1

DAMBIDOLLO UNIVERSITY
College of Education and Behavioural Sciences
Department of Psychology
Course Title: Educational Psychology
Course Code: Psyc2024
Course Weight: 4 credit hours
Department of the Students: Psychology and Educational Planning and
Management ( EdPM)
Academic year: 2023
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to
Define what educational psychology is.
Describe some basic ideas about the field of educational psychology.
Pinpoint the focal areas of educational psychology
Identify the relevance of educational psychology to teachers.
1.1. Definitions
Educational psychology is the scientific discipline concerned with
the human development, evaluation, and application of principles and
theories of human learning (Wittrock & Farley, 1989).
 Educational Psychology can be defined as
the application of psychology and psychological methods to the study of
 human development,
 learning,
 motivation,
 instruction,
 assessment, and
 related issues that influence the interaction of teaching and learning.
educational psychology
is the branch of psychology that specializes in understanding teaching
and learning in educational settings.
Educational psychology is one of the branches of psychology to study the
behaviour of the learner in relation to his education
After reviewing the historical literature in educational psychology, Glover and
Ronning (1987) suggested that educational psychology includes topics that
 span human development,
 individual differences,
 measurement,
 learning,
 motivation and
 both a data-driven and a theory-driven discipline.
Three pioneers in Educational Psychology of the late Nineteenth Century
 William James,
 John Dewey, and
 E. L.Thorndike - stand out in the early history of educational psychology.
1. William James (1842–1910)
argued that laboratory psychology experiments often cannot
 tell us how to effectively teach children.
 emphasized the importance of observing teaching and learning in
classrooms for improving education.
 started lessons at a point just beyond the child’s level of knowledge and
understanding to stretch the child’s mind.
2. John Dewey (1859–1952)
became a driving force in the practical application of psychology.
established the first major educational psychology laboratory in the
United States,
 Endowment John Dewey
 i. viewing of the child as an active learner.
 ii. Education should focus on the whole child and emphasize the child’s
adaptation to the environment.
 iii. belief that all children deserve to have a competent education.
 iv. pushed for a competent education for all children- girls and boys, as well as
children from different socioeconomic and ethnic groups.
3. Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949)
 focused on assessment, measurement and promoted the scientific
underpinnings of learning.
 argued that one of schooling’s most important tasks is to hone children’s
reasoning skills, and he excelled at doing exacting scientific studies of teaching
and learning.
1.2. The nature of Educational Psychology
1.Educational Psychology: Art or Science?
As a science, educational psychology’s aim is to
 provide us with research knowledge that we can effectively apply to
teaching situations and
 with research skills that will enhance us understanding of what
impacts student learning (Alexander & Mayer, 2011).
 But your teaching will still remain an art.
The Goal of Educational
Psychology

