Concepts of Learning And the Factors That Affect Student Learning - Essay Example

Concepts of learning and the factors that affect learning School Affiliation: Introduction Learning is the acquisition of new knowledge skills, behaviour, preferences or understanding, it may also involve the synthesis of different information. This ability is present in machines, humans and animals. The progress over time is on the basis of learning (Illeris, 2002). Human learning occurs as a part of education or personal progression. The learning may be goal oriented and in other cases may be aided by motivation. It may occur as a result of habituation or classical conditioning as is the case in many animal species and human beings. It may also occur consciously or unconsciously. Many theorists believe that play is the first form of learning (Holt 1983). This is so because it helps in the interaction process and rule learning. This paper seeks to examine the learning experience and how it affects students. Theoretical schools of learning A learning theory is a presentation of an attempt to describe how animals and people learn. It thereby helps us to understand the complexities involved in the learning process. The theories however can be used in guiding thinking but do not offer solutions (Theodora, 2005). There exist three main categories or frameworks that learning theories fall under. They include constructivism, behaviourism and cognitivism. The constructivism approach focuses on the learning process whereby a learner actively builds ideas. The behavioural looks at the only observable aspects while the cognitive approach pays much attention to brain based behaviour in learning. Humanism The approach, humanist, has its roots in existentialist ideas. It is understood to be a behavioural approach. Behaviourism grew out of the works of Ivan Pavlov on the basis of his concept of conditioned reflex. John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner and Abraham Maslow are the major scholars who contributed to the theory (Merriam and Caffarella, 1991and 1998). Abraham Maslow presented his ideas that an individual seeks to actualize their goals. Through his hierarchy of needs theory, the theorist postulates how human beings move to achieve their personal goals. The hierarchy is gone through as different steps are made in the life cycle. The theory of humanism concentrates on the development of self concept. It is normally associated with child development. It is premised on the idea that if a child is feeling good, then that forms a positive start. When an individual feels good about their strengths and weaknesses, a belief in one’s ability improves. Learning is not perceived as an end in itself. It is rather seen as a means to an end. It guides progress towards bigger heights in a field of operation. At the work place, each individual is bound to feel important by realizing that they possess certain strengths. When their peers realise and recognize both the strengths and weaknesses, the person in question feels a sense of respect and tends to improve on productivity. This offers a good development platform for a person that feels respected and cared for at the work place. By recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses, they first improve their productivity as indicated earlier and follow it by continually growing as they go about their day to day activities. In simple terms it provides the lynch pad for self actualization. As it is in the case of child, there is an inward drive that moves people to do different chores. On recognition, there is an attendant feeling of achievement that moves the party in question to greater heights. However, from the behaviourist view, this may never be the case. Behaviourists believe that the drive to succeed is fostered by the drive to acquire extrinsic rewards. Behaviourism sees the rewards from the outside world as the major drive to succeed whereas the humanism approach looks at it from the intrinsic rewards view, drives that emerge from within. In learning therefore, a humanist teacher would focus their energy in instilling self-esteem into their students. This rests on the idea that this approach would make the students feel good and in the process develop the drive to do well (Ramsden, 1992). At the work place, a humanist manager would equally put much value in the development of the esteem of the employees so as to improve on their productivity levels. On the contrary, the behaviourists may advocate for establishing a reward system that aims at motivating workers. An award for example, a salary increment would be a good carrot to dangle at workers because it would move them to work hard and in the process improve on the productivity levels. However, it should be noted that this approach would be an expensive approach as opposed to the humanist one which would ideally get people to work by inducing self motivation through recognition only. The humanist manager adequately manages to provide for the emotional side of life as opposed to a behavioural one. The humanist simply facilitates the growth as opposed to demanding it. This participatory approach also augurs well for personal development. Focus Good feeling and thinking, the self concept, communication aspect and personal values foster good competition as each individual is expected to pursue self actualization through achieving self set goals. This promotes cooperation as individuals seek to find out what works well for them from their peers. In this process, productivity is improved at the work place. One major drawback may be on the basis that some students may waste time talking about irrelevant matters. Some members may also dominate as others are ignored. Behavioural theory was developed by B. F. Skinner. It captures the works of such people as Thorndike, Guthrie, Tolman and Hull (Mayer, 2001). Their characterization of learning is what underlies the learning processes. In reference to these individuals, learning is assumed to have taken place if there is a manifested behaviour change, if the environment shapes behaviour, and if the principles of contiguity and reinforcement are core to explaining the learning process. In this mode of thinking, the learning process involves acquisition of foreign behaviour through conditioning. This theory simply arose to counter the behavioural theory which insisted that learning was on the basis of behaviour. It was fronted as early as 1929 by Bode. The theory focuses on looking at patterns as opposed to isolated events in making up a ground (Dewey, 1915). The