire to achieve
 Self confidence and self esteem
META COGNITIVE
Cognitive
 refers to all the mental processes and abilities in
which people use or engage in a daily basis (e.g.
memory learning, problem-solving, evaluation,
reasoning, and decision-making).
Metacognitive
 Metacognition - 'thinking about thinking'
 Allows an individual to complete a task through
planning, monitoring, evaluating and
comprehending
Thinking about thinking
 It is when learners can assess or reflect their
learning processes, set reasonable learning or
performance objectives, choose possibly suitable
learning strategies or approaches, and track their
progress towards these objectives.
Nature of the Learning Process
 A Complex subject/matter
 A continues process
 A collaborative process
 Different information and experiences matters
Goals of the Learning Process
 Takes time to achieve
 Create a meaningful, coherent, and logical
representation of knowledge.
 Construct knowledge representations and learn
thinking and learning strategies for lifelong
learning.
 Fill gaps, address discrepancies, and strengthen
understanding
 Help learners realize their full potential
Construction of Knowledge
Students learn by connecting new knowledge with
knowledge and concepts that they already know,
thereby constructing new meanings.
Strategic Thinking
 Creating and using a repertoire of thinking and
reasoning stategies in approaching: learning,
reasoning, problem solving, concept learning-
reflect on the methods.
Context of Learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors,
including:
 Culture
 Technology
 Instructional practices