1. Exploring the Field 2, The Nature of

3. Effective Teaching
of Teaching
Educational
Psychology
 2.Educational psychology is a positive science.
Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals with
facts as they ought to be.
• A positive science deals with facts as they are or as
they operate.
• Example Educational psychology studies the
child’s behavior as it is, not, as it ought to be.
 3.Educational psychology is an applied science.
It is the application of psychological principles in
the field of education.
As a branch of psychology it is parallel to any other
applied psychology.
For example, educational psychology draws heavily
facts from such areas as developmental psychology,
clinical psychology, abnormal psychology and social
psychology.
• Educational psychology is a developing or growing
science.
It is concerned with new and ever new researches.
As research findings accumulate, educational
psychologists get better insight into the
child’s nature and behavior.
 1.3. Focal of areas Educational
Psychology
• Focal of areas educational psychology tells us the areas of
application.
• Human Behavior. It studies human behavior in the
educational context.
• Hence the influence of Educational Psychology has to be
reflected in all aspects of education.
• Growth and development. It studies the principles
governing growth and development. The insight provided
by the study will help in scientifically planning and
executing learner oriented programmes of education.
• The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology
is knitted around the learner.
• Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding
what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational
Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of
learning. Other items in the learning process are
remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation.
• Learning Situation or Environment. Here we deal with
the environmental factors and learning situations which
come midway between the learner and the teacher.
• Evaluation of learning process: Some forms of
evaluation inevitable in teaching. Also in all fields of
activity when judgments used to be made, evaluation plays
an important role.
• Individual differences. It is universally accepted that
every individual differs from every other individual. This
idea has been brought to light by Educational Psychology.
• The Teacher: The teacher is a potent force is any scheme
of teaching and learning process. It discusses the role of the
teacher. It emphasizes the need of ‘knowing themself’ for a
teacher to play his role properly in the process of
education.
•Guidance and Counselling. Education is nothing by
providing guidance and counselling required for the
proper development of the child. This is very true,
especially in the light of the extremely complex and
problematic situation one has to face in the fast growing
world.
1.3. Relevance of Educational
Psychology to Teachers:
• The knowledge of educational psychology helps the teacher
in the following ways:
1. To understand the Stages of
Development: Psychology has clearly shown
that human life passes through different stages
of development before it reaches adulthood.
Psychologists have also thoroughly studied the
characteristic behavior patterns in these
different periods of life.
. physical, mental and emotional development
greatly help educationists to design curriculum
and determine appropriate methods of teaching
for students at different stages.
2.To Know the Learner:
Educational psychology helps the teacher to know his interests,
attitudes, aptitudes and the other acquired or innate capacities and
abilities;
perfect guidance and help can be provided and positive attitude
towards the learner can be formed.
3.To Understand the Nature of Classroom Learning:
Educational Psychology helps the teacher to adapt and adjust his
teaching according to the level of the learners.
4.To Understand the Individual Differences: No two persons are
exactly alike. Pupils differ in their level of intelligence, aptitudes,
likes and dislikes and in other propensities and potentialities.
5. To Solve Classroom Problems: There are
innumerable problems like truancy, bullying, peer
pressure, ethnic tensions, cheating in tests etc.
6. To develop Necessary Skills and
Interest in Teaching:
Educational psychology helps the teacher to
acquire and develop necessary qualities and
skills to deal with the problems created by
the pupils, maintain a healthy atmosphere in
the classroom and show concern regarding
the progress of the child.
7. To Understand Effective Methods of
Teaching:
Educational Psychology has discovered several new
approaches, principles. Methods and techniques of
teaching which are very helpful in today’s teaching-
learning process.
8. To Understand the Influence of Heredity and Environment
on the Child: Educational psychology helps the teacher to know
that the child is the product of heredity and environment.
9. To Understand the Mental Health of the
Child: Educational Psychology helps the teacher to
know what are the factors responsible for the
mental ill-health and maladjustment of a student
and to suggest improvement thereof.
• 10. To Understand the Procedure of
Curriculum Construction:
Curriculum is an integral part of the teaching-learning
process. Curriculum should be child-centred and fulfil
the motives and psychological needs of the individual
because child capacities differ from stage to stage.
11. To Provide Guidance and Counselling:
Today guidance to a child at every stage of life is
needed because psychological abilities, interests and
learning styles differ from person to person. Similarly,
what courses of study the child should undertake in
future is also a vital question.
• 12. To Understand Principles of Evaluation and
Assessment:
Evaluation is an integral part of the teaching-learning
process. How to test the potentialities of the child
depends upon the evaluation techniques.
The development of the different types of psychological
tests for the evaluation of the individual is a distinct
contribution of educational psychology.
. 13. To inculcate Positive and Creative Discipline:
The slogan of the traditional teachers was “spare the rod
and spoil the child.” Flogging the child was the chief
instrument. Educational Psychology has replaced the
repressive system with the preventive system.
• 14. Educational Psychology and Research:
Educational psychologists conduct research to improve the
behaviour of human beings in the educational situation.
• 15. To Know Himself/Herself: Educational Psychology
helps the teacher to know about himself/herself. His/her
own behaviour pattern, personality characteristics, likes
and dislikes, motivation, anxiety, conflicts, adjustment etc.
• 16. Educational Psychology Helps in Professional
Growth, Changing Attitude and Innovative Thinking:
Inside the classroom, educational psychology has enabled
the teacher to achieve proper conditioning of pupils by
achieving and directing classroom programmes on human
lives.
 CHAPTER TWO: LEARNER DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS AND
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to
Define development and explain the main processes, periods, and issues in
development, as well as links between development and education.
Discuss the development of the cognitive theories of Jean Piaget and Lev
Vygotsky.
2.1. Definition of Development and Related Terms
Development is
the pattern of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional changes that
begins at conception and continues through the life span.
 The pattern of learner development is complex because it is the product of
several processes: biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional.
Development also can be described in terms of periods.
Genetic inheritance plays a large part in the biological dimensions.
Cognitive processes involve changes in the learner’s thinking, intelligence, and
language.
Cognitive developmental processes enable a growing learner to memorize a
poem, figure out how to solve a math problem, come up with a creative
strategy, or speak meaningfully connected sentences.
2.1.1. Dimensions of development: Biological, Cognitive, and Socio-emotional
Processes
1. Biological processes
 produce changes in the learner’s body and underlie
 brain development,
 height and
 weight gains, motor skills, and puberty’s hormonal changes.
2. Socio-emotional processes
involve changes in the learner’s relationships with
 other people,
 changes in emotion, and
 changes in personality.
Parents’ nurturance toward their child,
 a boy’s aggressive attack on a peer,
 a girl’s development of assertiveness, and
 an adolescent’s feelings of joy after getting good grades all reflect socio-emotional
processes in development.
 Developmental cognitive neuroscience, which explores links between
 development,
 cognitive processes, and
 the brain.
For example the connections between developmental changes in
regions of the brain and children are thinking.
Developmental social neuroscience, which examines the
connections between
 socio-emotional processes,
 development, and
 the brain.
For example, changes in the brain and adolescents’ decision making and
risk-taking behavior.
1. Infancy (birth -2yrs)
 It is a time of extreme dependence on adults.
 Many activities are just beginning, such as language development, symbolic
thought, sensori-motor coordination, and social learning.
2. Early child-hood (the preschool years)-2-6 yrs
During this period, children become more self-sufficient, develop school
readiness skills (such as learning to follow instructions and identify
letters), and spend many hours with peers.
3. Middle and late childhood (the elementary school years) 6 to 11 yrs
Children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and math,
achievement becomes a more central theme, and self-control increases.
4. Adolescence (12 - 20 yrs)
 involves the transition from childhood to adulthood.
 Adolescence starts with rapid physical changes, including
 height
 weight gains
 development of sexual functions.
They are intensely pursuing independence and seek their own identity.
Their thought becomes more abstract, logical, and idealistic.
5. Adult developmental periods (20-40)
The interplay of these processes produces the periods of human
development.
 2.1.3. Controversies in development
The most important issues in the study of children’s development
include
 nature and nurture,
 continuity and discontinuity, and
 early and later experience.
i. Nature and Nurture
Nature refers to an organism’s biological inheritance
Nurture to its environmental experiences.
But some (“nature” proponents) claim that the most important influence on
development is biological inheritance
others (“nurture” proponents) claim that environmental experiences are the
most important influence.
ii. Continuity and Discontinuity
focuses on the extent to which development involves
 gradual,
 cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity).
For the most part, developmentalists who emphasize nurture usually describe
development as
 a gradual,
 continuous process,
Those who emphasize nature often describe development as a series of distinct
stages, like the change from caterpillar to butterfly.
A child’s first word, though seemingly an abrupt, discontinuous event, is actually
the result of weeks and months of growth and practice.
 Puberty, is actually a gradual process occurring over several years.
Viewed in terms of discontinuity, each person is described as passing
through a sequence of stages in which change is qualitatively rather
than quantitatively different.
Continuity Discontinuity
 A child moves at some point from not being able to think abstractly
about the world to being able to.
This is a qualitative, discontinuous change in development, not a
quantitative, continuous change.
iii. Early and Later Experience
focuses on the degree to which early experiences (especially in infancy)
or later experiences are the key determinants of the child’s development.
The early-later experience issue has a long history and continues to be
hotly debated among developmentalists (Kopp, 2011; Schaie, 2011).
2.1.4. Development and education
Developmentally appropriate teaching takes place at a level that is
 neither too difficult and stressful
 nor too easy and boring for the child’s developmental level (Bredekamp,
2011).
One of the challenges of developmentally appropriate teaching is
that
 children with an age range of several years
 a range of abilities and
 skills in the classes.
Competent teachers need to aware of these developmental
differences.
Rather than characterizing students as “advanced,” “average,” and
“slow,” they need to recognize that students development and ability are
 Splintered development
refers to the circumstances in which development is uneven across domains.
One student may have excellent math skills but poor writing skills.
Within the area of language, another student may have excellent verbal
language skills but not have good reading and writing skills.
Cognitively advanced students whose socio-emotional development is at a
level expected for much younger children present a special challenge.
For example, a student may excel at science, math, and language but be
immature emotionally.
Such a child may not have
 any friends and
 be neglected or
 rejected by peers.
 For example, it is not a good strategy to try to push children to read before
they are developmentally ready-but when they are
 ready,
 reading materials should be presented at the appropriate level (Bredekamp,
2011).
2.2. Theories of Development and Their Educational Implications
two major cognitive theories,
 Piaget’s and
 Vygotsky’s.
2.2.1. Theories of cognitive and language development
Until recently little was known about how the brain changes as children
develop.
Not long ago scientists thought that genes determine how children’s
brains are “wired.”
Whatever brain heredity dealt them, children were essentially stuck
with it.
This view, however, turned out to be wrong.
Instead, the brain has considerable plasticity, or the ability to change
and its development depends on experience.
In other words, what children do can change the development of their
brain.
i. Development of neurons and brain regions
ii. Brain development in middle and late childhood
iii. Brain development in adolescence
iv. Lateralization
v. Plasticity
vi. The Brain and Children’s Education
The number and size of the brain’s nerve endings continue to grow at least into
adolescence.
Some of the brain’s increase in size also is due to myelination, the process of
encasing many cells in the brain with a myelin sheath.
This process increases the speed at which information travels through the
nervous system (Schnaar & Lopez, 2009).
Myelination in brain areas are important in focusing attention is not complete until
about 10 years of age.
The implications for teaching
children will have difficulty focusing their attention and maintaining it for
very long in early childhood,
but their attention will improve as they move through the elementary school
years.
The most extensive increase in myelination, which occurs in the
brain’s frontal lobes where
 reasoning and
 thinking occur, takes place during adolescence.
Another important aspect of the brain’s development at the cellular level is
the dramatic increase in connections between neurons (nerve cells)
(Turrigiano, 2010).
Synapses are tiny gaps between neurons where connections between
neurons are made.
Fig 2.1: The four lobes of the cerebral cortex
 Notice that in the prefrontal cortex, where
 higher-level thinking and
 self-regulation take place,
 is not until middle to late adolescence that the adult density of the
synapses is achieved.
Rapid growth in the temporal lobes (language processing) and parietal
lobes (spatial location) occurs from age 6 through puberty.
ii. Brain development in middle and late childhood
Total brain volume stabilizes by
 the end of middle and late childhood,
 but significant changes in various structures and regions of the brain
continue to occur.
 In particular, the brain pathways and circuitry involving the prefrontal
cortex continue to increase in middle and late childhood.
These advances in the prefrontal cortex are linked to children’s
improved
 attention,
 reasoning, and
 cognitive control (Diamond, Casey, & Munakata, 2011).
As part of this neural leadership, organizational role, the prefrontal
cortex may provide
 an advantage to neural connections and
 networks that include the prefrontal cortex.
In their view, the prefrontal cortex likely coordinates the best neural
connections for solving a problem.
 Links between the changing brain and children’s cognitive development
involve
 activation of some brain areas so that they increase in activity
 while others decrease (Goswami, 2011; Nelson, 2011).
The increased focal activation is linked to improved
 cognitive performance, especially in cognitive control, which involves flexible
and effective control in a number of areas.
These areas include
 controlling attention,
 reducing interfering thoughts,
 inhibiting motor actions, and
 being flexible in switching between competing choices (Diamond, Casey, &
Munakata, 2011).
Figure 2.3: Synaptic Density in human brain from infancy to adulthood
 The graph shows the dramatic increase and then pruning of synaptic
density for three regions of the brain:
 visual cortex,
 auditory cortex, and
 prefrontal cortex.
Synaptic density is believed to be an important indication of the extent of
connectivity between neurons.
Iii. Brain development in adolescence
Along with the rest of the body, the brain is changing during adolescence.
What results from this pruning is that by the end of adolescence individuals
have “fewer, more selective, more effective connections between
neurons than they did as children” (Kuhn, 2009).
 Nelson (2011), the leading researcher points out that
 although adolescents are capable of very strong emotions, their prefrontal
cortex has not adequately developed to the point at which they can control
these passions.
 the brain region for putting the brakes on risky, impulsive behavior is still
under construction during adolescence.
Or consider this interpretation of the development of emotion and cognition in
adolescence:
 “early activation of strong ‘turbo-charged’ feelings with a relatively unskilled
set of ‘driving skills’ or
 cognitive abilities to modulate strong emotions and motivation” (Dahl,
2004, p. 18).
 This developmental disjunction may account for increased risk taking and
other problems in adolescence (Steinberg, 2009).
iv. Lateralization
The cerebral cortex (the highest level of the brain) is divided into two
 halves, or
 hemispheres.
Lateralization
is the specialization of functions in each hemisphere of the brain.
In individuals with an intact brain, there is a specialization of function in some
areas.
The most extensive research on the brain’s two hemispheres involves
language.
In most individuals, speech and grammar are localized to the left
hemisphere.
However, not all language processing is carried out in the brain’s left
hemisphere (Phan & Vicario, 2010).
 For example, understanding appropriate use of language in
 different contexts,
 evaluation of the emotional expressiveness of language, and
 much of humor involves the right hemisphere.
when children lose much of their left hemisphere because of an accident,
surgery for epilepsy, or other reasons, the right hemisphere in many
cases can reconfigure itself for increased language processing (Staudt,
2010).
Because of the differences in functioning of the brain’s two hemispheres,
people commonly use the phrases “left -brained” and “right-brained” to
say which hemisphere is dominant.
Unfortunately, much of this talk is seriously exaggerated.
Figure 2.4: Human Brain’s Hemispheres
V. Plasticity
When Michael was 4½, he began to experience uncontrollable seizures as
many as 400 a day.

Doctors said that the only solution was to remove the left hemisphere of
his brain, where the seizures were occurring.

Michael had his first major surgery at age 7 and another at age 10.

Although recovery was slow, his right hemisphere began to reorganize

and eventually took over functions such as speeches that normally
occur in the brain’s left hemisphere.
vi. The Brain and Children’s Education
Another commonly promoted link between neuroscience and brain
education is that there is
 a critical, or sensitive,
 period -a biological window of opportunity when learning is easier, more
effective, and more easily retained than later in development.
A major issue involving the development of the brain is which comes
first,
 biological changes in the brain or
 experiences that stimulates these changes.
Scientists have yet to determine whether the brain changes come first or
whether the brain changes are the result of experiences with
peers,
parents, and others.
 2.2.1.1. Piaget’s theory (1896–1980): Cognitive Processes
Piaget stressed that cognitive processes are especially
important in this regard:
 schemas,
 Assimilation
 accommodation,
 organization, and
 equilibration.
1. Schemas
are mental structures that guide thinking.
According to Piaget, they are also the building blocks of
development.
Schemas form and change as we develop and organize our
knowledge to deal with new experiences and predict future
events.
 In Piaget’s theory,
 behavioral schemas (physical activities) characterize infancy, and
 mental schemas (cognitive activities) develop in childhood.
A baby’s schemas are structured by
 simple actions that can be performed on objects, such as sucking, looking,
and
 grasping.
Older children have schemas that include strategies and plans for solving
problems.
For example, a 6-year-old might have a schema that involves the
strategy of classifying objects by
 size,
 shape, or
 color.
 ii. Assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation
 process that modifies new information to fit with existing schemas or
with what is already known.
Babies suck on anything put in front of them as if it was a bottle.
Accommodation
 process of restructuring or modifying schemas to incorporate new
information.
 occurs when children adjust their schemas to fit new information and
experiences.
 When a child learns that a butterfly is not a “bird.”
 Assimilation makes new information fit our existing view of the world,
accommodation changes our views to fit new information.
iii. Organization
To make sense out of their world
children cognitively organize their experiences.
Organization in Piaget’s theory is the grouping of isolated behaviors and
thoughts into a higher-order system.
iv. Equilibration and Stages of Development
Equilibration is a mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children shift
from one stage of thought to the next.
The shift occurs as children experience cognitive conflict, or disequilibrium, in
trying to understand the world.
Piaget pointed out that there is considerable movement between states of
cognitive equilibrium and disequilibrium as assimilation and accommodation work
in concert to produce cognitive change.
Eventually, the organization is fundamentally different from the old
organization;
it is a new way of thinking.
Cognition is qualitatively different in one stage compared with another.
In other words, the way children reason at one stage is different from the way
they reason at another stage.
v. Piagetian Stages
Each of Piaget’s stages is age-related and consists of distinct ways of thinking.
Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development:
sensori-motor,
preoperational,
concrete operational, and
formal operational.
Stage I: The Sensori-motor Stage (birth-2 yrs)
 children mostly give reflexive responses with very little thinking involved.
 Stranger Anxiety, or fear of strangers, is very common during this period.
 A major step in thinking happens in year two, the ability to make mental
images of objects, called mental representation.
 This is the beginning of problem solving
Another key feature of this stage is object permanence, or the
knowledge that objects exist independently of one’s own

