Facilitating Learning

Introduction to the Study of Learning

Instruction or pedagogy establishes a link between what and how a teacher makes students learn and the
actual student learning. Effective instruction demands the teacher, rather than a direct source of
knowledge, to be a facilitator of learning.
Criteria of Learning
Learning involves change.
Learning endures over time.
Learning occurs through experience.
Learning Theory and Philosophy
Rationalism – idea that knowledge derives from reason without recourse to the senses. The distinction
derives from reason w/o recourse to the sense. The distinction between mind and matter, which
figures prominently in rationalist views of human knowledge, can be traced to Plato, who
distinguished knowledge acquired via the senses from that gained by reason.
Empiricism – idea that experience is the only source of knowledge. Aristotle. The external world is the
basis for human sense impressions, which, in turn, are interpreted as lawful (consistent, unchanging)
by the mind. The laws of nature cannot be discovered through sensory impressions, but rather through
reason as the mind takes in data from the environment. Unlike Plato, Aristotle believed that ideas
don’t exist independently of the external world. The latter is the source of all knowledge.
What is Facilitated Learning?
- Defined where the students are encouraged to take more control of their learning process. The
trainer’s role becomes that of a facilitator and organizer providing resources and support to
learners.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Facilitated Learning
FL is based on the premise that the more responsibility a student takes for hh own learning, the more the
effective the training or education will be. Advantages are:
Learners use skills like synthesis and analysis
The learner is actively involved
Learners interact with and learn from each other
There is no need for large amounts of learning materials
Learners can work in an environment similar to that of the real world
A variety of learning methods are used
Disadvantages:
FL can be – or be seen to be – more expensive
The pace of instruction is based on the group rather than the individual learner
The teacher’s role is not clearly defined
There is a need for extra facilities to allow for group work etc
The learning is relatively time consuming in proportion to the amount of material covered
FL is not appropriate in some cultural contexts
Ways to Facilitate Learning
*The following are several methods that can help teachers move away from standard lesson delivery and
towards facilitating a true learning experience:
 Varying instructional methods to try and meet different learning styles. Using different
instructional methods to implement lesson for students. Possible methods for delivery include:
Lecture
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 Whole group discussion
Small group discussion
Role play
Simulations
Debates
Multimedia presentations
Outside speakers

 Providing students with choice to build a greater interest in the topics being taught. Providing
variation serves a number of important purposes:
Meeting different learning style needs. EX: role-playing an aspect of 1960s protest
movements in an American History class would help kinesthetic learners make connections
with the lesson.
Increasing engagement because different students are interested in different types of learning
activities.
Combating for both students and teachers.
Providing unique learning experiences, especially when having students participate in more
immersive experiences such as a Model Legislature.
Providing Students with Choice – when students feel empowered in their learning, they are more likely
to accept ownership of it. If a teacher simply ‘delivers’ the material to the students, there is no real
reason for the student to feel any special attachment to it. Choice allows students to get involved in
their learning. Following are a few examples of how teachers can include choice for students in
their lessons:
Allow students to choose from a number of topics for essay writing assignments.
Provide students with a choice of books for book reports and reading assignments.
Allow students to complete research on a topic of their choosing within the area you are
currently teaching that they will then report back to the class.
Create a class-wide assignment such as a historical newspaper and allow students to pick the
section and topic on which they wish to work.

 Making real world connections to make the learning more meaningful. Cognitive research has
shown that connecting learning to real world experiences and information helps form those
important connections necessary for learning. EX: If you are teaching about Supply and Demand
from a textbook, students may learn the information for the moment. However, if you provide
them with examples that relate to purchases they make all the time, the information suddenly
becomes important and applicable to their own lives.

 Making cross-cultural connections so the information is not learned in isolation. You can also
facilitate student learning by making connections between different classes. These cross-curricular
connections help students see that learning is not done in isolation. For example, an American
History teacher and a Chemistry teacher could work together to deliver a lesson about the
development of the atomic bombs that were dropped Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World
War II. It is easy to see how this lesson could be extended into
English by including a creative writing assignment on the topic and also into Environmental
Science to look at the effects in the two cities after the bomb was dropped.

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Learner Diversity
Diversity in culture can impact student learning.
Diversity in socioeconomic status can affect student learning.
Diversity in ethnicity and race can affect students’ school experiences.
Diversity in language can affect student learning.
Diversity in gender can affect students’ school experiences.

What is the impact of culture on student learning?

Culture – language, attitudes, ways of behaving, and other aspects of life (dress, values, interests,
religion, food, preferences, dance, hobbies, hair styles, etc.) that characterize people.
EX: My cultural background is northern European; some German, mostly English. This
background is very similar to others who lived in the community where I grew up, w/c probably was the
reason I was unaware until I went away to college that were people in the world who didn’t share my
culture, ideas, values, or politics.

How does socioeconomic status (SES) affect student learning?

SES is a measure of prestige w/in a social group, usually based on income, education, and occupation. It’s
usually based on a combination of an individual’s income and years of education because these are most
easily measured. SES is not determined by race or ethnicity.
EX: child rearing practices: quality of language used by parents w/ children activities parents expect of
children
Income: lower class achievement affected by summer vacations.
Class institutions: future time orientation focus on individuality

How do ethnicity and race affect students’ school experiences?

Race – groups of human distinguished by form of hair, color of skin and eyes, and stature
Ethnic group – group of human distinguished by customs, characteristics, language, and common history
Minority groups – group of humans who are less in number and different from the dominant group in a
nation, region, or community.
EX: the overall effect of desegregation on the academic achievement of minority students has been small,
though positive. When desegregation begins in the elementary school and involves busing minority
students to high quality schools, desegregation can have a significant effect on achievement.
However, the schools to which minority students are bused are often no better than the segregated
schools they leave behind.

