LEARNING
INTRODUCTION
Dear
students, what does the word “learning” bring to your mind? Learning to read,
to ride a bicycle, to act, to use a computer, to play synthesizer etc. Each one
of us learns something or the other intentionally or accidentally. Learning
situations are most natural and common in our life. Every moment you learn
something or the other because of the varied experience you have in life. In
the educational process, the central idea is learning.
You
are aware of a child learns right from his birth and goes on learning
throughout his lifetime. An infant is quite helpless at birth, but slowly he
learns to adopt himself to the environment around him.
E.g. A child approaches a burning matchstick; the child burns his
hand and withdraws. Another time when he comes to a burning matchstick, he
takes no time to withdraw himself away. He learns to avoid not only the burning
matchstick but also all burning things.
When
this happens, we say that the child has learned that if you touch a flame, you
get burnt up. In this way, the change in the behavior of an individual occurs
through direct or indirect experiences. This change in behavior brought about
by experience is called as learning. This is a very simple explanation of the
term learning. Now let us understand the meaning and definitions of learning.
CONCEPT OF LEARNING
Meaning and Definitions of
learning
Learning,
in psychology, the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential
behavior occurs because of practice or experience. Learning is also a process
of acquiring modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits, or tendencies
through experience, practice, or exercise.
Gates
and others “Learning
is the modification of behavior through experience”
Henry,
P smith “Learning
is the acquisition of new behavior or strengthening or weakening of old
behavior as a result of experience”.
Crow
and Crow “Learning
is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of
doing things, and it operates in an individual’s attempt to overcome obstacles
or to adjust to new situations.”
Skinner
“Learning
is the process of progressive behavior adaptation.”
Munn“To learn is to modify
behavior and experience.”
M.
L. Bigge “Learning
may be considered to changes occur in human insights, behavior, perception,
motivation or a combination of these.”
The above definitions
emphasize four attributes of learning...
1.
The first is that learning is permanent change in behavior.
2.
It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation
and use of intoxicant.
3.
The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the
activities of the individual.
4.
Learning depends on practice and experience.
Characteristics of
Learning
Yoakum
and Simpson have stated the following general characteristics of learning:
Learning is growth, adjustment, organization of experience, purposeful, both
individual and social, product of the environment.
According to W.R Mc law
learning has the following characteristics.
1.
Learning is a continuous modification of behavior continues
throughout life
2.
Learning is pervasive. It reaches into all aspects of human
life.
3.
Learning involves the whole person, socially, emotionally and
intellectually.
4.
Learning is often a change in the organization of behavior.
5.
Learning is developmental. Time is one of its dimensions.
6.
Learning is responsive to incentives. In most cases positive
incentives such as rewards are most effective than negative incentives such as
punishments.
7.
Learning is always concerned with goals. These goals can be
expressed in terms of observable behavior.
8.
Interest and learning are positively related. The individual
learns bet those things, which he is interested in learning. Most boys find
learning to play football easier than learning to add fractions.
9.
Learning depends on maturation and motivation.
Types of Learning
Learning
has been classified in many ways.
I. Informal, formal and
non-formal learning: Depending on the way of acquiring it learning may be informal,
formal or non-formal.
•
Informal learning is incidental. It takes place throughout life. It is not
planned.
•
Formal learning is intentional and organized. It takes place in formal
educational institution.
•
Non-formal is also intentional and organized. It is flexible.
II. Individual or Group
learning:
Learning is called either individual or group learning depending upon the
number of individuals involved in the learning process.
III. Another
classification involves the types of activity involved
(a)
Motor learning: - when learning involves primarily the use of muscles it is called
as motor learning. e.g.: learning to walk, to operate a typewriter
(b)
Discrimination learning: - Learning which involves the act of discrimination is called
discrimination learning. E.g. infant discriminates between
mother and aunt, milk and water.
(c)
Verbal learning: - when learning involves the use of words it is called as verbal
learning.
(d)
Concept learning: - when learning involves the formation of concept it is called as
concept learning.
(e)
Sensory learning: - when learning is concerned with perception and sense it is
sensory learning.
NATURE OF LEARNING
a.
Learning is adaptation or adjustment: Friends, we all continuously interact
with our environment. We often make adjustment and adapt to our social
environment. Through a process of continuous learning, the individual prepares
himself for necessary adjustment or adaptation. That is why learning is also
described as a process of progressive adjustment to ever changing conditions,
which one encounters.
b.
Learning is improvement: Learning is often considered as a process of improvement with
practice or training. We learn many things, which help us to improve our
performance.
c.