actions or awareness.
 2. Preoperational Stage (2 to 6/7 yeas of age)
A stage marked by well-developed mental representation and the use
of language.
Despite these increased abilities, however, children still cannot solve
problems requiring logical thought.
Piaget developed other key features of the preoperational
stage, including:
i. Egocentrism
 a self centered focus that causes children to see
the world only in their own terms.
Talking to child on phone
ii. Animistic thinking:
 believing inanimate objects have life and mental
processes.
“Bad table”
iii. Centration
 an inability to understand an event because the child
focuses their attention too narrowly.
Tall glass vs. skinny glass

iv. Irreversibility
 an inability to think through a series of events or
steps and then reverse course.
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11 years)
child develops the abilities of irreversibility, conservation and
mental operations.
i. Conservation
understanding that the properties of an object or
substance do not change when appearances
 ii. Mental operations
 the ability to solve problems by manipulating images in one’s own
mind.
 4.Formal operational stage( Puberty-)
 he says people begin to think about issues like
 being more accepted by peers,
 abstract issues like love,
 fairness and
 our reason for existence.
 Consists of 4 unique structural properties:
 Hypothetical reasoning
 Analogical/Abstract reasoning
 Deductive reasoning
 Reflective abilities
 Summary on Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Typical Age Description Developmental
Range of Stage Phenomena

Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor • Object permanence

Experiencing the world through • Stranger anxiety
senses and actions (looking,
touching, mouthing)

About 2 to 6 years Preoperational • Pretend play

Representing things • Egocentrism
with words and images • Language development
but lacking logical reasoning

About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational • Conservation

Thinking logically about concrete • Mathematical
events; grasping concrete analogies transformatio
and performing arithmetical operations ns

About 12 through Formal operational • Abstract logic

adulthood Abstract reasoning • Potential for
moral
reasoning
Evaluating Piaget’s Theory
1. Contribution
Piaget is a giant in the field of developmental psychology.
We owe to him the present field of children’s cognitive development.
We also owe to him a long list of masterful concepts, including
 assimilation and accommodation,
 object permanence,
 egocentrism,
 conservation, and
 hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
Along with William James and John Dewey, Piaget contributed to the current
vision of children as active and constructive thinkers (Miller, 2011).
 His work revealed some important things to look for in cognitive
development,
 the shift from preoperational to concrete operational thinking, and
 showed us how children need to make their experiences fit their schemas
(cognitive frameworks)
 while simultaneously adapting their schemas to experience.
2. Criticisms
I. Estimates of children’s competence
Some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than Piaget thought, others later
(Carpenter, 2011).
Conservation of number has been demonstrated as early as age 3, although
Piaget did not think it emerged until 7.
Young children are not as uniformly “pre-” this and “pre-” that (precausal,
preoperational) as Piaget thought.
 Other cognitive abilities can emerge later than Piaget thought.
Many adolescents still think in concrete operational ways or are just
beginning to master formal operations (Kuhn, 2009).
II. Stages
Piaget conceived of stages as unitary structures of thought.
Some concrete operational concepts, however, do not appear at the same
time.
For example, children do not learn to conserve at the same time as they
learn to cross-classify.
III. Training children to reason at a higher level
Some children who are at one cognitive stage (such as preoperational)
can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage (such as concrete
operational).
However, Piaget argued that such training is only superficial and
ineffective unless the child is at a maturational transition point between the
stages (Gelman & Opfer, 2004).
IV. Culture and education
Culture and education exert stronger influences on children’s development
than Piaget envisioned.
For example, the age at which children acquire conservation skills is related
to the extent to which their culture provides relevant practice (Cole, 2006).
 2.2.1.2. Vygotsky’s theory
In Vygotsky’s theory children’s cognitive development is shaped by the
cultural context in which they live.
I. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
II. Scaffolding
III. Language and Thought
IV. .Evaluating Vygotsky’s theory
V. Criticisms
 Vygotsky’s belief in the importance of social influences, especially instruction, on
children’s cognitive development is reflected in his concept of the zone of proximal
development.
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
is Vygotsky’s term for the range of tasks that are
 too difficult for the child to master alone
 but that can be learned with guidance and
 assistance of adults or more-skilled children.
Thus, the lower limit of the ZPD is the level of skill reached by the child
working independently.
The upper limit is the level of additional responsibility the child can accept
with the assistance of an able instructor.
The ZPD captures the child’s cognitive skills that are in the process of
maturing and can be accomplished only with the assistance of a more-
skilled person (Daniels, 2011).
Teaching in the ZPD reflects the concept of developmentally appropriate
teaching.
It involves being aware of “where students are in the process of their
development and taking advantage of their readiness.
ii. Scaffolding
Closely linked to the idea of the ZPD is the concept of scaffolding.
Scaffolding means changing the level of support.
Over the course of a teaching session, a more-skilled person (a teacher or advanced
peer) adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the child’s current performance.
As the student’s competence increases, less guidance is given.
Scaffolding is often used to help students attain the upper limits of their ZPD.
Asking probing questions is an excellent way to scaffold students’ learning and
help them to develop more sophisticated thinking skills.
 A teacher might ask a student such questions as
 “What would an example of that be?”
 “Why do you think that is so?”
 “Now, what’s the next thing you need to do?” and
 “How can you connect those?”
iii. Language and Thought
In Vygotksy’s view, language plays an important role in a child’s
development.
According to Vygotsky, children use speech not only for social
communication, but also to help them solve tasks.
Vygotsky (1962) further argued that young children use language to plan,
guide, and monitor their behavior.
This use of language for self-regulation is called private speech (inner
speech).
For example, young children talk aloud to themselves about such things
as their toys and the tasks they are trying to complete.
Thus, when working on a puzzle, a child might say, “his piece doesn’t go;
maybe I’ll try that one.”
iv. Evaluating Vygotsky’s theory
Although both theories are constructivist, Vygotsky’s is a social
constructivist approach, which emphasizes the social contexts of learning
and the construction of knowledge through social interaction.
In moving from Piaget to Vygotsky, the conceptual shift is from the individual
to
 collaboration,
 social interaction, and s
 ocio-cultural activity (Gauvain & Parke, 2010).
The endpoint of cognitive development for Piaget is formal operational
thought.
For Vygotsky, the endpoint can differ, depending on which skills are
considered to be the most important in a particular culture (Daniels, 2011).
 For Piaget, children construct knowledge by
 transforming,
 organizing, and
 reorganizing previous knowledge.
For Vygotsky, children construct knowledge through social interaction.
The implication of Piaget’s theory for teaching is that children need support
to explore their world and discover knowledge.
The main implication of Vygotsky’s theory for teaching is that students need
many opportunities to learn with the teacher and more-skilled peers (Rogof
& others, 2007).
In both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories, teachers serve as facilitators and
guides, rather than as directors and molders of learning.
iv. Criticisms
Some critics point out that Vygotsky was not specific enough about age-
related changes (Gauvain, 2008).
Another criticism focuses on Vygotsky not adequately describing how
changes in socio-emotional capabilities contribute to cognitive
development (Gauvain, 2008).
Yet another charge is that he overemphasized the role of language in
thinking.
his emphasis on collaboration and guidance has potential pitfalls.
Might facilitators be too helpful in some cases, as when a parent becomes
too over-bearing and controlling.
N Varibles Vygotsky Piaget
o
1  Sociocu  Strong Emphasis  Little Emphasis
ltural
Context
2  Constr  Social constructivist  Cognitive constructivist
uctivis
m
3  Stages  No general stages of  Strong emphasis on stages
development proposed (sensorimotor ,preoperational,
concrete operational, and formal
operation
4  Key  Zone of proximal  Schema, assimilation,
Process development, language, accommodation, operations,
es dialogue, tools of the conservation, classification
culture
5  Role of  A major role; language  Language has a minimal role;
Langua plays a powerful role in cognition primarily directs
ge shaping thought language
6  View on  Education plays a  Education merely refines the
Educati central role, helping child’s cognitive skills that have
on children learn the tools already emerged
of the culture
7  Teachin  Teacher is a facilitator  Also views teacher as a facilitator
g and guide, not a and guide, not a director; provide
Implica director; establish many support for children to explore
tions opportunities for their world and discover
2.2.1.3. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial
Development
Erik Erikson saw human development as
 a sequence of psychosocial stages,
defined by common problems that emerge throughout life.
Erikson identified 8 stages, with each bringing a new
challenge.
 To move onto the next stage of life, the problem of the
previous stage must successfully be coped with.
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
No Approximate Stage Description of Task
age
1 Infancy (1st Trust vs.  If needs are dependably met, infants
year) mistrust develop a sense of basic trust.
2 Toddler (2nd Autonomy  Toddlers learn to exercise will and do
year) vs. shame things for themselves, or they doubt
and doubt their abilities.