How do language differences and bilingual programs affect student achievement?

Language minority – those individuals whose primary language spoken is not English
Bilingual education – refers to programs for students with limited proficiency in English that teach the
students in their own language part of the time while English is being learned.
Most effective: bilingual programs that emphasize culture and language as well as develop and maintain
students’ self-esteem and pride in both cultures are most effective.
Least effective: programs that provide nothing more than minimum instruction in English as a second
language are least effective

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How do gender and gender bias affect student’s school experience?
Cross-cultural research indicates that the sex role is one of the first learned by individuals and that all
societies treat males differently from females; therefore, sex role behavior is learned behavior. However,
what is considered “natural” behavior for each gender is, in fact, based more on cultural beliefs than on
biological necessity. Many of the observed differences between males and females can be clearly linked to
differences in early socialization, according to research.
EX of Gender Bias:
1. Males engage more interaction with their teachers in approval, instruction given, and being heard.
2. Teachers tend to punish females more promptly and explicitly for aggressive behavior.
3. Creative behavior of males is rewarded by teachers more often than is creative behavior of
females.
4. Textbooks and curriculum promote gender bias (women’s contributions to history are mostly
ignored)
5. Teachers and other staff ignore instances of sexual harassment.
6. Teachers tend to choose males, to boost their self-esteem, and to select literature with male
protagonists.
7. The contribution of female largely ignored on standardized tests.
Principles that teachers may apply for avoiding gender bias:
1. Assign classroom jobs w/o regard to gender.
2. Avoid assigning males as group leaders and females as secretaries.
3. Refrain from using stereotypical behavior statements.
4. Avoid gender teams in competitive activities.
5. Encourage cross-gender collaboration.
What is Multicultural Education?
 Emphasizes the inclusion of non-dominant group perspective in the curriculum
 Includes all policies and practices schools might use to improve educational outcomes not only for
students of different ethnic, social class, and religious backgrounds, but also for students of
different genders and exceptionalities
 Entails the idea that all students, regardless of groups to which they belong.

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Learner Intelligence and Learning Style
Different students do have a variety of preferences in learning where they can mostly maximize
their potentials or express best their individuality.
Intelligence – refers to the general mental ability of a person; capacity to resolve problems or to fashion;
products that are valued in a more cultural setting
Achievements – refer tot eh previous learning of a person in a certain subject area
Multiple Intelligence – capacity of a person to possess and adapt two or more intelligence

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCE EXAMPLES

 Ability to learn language
1. Linguistic – sensitivity to Writers, poets, lawyers,
 Capacity to use language to speakers
spoken & written language
accomplish certain goals
 Ability to detect patterns,
2. Logical/mathematical reason deductively and Scientists, mathematicians
think logically
3. Musical – skills in the
 Capacity to recognize and
performance, composition
compose musical pitches, Musicians, composers
and appreciation of musical
tones and rhythms
patterns.
4. Bodily kinesthetic- using
 Ability to use mental
one’s whole body or body
abilities to coordinate Athletes, dancers
parts to solve and convey
bodily movements
ideas
5. Spatial – recognize & use
patterns of wide space and  ------ -----
more confined areas
 Capacity to understand the
6. Interpersonal – working Educators, sales people,
intentions, motivations and
effectively with others religious counselors, politicians
desires of other people
 Capacity to understand
7. Intrapersonal – working oneself, appreciate one’s
----
effectively w/ oneself feelings, fears, and
motivations
 Ability to recognize,
8. Naturalist – appreciation of categorize and grow upon
Nature lover, envrionmentalist
the environment/nature certain features of the
environment

David Kolb’s Learning Styles

Learning Styles – tools utilized by learners to cope and adjust to the learning environment
Four Learning Styles
1. Convergers – rely on abstract conceptualizing and experimenting
- They like to find specific, concrete answers and move quickly solutions

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 - Unemotional, since they prefer to deal with things rather than with people
- Educational Implications: Teachers should provide learning tasks that have specific answers listed
in numbers and figures/units.
2. Assimilators – rely most on abstract conceptualizing and reflective observation
- Interested in theoretical concerns than in applications
- Educational Implications – Teachers should provide learning tasks that call for integration of
materials/situational activities
3. Divergers – rely on concrete experience and active participation; generate ideas and enjoy
working with people
- Educational Implications: Teachers should provide group activities since learners enjoy working in
groups
4. Accommodators – rely on concrete experience and active experimentation; risk-taking, action-
oriented, adoptable in new situations
- Educational Implications: Teachers should provide learning tasks that call for hands-on approach

Types of Learners
Types of Learner/Perceptual Channel Educational Implications/Learning Preference
1. Auditory learners – prefer to learn by  Lecturing in the teaching approach that
listening/auditory perceptual channel works best for them.
 Songs/poems are useful and effective
learning tools.
2. Visual learners – prefer print materials/visual  Reading/responding to visual cues, such as
perceptual channel the chalkboard or transparencies
 Textbooks and pictures
3. Tactile learners – like to manipulate  Hands-on or laboratory methods of learning
objects/tactile perceptual channel are most appropriate for learners.
 Tracing diagrams or using texture examples
4. Kinesthetic or whole-body learners – like to  Simulations, exploratory activities and
learn through experiential problem-solving approach of teaching
activities/kinesthetic perceptual channel  Pacing or dancing while learning new
material

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Learning and Motivation
Although some simple types of learning can occur w/ little or no motivation, most learning is
motivated. Students who are motivated to learn attend to instruction and engage in such activities as
rehearsing information, relating it to previously acquired knowledge, and asking questions.
MOTIVATION – a topic intimately linked with learning. It is the process of instigating and
sustaining goal-directed behavior. This is a cognitive definition because it postulates that learners set goals
and employ cognitive process (planning, monitoring) and behaviors (persistence, effort) to attain their
goals.
Motivation – an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that
serves to activate or energize behavior and give it direction.

