Human learning and classroom teaching
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The document discusses the evolution of learning theories, highlighting earlier views of learning as passive absorption of information and contrasting them with later perspectives that emphasize active processes and modifications of behavior. Key definitions and characteristics of learning are presented, such as its adjustment nature, the importance of experience, and its implications for teaching practices. Finally, the document distinguishes between behaviorism and cognitivism as two main schools of thought in learning theory.
Human learning and classroom teaching
- 1. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina HUMAN LEARNING & CLASSROOM TEACHING Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF)
- 2. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Melvin H. Marx says; “learning is a relatively enduring change in behaviour which is a function of prior behaviour”. An Earlier View of Learning: An earlier view of learning regarded the teacher as a dispenser of information and the children as the passive absorbers. It was believed that the central nervous system could be developed through experience in much the same way as the muscular system reading and other communicable languages skills were taught principally by isolated drill in both phonics and phonetics. All this rendered learning somewhat distasteful task for the learner. A Later View of Learning: A later view regarded learning “as a special form of activity in which children responded specifically to particular stimuli in certain prescribed situations.” According to this view, commonly referred to as stimulus- response psychology, learning occurs as a result of modification of the synaptic connections of then neurons or as a synthetic process of forms of reflex behavior. A Recent View of Learning: One of the recently developed views of learning is based on the biological concept. Accordingly, the living organism develops by the process of individuation from the central (central nervous system) to the peripheral areas (arms, legs, hands, and feet). This view of learning is popularly known as the organismic, purposive theory. It is also referred to as one of the field theories of learning. Learning
- 3. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina (1) Munn’s Views: According to Munn, “Learning is more or less permanent incremental modification of behaviour which results from activity, special, training or observation.” (2) Skinner’s View: According to Skinner, “Learning is both acquisition and retention.” (3) View of Gates: According to Gates, “Learning is medication of behaviour through experience.” (4) View of Daniel Bell: In the words of Daniel Bell, “Learning is modification due to energies of organism and the environment impinging on the organism itself.” (5) View of Thorpe: Thorpe says, “We can define learning as that process which manifests itself by adaptive changes in the individual’s behaviour as a result of experience.” (6) Kimble’s View: G.A Kimble opines, “Learning refers to more or less permanent change in behaviour, which occurs as a result or practice. A very comprehensive definition is given by Crow and Crow as under: “Learning is the acquisition of knowledge, habits and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing things, and it operates in an individuals’ attempt to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new situations.” 7) View of Kingsley and Garrey: Kingsley and Garrey emphasize that the act of adjustment of environment is the process of learning. According to them, learning is a “a process by which an organism, in satisfying his motivation, adopts or adjusts to a situation in which it must modify its behaviour in order to overcome obstacles or barriers. Thus, the process of learning includes the following: a. Acquisition of new experiences. b. Retention of old experiences in the form of impressions, engrams or skills. c. Development and modification of experience, d. Synthesis and organization of the old and the new experiences, resulting in novel pattern called learning. Definitions of Learning
- 4. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina • Learning changes in behaviour occur due to maturation. • Changes in behaviour may be temporary or permanent. • Changes in behaviour may take place in the desirable direction or in the undesirable direction. • Learning can be both incidental and intentional, the school curriculum, teaching methods and learning systems must be oriented to both intentional and incidental learning. • Learning involves both over acts and covert processes. • Learning results from reinforced practice. Practice makes a man perfect. Practice, training or experience leads to improvement in present learning. • Learning is both a process and a product. Nature of learning as modification behaviour
- 5. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina General Characteristics of Learning ► Learning is Adjustment ► Learning is Growth ► Learning is Organizing Experience ► Learning is Purposeful ► Learning is Active. ► Learning is intelligent and Creative ► Learning Affects the Conduct of Learners ► Learning is the Product of the Environment ► Learning involves change. ► All learning involves activities. ► Learning Requires Interaction. ► Constitute Learning. ► Learning is a Lifelong Process. ► Learning Occurs Randomly Throughout Life. ► Learning Involves Problems Solving. ► Learning is the Process of Acquiring Information