3 Preschooler(3 Initiative  Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and

-5 years) vs. guilt carry out plans, or they feel guilty
about efforts to be independent.
4 Elementary Competenc  Children learn the pleasure of
applying(6 e vs. inferiority themselves to
years- inferior. tasks, or they feel
puberty) 
5 Adolescence( Identity vs.  Teenagers work at refining a sense of
teens into role self by
20’s) confusion  confusing testing roles and then
integrating them to form a single
identity, or they become confused about
who they are.
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development….
continue
No Approximate Stage Description of Task
age
6 A dult (20’s - Intimacy vs.  Here adults struggle to form close relation-
40’s) isolation adults ships and to gain the capacity for
intimate love, or they feel socially isolated.
7 Middle Age Generativity  The middle-aged discover a sense of
(40’s - 60’s ) vs. stagnation contributing to the world, usually through
family and work, or they may feel a lack of
purpose.
8 Old age (late Integrity vs.  When reflecting on his or her life, the old aged
60’s and despair persons may feel a sense of satisfaction or
above) failure.
Evaluating Erikson’s Theory
1. Contribution
Erikson’s theory captures some of life’s key socio-emotional tasks and
places them in a developmental framework (Adams, 2008).
His concept of identity is especially helpful in understanding older
adolescents and college students.
His overall theory was a critical force in forging our current view of
human development as lifelong rather than being restricted only to
childhood.
Erikson’s theory is not without criticism (Coté, 2009).
2. Criticism
Some experts point out that his stages are too rigid.
 Life-span development pioneer Bernice Neugarten (1988) says that
 identity,
 intimacy,
 independence, and
 many other aspects of socio-emotional development are not like beads
on a string that appear in neatly packaged age intervals.
the overall scope of his theory (such as whether the eight stages always
occur in the order and according to the timetable he proposed) has not
been scientifically documented.
For example, for some individuals (especially females), intimacy concerns
precede identity or develop simultaneously with it.
 2.2.1.4. Theories of psychosocial development
 A number of theories address children’s socio-emotional development
 Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory and
 Erikson’s life-span development theory.
These two theories were chosen for the comprehensive way they
address the social contexts in which
children develop (Bronfenbrenner) and
major changes in children’s socio-emotional development (Erikson).
i. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1917–2005)
The ecological theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner
primarily focuses on
 the social contexts in which children live and
 the people who influence their development.
 Ecological theory consists of five environmental systems that range from
close
 interpersonal interactions to broad-based influences of culture.
The five systems are the
 micro-systems,
 meso-system,
 macro-system, and
 chrono-system.
i. Micro-system
is a setting in which the individual spends considerable time, such as the
student’s family, peers, school, and neighborhood.
Within these micro-systems, the individual has direct interactions with
parents, teachers, peers, and others.
ii. Meso-system
involves linkages between micro-systems.
Examples the connections between
 family experiences
 school experiences
 between family and peers.
iii. Exo-system
is at work when experiences in another setting (in which the student does not
have an active role) influence what students and teachers experience in the
immediate context.
For example, consider the school and park supervisory boards in a
community.
They have strong roles in determining the quality of schools, parks,
recreation facilities, and libraries, which can help or hinder a child’s
development.
iv. Macro-system
involves the broader culture.
Culture is a very broad term that includes the roles of ethnicity and socio-
economic factors in children’s development.
It’s the broadest context in which students and teachers live, including the
society’s values and customs (Shiraev & Levy, 2010).
For example, some cultures (such as rural China and Iran) emphasize
traditional gender roles.
v. Chron-osystem
includes the socio-historical conditions of students’ development.
For example, the lives of children today are different in many ways from
when their parents and grandparents were children.
Today’s children are more likely to be in child care, use computers, and
grow up in new kinds of dispersed, deconcentrated cities that are not
quite urban, rural, or suburban.
Evaluating Bronfenbrenner’s Theory
provides one of the few theoretical frameworks for systematically examining
 social contexts on both micro and macro levels,
 bridging the gap between behavioral theories that focus on small settings
and
 anthropological theories that analyze larger settings.
His theory has been instrumental in showing how different contexts of
children’s lives are interconnected.
teachers need to consider not just what goes on in the classroom but also
what happens in students’
 families,
 neighborhoods, and
 peer groups.
 It should be mentioned that Bronfenbrenner (2000) added biological
influences to his theory and subsequently described it as a bio-
ecological theory.
Nonetheless, ecological, environmental contexts still predominate in
Bronfenbrenner’s theory (Gauvain, 2010).
V. Criticisms of Bronfenbrenner’s theory
gives too little attention to biological and cognitive factors in children’s
development and
it does not address the step-by-step developmental changes that are the
focus of theories such as Piaget’s and Erikson’s.
CHAPTER THREE: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AMONG LEARNERS
Learning objectives
At the end of this unit, students will be able to
 Discuss what intelligence is,
 how it is measured,
 theories of multiple intelligences,
 the neuroscience of intelligence, and some controversies and
 issues about its use by educators.
Describe learning and thinking styles.
3.1. Types of individual Differences
It is often said that no two individuals are exact duplicates;
they differ from each other in some way or the other.
Such a similarity or difference between persons reveals individual
differences.
A question comes to mind;
how and why people appear similar or different to each other?
why some people have dark or fair complexion,
why some people are tall and
some are short,
why some are thin and
why some are very fat.
 When we think about their psychological characteristics we often come
across people who are very talkative or less talkative,
 some laugh too much whereas
 others take much time even to smile,
 some are very friendly whereas some prefer to be alone.
In psychology, these are called individual differences referring to
 the extent and kind of variations or
 similarities among people on some of the important psychological aspects
 such as intelligence,
 personality,
 interest, and
 aptitude.
 Intelligence is one of our most prized possessions.
However, even the most intelligent people have not been able to agree on
how to define and measure the concept of intelligence even though it is
the sources of individual difference.
3.1.1. Nature of individual differences
most of the people fall in the category of average height and very few are
very tall or very short.
This holds true for many more characteristics including intelligence and
other psychological attributes.
Fig.3.1: Distribution of height of a large sample of persons