assumptions that underlie the cognitive approach include, the memory system is an organized processor which is active and that earlier knowledge plays an important aspect in the learning process. The theories look beyond behaviour in the process of learning. The theories look at how human memory works to improve learning. The major difference of this theory and the humanist theory rests on the idea that the humanists focus on the external environment while the cognitivists focus on the individual learner. This does not however present a clear cut difference as the line of separation between the two is not clearly discernable (Hartley, 1998). Important contributors towards the cognitive theories include: once memory theorists like Atkinson - who has come up with the Shiffrin memory model and Baddeley with his working memory model. These were the major works informing the development of the cognitive theories. The aspects of the theory include learning how to learn, acquisition of social roles, intelligence etc. Constructivism This school looks at theory in terms of what the learners build or construct in their minds. This construction is however based on past experiences or knowledge. It is however, a very personal endeavour in which case, internalised concepts serve to inform the mind on major issues. So according to this school, knowledge is constructed when the individuals engage in socialisation. In this learning school, it is the teacher who works as a facilitator in the learning process. Aspects of this learning can be found in transformational learning, self-directed learning and experimental learning (Dewey, 1933). Summative and formative assessment The two types of assessment form an integral part in information gathering. Summative assessment is done periodically to examine a particular point in time what is known and what is not (Black, Harrison, Lee Marshall and Wiliam, 2003). Normally this type is associated with tests. They are usually used in grading learners. Applying the summative approach at the work place, it would entail an assessment on the performance of individual performance and identifying both the well and poorly performed areas. This is in relation to the humanist school of learning. After deciphering the strengths and performance weakness of individuals, it is expected that an appreciation be made on the basis of the findings. In this school of thought this realisation is meant to help the different individuals to self-motivate towards goal attainment. The inside drive to succeed is then expected to be the major driving force in the realisation of an organisation’s dreams. This is also a dependent factor on the individual’s drive as opposed to group drive. It works in that as the individual works to raise their production standards they also at the same time do it for the organisation for which they offer services. Formative assessment forms part of the instructional process (Butler and Winnie, 1995). It provides the necessary information to make adjustments. It helps in the determination of the next steps in a programme all the stakeholders are involved. This enables for the exchange of feedback. This is an assessment that formally takes the input of all stakeholders. In a work place setting, after a production programme results have been released, the management will be required to let the work force understand how the exercise was. Through this mechanism, the expectations are indicated and the two sides - the employer and the employee are allowed to reflect on the results. After a fact sharing exercise, the organisation moves on with a view to improve production at that point. Effectiveness of humanism The importance of the theory rests on the fact that it identifies with the positivity associated with humanity. It is by identifying with the positive aspects that serves as a motivation to learners and workers. Students and workers whose progress is monitored by superiors that identify with the positive aspect tend to perform better as compared to others.   Another positive attribute rests on the ease with which the aspects fit into other approaches. It is thought that many therapists have adopted the approach in dealing with their clients (Bruner, 1960 and 1977). In this regard it helps people to change. In trying to change people, it is necessary that one identifies with them on certain aspects. By reflecting on the positive side of people one works with, it helps to develop a common understanding in the pursuit of success. The use of this approach has achieved much success in a wide ranger of disciplines. The benefits of the theory have been transferred to other professions. These fields include theory, economics, or other business courses (Paivio, 1971). This is after the realization was made that it is in the nature of humanity to aspire to progress with time. Aspirations to progress gather more conviction if positively presented. Some aspects of the theory however remain ambiguous. For example it is not easy to determine what constitutes free will and individual drives. The term ‘freewill’ may not capture all the different meanings it presents. The freewill cannot be codified for measurement and if the individual wills are different then there may be different ways to go about them. The humanistic approach by respecting the human undertone it recognizes the individual differences and in effect helps learners in performing well. The teachers are also motivated to perform in the same respect. This is a positive attribute of the approach which serves to underscore the importance of humanity. The school of humanism postulates that individuals have internal drives that push them to achieve their goals. In a learning environment it is understood that it is in the interest of the participants to succeed. Both the teachers and the students aspire to be successful in the pursuit of their goals. While the teaching staffs aspire to rise through the ranks in their careers, the student community desires to excel in their studies. Conclusion Learning is an ongoing process in human lives. On the basis of humanity, the ‘feeling good’ effect is paramount in scaling greater heights in the learning cycle. Other schools like cognitive can also be useful in explaining the learning process. The acquisition of new knowledge is quite beneficial and it should be encouraged irrespective of the method employed. Through the use of both summative and formative assessments, the level of progression made in the learning experience can be determined. 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