2 Kinds of Motivation
1. Extrinsic Motivation – when students work hard to win their parents’ favor, gain teachers’ praise
or earn high grades; their reason for work and study lie primarily outside themselves.
o Is fueled by the anticipation and expectation of some kind of payoff from an external source
2. Intrinsic Motivation - when students study because they enjoy the subject and desire to learn it
irrespective of the praise won or grades earned; the reasons for learning reside primarily inside
themselves.
o Fueled by one’s own goal or ambitions

Principles of Motivation
o The environment can be used to focus the student’s attention on what needs to be learned.
o Incentives motivate learning.
o Internal motivation is longer lasting and more self-directive than is external motivation, which must
be repeatedly reinforced by praise or concrete rewards.
o Learning is most effective when an individual is ready to learn, that is when one wants to know
something.

Theories of Motivation
1. Drive Theory (Clark Hull)
o Drive is a condition of arousal on tension that motivates behavior.
o Drives most typically have been considered to involve physiological survival needs; hunger,
thirst, sleep, pain, sex.
o A drive results from the activation of a need.

o Need – a physiological deficiency that creates condition of disequilibrium in the body.

2. Self-efficacy (Albert Bandura)
o The belief that one has capabilities to execute the courses of actions required to manage
prospective situations. Unlike efficacy, which is the power to produce an effect, self-efficacy is
the belief that one has the power to produce the effect.
o It relates to a person’s perception of h/h ability to reach a goal while, self-esteem relates to a
person’s sense of self-worth.
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 3. Self Determination (E. Deci)
o Comes from the sense of autonomy that a person has when it comes to things that he does and
the choices he makes
o Tasks for a long period of time
o To think meaningfully and creatively about those tasks
o To experience pleasure in one’s activities
o To achieve at higher level
o We have the capacity to take risks or challenged that can enrich our lives and develop
ourselves more
4. Expectancies and Values (Atkinson)
o Motivation to perform is affected by two variables
o Expectancy – people must believe that they can accomplish that is, they should have
expectancy about what they want to attain
o Value – they should place an importance or value in what they are doing
5. Attribution Theory (B. Weiner)
o People’s various explanations for successes and failures – their beliefs about what causes
attributions.
o Dimensions underlying people’s attribution. People can explain events in many different ways.
EX: a tennis player does attribute h/h wins and successes in matches to things like health,
effort, mood, strengths and weaknesses of h/h opponents, climate, h/h fans, etc.

Techniques in Motivating Learners

o Challenge them – offer student’s opportunities to undertake real-life challenges. Encourage them
to take intellectual risks.
o Build on strengths first – opportunity to use their talents to achieve success
o Offer choices – offering choices develop ownership. When child makes decisions h/s is more
likely to accept ownership and control of results
o Provide a secure environment – w/c permits children to fail w/in penalty. Learning how to deal w/
failure is critical for developing motivation and successful learning.

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Behaviorism
This module will deal with behaviorism as expressed in conditioning theories of learning. The
hallmark of conditioning theories is not that they deal with behavior (all theories do that), but rather that
they explain learning in terms of environmental events. While not denying the existence of mental
phenomena, these theories contend that such phenomena are not necessary to explain learning.
Learning theories on behaviorism operate on the principle “stimulus-response” and prefer to
concentrate on actual or observable behavior.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

 Classical means “in the established manner”
 Individual learns when a previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned
stimulus until a neutral stimulus evokes a conditioned response.
 Unconditioned stimulus – automatically produces an emotional or physiological response.
 Unconditioned response – natural occurring emotional or physiological response.
 Neutral stimuli – stimuli that don’t elicit a response.
 Conditioned stimulus – evokes an emotional or physiological response after being conditioned.
 Conditioned response – learned response to a previously neutral condition.

Features of Classical Conditioning

1. Stimulus-Generalization – responding the same way to a similar stimulus
2. Discrimination – responding differently to similar but not identical stimuli
3. Extinction – a process by w/c a conditioned response is lost

Edward Lee Thorndike’s Connectivism

 Learning by selecting and connecting
 Puts more emphasis on the organism not limiting himself to the association between the stimulus
and the response
Thorndike Theory of Learning
1. Law of Readiness – states that an individual will learn when she is ready to do so.
2. Law of Exercise – states that a connection is strengthened or weakened depending on the number
of time it occurs and in proportion to the average vigor and duration of the connection
A. Law of use – connections between stimulus and response are strengthened as they are used
B. Law of disuse – connections between a stimulus and response are weakened when practice is
discontinued
3. Law of Effect – states that a connection is strengthened if it produces a satisfying effect.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner’s Operant Conditioning and Reinforcement

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 Operant Conditioning – uses pleasant or unpleasant consequences to control the occurrence of
behavior
Reinforcers – any consequence that strengthen a behavior
 Primary reinforcer – related to basic needs
 Secondary reinforcer – value of something is acquired when associated with primary reinforce.
 Positive reinforcer – consequence given to strengthen a behavior
 Negative behavior – release from an unpleasant situation to strengthen behavior

Reinforcement – satisfying consequence

 Verbal
 Activity
 Physical
 Token
 Non-verbal
 Consumable
Formula for Reinforcement
1. Prompt
2. Response
3. Reinforcement

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Environmental Contexts
Otherwise known as the Human Ecology Theory, the Ecological Systems theory states that human
development is influenced by the different types of systems.
This module will examine this theory as formulated by famous psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner.
This theory helps us understand why we may behave differently when we compare our behavior in the
presence of our family and our behavior when we are in school or at work.