The fact that people are different from each other is a very common
observation.
The differences in psychological characteristics are often consistent and
form a stable pattern.
 By ‘consistent’, we mean that people tend to show regularity in their behaviour
and their patterns of behaviour do not change very frequently.
This consistency and stability in behaviour is unique to every person.
People develop their unique traits/characteristics and patterns of
behaviour due to
 their genetic makeup and
 the environment in which they are brought up.
Knowing about the specific characteristics of a person is necessary in order to
extend support and
utilize his or her potential to optimal level.
Individual differences occur due to
interaction of genetic and
environmental factors.
 We inherit certain characteristics from our parents through genetic codes.
The phenotype or the expressed forms of our characteristics depend on
contributions of the socio-cultural environment.
This is the reason why we are not exactly like
 our parents and
 our parents not exactly like our grandparents.
We do share similarities with our parents in respect of many physical
attributes like height, colour of eyes, shape of nose etc.
We also inherit certain cognitive, emotional and other characteristics
from our parents like intellectual competence, love for sport, creativity
etc.
However, our own characteristics develop largely by the support from the
environment which we inhabit.
 The environment is responsible as how we are
 reared,
 the kind of atmosphere at house,
 whether it is liberal or strict,
 the type of education that we get,
 what we learn from people around us,
 books,
 cultural practices,
 peers,
 teachers and
 media.
 All these aspects refer to ‘environment’ which helps in developing our
potentials.
Environment, by providing models and other opportunities, helps us
develop many traits and skills.
Our inheritance alone cannot decide what we become but our
environment also contributes.
3.1.2. Assessing individual differences
Psychological assessment refers to the use of specific procedures for
evaluating
 personal qualities,
 behaviors and
 abilities of individuals.
These procedures describe people by specifying how they are different from
or similar to other individuals.
Such assessments are frequently done by most of us when we make
judgments such as ‘nice’, ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘attractive’, ‘ugly’, ‘genius’ and
‘idiot’ etc.
Such judgments can be erroneous many times.
Scientific psychology tries to systematize these procedures so that
assessment can be made with minimum error and maximum accuracy.
A psychological test is a structured technique used to generate a carefully
selected sample of behavior.
In order to be useful for the purpose of drawing inferences about the person
being tested, it is necessary that the test should be reliable, valid and
standardized.
A test is reliable if it measures a given characteristic consistently.
3.1.3. Natures of intelligence and its assessment
Intelligence is one of the psychological terms used quite frequently in
various settings (e.g. school).
 Who can be called ‘Intelligent’?
 The one who gets highest marks in exams?
 That person who earns many educational degrees?
 Is the doctor more intelligent, or the engineer or the lawyer or the artist?
 One may answer these questions in different ways depending on the
meaning of intelligence.
 One of the earliest definitions of intelligence was given by Binet and Simon in
1905 who defined it as the
 “ability to judge well, to understand well, and to reason well”.
One of the most popular definitions of intelligence was given by Wechsler
who defined it as
“the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to
think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment”.
Gardner defined intelligence as
 “the ability or skill to solve problems or to fashion products which are
valued within one or more cultural settings”.
He used the term ‘Multiple Intelligences’ and advocated that there are eight
types of intelligences such as Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Spatial,
Musical, Bodily-kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalistic.
3.1.4. Aptitudes and interests, and their assessment
 people possess special abilities or characteristics in a particular field but
relatively low in other field.
 In psychology, this is called aptitude.
Aptitude
 is a combination of characteristics that indicates an individual’s capacity to
acquire some specific knowledge or skill, after training.
 These qualities can be harnessed by appropriate training.
 In other words, if a person does not have the special abilities required to
become a musician, such as discrimination between pitch, tone, rhythm,
and other aspects of musical sensitivity, he/she would not be a good
musician, even after sufficient training.
 There are salient differences between
 intelligence,
 aptitude, and
 achievement.
Intelligence relates to the ability of a person to do certain thing at a given time.
Aptitude refers to the potential ability of an individual to perform a task, which generally
consists of a combination of abilities.
Achievement involves performance at any given point of time in a particular subject (e.g.
mathematics) with which you have been made familiar.
Aptitude tests are used for predicting success in a vocation such as clerical aptitude,
mechanical aptitude, musical aptitude, typing aptitude, etc.
Several multiple aptitude test batteries have been developed to assess aptitude, such as
Differential Aptitude Test (DAT), the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), and the Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
3.2.4. Educational implications for practice
Teachers need to support young adolescents' quest for identity formation
through
 curricular experiences,
 instructional approaches, and
 opportunities for exploration.
Young adolescents need frequent opportunities to explore and experiment
with various roles and experiences within the classroom context.
Teachers can provide educative experiences such as role-playing, drama,
and reading that foster identity formation.
These experiences can help young adolescents realize that their challenges
are not unique.
 Young adolescents need opportunities to form relationships with adults
who understand them and who are willing to support their
development.
Educational programs and practices can be used to promote an
atmosphere of friendliness, concern, and group cohesiveness
(Kellough & Kellough, 2008).
Young adolescents deserve school environments that are free from harsh
criticism, humiliation, and sarcasm.
3.3. Needs and Problems of Adolescence
An individual’s needs and problems influence her or his development to a
great extent.
Adolescence is a crucial period in the life of an individual with its
characteristic needs and problems of adjustment.
 Every adolescent has certain needs, the satisfaction of which is essential
to his/ her continued physical and others aspects of development.
A need is a tension within an organism which must be satisfied for the
well being of the organism.
When a need is satisfied ,the tension is released and the individual
experiences satisfaction.
There are certain basic needs which are functioning in every individual.
They are broadly classified into physiological needs and psychological
needs.
3.3.1. Primary or physiological needs
The fulfillment of physiological needs is inevitable because they are
concerned with the very existence of the individual.
The need for oxygen, water, food, rest, sleep, and sex gratification
etc are the important physiological needs.
3.3.2. Secondary or socio-psychological needs
Needs that are associated with socio-cultural environment of an
individual are called secondary needs.
They are acquired through social learning and their satisfaction is
necessary for the psychological well being of the individual.
The important socio-psychological needs are as follows:
1. Needs for security
The adolescent needs emotional, social and economic security
in addition to physical security.
The person who lacks the feeling of security may become maladjusted.
The need for social security is associated with man’s desire for
gregariousness.
2. Need for love
Affection or love is one of the most basic psychological
needs of the adolescents.
Adolescents have a strong desire to love and to be loved.
The individual who is not loved will not deep proper attitudes and
concepts concerning his or her own worth.
Proper love will strengthen the individuals feeling of security.
3. Need for approval
There is a carving for recognition in adolescents.
His ego gets satisfaction when s/he is recognized and approved.
The adolescent desire that s/he should be a centre of attraction for the
opposite sex and his abilities, intelligence and capacities should be
recognized by others.
The teachers should find out the field in which the pupil can shine very well
and which help him/ her to earn admiration from others.
4. Need for freedom and independence
Adolescence is a time when the individual is striving to wean him/ herself
away from the control of parents and elders.
They want the right to give expression to his/her feelings, emotions and
ideas.
He feels annoyed and unpleasant when restriction is imposed on him or
her.
 5. Need for self-expression and achievement
Every adolescent has an inherent desire for the expression of his
potentialities.
He may have a poet, musician, painter etc. hidden within him and he
want to get adequate opportunities for the expression of his
potentialities.
He/ she experiences satisfaction when he succeeded in them and failure
makes him depressed and disappointed.
Hence the curriculum should be appropriate for every pupil so as to permit
achievement for him.
3.4. Problems of Adolescents in Ethiopian Context
Any period of development is likely to be accompanied by many potential
difficulties.
 Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood that
implies many development changes and associated problems.
Some of the outstanding problems of Ethiopian adolescence are the following:
1. Perplexity with regard to somatic variation
2. Problems related with intensification of sex-consciousness
3. Adjustment difficulties with parents
4. Childhood-Adulthood Conflict
5. Adjustment difficulties with school discipline
6. Adjustment difficulties with community
7. The Ideal and reality conflicts
1. Perplexity with regard to somatic variation
 Every adolescent has more or less difficult task of adjusting to somatic
variation which may occur in connection with puberty.
The follow of blood during menstruation in girls and nocturnal emission in
boys creates worries and give birth to so many fears and anxieties.
Since ours is a conservative society, youngsters are less informed
about the physical changes that are occurring during puberty.
Lack of scientific information about sex hygiene and philosophy make
them to satisfy with crude and perverted knowledge about sex related
matters.
It creates guilt feeling and so many complexes in the minds of the
children which makes them introverted and secretive.
2. Problems related with intensification of sex-consciousness
The sudden awakening of sex instinct during adolescence results in
intensification of sex consciousness.
Adolescents are curious to know about sex related topics and are seeking
answers to their innumerable doubts in sexual matters.
In our country most of the parents are illiterate and they do not have scientific
knowledge of sex problems.
Moreover, our social values are different from that of western countries, and
hence parents hesitate to discuss sex problems with their children.
So, the adolescents resort socially unacceptable ways to quench their curiosity
and to satisfy their sexual needs.
There is also the misguiding of print and electronic media that finally results in
sexual maladjustment in adolescents.
3. Adjustment difficulties with parents
Adolescents have a strong for freedom and independence.
But often it is obstructed by parental oppositions.
 In Ethiopian context, parental opposition may extend to such areas
as choices of
 friends,
 choice of education,
 recreational interests,
 dress,
 life-style,
 out of going from and coming to the home,
 mode of behaviour etc.
 The conflict between parental norms of behaviour and peer group
relationships often lead to friction in the relationship and adolescents
find it difficult to adjust to the needs and demands of parents.
Failure to adjust with the parents may result in revolting against
 parents and
 authority.
4. Childhood-Adulthood Conflict
In our society, the adolescent is considered as neither as children nor as
adults.
They have to depend on their parents and elders for their physical and
emotional needs.
But at the same time, they want to hold independent views and opinions
like an adult.
 They can very well manage their own affairs and resist any unnecessary
interference from the part of elders.
They begin to feel ashamed and embarrassed for the protection and
care shown by the parents.
They are often treated in an ambiguous manner by parents and
teachers.
Sometimes, they expect themselves to behave as an adult and at other
times, they treat themselves as a child.
The poor adolescent is caught between the role of the child and the adult,
which push her or him into confusion and tension.
5. Adjustment difficulties with school discipline
Most of the adolescents face a great problem in adjusting with school
discipline.
 Schools should not implant habits of unquestioning obedience that
inhibits the growth of young people towards true independence.
6. Adjustment difficulties with community
The adolescents are expected to find their place in a society marked
by
 increasing social isolation and
 rapid technological changes.
This changing world makes it difficult to
 anticipate and ‘
 plan for adolescents’ life.
They have difficulty in adjusting their capacity to the demands of the
community.
 At this critical phase most adolescents react by withdrawing into a non-
demanding and non-working world of pleasure and satisfaction.
7. The Ideal and reality conflicts
It is during adolescence an adolescent move from being children to
adults - perhaps the single most important and grandest set of changes
others may not know how they feel about themselves, but we should.
The disparity between ideal and actual can produce confusion and mal-
adaptation, or this disparity can be a source of motivation and
aspiration for adolescents who are searching for identity.
As the adolescence represents a fascinating transitional period, marked
by the emergence of new found cognitive capacities and changing
societal expectations.
 Parental influences has much important in this regard, which includes
deliberate expression of affection,
concern about the adolescent's problems,
harmony in the home,
participation in family activities,  can helps the
availability to give organized help when needed or asked for adolescents to a
setting clear and fair rules, great exient
understanding peer influences on self-esteem
8. Adolescent–parent attachment
Conflict between adolescents and parents itself is not a sign of poor
relationship quality, but it is the result of the rapid neurological, cognitive and
social changes of
 adolescence create a socio-cognitive dilemma for youth:
 maintaining connection with parents while exploring new social roles
away from the family and developing attachment relationships with
peers and romantic partners.
 Now the question is what do adolescents need from their parents to
sustain healthy attachment?
 It is a fact that the successful transition of adolescence is not achieved
through detachment from parents but a healthy transition to autonomy
and adulthood is facilitated by secure attachment and emotional
connectedness with parents.
 It is better understood by parents that adolescents who feel understood by
their parents and trust their commitment to the relationship, even in the
face of conflict, confidently move forward toward early adulthood.
CHAPTER FOUR: LEARNING PROCESS
Learning objectives
At the end of this unit, students will be able to
 define learning;
 identify the criteria used in defining learning; and
 distinguish learning from maturation and imprinting.
 distinguish between signal learning, concept learning, chain learning,
discrimination and problem solving; and
 determine how the teacher can create and sustain a conducive learning
environment.
4.1. Learning: Its Concept and Characteristics
Learning is
 the acquisition of skills and attitudes that leads to a change in
behaviour, which is the goal of education.
 one of the most fundamental concepts in psychology.