Learning is organizing experience: Learning is not mere addition of
knowledge. It is the reorganization of experience.
d.
Learning brings behavioral changes: Whatever the direction of the changes
may be, learning brings progressive changes in the behavior of an individual.
That is why he is able to adjust to changing situations.
e.
Learning is active: Learning does not take place without a purpose and
self-activity. In any teaching learning process, the activity of the learner
counts more than the activity of a teacher.
f.
Learning is goal directed: when the aim and purpose of learning is clear, an individual
learns immediately. It is the purpose or goal, which determines what, the
learner sees in the learning situations and how he acts. If there is no purpose
or goal learning can hardly be seen.
g.
Learning is universal and continuous: All living creatures learn. Every
moment the individual engages himself to learn more and more. Right from the
birth of a child till the death learning continues.
PRINCIPLES
OF LEARNING
The
following list presents the basic principles that underlie effective learning.
These principles are distilled from research from a variety of disciplines.
1.
Students’ prior
knowledge can help or hinder learning.
Students
come into our courses with knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes gained in other
courses and through daily life. As students bring this knowledge to bear in our
classrooms, it influences how they filter and interpret what they are learning.
If students’ prior knowledge is robust and accurate and activated at the
appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for building new
knowledge. However, when knowledge is inert, insufficient for the task,
activated inappropriately, or inaccurate, it can interfere with or impede new
learning.
2.
How students organize
knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.
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.
3.
Students’ motivation
determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.
As
students enter college and gain greater autonomy over what, when, and how they
study and learn, motivation plays a critical role in guiding the direction,
intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which they
engage. When students find positive value in a learning goal or activity,
expect to successfully achieve a desired learning outcome, and perceive support
from their environment, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn.
4.
To develop mastery,
students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know
when to apply what they have learned.
Students
must develop not only the component skills and knowledge necessary to perform
complex tasks, they must also practice combining and integrating them to develop
greater fluency and automaticity. Finally, students must learn when and how to
apply the skills and knowledge they learn. As instructors, it is important that
we develop conscious awareness of these elements of mastery so as to help our
students learn more effectively.
5.
Goal-directed
practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’
learning.
Learning
and performance are best fostered when students engage in practice that focuses
on a specific goal or criterion, targets an appropriate level of challenge, and
is of sufficient quantity and frequency to meet the performance criteria.
Practice must be coupled with feedback that explicitly communicates about some
aspect(s) of students’ performance relative to specific target criteria, provides
information to help students progress in meeting those criteria, and is given
at a time and frequency that allows it to be useful.
6.
Students’ current
level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual
climate of the course to impact learning.
Students
are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and they are
still developing the full range of intellectual, social, and emotional skills.
While we cannot control the developmental process, we can shape the intellectual,
social, emotional, and physical aspects of classroom climate in developmentally
appropriate ways. In fact, many studies have shown that the climate we create
has implications for our students. A negative climate may impede learning and
performance, but a positive climate can energize students’ learning.
7.
To become
self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their
approaches to learning.
Learners
may engage in a variety of metacognitive processes to monitor and control their
learning assessing the task at hand, evaluating their own strengths and
weaknesses, planning their approach, applying and monitoring various
strategies, and reflecting on the degree to which their current approach is
working. Unfortunately, students tend not to engage in these processes
naturally. When students develop the skills to engage these processes, they
gain intellectual habits that not only improve their performance but also their
effectiveness as learners.
FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING
Introduction
Learning,
as we know, can be considered as the process by which skills, attitudes,
knowledge and concepts are acquired, understood, applied and extended. All
human beings, engage in the process of learning, either consciously,
sub-consciously or subliminally whether grownups or children. It is through
learning that their competence and ability to function in their environment get
enhanced. It is important to understand that while we learn some ideas and
concepts through instruction or teaching, we also learn through our feelings
and experiences. Feelings and experiences are a tangible part of our lives and
these greatly influence what we learn, how we learn and why we learn.
Learning
has been considered partly a cognitive process and partly a social and
affective one. It qualifies as a cognitive process because it involves the
functions of attention, perception, and reasoning, analysis, drawing of
conclusions, making interpretations and giving meaning to the observed
phenomena. All of these are mental processes, which relate to the intellectual
functions of the individual. Learning is a social and affective process, as the
societal and cultural context in which we function and the feelings and
experiences which we have, greatly influence our ideas, concepts, images and
understanding of the world. These constitute inner subjective interpretations
and represent our own unique, personalized constructions of the specific
universe of functioning.