The Five Environmental Systems

The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our
lifespan that may influence our behavior in varying degrees. These systems include the micro systems, the
mesosystem, the exosystem, the macro system, and the chronosystem.
1. Microsystem – innermost level – contains the structure that has direct contact with child
 The micro system’s setting is the direct environment we have in our lives. Your family, friends,
classmates, teachers, neighbors and other people who have a direct contact with you are
included in your micro system. The micro system is the setting in which we have direct social
interactions with these social agents. The theory states that we are not mere recipients of the
experiences we have when socializing with these people in the micro system environment, but
we are contributing to the construction of such environment.

2. Mesosystem – connections between the structures of the child’s microsystem contact with
child

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  The mesosystem involves the relationships between the microsystems in one’s life. This means
that your family experience may be related to your school experiences. For example, if a child
is neglected by his parents, he may have a low chance of developing positive attitude towards
his teachers. Also, this child may feel awkward in the presence of peers and may resort to
withdrawal from a group of classmates.
3. Exosystem – 3rd level – social system which indirectly affects the child
 The exosystem is the setting in which there is a link between the context wherein the person
does not have any active role, and the context wherein is actively participating. Suppose a
child is more attached to his father than his mother. If the father goes abroad to work for
several months, there may be a conflict between the mother and the child’s social relationship,
or on the other hand, this event may result to a tighter bond between the mother and the child.
4. Macrosystem – outermost level in which all other systems are embedded such as values,
customs, laws, beliefs, and resources of a culture/society.
 The macrosystem setting is the actual culture of an individual. The cultural contexts involve
the socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family, his ethnicity or race and living in a
still developing or a third world country. For example, being born to a poor family makes a
person work harder every day.
5. Chronosystem – this system includes changes or consistencies in a person’s lifespan.
 The chronosystem includes the transitions and shifts in one’s lifespan. This may also involve
the socio-historical contexts that may influence a person. One classic example of this is how
divorce, as a major life transition, may affect not only the couple’s relationship but also their
children’s behavior. According to a majority of research, children are negatively affected on
the first year after the divorce. The next years after it would reveal that the interaction w/in the
family becomes more stable and agreeable.
 If the relationships in the immediate microsystem break down, the child will not have the
tools to explore other parts of his environment resulting to behavioral deficiencies. Learning
tends to regress/slow down when the environment of the child is in turmoil.

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Cognitive Learning Theories
They explain why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and
interpretation in the body as we learn things.

1. David Ausubel’s Meaningful Reception Theory – meaningful learning occurs when new
experiences are related to what a learner already knows.
May occur through:
A. Reception
B. Rote learning
C. Discovery learning

2 Dimensions of Learning Processes:

The first dimension relates to the two ways by which The second dimension relates to the two
knowledge to be learned is made available to the ways by which the learner incorporates new
learner. information into his existing cognitive
structure.
1. Meaningful reception learning 1. Meaningful Discovery Learning
2. Rote reception learning 2. Rote Discovery Learning

2. Jerome Bruner’s Discovery Learning Theory or Inquiry Method / Theory of Instruction

Posits that learning is more meaningful to learners when they have the opportunity to discover on
their own, the relationships among the concepts or to actively search for a solution to a problem.
An approach to instruction through w/c students interact w/ their environment by exploring and
manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies or performing experiments. The
idea is that students are more likely to remember concepts they discover on their own.
Calls his view of learning “instrumental conceptualism”

3. Wolfgang Kohler’s Insight Learning / Problem – Solving Theory

Insight:
- The capacity to discern the true nature of situation
- Imaginative power to see into and understand immediately
- Gaining insight is a gradual process of exploring, analyzing, and structuring perception until a
solution is arrived at.

4. Atkinson’s and Richard Shiffrin’s Information Processing Theory

The individual learns when the human mind takes in information (encoding), performs operation in
it, stores the information (storage), and retrieves it when needed (retrieval).

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 Memory – the ability to store information so that it can be used at a later time.
Stages of Human Memory
1. Sensory Memory – information stores that hold an exact copy of stimuli for a very short period
of time EX: color, shape, blowing of horn
2. Short-term Memory (STM) – the information store that retains the information as we
consciously work on it. EX: telephone number
3. Long-term Memory (LTM) – information store that is permanent; information on the LTM, if
not rehearsed, can be forgotten through; trace decay structure of LTM > episodic, semantic

Forgetting – the inability to recall (something previously known) to the mind

Causes of Forgetting
1. Retrieval Failure – forgetting is due to inability to recall the information
2. Decay Theory – information stored in LTM gradually fades when it is not used.
3. Interference Theory – forgetting in LTM is due to the influence of other learning

Retention – the ability to recall or recognize what has been learned or experienced
Interference – the act or an instance of hindering, obstructing, or impeding

5. Gagne’s Teaching for Transfer

Transfer – when something previous learned influences the new material
Transfer of Learning Types
1. Lateral Transfer – occurs when the individual is able to perform a new task about the same
level. (EX: solving word problems given in the text and later solving similar problem on the
board).
2. Vertical Transfer – occurs when the individual is able to learn more advanced / complex
skills (EX: being able to add and multiply; being able to read and write)
3. Specific Transfer – when a specific skill, fact or rule is applied to a similar situation
4. General Transfer – applying principles previously learned to dissimilar situations

Cumulative learning – any task or skill can be broken down to simpler skills which can still be
further broken down to more simple tasks or skills.
Hierarchy of Learning
1. Signal Learning – responding to a signal, response is conditioned
2. Stimulus – response Learning – voluntary responses are learned
3. Chaining/Motor – two or more separate motor/verbal responses maybe combined or chained
to develop a more complex response
4. Verbal Association – verbal connections are used to create associations
5. Discrimination Learning - learner selects or distinguishes a response which applies to stimuli
6. Concept Learning – gives common response to an entire class of stimuli
7. Principle Learning (Rule Learning) – involves combining and relating concepts