 a basic and central component of the distinctive activities that
constitute the subject matter of psychology.
 The human skills, appreciations and reasoning in all their great
variety, as well as human hopes, aspirations, attitudes, and values,
are generally recognized to depend for their development largely on
the events (Gagne, 1970).
 To conclude, learning is at the heart of
 perception,
 thinking,
 imagination,
 reasoning,
 judgments,
 attitudes,
 personality traits,
 systems of value,
 the development and
 organization of the activities that constitute personality of the
individual.
These activities thus qualify as mental activities, or activities of the mind
because they represent instances in which past experiences are used in the
individual’s behavioral adjustments to the world.
There is no universally acceptable definition of learning, and indeed all
psychological concepts.
Learning cannot be directly observed but can manifest itself in the activities
of the individual.
Human beings, more than all other living organisms, have the greater
capacity to learn in all ways, and through language, we can learn things we
have neither experience nor observed.
Then what is learning?
 Hengenhann (1982) defined learning as a relatively permanent change in
behavioral potentiality that occurs as a result of reinforced practice.
It implies addition of new knowledge.
From the above definitions, there are key elements that
elucidate the nature and characteristics of learning.
These are:
 1. Learning exhibits itself as a change in behavior.
 2. Inference is made about learning by comparing the subject’s
initial behavior before s/he was placed in the “Learning
Situation” and what behavior exhibited after the treatment. ‘
 3.The change may be an increased capability in performance,
altered disposition in attitude, interest or value.
 This change must not be momentary, it must be relatively
permanent.
 4. Lastly, the change must be distinguishable from the
kind of change that is attributed to growth, such as
change in height or the development of muscles through
exercise.
Learning is associated with both overt and covert behaviors.
First for learning to be said to have taken place, there must be the
element of change in behavior overtly or covertly.
Second, the change in behavior as result of fatigue or other transitory
conditions such as use of drugs or alcohol do not constitute learning.
The third criterion is that the change in behavior must be based on
exposure to the environment.
Environment here refers to learning situations or any situation that allows
one to gain some experience.
Learning, therefore, involved a change in the behaviours of the individual as
a consequence of his or her experience.
This can manifest in the way the individual thinks (cognitive), acts
(psychomotor) or feels (affective).
However, the change of behaviour must not be due to such transitory
conditions caused by taking drugs or alcohol; and must not be due to
maturation.
Environment here refers to learning situations or any situation that
allows one to gain some experience.
Learning, therefore, involved a change in the behaviours of the individual
as a consequence of his or her experience.
This can manifest in the way the individual thinks (cognitive), acts
(psychomotor) or feels (affective).
However, the change of behaviour must not be due to such transitory
conditions caused by taking drugs or alcohol; and must not be due to
maturation.
 Basic characteristics of learning
Learning has to change behaviour;
The change should be relatively permanent;
The change should be as a result of experience;
Learning is an internal process;
Learning occurs under conditions of directed attention and deliberate
effort; and
Learning is distinct from biological maturation and imprinting
 But it could be understood that
not all experiences could produce learning;
not all changed behaviours are as a result of learning;
not all stimuli that produce responses are permanent; and
there are some behaviours that are permanent which are not due to experience.
4.1.1. The elements of the human learning event
According to Gagne (1970), there are five elements that constitute
the event of learning.
 1. The learner
 2.Teacher
 3. The stimulus situation
 4. Previous knowledge in the memory
 5. The response
4.1.2. Types and significance of learning
There is not only to study some of the theories guiding it but also its
various forms.
 Although there are different types or categories of learning, it is difficult to
make a clear-cut classification as the individual categories tend to overlap
with one another.
 Bloom divided learning into three major categories:
i) Cognitive learning which emphasizes the intellectual endowment such as
learning of facts and problems-solving.
ii) Affective learning emphasizes development of attitudes and emotion;
and
iii) Psychomotor learning is concerned with skills development such as
walking, writing, swimming, and knitting that require the use of motor
skills.
Gagne (1970) has attempted to classify learning into eight hierarchically
ordered types:
 1. Signal learning
refers to the Pavlovian or
classical conditioning developed by the Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov.
In this type of learning, food (unconditioned stimulus) and
sound of a bell (conditioned stimulus) were paired and presented to a dog
several times.
2. Stimulus-response learning
Operant conditioning–Operant
or sometime called instrumental conditioning
They both used animals to conduct their experiments and
attempted to apply the principles in human learning.
 more flexible than classical conditioning since the response
conditioned are not restricted to natural or innate responses but to a
variety of responses.
3. Chain learning
implies the connection of a set of individual stimulus- response in
sequence.
two main types of chaining- motor and verbal.
. Verbal chaining
entails connecting two or more previously learned stimulus-response
together in a sequence.
Language is full of such chains of verbal sequence as for instance, mother
and father.
b. Motor chaining
through the sequences of motor responses like setting a clock or operating a
generating set.
Individual acts that have been previously acquired through S-R learning are
combined in proper sequence repeatedly.
4. Verbal association learning
The ability of humans to vocalize especially in social situations is well
acknowledged.
Verbal chaining is illustrated in naming.
Two chains are involved in this:
 (a) observing the stimulus-response (S-R) connection that connects the
appearance of the object and distinguishes it from other objects; and
 (b) the S-R connection that stimulates the child itself to the name of the
object.
 5. Multiple discrimination
Discrimination refers to reinforcing selectively, some responses, to one
aspect of the environment.
Discrimination involves higher mental processes.
is the basis upon which we learn to think and solve problems.
6. Concept learning
Children and all growing persons learn to classify objects on the basis
of some common characteristics of say, colour, size, height, shape,
etc.
For example, children would gradually differentiate animals from trees,
dog from sheep or books from table.
They also learn to make generalization, within classes of objects and
discrimination between classes of objects.
 7. Learning of principles
Principles involve regular interaction among two or more concepts
and
this is essential for every person to function effectively in the
environment.
Principles of spoken language, moral code, and psychomotor skills
are learned to help the individual function more effectively.
8. Problem solving learning
Gagne places problem solving at the highest stage of his hierarchy of
the learning process.
Its description fits into Bloom’s cognitive learning.
4.1.3. Forms of learning
Human learning can take many forms.
The types which we wish to consider are those that are very
necessary for our functioning as teachers.
Simple versus complex learning;
Whole versus part learning;
Rote versus discovery learning.
1. Simple verses complex learning
Learning can be simple.
This approach builds on the assumption that human learning
must take into account the stage of development of the learner.
2. Whole versus part learning
Among teachers, there are those who believe that learning proceeds
better if the learner adopts a step- by-step approach.
This is in line with the argument by some scholars that each subject matter
or learning task contains certain elements
need to be understood before any meaning can be gained from the
subject or task.
In grammar, their position is that words should be learnt before sentences,
sentences before paragraphs, etc.
In this instance, even common sense would dictate this approach.
It is in the interest of the learner since, during recall, the learner has a
greater chance than when his mind is crammed with information.
 It seems evident that the method to be adopted in learning depends on
who does the activity as well as the nature of the learning task.
Breaking down of units may be very necessary for those who are slow at
learning.
When the subject- matter is likely to task the concentration of the learner,
it makes sense to take it bit-bit.
3. Rote versus discovery learning
refers to the tendency for learners to commit different kinds of learning
and information to memory.
No attempt is made to establish a relationship between one fact and
another.
With the passage of time, this kind of learning is easily forgotten.
often occurs when there is over-emphasis on the recitation of facts as a way
of indicating brightness.
The important consideration in discovery learning is that the learner
ensures that each new information that is provided makes some
meaning to him.
advocates that instead of a learner, for instance, memorizing Newton's Law
of gravity, s/he should be engaged in kinds of activities which would lead
him into establishing such a law through observation.
4.1.4. The concept of teaching
the teachers were regarded as all-knowing and all-giving.
Their major tasks were to transfer knowledge or skill to those
who needed to acquire it.
Student activities were limited to their presence in class and
reception of the ideas of the teacher.
They were not supposed to make any meaningful contribution to the
process of learning.
New knowledge has compelled the teacher in our own time to
abandon this idea of teaching.
The result is that not many people persist in thinking of the teacher as a
person who possesses unlimited knowledge and authority.
Today's teachers recognize that they are a learner just as much as the
student.
Their roles have thus shifted from that of a monopolist of ideas and skills
to that of guidance of the learning activity.
In this connection, the teacher serves as one who creates the
necessary conditions that will make learning meaningful and
pleasurable.
 They also provides leadership in the quest for knowing by not only
 providing available information to the learner but also
 developing in the latter the capacity to inquire into things and search for new
ideas and approaches to the problems of life.
This concept of teaching sees the teacher as a mediator in learning that is one
who assists the learner
to search for and utilize information in ways which bring about observable
benefits both to him and
to the larger society.
4.1.5. Functions of the teacher
The first significant job of the teacher is to plan
 what to teach,
 how to teach it and
 the manner in which the outcome of teaching is going to be measured.
 A second major function of the teacher is that s/he
 estimates the educational needs of each individual.
 interacting with the learner,
 should be able to determine what the student can do, with a view to
deciding what the person is going to have to do.
Whether it is in Mathematics, Physics, English, History, etc. a major
expectation of a teacher is that s/he
will be able to anticipate student difficulties and undertake some remedial
work.
A third function of the teacher is to
establish the proper climate for learning to take place.
 Respect, warmth, love and sincerity - these are qualities which the teacher
must bring to his relationship with the learner.
 The teacher should not ridicule any person in her/his class.
 a positive attitude to students helps them sustain feelings of self-
esteem and in turn makes them favorably disposed to the work of the
school.
 is also expected to maintain some contact with the home of each
learner and even with the larger community.
should show interest in appreciating the social circumstances of
children place in his care.
Poor learning, for instance, may be as a result of hunger, emotional
stress, or poor health.
Implications
learning is very necessary for human beings.
the ability to engage in varied ideas and activities that distinguishes human from all
other animals.
is desirable that we support all efforts that human beings make to learn,
whether the learners be children, adolescents or adults.
The teacher should serve as a model in terms of looking for
 new ideas,
 acquiring desirable values and
 caring our learners to develop the ability to
 ask questions,
 search for meaning in what they do, and
 reach their own conclusions.
4.2. Factors Affecting Learning
Three important factors are associated with formal learning in the school.
 the learner characteristics ,
 the teacher characteristics and
 the class environment.
1. Learning characteristics
each human being possesses a number of qualities that make him different
from others.
other humans appear to be easily annoyed, easily frightened, and may avoid the
company of people.
Teachers need to consider some specific individual qualities that affect
learning.
These are age, self-concept, family circumstances, background of the learner,
peer group, and level of ability.
 2. Teacher characteristics
 knowledge of subject-matter,
 method of teaching,
 personal characteristics of the teacher,
 retaining an interest in learning
3. The learning environment
 the classroom,
 the psychological environment,
 the environment of the immediate community, and
 the larger Ethiopian society.
4.3. Learning Theories and Their implication
Theories of learning
 provide organized knowledge of the explanations on how behaviour
develops in individuals and
 attempt to explain the mechanisms of behaviours involved in the
learning process.
can play in helping our understanding of the process of learning and how we
can facilitate this process for the benefit of the learners.
three commonly known learning theories
 behaviorism,
 cognitivism and
 constructivism
4.3.1. Behavioral approach
focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning.
Learning can be broadly classified into three
 stimulus-response (S-R) theories,
 observational or imitation theories.
 Cognitive approach
i. Stimulus Response (S-R) Theories
 are further subdivided into two major categories.
 a. without reinforcement such as classical conditioning by Pavlov as
well as learning theories by J.B. Watson and E.R. Guthrie’s.
 B. Connectionism theory by Thorndike and Operant conditioning by
Skinner.
Characteristics of stimulus response approach to learning
These are
 stimulus,
 response,
 unconditioned stimulus,
 unconditioned response,
 conditioned stimulus, and
 the conditioned response.
1. A stimulus (S)
 is an event which causes a response.
 This response comes without any form of learning.
 Any aspect of the outside world that directly influences our behavior or conscious
experience
2. A response (R)
is the behaviour which is produced by the stimulus, in this case, the
salivating.
3. An unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
is the type which has the natural quality that is needed to produce a
response.
When used time and again, the result is likely to be the same.
4. An unconditioned response (UCR)
is the response which produced immediately if there is a stimulus.
5. A conditioned stimulus (CS)
is that which comes to produce a response similar to that which is
produced by an unconditioned stimulus.
 To do that, it has to be repeatedly associated with the unconditioned
stimulus.
6. A conditioned response (CR)
is the product of a conditioned stimulus.
4.3.1.1. Classical conditioning : Ivan Pavlov 1849-1936)
 was developed by the Russian physiologist,
 at the beginning of the 20th century.
 Conditioning simply means learning or modification of behaviour as a
result of the
 organism’s interaction with the physical or social environment.
emerges out of Pavlov’s experiments with a dog.
The experiment involves placing some food before a hungry dog, and
the dog salivates naturally as a result.
1. Before conditioning