Our
knowledge, ideas, concepts, attitudes, beliefs and the skills, which we
acquire, are a consequence of these combined processes. The process of learning
involves cognition, feeling, experience and a context. Individuals vary greatly
with regard to their ability, capacity and interest in learning. You must have
noticed such variations among your friends and students. In any family,
children of the same parents differ with respect to what they can learn and how
well they can learn.
For
example, a particular child may be very good at acquiring practical skills such
as repairing electrical gadgets, shopping for the household etc., while his
brother or sister may in contrast be very poor on these, and good at academic
tasks, instead. Even for yourself, you may be perplexed why you can do some
tasks well, but not others given the same competence level.
Maturation as Factor in
Affecting Learning
Maturation
is an important factor that affects our learning is defined as “growth that
proceeds regularly within a wide range of environmental conditions.” Maturation
is growth that takes place regularly in an individual without special condition
of stimulation such as training and practice. Learning is possible only when a
certain stage of maturation is also reached. Exercise and training becomes
fruitful only when a certain stage of maturation is attained.
Maturation
determines the readiness of the child for learning. Learning will be
ineffective if the child has not attained the required level of maturity. There
are individual differences in maturation. This means the rate of maturation
varies with individuals. There are individual differences in the capacity to
learn at the same age level. This is because of the difference of maturation
level. Specific skills are learnt by children easily who mature earlier than
others.
The
3R’s i.e., reading, writing and reckoning can be learn only after the
maturation of muscular and brain capacities. Rate of learning ability is
closely related to the maturation of the cerebral cortex. Deterioration of
cortical tissues in old age brings about declination in the learning ability.
So it can be said that learning is not independent of maturation, but must be
based upon a sufficient stage of growth.
Learning
is possible only when a certain stage of maturation is reached. However much we
practice a six month old child with walking exercises, the infant cannot walk.
The muscles have not matured enough for the infant to learn to walk. This
particular learning is possible only when the nerves and the muscles have
attained a particular stage of maturity and development. Practice is most
productive when properly articulated with maturational level. It is very
essential for the teachers to know the maturational level of the pupils.
Attention and Perception
as Factor in Affecting Learning
Another
factor, which affects learning, is attention. Attention is always present in
conscious life and is common to all types of mental activity. It is the
characteristics of all conscious life. Every activity of yours is based on
interest and attention. You can succeed in achieving your goals only when your
attention is directed towards learning.
Attention
is defined as the act of selective consciousness-Ross
Dumville defined Attention as the
concentration of consciousness upon one subject rather than another.
Characteristics of
Attention
1.
Attention is focusing consciousness on one object. One object is
the focus of attention. All other objects are in the margin of attention.
(Right now, what is the focus of your attention? What objects are in the margin
of your attention?)
2.
Attention is selective. We choose to attend to one object in
preference to others.
3.
Attention is constantly shifting from focus to margin
4.
Attention is a state of preparedness where the muscles and sense
organs ready themselves for attending
5.
Attention cannot be divided between two mental tasks.
Types of Attention
• Voluntary
attention: a person actively searches out information that has personal
relevance
• Selective
attention: a person selectively focuses attention on relevant information
• Involuntary
attention: a person is exposed to something surprising, novel, threatening,
or unexpected- e.g.: surprise, movement, unusual sounds, size of
stimulus, contrast effects and color.
Several factors affect
attention. These are factors inherent in the object of attention
1.
Movement: An animated picture elicits more attention than a still
picture
2.
Size of an object: Large letters attract more attention than tiny font.
3.
Contrast: Dark letters stand out against a light background.
4.
Color: Colors, especially bright ones, gain more attention than drab
colors
5.
Novelty: A new gimmick in advertising is an instant hit
6.
Change in stimuli: If the clock suddenly stops its ticking, it is likely
to attract attention. If a teacher pauses in the midst of the lecture, the
students are likely to pay more attention to the next few words
7.
Intensity: A glaring light, sharp sound, fluorescent markers serve as
attention grabbers.
8.
Repetition: Words of a song that are repeated or words in a lecture that
are repeated attract attention.
Significance of Attention
It
is basic need for all types of learning. Every moment of yours is attracted by
many stimuli of the environment. Your mind is not able to concentrate on all
the stimuli at the same time. It is because of attention that you are able to
concentrate on important aspect of a single object.
Consider
a classroom, where there are lot of things like, desk, bench, chalk, black
board, duster, fan and charts. When a teacher shows you a particular chart, you
pay attention to that. It shifts the focus of learner to the chart this helps
them to learn more about it.
