The Learner

And The Learning

Process

Learners are rational and social beings

whose growth and development are
uniquely different from each other.
Individual differences among leaners are
attributable to genetic and
environmental factors inherent in every
learners circumstances.
Thus in a learning centered instruction, it
is of great importance to identify and
examine how to meet each learners
learning needs, and from there, adopt a
set of instructional strategies that will
facilitate and bring the learners to their
full potential.

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To give an example, imagine a child who has

never had math classes and was never taught
numbers. You could say "2 plus 2 equals 4",
but to understand, the person must know
what "2" is. Young children usually learn "2"
when parents point out that a body has 2
eyes, 2 ears, 2 hands, 2 feet. So, to teach the
concept of "2", you might show a person 2
apples. To teach counting (2+2), you'd first
show 2 apples, then you'd add 2 more. For
hands-on learners, you'd have the person pick
up and count 2 apples, then pick up and add 2
more apples, then count each one to see that
it adds up to the total of 4.

Learning Differences Between

Child and an Adolescent
Learner
To begin identifying the learning needs of
a child and adolescent learner, let us
distinguish them according to their
preferences and abilities based on their
stage of development. Adolescent differ
from children as learners. Adolescents
have assumed responsibility for
himself/herself and other. While
traditional teaching applied to children is
JUG AND MUG with the big jug (teacher)
filling up the little mugs (students).

 Individual differences in
childrens interests, aptitudes,
abilities, and achievements can
be quite pronounced.

 Behavioral characteristics can

also affect learning in children.

 In addition, stimulation and

opportunity can affect ability and
achievement. If a child is deprived of
opportunities to move, explore,
touch, grasp, and/or interact with
sound and speech, long-term
learning ability is diminished.
Furthermore, without opportunities.
To use once learned skills, the ability
to perform tasks is often lost and
must be relearned.

 It must be recognized that a learners

aptitudes and abilities are shaped by
individual differences and early
learning experiences and continue to
be influenced by experiences and
training throughout adolescence.

How Do Learners Learn?

In a learner centered perspective,
teachers must continually seek to
understand how students learn, so
they can effectively apply and
adapt teaching strategies to meet
the learning needs of their
student.

Principles of Learning
1. Prior knowledge can help or hinder
learning.
Prior knowledge is the lens through which we view
all new information. If that lens is inaccurate,
incomplete, or naive, it can interfere with or distort
the integration of incoming information (Clement,
1982; NRC, 2000). It is important for us to know
and address the misconceptions student hold. And
to connect new information to accurate information
they already possess.

2. Motivation generates, directs, and

sustains.
Motivation influences the amount of time and effort
students devote to learning and supports their
continued engagement when difficulties arise.
Motivation may be influenced by a number of
factors, such as students' interests, goals, and
expectations (Hidi and Renninger, 2004; Bandura,
1989; Carver and Scheier, 1990), students' beliefs
about learning (Schommer, 1994, Dweck, 2002), and
emotional experiences surrounding the learning
context.

3. The way students organize

knowledge determines how they use
it.
Students naturally make connections between
pieces of knowledge. When those connections
form knowledge structures that are accurately
and meaningfully organized, students are
better able to retrieve and apply their
knowledge effectively and efficiently. In
contrast, when knowledge is connected in
inaccurate or random ways, students can fail to
retrieve or apply it appropriately.

4. Meaningful engagement is necessary for

deeper learning.
Meaningful engagement, such as posing and
answering meaningful questions about concepts,
making analogies, or attempting to apply the
concepts or theories to solve problems, leads to more
elaborate, longer lasting, and stronger representations
of the knowledge (Craik and Lockhart, 1972).

5. Mastery requires developing

component skills and
knowledge, synthesizing, and
applying them appropriately.
Students must understand the conditions
and contexts of application and must
practice applying skills and knowledge
appropriately in new contexts, otherwise
they may have difficulty transferring
knowledge and skills learned in one
context or another (Singley, 1989).

6. Goal-directed practice and

targeted feedback are critical to
learning.
Goal-directed practice involves working
toward a specific level of performance
and continually monitoring performance
relative to clearly define goals. students'
practice is more effective when
instructors (a) provide feedback that
explicitly relates students' performance
to the criteria, (b) ensure that the
feedback is timely, frequent, and
constructive, and (c) provide
opportunities for them to incorporate
that feedback into further practice. (NRC
2001; Wiggins 1998).

7. Students must learn to monitor,

evaluate and adjust their
approaches to learning to
become self-directed learners.
In other words, students must become
conscious of their thinking processes.
This is called metacognition (Matlin,
1989; Nelson, 1992). One way to help
students develop metacognitive skills
is to require them to explicitly
monitor, evaluate, and reflect on their
own performance, and provide them
with feedback on these processes.

8. Because students develop holistically,

their learning is affected by the social,
emotional and intellectual climate of
the classroom.
Students are not only intellectual but also social
and emotional beings, and thus all these
dimensions interact to impact learning and
performance (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The
social and emotional aspects of the classroom
climate affect students in ways that can enhance or
hinder learning (Ford, 1992). For example, students
will be more likely to take intellectual and creative
risks if they feel supported and respected.