2. During conditioning

3. After conditioning

Educational Implication
Although Pavlov drew no educational implications from this theory, it is
important that we do so because of our interest in the relevance of his
theory to our work as teachers.
 It is the teacher’s duty to impress his/her pupils from
 the outset that s/he is their friend and
 helper whom they could trust.
This may help build confidence in and liking for the school and its
activities by otherwise skeptical school children.
Another example of the applicability of classical conditioning to
human learning situations is,
 if a teacher enters into classroom as soon as the bell for his/ her
lesson is rung, the pupils may soon be conditioned to remain ready
for lesson to begin whenever the bell rings.
Principles of Classical Conditioning
1. Acquisition
2. Higher Order Conditioning
3. Expectancies
4. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
5. Stimulus Generalization
6. Stimulus Discrimination
1. Acquisition
a conditioned response must be reinforced (strengthened) during training.
is reinforced when the CS is followed by, or paired with, an unconditioned
stimulus.
Conditioning will be most rapid if the US (food) follows immediately after the CS
(the bell).
With most reflexes, the optimal delay between CS and US is from one-half second
to about 5 seconds (Chance, 2006).
2. Higher Order Conditioning
it can bring about higher order conditioning.
a well-learned CS is used to reinforce further learning.
the CS has become strong enough to be used like an unconditioned stimulus.
extends learning one or more steps beyond the original conditioned stimulus.
Many advertisers use this effect by pairing images that evoke good feelings
(such as people smiling and having fun) with pictures of their products.
3. Expectancies
classical conditioning is related to information that might aid survival.
Doing so creates new mental expectancies, or expectations about
how events are interconnected.
Notice that the conditioned stimulus reliably predicts that the unconditioned
stimulus is about to appear (Rescorla, 1987).
4. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
If the US never again follows the CS, conditioning will extinguish, or fade
away.
If you ring the bell many times and do not follow it with food, the dog’s
expectancy that “bell precedes food” will weaken.
Thus, classical conditioning can be weakened by removing the contingency
between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus.
This process is called extinction.
If conditioning takes a while to build up, shouldn’t it take time to reverse? Yes.
In fact, it may take several extinction sessions to completely reverse
conditioning.
The return of a learned response after apparent extinction is called
spontaneous recovery.
It explains why people who have had car accidents may need many slow,
calm rides before their fear of driving extinguishes.
5. Stimulus Generalization
Tendency for similar stimuli to elicit the same response.
After conditioning, other stimuli similar to the CS may also trigger a
response.
For example, we might find that our child salivates to the sound of a
ringing telephone or doorbell, even though they were never used as
conditioning stimuli.
6. Stimulus Discrimination
Tendency for responses to occur more often in the presence of one
stimulus than others.
the ability to respond differently to various stimuli.
Most children quickly learn to discriminate voice tones associated with
punishment from those associated with praise or affection.
4.3.1.2. Operant/instrumental/ conditioning: B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Is a learning in which the consequences of behavior lead to changes in
the probability of its occurrence.
Skinner insisted that there was a sharp distinction between classical and
instrumental conditioning.
While in classical conditioning, the animal’s behaviour is elicited by the CS
to that extent, the salivation is set off from the outside.
Its reactions are hence emitted from within Skinner called these
instrumental responses operant.
Skinner believed in the law of effect proposed by Thorndike and the
tendency to emit this operant is strengthened /weakened by its
consequences.
Skinner distinguished the salivation of the dog in classical conditioning from
the pressing of a lever by a rat in the Skinner’s box.
Reflexive responses, which he called respondents, are involuntary.
While most human behaviour is goal directed, purposive and willful.
These are operants as they operate on the environment, make the
altered environment suitable for the organism to go on striving and
surviving (Mukherjee, 2002.)
Reinforcement
is the increase in the frequency of responses when it is followed by a
contingent or associated stimulus.
involves an increase in the frequency of a response when positive
reinforcer is applied or a negative reinforcer is withdrawn.
 1. A positive reinforcer
is a stimulus which when applied after a behaviour, tends to strengthen
the chance of the behaviour being repeated in future.
For instance, rewarding a pupil for solving a problem in the class may
strengthen or serve as reinforcement for the pupils to strive to respond
appropriately in the future.
2. Negative reinforcer
is a stimulus which when presented after behaviour tends to strengthen
the probability of discontinuance in the future.
3. Schedules of Partial / intermittent Reinforcement
can be given in many different patterns.
1. Fixed Ratio (FR)
is one of the reinforcement schedule in which the reinforcer is given only
after a specified number of responses.
a set number of correct responses must be made to obtain a reinforcer.
produce very high response rates.
A similar situation occurs when factory or farm workers are paid on a piecework
basis.
When a fixed number of items must be produced for a set amount of pay, work
output is high.
2. Variable Ratio (VR)
a varied number of correct responses must be made to get a reinforcer.
Instead of reinforcing every fourth response (FR-4), for example, a person
or animal on a VR-4 schedule gets rewarded on the average every fourth
response.
Sometimes 2 responses must be made to obtain a reinforcer;
sometimes it’s 5; sometimes, 4; and so on.
The actual number varies, but it averages out to 4 (in this example).
Variable ratio schedules also produce high response rates.
VR schedules seem less predictable than FR.
Because reinforcement is less predictable, VR schedules tend to produce
greater resistance to extinction than fixed ratio schedules.
Golf, tennis, and many other sports are also reinforced on a variable ratio
basis:
An average of perhaps one good shot in 5 or 10 may be all that’s
needed to create a sports fanatic.
3. Fixed Interval (FI)
The act by which reinforcement is given only when a correct response is
made after a fixed amount of time has passed.
This time interval is measured from the last reinforced response.
Responses made during the time interval are not reinforced.
Thus, a rat on an FI-30-second schedule has to wait 30 seconds after the
last reinforced response before a bar press will pay off again.
The rat can press the bar as often as it wants during the interval, but it will
not be rewarded.
Fixed interval schedules produce moderate response rates.
Animals working on an FI schedule seem to develop a keen sense of
the passage of time (Eckerman, 1999).
4. Variable Interval (VI)
are a variation on fixed intervals.
reinforcement is given for the first correct response made after a varied
amount of time.
On a VI-30-second schedule, reinforcement is available after an interval that
averages 30 seconds.
VI schedules produce slow, steady response rates and tremendous
resistance to extinction (Lattal et al., 1998).
Punishment
punishment is the decrease in the frequency of response when positive
reinforcer is withheld or negative reinforcer is applied
Skinner explained two kinds of punishment i.e. punishment by application such
as corporal punishment and punishment by removal or withdrawal.
 Using Punishment Wisely
Parents, teachers, animal trainers, and the like, have three basic tools to
control simple learning:
(1) Reinforcement strengthens responses;
(2) non-reinforcement causes responses to extinguish, and
(3) punishment suppresses responses.
These tools work best in combination.
There are times when punishment may be necessary to manage the
behavior of an animal, child, or even another adult.
If you feel that you must punish, here are some tips to keep in mind.
 Use the minimum punishment necessary to suppress misbehavior.
Avoid harsh punishment such as spanking.
Don’t use punishment at all if you can discourage misbehavior in ways.
Apply punishment during, or immediately after misbehavior.
Be consistent
Expect anger from a punished person
Punish with kindness and respect.
Side Effects of Punishment
 The basic problem with punishment is that it is aversive (painful or
uncomfortable).
 As a result, people and situations associated with punishment tend through
classical conditioning, to become feared, resented, or disliked.
 The aversive nature of punishment makes it especially poor to use when
teaching children to eat politely or in toilet training.
Implication of Operant Conditioning to the Classroom
1) Using negative reinforcement or punishment in the school can increase
children’s anxiety levels and lead to the adoption of undesirable escape
responses.
2) Ignoring disruptive behavior can lead to extinction of that behaviour.
3) Reinforcement is generally most effective when it immediately follows
response.
4.3.2. Cognitive approach
concerned with how information is processed by learners.’
view students as active in “an internal learning process that involves
memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction, motivation, and meta-
cognition” (Ally, 2008).
No theory of learning can be said to be complete in the sense that it has
brought in all aspects which scholars now consider to influence the
 In order to make the lesson clearer, we may as well introduce the major
actors involved in cognitive learning that we are dealing with.
major advocate of Cognitivism
 First groups:
• Max Wertheimer (1880-1943),
• Kurt Koffka (1887-1941),
• Kohler (1887-1967),
• Kurt Lewin (1946).
A second group
 Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Three Elements of cognitive learning
 Comprehension
 Memory
 Application
1. Comprehension
 We need to understand the reason for learning the subject in the first
place and the role our knowledge plays in our work.
2. Memory
 discourages rote learning where we cram materials for memorization.
 the goal is to understand the subject at a deeper level.
 creates an immersive effect that helps recall and improves our ability to relate
new knowledge to past information.
1. Application
 encourage us to reflect on the material and how to apply it to current
and future situations.
 develop improved problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills and
visionary leadership traits that can help us see things others cannot
see in a clear form.
Benefits of cognitive learning
 Cognitive learning is an effective way of fostering a life-long love of
learning and improvement in employees.
 Organizations can use cognitive learning strategies to impact the
following benefits on their staff:
a. Enhance comprehension
 In cognitive learning, students learn by doing.
 This hands-on approach makes learning immersive and promotes
comprehension.
 Thus, you can develop a deeper understanding of the material and its
application to your work and life.
b. Improves problem-solving skills
 are critical at any level of leadership.
 enhances our ability to develop this core skill and helps them to apply
it to every aspect of their job.
c. Boosts confidence
 improve confidence in our ability to handle challenges at work.
 promotes problem-solving skills and makes it easier to learn new things
within a short period.
d. Encourages continuous learning
 Cognitive skills promote long term learning as it allows us to connect
previous knowledge with new materials.
 helps us merge old and new information and apply both effectively.
 Cognitive strategies promote a love of learning by making new knowledge
exciting and fulfilling.
 This encourages us to develop a long-term appetite for knowledge
acquisition in any environment.
Cognitive learning examples
 Here are examples of cognitive learning:
1. Implicit learning
2. Explicit learning
3. Meaningful learning
4. Cooperative and collaborative learning
5. Discovery learning
6. Non-associative learning (habituation and sensitization)
7. Emotional learning
8. Experiential learning
9. Receptive learning
10.Observation learning
Educational Implications of cognitivism
 the theories focused attention on the idea of developmentally appropriate
education- an education with
 environments,
 curriculum,
 materials, and
 instruction
 that are suitable for students in terms of their
 physical
 cognitive abilities
 social and
 emotional needs (Elkind, 1989).
 Berk (2001) summarizes the main teaching implications drawn from
cognitivism:
A focus on the process of children’s thinking, not just its products.
Recognition of the crucial role of children’s self-initiated, active
involvement in learning activities.
A deemphasize on practices aimed at making children adult like in their
thinking.
Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress
maintain that learning involves developing effective ways of building
schemata and processing information
Knowing how learners process information should be helpful in
designing appropriate learning experiences.
 Thus, teachers should design material that
 stimulates learners’ cognitive processes and
 encourages learners to make mental connections for themselves.
 The practical educational implications of cognitivism as they
correspond to key stages in the cognitivist model of learning is
 sensation,
 perception,
 attention,
 encoding and
 memory is too fundamental.
4..3. Constructivism
 is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just
passively take in information.
 As people experience the world and reflect upon those experiences,
they build their own representations and incorporate new information
into their pre-existing knowledge (schemas).
 says that knowledge is constructed within the mind of the learner
(Driscoll, 2005)and is therefore located internally.
 The main difference between constructivist learning theories and both
behavioral and social cognitive learning theories is
 the location of knowledge.
Constructivist classrooms
 are often very different from normal classrooms in many ways.
 focus on student questions and interests,
 build on what students already know,
 focus on interactive learning and are student-centered,
 have a dialogue with students to help them construct their own
knowledge,
 root in negotiation, and students work primarily in groups.
 often have teachers who do small group work,
 collaborative and interactive activities, and
 open dialogues about what students need in order to find success.
Constructivism in education.
 In constructivist classrooms, the teacher has a role to create a collaborative
environment where students are actively involved in their own learning.
 Teachers are more facilitators of learning than actual instructors.
 Teachers must work to understand the preexisting conceptions and
understanding of students, then work to incorporate knowledge within those
areas.
 Teachers will also need to adjust their teaching to match the learner’s level of
understanding.
 Constructivist classrooms rely on four key areas to be successful:
 Shared knowledge between teachers and students.
 Shared authority between teachers and students.
 Teachers act as a guide or facilitator.
 Learning groups consist of small numbers of students.
Constructivist classrooms
 are often very different from normal classrooms in many ways.
 focus on student questions and interests,
 build on what students already know,
 focus on interactive learning
 are student-centered,
 have a dialogue with students to help them construct their own
knowledge,
 root in negotiation, and students work primarily in groups.
 often have teachers who do small group work, collaborative and
interactive activities,
 open dialogues about what students need in order to find success.
 Table4.4: Comparing Behaviorism, Cognitism, and Constructivism
No Theory Mental Learn processing Role of teacher
Activity
1 Behaviori   Stimulus–response  Controls,
sm irreleva  reinforcement  environment
nt  External Event and stimuli
2 Cognitivis  Sensatio  Memory  Applies
m n  Surface and deep cognitive
 Percepti learning principles to
on  Encoding facilitate
 Attentio  internal cognitive
n
 processi
ng
3 Construct  Meaning  Returning Schema  Supports,
ivism -making and mental  meaning-
constructs making
 Internal  Challenges
existing ideas
4.3.4. Social learning approach
commonly referred to as observational or imitation theory is
primarily based on what a child learns in their environment as they
interact and observes others.
assists their socialization process which is congruent with their
society’s expectation.
The chief proponent of social learning theory was Albert Bandura,
social psychologists of Canadian descent working in America.
He believed that learning by reinforcement and S-R generally does
not explain the socialization process among human beings.
They argued that unlike animals, human have a culture which
they transmit from one generation to the next.
Thus, people learn a multitude of solutions to problems that were
discovered by others before them.
 Imitative learning is definitely not part of classical or operant conditioning
or even cognitive learning.
In social learning, imitation may occur even though the observer does
not copy the model’s actions immediately, they occur (learning without
performance) and even though he neither receives a reward himself nor
sees the model receive one (learning without reinforcement).
Social learning is facilitated by a number of factors.
 attention,
 memory,
 motor skills,
 reinforcement and
 identification
Educational implications of social learning theory
Social learning theory proposes that social life and psychological life
interact as part of learning so that learning cannot be considered a purely
individual activity.
Rather, it is situated in social institutions, social groups and social class.
Personality, cognitive and social factors interact dynamically to create
identity, expectancy, self-esteem, efficacy and ultimately, performance.
The educational implications of social learning under its sociological and
psychological aspects are as follows.
1. Sociological aspects
a. Identify societal norms by:
looking for examples in literature, art and history that embody norms;
 explaining the role of social institutions;
devising a curriculum to reflect knowledge valued by society;
b. Transmit societal norms by
embedding civil values in the curriculum;
raising consciousness to energy saving and environmental issues;
modeling respectful and committed behaviour;
grounding discussion on mutual social values;
assigning social responsibilities to learners;
c. Recognize learners’ social and community action such as:
service in the community;
research on local issues;
participation in political action;
d. Celebrate social norms by:
 presenting historical and contemporary exemplars as role models;
 celebrating social and civic rituals as part of the curriculum.
 Teachers can enhance the learning experience if they are mindful of the
ways in
 which family, peers, community and class affect learning.
e. The family
In order to promote the role of families as partners in education,
teachers should:
 establish communication links with families;
 appoint school liaison personnel to visit homes;
 make parents welcome in school;
 give parents an active role in the running of the school;
consult parents and involve them in school life;
explain the terms of educational discourse to parents;
ask parents for help and advice;
involve parents as educators and role models;
promote intergenerational family learning;
train parents to help their child to learn (e.g. paired reading technique);
set homework projects that require family help (e.g. genealogy or history).
f. Peer groups
In order to promote peer group integration and cohesion, teachers should:
 use small-group learning that encourages shy pupils to participate;
 develop strategies to engender healthy group competition in learning;
 vary the composition of groups in terms of friendship, gender or/and ability;
 organize field trips and visits to foster group cohesion;
 arrange extra-curricular activities that increase social cohesion;
 encourage students to join social clubs and societies;
 employ class debates to explore alternative perspectives;
 create virtual groups through synchronous (electronic conferencing)
and
 asynchronous (email, bulletin boards, blogging) methods.
g. Community
In order to develop communities of learning, teachers should:
 behave as partners rather than the sole possessors of knowledge;
 create a culture of collaboration;
 let expert learners share their knowledge;
 share community history, traditions and rituals;
 look for collaborative possibilities outside school (virtual links);
 encourage inquiry within the classroom;
 create an atmosphere where ideas are challenged;
 introduce novice members to the language and practices of the community;
 use more experienced learners to mentor novices;
 engage groups in collective learning activity;
 promote reasoned debate;
 emphasize the rights and responsibilities of membership.
2. Equity and equality
Educators need to be aware that the achievement of equality involves more
than increased access to educational opportunities.
 Learners must be supported in positive ways that allow them to achieve
equality of outcomes.
 In order to promote equity and equality, teachers should:
 have high expectations of all learners;
 handle streaming or banding with great care and sensitivity;
 show respect for differences of opinions, beliefs, values and
attitudes;
 provide additional support for vulnerable learners as an entitlement;
 vary the social and intellectual composition of groups in learning
projects;
 celebrate learners’ strengths and multiple intelligences;
 be aware of differences of language codes from different social
groups
 encourage elaborated language
CHAPTER FIVE: MOTIVATION IN LEARNING