Therefore,
it can be said that attention helps you to clear the vivid objects.
·
It arouses interest in learners to learn a particular thing.
·
It increases efficiency of the learner
·
It motivates learners to learn more
·
It makes the learners ready to learn
·
It brings a state of alternates in learners for doing task
·
It helps the learner to perceive events or ideas.
Thus,
attention is a necessary condition for any task in the classroom. It is the hub
of entire learning process. It is essential for learning as well as
understanding well. Attention is an essential factor for teachers as well as
students. If you are attentive in classroom, you are fully prepared to receive
any stimulus. It enables you to learn properly within a period. It helps you to
achieve the target within short period and with reasonable amount of effort.
Perception
Perception
is the process through which a person is exposed to information, attends to the
information, and comprehends the information.
Exposure: a person receives
information through his/her senses
Attention: a person allocates
processing capacity to a stimulus
Comprehension: a person interprets the
information to obtain meaning from it
Meaning:
Perception
is the mental process by which you get knowledge of external world. You receive
innumerable impression through the sense organs. You select some of these and
organize them into unit, which convey some meaning. The transformation of
sensation into organized pattern is called as perception.
Perception = Sensation + Meaning
For
E.g. Eyes react to light and give us the knowledge of brightness, nose reacts
to smell and give us the knowledge of pleasant or unpleasant smell, ear react
to the sound of barking and gives us the knowledge of presence of a dog.
Perception is an active state of mind in which it reacts on sensation and
interprets it. The basis of perception is sensation.
Importance of Perception
in Learning
Learning
depends on an individual’s precepts. If you are able to perceive a thing
correctly then right learning will take place. Learning will proceed in a
proper direction due to correct precepts. Both sensation and perception play an
important role in you learning. Sensations are the first impression so it has
to be absolutely clear. Sensations give rise to perception and on that basis
you get a proper understanding of an object, idea or an experience. Learning
depends upon accurate and efficient perception and perception depends upon the
sensation, which depends on the normal functioning of the sense organs. Thus
perception is important for proper learning and understanding.
Motivation as Factor in
Affecting Learning
The
knowledge of how to stimulate the students to participate meaningfully in
classroom will go a long way in assisting the teachers. This chapter therefore
provides the learners the opportunity to understand different theories of
motivation and how to apply these theories to their day-to-day classroom
teaching/learning activities.
Maslow
(1970) believed that motivation leads to growth and development, and that need
satisfaction is the most important sole factor underlying motivation. Maslow
furthered explained that man is perpetually in needs and that the resources to
satisfy those needs are limited. In view of this, many places his/her wants on
the scale of preference, that he/she selects the most pressing need. After this
need has been satisfied, it becomes less important, paving way for the next on
the rank.
Motivation
is defined as an inspiration that propels someone into an action. It is an
internal state or condition that activates and gives direction to our thoughts,
feelings, and actions (Lahey, 1995).
In
the opinion of Oladele (1998), motivation is a process by which the learner’s
internal energies are directed toward various goal objects in his/her
environment. These energies or arousals push an individual in achieving his
goals. An individual may be highly motivated to perform well in a task and
completely unmotivated in another. This means that when people are motivated,
they will work tirelessly to achieve their aspirations.
The
needs of man may either be primary or secondary. Primary needs are the physiological
wants of man. It may be the need for water, rest, sexual intercourse, hunger
and thirst. Secondary needs are the desire for autonomy, affection, or the need
for safety and security. For example,
the desire of laborers to take a glass of water after thirst is a primary need.
At the same time, craving of the students to stay in a serene classroom
environment is a secondary need.
Types of Motivation
There
are two types of motivation or arousals. They can either be internally or
externally driven. The desire for food or sex arises from within us
(intrinsic), while the yearning to obtain recognition or approval is influenced
by the conditions in our environment (extrinsic). In view of the above
explanation, motivation is divided into intrinsic and extrinsic.
1. Intrinsic Motivation:
Is
an internal force or motive within the individual who drives him/her into
emitting certain behavior? It is an innate or genetically predetermined
disposition to behave in particular way when he/she faces a particular situation.
This type of motivation can make an individual to have the feelings of
self-confidence and competence (Deci and Ryan, 1985). A student who is
intrinsically motivated may carry out a task because of the enjoyment he/she
derives from such a task.
In
another way, a dog that sees a bone and runs for it did that because of the
satisfaction it derives from eating bone. This type of behavior does not
require any prior learning. Sighting the bone changes the behavior of the dog
and propels it to act.