- 6. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Learning is a fundamental ingredient in the education of a child. Therefore, a teacher must understand fully, how learning takes place in the best possible manner, in this connection, it is imperative that the teacher should know what are called ‘Laws of Learning’ as given by Thorndike and others. They must be accepted and fundamental laws of learning are: (i) Law of Readiness (ii) Law of Exercise (Law of Use, Law of Disuse) (iii) Law of Effect Laws of Learning
- 7. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Conditions of Learning • Motivation • Clarity of Presentation: The subject matter must be presented clearly before the students, so that they understand it properly. • Providing Direct Experiences: Nothing teachers like an experience and personal observation. Therefore, wherever possible, the students should be taught by the method of personal observation and experience. • Level of Intelligence: Learning, to a considerable extent, depends upon the level of intelligence of the learners. • Academic Atmosphere: A very important and significant condition of learning is the provision of academic and intellectual type of atmosphere for the learners. • Effective Methods of Teaching: Better and effective methods of teaching are essential for learning. Mostly, poor learning is the result of faulty methods of teaching. • Reinforcement: Reinforcement is a procedure of associating pleasant or unpleasant experiences objects or events with the responses, made by the learner. • Practice: There is a great truth in the dictum that ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. We learn things by doing them over and over again.
- 8. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Imitation in Learning The most common general innate tendency of the child is imitation. It involves copying others, it implies “doing as others do’. Imitation is cognitive in nature. Suggestion two has been described as unconscious imitation, but the important thing in imitation is that it is action oriented. Type of Imitation by Drever has mentioned two types of imitation i.e. deliberate imitation and unconscious imitation. In the deliberate imitation, a person imitates deliberately. Types of imitation by McDougall 1. Primary imitation (i) Sympathetic Imitation When one feels as others feel (Quite Unconsciously), we have sympathetic imitation. A child cries when he sees others crying. (ii) Ideo-Motor Imitation In the Ideo-Motor type of imitation, one imitates the actions of others, when in a match one person raises his hockey stick, spectators raise their arms. (iii) Deliberate Imitation Deliberate imitation has been explained earlier. 2. Secondary imitation It includes meaningless imitation, and unconscious imitation. In the meaningless imitation, one imitates others without being able to understand the significance of copying. This is mainly, see in children. Unconscious imitation has been explained earlier.
- 9. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Laws of Limitation Imitation the following laws: 1. Imitation grows from higher to lower, urban to rural, rich to poor 2. All the aspects of imitation are borrowed 3. Imitation is more action than thinking 4. It goes one from internal to external 5. Imitation grows rapidly Imitation of Learning (1) The Teacher (2) Method of Teaching (3) Weak Students (4) Perfection (5) School (6) Good Books
- 10. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understands the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). Behaviourism - It focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities. - Behaviorists define learning as the acquisition of new behavior. Cognitivism - How we acquire, store and process information - It looks beyond the behavior to explain brain-based learning that may have link with memory, problem solving and attention. LEARNING THEORIES
- 11. Hina Jalal (PhD Scholar, GCUF) @AksEAina Now that the dust has settled on some of the great theoretical debates of the past, two main schools of thought on learning have emerged, though many variations still exist. These two main schools of thought are association learning and cognitive learning. Association theorists, on the one band, see learning as the result of connection (Associations) between stimuli (Sense impression) and responses, Dogs salivating When they hear the can opener opening their food, babies waving “bye-bye” on cue from their mothers, or fifth graders saying “seventy-two” to the stimulus “nine times eight” are all examples of association learning. A bond has been formed between two elements, a stimulus and a response. Cognitive theorists, on the other hands, view learning as a recognition of a number of perception. This reorganization allows the learner to perceive new relationship, solve new problems and gain a basic understanding of a subject area. A fifth grade suddenly realizing that multiplication is successive addition; an ape suddenly understanding that by putting two short sticks together, a banana that was out of reach is now obtainable; or an eighth grader discovering a way to calculate the area of a parallelogram, these are all examples of cognitive learning. Association Learning and Cognitive Learning