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Adult Learning Theories
Education of adults has long been perceived as different from education of children in both theory
and practice.
Malcolm Knowles Theory of Andragogy
 Andragogy as a study of adult learning originated in Europe in 1950’s and was then pioneered as a
theory and model of adult learning from the 1970’s by Malcolm Knowles an American practitioner
and theorist of adult education, who defined andragogy as “the art and science of helping adults
learn”
 What do you mean by ‘adult learning principles’? Knowles identified the six principles of adult
learning outlined below.
- Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
- Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
- Adults are goal oriented
- Adults are relevancy oriented
- Adults are practical
- Adult learners like to be respected
 How can I use adult learning principles to facilitate student learning on placement?
1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed. Adult learners resist learning when they
feel others are imposing information, ideas or actions on them. Your role is to facilitate a
students’ movement toward more self-directed and responsible learning as well as to foster the
student’s internal motivation to learn.
As clinical educator you can:
1. Set up a graded learning program that moves from more to less structure, from less to more
responsibility and from more to less direct supervision, at an appropriate pace that is
challenging yet not overloading for the student.
2. Develop rapport with the student to optimize your approachability and encourage asking of
questions and exploration of concepts.
3. Show interest in the student’s thoughts and opinions. Actively and carefully listen to any
questions asked.
4. Lead the student toward inquiry before supplying them with too many facts.
5. Provide regular constructive and specific feedback (both positive and negative),
6. Review goals and acknowledge goal completion
7. Encourage use of resources such as library, journals, internet and other department resources.
8. Set projects or tasks for the student that reflect their interest and which they must complete and
“tick off” over the course of the placement. For example: to provide an in-service on topic of
choice; to present a case-study based on one of their clients; to design a client educational
handout; or to lead a client group activity session.

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 9. Acknowledge the preferred learning style of the student. A questionnaire is provided below
that will assist your student to identify their preferred learning style and to discuss this with
you.

2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

 Adults like to be given opportunity to use their existing foundation of knowledge and
experience gained from life experience, and apply it to their new learning experiences. As a
clinical educator you can:
- Find out about your student – their interests and past experiences (personal, work and study
related)
- Assist them to draw on those experiences when problem-solving, reflecting and applying
clinical reasoning processes.
- Facilitate reflective learning opportunities which Fidishun (2000) suggests can also assist
the student to examine existing biases or habits based on life experiences and “move them
toward a new understanding of information presented”

3. Adults are goal oriented

 Adult students become ready to learn when “they experience a need to learn it in order to cope
more satisfyingly with real-life tasks or problems’. Your role is to facilitate a student’s
readiness for problem-based learning and increase the student’s awareness of the need for the
knowledge or skill presented.
 As educator you can:
- Provide meaningful learning experiences that are clearly linked to personal, client and
fieldwork goals as well as assessment and future life goals.
- Provide real case-studies (through client contact and reporting) as a basis from which to
learn about the theory, OT methods, functional issues implications of relevance.
- Ask questions that motivate reflection, inquiry and further research.

4. Adults are relevancy oriented. Adult learners want to know the relevance of what they are
learning to what they want to achieve. One way to help students to see the value of their
observation and practical experiences throughout their placement, is to:
 Ask the student to do some reflection on for example, what they expect to learn prior to the
experience, on what they learnt in the future, or how it will help them to meet their learning
goals.
 Provide some choices of fieldwork project by providing two or more options, so that learning
is more likely to reflect the student’s interests.
 Students really benefit from regular ‘teaching sessions’ – time spent going through assessments
such as how to do a kitchen assessment, and having in-services presented on specific topics –
such as Cognition or Perception. I find they understand more about a topic when it is directly
relevant to the work context. This is invaluable as it ties theory to practice.

5. Adults are practical. Through practical fieldwork experiences, interacting with real clients and
their real-life situations, students move from classroom and textbook mode to hands-on problem
solving where they can recognize firsthand how or what they are learning to life and the work
context.
As clinical educator you can:
 Clearly explain your clinical reasoning when making choices about assessments,
interventions and when prioritizing client’s clinical needs.

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  Be explicit about how what the student is learning is useful and applicable to the job and
client group you are working with.
 Promote active participation by allowing students to try things rather than observe. Provide
plenty of practice opportunity in assessment, interviewing, and intervention processes with
ample repetition in order to promote development of skill, confidence and competence.
 I like to encourage students to select and use a clinical model, such as Chapparo and
Rankin’s OPM, to apply to practice. It helps students to identify what performance
components (ex. endurance, tone, organizational skills) they want to assess for example, in a
dressing task. This helps to reinforce why OTs do things, and how the link to occupation
differs from other disciplines.

6. Adult learners like to be respected. Respect can be demonstrated to your student by:
 Taking interest
 Acknowledging the wealth of experiences that the student brings to the placement;
 Regarding them as a colleague who is equal in life experiences
 Encouraging expression of ideas, reasoning and feedback at every opportunity.
According to Boggs (1981) adult educational experiences should enhance personal growth make
it easier for adults to adapt to internal and external changes until the end of life. Boggs considers
adult education as life enhancing when it meets the following criteria:
1. Promotes skill-development and positive self-concept.
2. Helps alleviate fears, prejudice, illusions, and promotes critical thinking about steretypes,
cultural myths, and biased thinking.
3. Promotes creativity.
4. Helps the individual move toward personal goals.
5. Helps the individual become more tolerant, generous, sensitive, discerning and
understanding.
6. Provides access to greater opportunity.
7. Moves the person closer to h/h full potential.
8. Contributes toward revitalization of positive cultural ideals and traditions.
According to Boggs, adult education is not life-enhancing when
A. The adult learner is given specific views toward controversial issues.
B. The learner is led to premature closure on open-ended issues.
C. The learner is provided with answers rather than arriving at them independently.
D. The learner is not challenged to exceed previous personal performance standards.
E. The learner accumulates information w/o contextual relevance and interpretive or reflective skill
building.

