Theories of Learning - Essay Example

Main factors which affect children’s learning What is learning? Some defines it as a product while others consider it as a process. Learning may be defined as modification of behaviour for the attainment of specific goals. It is the process by which an individual acquires and develops knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, and attitudes that are necessary to meet life situations. Famous psychologists Gates and Jersiled defined learning as the modification of behaviour through experience and training. The effect of learning is seen in the behaviour of an individual in various modes. Man has been able to progress just because of his capacity to make profit out of the experiences of others as well as his own. His customs, manners, etc. are the product of his learning. Theories of learning Skinner’s theory of Operant Conditioning, Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development, Bruner’s theory of Cognitive Development, Gagne’s Hierarchy theory, etc. are some of the major theories of learning. Skinner’s theory of Operant Conditioning:- B.F. skinner formulated his theory of learning in 1930. It is known as theory of Operant Conditioning. He developed his theory based on Thorndike’s learning theory. It is assumed that a stimulus is present when a response is given. But skinner thinks that a response may not be associated with any specific stimulus.. Skinner changed the usual S-R formula into R-S formula. According to this formula when a desired response is emitted, a reinforcing stimulus is present. Thus a response is conditioned by constantly reinforcing it. The reinforcement must come after the response has been made, not before it. Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development:- Jean Piaget stressed the biological maturation in the thinking process. He saw the human being as an integrated whole and assumed that there must be some common denominators in biological and mental functioning. One of these is adaptation. The human body adapts to the environment biologically. In the same way we must adopt to the environment in the process of intellectual growth. His theory is based on biological principles adaptation and organisation. Piaget described 4 major stages in the continuous process of growth and change in the cognitive development during childhood. First one is the sensory motor period (0 – 2 years). The development of the concept of object permanence is one of the major accomplishments of this period Second one is the pre-operational period (2 – 7 years) around the age of 2; the child begins to represent actions and objects by some kind of internal symbols and the development of language skills. Third one is the concrete operational period (7 – 11 years). Children at this stage can grasp the concept of conservation, serial ordering and transitivity. The fourth one is the formal operational period (after 11 years). Now the children become capable of deductive logics such as ‘or, if and then’ reasoning. They begin from observations. Bruner’s theory of Cognitive Development:- As per Bruner there are 6 aspects of cognitive development. Cognitive development depends on:- 1. Increasing independence of a response from a stimulus 2. Internal storage and information, 3. Self consciousness 4. Systematic interactions, 5. Language development, 6. Increasing ability to perform concurrent activities. Gagne’s Hierarchy theory:- As per Gagne there are 8 stages in the process of learning. 1. Signal learning 2. Stimulus-response learning 3. Chaining 4. Verbal association 5. Multiple descrimination6. Concept learning. 7. Principle learning. 8. Problem solving. Current trends in teaching and Learning “We are seeing the following trends and direction in the teaching and learning process. Research and teaching are perceived as mutually enhancing. Course time is devoted to discovery based learning. Teaching emphasise has moved away from memorising facts towards findings, evaluating, and using information. Teach less learn more policy is adopted. Teaching and learning extend beyond the classrooms. Instructor is perceived as a partner. More and more technology is incorporated”. (http://technology.berkeley.edu/planning/strategic/pdf/TeachingLearningTrends.pdf) As per the modern trends in teaching the teacher is only a guide to the student. The teacher will create problematic situations to the student and help him to find out the solution by himself. The earlier method was the teacher himself giving the solutions to the students. This old method made the children passive in the process of learning whereas in the new method or trend the student is the active member than the teacher. The volume of assignments and projects seminars etc. has been increased in the modern method of teaching. This will help the student to get a deep understanding about a particular topic. Since he is finding out the solutions by himself, his mental faculties will be strengthened and he can apply his understanding even in difficult tough situations. This type of learning helps the child to be a self sufficient person in life. Motivation, Self esteem & Equal opportunities By motivation we mean that something that incites an organism to action, sustain it and gives direction to it. Motivation has an energising aspect and directional aspect. Motivation can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Learning without motivation may not be permanent. The teacher should motivate student to a particular topic. This should be done from examples from daily life situations and should lead the student from a known to unknown situation. Such situation develops curiosity and hence the learning acquired through such motivation will be permanent. Self esteem is another factor the children should develop. Without confidence he may not be able to face difficult situations not only in his educational life but after that also. Solving different problems without much help from the teacher will increase the confidence level. For this the teacher should give the necessary guidelines only, to the students about a particular topic. Based on the intellectual levels of the student the teacher should distribute the topics and should preserve equal opportunities to all. Even for the average students the teacher should provide equal opportunities and should give more assistance to solve the problem. Discrimination will make the average student more and more poor in his learning process. The teacher should ease the guidelines or the problem and thereby help the average student to complete the problem or project. Factors affecting learning Any kind of learning depends upon three factors. Nature of the learner, nature of the learning material or task and the nature of the learning situation or method. These are known as variables in learning. The conditions influencing nature of the learner are age, sex, maturation, readiness, motivation, previous experiences, socio economic status, personality traits, physical handicaps etc. The ability to learn new material increases up to 20 years of age and then remains constant till 30 and declines rapidly after 50. The conditions influencing the learning task are length of the task, gradation of the task, meaningfulness of the task, difficulty of the task etc. If the task is simple learning will be easy. Nature of the learning situation includes the method of learning, amount of practice, distribution of practice, incentives, knowledge of results, pupil teacher relations etc. The expectation about a student certainly affects the learning process. If the student comes to know that the teacher or the parents expects little from him then he may develop a tendency to neglect his studies. He will think that he is not capable of reaching the levels of others and will not take his learning process seriously. Environmental factors also can affect learning. A child coming from a good environment will learn more than a child from an average environment. The environmental factors sometimes deviate the attention of the child from learning. For example children can be addicted to liquors or drugs if his environment supplies opportunities to that and thereby he can lose his interest in studies. It is widely accepted that the learning process of a male is different from that of a female. In some particular areas of learning male dominates female and vice versa. For example male children will dominate female in the skills of technical knowledge. Physiological difference in male and female do not lead to difference in skills, attitudes, or interests, but boys show greater muscular strength than girls. Successful experiences serves as a motivational force to consequent performances while unsuccessful ones put a drag on further learning. Readiness or mental set of the learner brings attention in the learning and results in better learning. Social and cultural backgrounds also affect the learning. A child coming from a happy family learns more quickly than one coming from a problematic family. The first one will have peace of mind and can concentrate more on what he is learning. For quick learning proper learning styles should be adopted. Some common methods are learning by comparing the similarities Sources (http://technology.berkeley.edu/planning/strategic/pdf/TeachingLearningTrends.pdf) Read More