2. Extrinsic Motivation:
Is
the external or environmental factor, which sets the individual’s behavior into
motion. The incentive/reinforce drives an individual’s behavior towards a goal.
A student that is extrinsically motivated will execute an action in order to
obtain some reward or avoid some sanctions. For example, a student who read
hard for the examination did so because of the desire to obtain better grade.
The case also goes for a runner who wants to win a prize; he/she will need
constant practice than a person who wants to run for the fun of it. Extrinsic
rewards should be used with caution because they have the potential for
decreasing exiting intrinsic motivation.
For
example extrinsic incentive may spur a student to actively participate in the
task for which the student has no interest, but may undermine intrinsic and
continuing motivation in him/her (Deci et al, 1985). Therefore, students’
motivation automatically has to do with the students’ desire to participate in
the learning process. It also concerns the reasons or goals that underlie their
involvement or non-involvement in academic activities.
Fatigue As Factor In
Affecting Learning
It
is quite essential to do away with fatigue in the process of learning as
fatigue becomes an obstacle in the task to be performed or at least reduces its
rate of progress. The truth of the matter is that the proportion in which the
students become fatigued, his achievement curve shows a downward trend.
Achievement decreases with the increase in fatigue. Hence, educational
psychology makes a detailed study of the cause of fatigue and of the methods of
alleviating it.
What is Fatigue?
Fatigue
is the state of reduced interest and desire, and this constitutes psychological
explanation. It is the state or condition in which the nerves do not react and
mind becomes lax and inert. Evidently, fatigue is neither purely physical nor
exclusively mental. It is a psychological state of exhaustion. Reduce
efficiency or capacity of body as well as mind is implicit in this phenomenon.
Kinds of Fatigue
Fatigue
is of many kinds just as capacity. However, it is generally believed to be of
four kinds.
1. Mental Fatigue: Mental work or any kind of
strain on the mind reduces the capacity of the mind for work and causes mental
fatigue. Thus in mental fatigue, the mind tries or the capacity to its minute
fibers for work is diminished.
2. Physical Fatigue: This type of fatigue
results in the reduction in the capacity of the muscles of the body and a
feeling of fatigue. In this way physical fatigue is brought about by physical
exertion. Even though the body feels tired due to mental exertion which should
normally result in mental fatigue, yet on account of close relation of the two,
it also produces physical fatigue. Thus mental fatigue is unavoidable and it
leads to physical fatigue.
3. Nervous Fatigue: The subconscious mind of
man is extremely active and since in the process of its work it consumes
energy, in due course of time it naturally produces a feeling of fatigue and
depression. Nervous fatigue can also result in the subconscious is extremely
tired due to mental conflict.
4. Boredom: Boredom and fatigue are
not identical. Fatigue is the result of the use of energy but boredom is the
feeling of tiredness due to an incomplete or improper expulsion of energy. If
you go to a friend and he is busy in some work you become bored. Similarly, you
get bored if a person persists in talking about the same thing day after.
Boredom result in restlessness, a state induced by our inability to find proper
use for our capacity for work.
Ways of Removing Fatigue
1.
Sleep: Getting proper 8 hours of sleep is necessary.
2.
Relaxation: sitting or lying in a relaxed position, doing activities which are
favorites also eliminate fatigue.
3.
Balance of work and rest
4.
Change in the nature of work
5.
Recreation
6.
Change in Emotions
Reducing Fatigue in School
and classroom
The
following points can be kept in the view to fight fatigue in the classroom
situation.
1. Satisfactory physical
condition:
the school and the classroom should be attractive and clean. The furniture must
be quite comfortable.
2. Medical Check Up: Sick children are soon
tired. Sometimes some children are healthy apparently but they may be suffering
from some chronic ailments. They cannot carry on sustained activity for a long
time. Weak eye-sight exhausts the individual very soon.
3. Mid-day Meals: Hungry stomachs invite
fatigue during activity. Therefore, children should be providing with mid-day
meals or other light refreshments in the school time.
4. Supply of fresh air: The rooms must be well
ventilated for fresh air and light. Oxygen is a necessary thing to fight
fatigue. There should be enough outdoor activities also.
5. Motivation: the lesson must be made
quite interesting. Therefore, various teaching techniques should be implemented
during teaching-learning process.
6. Co-curricular
activities:
Extracurricular activities prove very refreshing, interesting and instructive
to the children. Therefore, there should be ample provisions of such activities
in the school.
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