Jean Lave’s Situated Learning Theory

Jean Lave is a social anthropologist and noted social learning theorist. She is currently a Professor
of Education and Geography at the University of California, Berkeley. Her studies of apprenticeships are
recognized as significant contributions to educational psychology.
General Idea of situated learning: If you put a learner in a real-world situation (authentic context) and
interact with other people then learning occurs.
Situated learning usually involves engaging in tasks which parallel real-world application. The
goal is to improve learning by motivating students and by providing a rich context for learning. It
emphasizes the context and application of knowledge rather than memorizing facts.

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 A learning environment is considered authentic if the tasks parallel real-world situations. Situated
learning theory emphasizes social interactions and authentic learning. Students who work on an authentic
learning task learn associated facts and skills because they need to know these things to accomplish the
task. Learners should engage in context, culture and activity that learning takes place in order to acquire,
understand, develop, and implement cognitive instruments in authentic learning activity.
Recently, situated cognition theorists have been pushing for more authentic research. They argue
that situating their students and research participants in authentic situations will help them achieve better
research results and ultimately enhance their understanding of educational theories. Thus, situated learning
usually goes beyond a real-world context, and also includes other social participants in the learner
experience.
The two approaches to learning: decontextualized (classroom) versus contextualized (situated)
learning.

APPROACH 1: APPROACH 2:
Classroom Authentic
(decontextualized, inert) (situated in real world problem to solve)
For example, go through the Photoshop reference EX: start with a visualization task you want to
manual, tool by tool, in alphabetical order, accomplish task you want to accomplish (create a
learning how each tool (line, paint, bucket, select, logo for a company). Look up and learn only a few
etc.) works including all possible optional settings. particular tools you realize you may need to use to
accomplish the design.

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 9
Learning and Development
What can you tell about your childhood? Now, how will you describe the person that you’ve
become? Such are just some of the concerns that psychologists have in examining the development of
humans. They are called developmental psychologists. Their job is to examine the developmental changes
that happen in individual from conception until death. This module will focus on the factors influencing
the development of a person. Likewise, different aspects of development such as physical and motor,
emotional, intellectual, and social will also be discussed according to developmental stages. Lastly,
instructional implications will be pointed-out.

Human Development – the study of physical, emotional, motor, cognitive, and social changes
experienced by an individual all throughout his or her lifespan.
Longitudinal design – involves examining the developmental changes in relation to age.
Cross-sectional design – involves observing different groups with different development stages.
Hereditary and Environment
Heredity – refers to the inherited physiological, emotional, intellectual, and social characteristics that
make up the individual.
Environment – the external force that influences the individual

Developmental Issues Relevant to Learning

Nature VS. Nurture: Does development depend more on heredity, environment, or a combination?
Stability VS. Change: Are developmental periods flexible, or do certain critical times exist in which
developmental changes must occur for development to proceed normally?
Continuity VS. Discontinuity: Does development occur continuously through small changes, or do sudden,
abrupt changes occur?
Passivity VS. Activity: Do changes occur regardless of children’s actions, or do children play an active role
in their development?
Structure VS. Function: Does development consist of a series of changes in cognitive structure or
processes?

Developmental Stages
A. Prenatal Development – begins with fertilization which is the union of sperm cell and egg cell,
and ends during birth, approximately nine months after.

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 B. Infancy and Childhood Development
B1. Physical Development
rooting reflex – if you touch the infant’s cheek with a feeding bottle, the infant will automatically
turn his head toward the bottle
sucking reflex – if you put something to the infant’s mouth, it would right away suck on it
startle (Moro) reflex – infants who are startled will instinctively open their arms widely and then
immediately brings them back together near their chest
B2. Motor Development – involves the child’s ability to raise his head, stand, sit, crawl, walk,
and perform other physical actions cephalocaudal principle – motor skills are developed from the
head downward proximodistal – development of motor skills from inside (center of the body) to
outside
B3. Cognitive Development – examination of information processing of an individual

Cognitive Stage Age Description

1. Sensorimotor Birth – 2 years - Children interpret their surroundings using their
Stage senses and motor abilities.
- They acquire object permanence and symbolic
thought.
2. Preoperational 2 – 7 years - Children make use of symbolic thoughts to
Stage understand their environment.
3. Concrete 7 – 12 years - Children at this stage know how to use logic in their
Operations thinking on real or tangible experiences.
- They are capable of conservation.
4. Formal 12 years – - Adolescents, aside from thinking logically, can now
Operations adulthood think abstractly.

Personality Development
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development (mainly focuses on sexual themes)
Stage Age Erogenous Stage Crisis
1. Oral Birth – 18 months Mouth, lips, and tongue Weaning or feeding
problems
2. Anal 18 months – 3 years Anus Toilet training
3. Phallic 3 – 6 years Penis or clitoris Oedipus complex or
Electra complex
4. Latency 6 years – (before) ---- ---
puberty
5. Genital Puberty – adulthood ---- ---

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Social Development – involves personal growth and how they form relationships with those people
around them.
Erik Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development – proposed that personality development persists
throughout the individual’s lifetime.
Psychosocial Age Healthy Resolution Unhealthy Resolution
Crisis
1. Trust Vs. Infancy (birth – 1 If the needs of the babies If the needs of the babies are
Mistrust yr) are met, they develop a not met, they learn that some
sense of basic trust. people cannot be trusted.
They perceived their
world as loving.
2. Autonomy Toddler (1 – 3 yrs) If toddlers are able to If toddlers are not allowed to
Vs. Shame explore their make their own choices, they
and Doubt surroundings, they learn develop a sense of shame and
to be independent and doubt. They become unsure
confident. of themselves.
3. Initiative Early childhood (3- If preschoolers learn to If preschoolers fail to carry
vs. guilt 5 years) plan and take out plans or take
responsibility, they responsibility, they develop a
develop a sense of feeling of guilt from being
initiative. irresponsible.
4. Industry or Elementary school Children develop a sense Children feel inferior,
inferiority age (5 years – of industry if they are incompetent or inadequate if
puberty) able to complete tasks or they fail to produce quality
learn new skills that will output.
make them feel
competent.
5. Identity vs. Adolescence (teen Adolescents who can Adolescents, who fail to
role years – early 20s) answer with confidence identify their true identity and
confusion the famous question role in the society, develop a
“who are you?” develop sense of role confusion.
a strong sense of
identity. They know and
understand who they are.
6. Intimacy vs. Young adulthood Young adults from Young adults who fail to
isolation (20s – 40s) intimate relationship that establish close relationships
will make them grow remain self-absorbed and
emotionally. experience emotional
isolation.
7. Generativit Middle adulthood Adults develop a sense Adults who fail to develop
y vs. (40s – 60s) of generativity by this task will feel stagnation.
stagnation guiding the future They will feel that they did
generation. They find not contribute to the
satisfaction with the improvement of the next
degree of influence they generations.
have on their family,
society, and future
generations.

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 8. Integrity vs. Late adulthood (60s Sense of integrity can be Elderly people who fail to
despair and beyond) developed if elderly develop this sense of integrity
people live their lives will feel dissatisfied with
with acceptance and their lives and will perceive
satisfaction their lives as empty.

C. Adolescence Development
C.1 Physical Development – physical changes that began during puberty will fully develop in the
adolescence stage.
 Primary sex characteristics – development of sex organs such as the penis for boys and the
uterus for girls
 Secondary sex characteristics – appearance of breasts for females and facial hair for males
C.2 Cognitive Development – characterized by the ability of adolescents to solve problems, be
analytical in confusing statements, and manage abstract concepts.
C.3 Social Development – involves the search for identity
C.4 Moral Development – the application of the cognitive abilities to moral issues and
dilemmas.

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral Stages of Development

- Explained that individuals pass through distinct stages of moral development
Stage Characteristics
Preconventional The child can differentiate what is good from bad and what is
right from wrong, though the rules being implemented by the
parents or significant adults.
Conventional The influence of people on the child’s physical and
psychological growth will form the moral perspective of the
child.
Postconventional The moral development will be re-shaped, remolded, re-
transformed.

D. Adulthood Development – changeable and unpredictable

Physical Development
Menopause – cessation of menstruation and ovulation
Andropause – gradual decline in man’s several hormones, specifically the testosterone level
Cognitive Development – it is assumed that cognitive development declines during adulthood,
however developmental psychologists believe that people can get old without losing their
cognitive and intellectual functioning (ex. taking post-graduate programs)
Social development – greatly influenced by social and cultural expectations

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 10
Learner-centered Psychological Principles
The learner-centered psychological principles, which are consistent with more than a century of
research on teaching and learning, are widely shared and implicitly recognized in many excellent
programs found in today’s schools. They also integrate research and practice in various areas of
psychology, including developmental, educational, experimental, social, clinical, organizational,
community, and school psychology.
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
1. Nature of the learning process
The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and experience.
There are different types of learning processes, for example, habit formation in motor learning; and
learning that involves the generation of knowledge, or cognitive skills and learning strategies. Learning
in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that students can use to construct meaning from
information, experiences, and their own thoughts and beliefs. Successful learners are active, goal-
directed, self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning. The
principles set forth in this document focus on this type of leaning.

2. Goals of the leaning process

The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance, can create
meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal directed. To construct useful
representations of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and learning strategies necessary for continued
learning success across the life span, students must generate and pursue personally relevant goals.
Initially, students; short-term goals and learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their
understanding can be refined by filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies, and deepening their
understanding of the subject matter so that they can reach longer-term goals. Educators can assist
learners in creating meaningful learning goals that are consistent with both personal and education
aspirations and interests.

3. Construction of knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new information and
experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature of these links can take a variety of forms,

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 such as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing existing knowledge or skills. How these links are made or
develop may vary in different subject areas, and among students with varying talents, interests, and
abilities. However, unless new knowledge becomes integrated with the learner’s prior knowledge and
understanding, this new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively in new tasks, and
does not transfer readily to new situations. Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating
knowledge by a number of strategies that have been shown to be effective with learners of varying
abilities, such as concept mapping and thematic organization or categorizing.

4. Strategic thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to
achieve complex learning goals.
Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning, problem solving,
and concept learning. They understand and can use a variety of strategies to help them reach learning
and performance goals, and to apply their knowledge in novel situations. They also continue to expand
their repertoire of strategies by reflecting on the methods they use to see which work well for them, by
receiving guided instruction and feedback, and by observing or interacting with appropriate models.
Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in developing, applying, and assessing
their strategic learning skills.

5. Thinking about thinking

Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and
critical thinking.
Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or performance
goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor their progress toward
these goals. In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not
making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative methods to reach their
goal (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal). Instructional methods that focus on helping
learners develop these higher order (metacognitive) strategies can enhance student learning and personal
responsibility for learning.

6. Context of learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and instructional
practices.
Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers have a major interactive role with both the learner
and the learning environment. Cultural or group influences on students can impact many educationally
relevant variables, such as motivation, orientation toward learning, and ways of thinking. Technologies
and instructional practices must be appropriate for learners’ level of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities,
and their learning and thinking strategies. The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which
is nurturing or not, can also have significant impacts on student learning.
Motivational and Affective Factors
7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning.
What and how much is learned is influenced by the motivation. Motivation to learn, in turn, is
influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of thinking.
The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals and expectations for success or failure can
enhance or interfere the learner’s quality of thinking and information processing. Student’s beliefs about

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 themselves as learners and the nature of learning have a marked influence on motivation. Motivational
and emotional factors also influence both the quality of thinking and information processing as well as
an individual’s motivation to learn. Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation
and facilitate learning and performance. Mild anxiety can also enhance learning and performance by
focusing the learner’s attention on a particular task. However, intense negative emotions (anxiety, panic,
rage, insecurity) and related thoughts (worrying about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing
punishment, ridicule, or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere with learning,
and contribute to low performance.

8. Intrinsic motivation to learn

The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to
learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal
interests, and providing for personal choice and control.
Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking, and creativity are major indicators of the learners’
intrinsic motivation to learn, which is in large part a function of meeting basic needs to be competent
and to exercise personal control. Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that learners perceive as
interesting and personally relevant and meaningful, appropriate in complexity and difficulty to the
learners’ abilities, and on which they believe they can succeed. Intrinsic motivation is also facilitated on
tasks that are comparable to real-world situations and meet needs for choice and control educators can
encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and motivation to learn by attending to individual
differences in learners’ perceptions of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and
control.

9. Effects of motivation on effort

Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and guided practice.
Without learners’ motivation to learn, the willingness to exert the effort is unlikely without
coercion.
Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition of complex knowledge and
skills demands the investment of considerable learner energy and strategic effort, along with persistence
over time. Educators need to be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance learner
effort and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of comprehension and understanding.
Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by practices that enhance positive
emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and methods that increase learners’ perceptions that a task is
interesting and personally relevant.
Developmental and Social Factors
10. Developmental influences on learning
As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for learning. Learning is
most effective when differential development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional,
and social domains is taken into account.
Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their developmental level and is presented in
an enjoyable and interesting way. Because individual development varies across intellectual, social,
emotional, and physical domains, achievement in different instructional domains may also vary.
Overemphasis on one type of developmental readiness – such as reading readiness, for example – may
preclude learners from demonstrating that they are more capable in other areas of performance. The
cognitive, emotional, and social development of individual learners and how they interpret life
experiences are affected by prior schooling, home, culture, and community factors. Early and continuing
parental involvement in schooling, and the quality of language interactions and two-way

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 communications between adults and children can influence these development areas. Awareness and
understanding of developmental differences among children with and without emotional, physical, or
intellectual disabilities, can facilitate the creation of optimal learning contexts.

11. Social influences on learning

Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication with
others.
Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportunity to interact and to collaborate with
others on instructional tasks. Learning settings that allow for social interactions, and that respect
diversity, encourage flexible thinking and social competence. In interactive and collaborative
instructional contexts, individuals have an opportunity for perspective taking and reflective thinking that
may lead to higher levels of cognitive, social, and moral development, as well as self-esteem. Quality
personal relationships that provide stability, trust, and caring can increase learners’ sense of belonging,
self-respect and self-acceptance, and provide a positive climate for learning. Family influences, positive
interpersonal support and instruction in self-motivation strategies can offset factors that interfere with
optimal learning such as negative beliefs about competence in a particular subject, high levels of
anxiety, negative sex role expectations, and undue pressure to perform well. Positive learning climates
can also help to establish the context for healthier levels of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Such
contexts help learners feel safe to share ideas, actively participate in the learning process, and create a
learning community.
Individual Differences Factors
12. Individual differences in learning
Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning that are a function of
prior experience and heredity.
Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents. In addition, through
learning and social acculturation, they have acquired their own preferences for how they like to learn
and the pace at which they learn. However, these preferences are not always useful in helping learners
reach their learning goals. Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and
expand or modify them, if necessary. The interaction between learner differences and curricular and
environmental conditions is another key factor affecting learning outcomes. Educators need to be
sensitive to individual differences, in general. They also need to attend to learner perceptions of the
degree to which these differences are accepted and adapted to by varying instructional methods and
materials.

13. Learning and diversity

Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural, and social
backgrounds are taken into account.
The same basic principles of learning, motivation, and effective instruction apply to all learners.
However, language, ethnicity, race, beliefs, and socioeconomic status all can influence learning. Careful
attention to these factors in the instructional setting enhances the possibilities for designing and
implementing appropriate learning environments. When learners perceive that their individual
differences in abilities, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are valued, respected, and accommodated
in learning tasks and contexts, levels of motivation and achievement are enhanced.

14. Standards and assessment

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 Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the learner as well as
learning progress – including diagnostic, process, and outcome assessment – are integral parts of
the learning process.
Assessment provides important information to both the learner and teacher at all stages of the
learning process. Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work towards
appropriately high goals; therefore, appraisal of the learner’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as
well as current knowledge and skills, is important for the selection of instructional materials of an
optimal degree of difficulty. Ongoing assessment of the learner’s understanding of the curricular
material can provide valuable feedback to both learners and teachers about progress and outcomes
assessment provides one type of information about achievement levels both within and across
individuals that can inform various types of programmatic decisions. Performance assessments can
provide other sources of information about the attainment of learning outcomes. Self-assessments of
learning progress can also improve students’ self-appraisal skills and enhance motivation and self-
directed learning.

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