Learning objectives
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to
define motivation;
classify motivation;
discuss major theories of motivation;
identify levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; and
list techniques that can be used to motivate learners.
5.1. Meaning and Purpose of Motivation
The term motivation is derived from a Latin word “movere” which means
“to move” to action.
Motivation makes us kick like an engine leading to action and
performance.
 At every state of human development, there are certain needs that an
individual wants to meet.
The satisfaction of these needs is important in that it enables the individual to
reach a state of equilibrium with him/her self, his/her society and the
larger society.
For instance, learners in spite of their good brains and available learning
materials do not perform in their learning in the same vein.
Motivation is used as a concept to describe forces acting on or within an
individual to initiate and direct his or her behaviour.
It is defined as a pushing or moving power that makes an individual to
strive to achieve a set goal despite difficulties.
 Motivation as a concept or an idea also refers to that which
 initiates,
 increases or
 reduces the vigour or the enthusiasm of an individual's level of activity.
Motivation provides the necessary force or impetus for learning or for
performing any work that is worthwhile.
 Motivation comes from the word motive.
 Motives are desires to attain certain goals.
It is believed that the stronger these desires are present in an individual; the
greater will be the effort towards achieving the goals.
Therefore, motivation ensures that an individual applies himself or herself
until a task is accomplished.
 4.1.1. Importance of motivation
Motivation is essential in the learning process in order to
 improve the learning outcomes.
 provide the desire in the pupils to learn.
 help students acquire more favourable disposition towards school in general
and learning in particular.
 are constantly being harnessed or used.
 Whipe up in pupils through motivating them in groups.
 The usefulness of motivation can be summarized as follows:
 use helps students to pay attention in class.
 can lead to self-discovery and independent inquiry.
 stimulates students to higher achievement.
 helps establish cordial relationship between teacher and students
especially when pupils find learning less boring and less confusing.
 More learning outcomes are assured.
 When students achieve through motivation, attendance at school
becomes regular.
 5.1.2. Types of motivation
This leads to the two broad categories of motivation which are intrinsic
and extrinsic.
1. Intrinsic motivation
originates from within an individual.
This does not depend on reward to be received rather it
 involves doing something or
 carrying out an action with self conviction,
 self determination and
 self willingness.
 Some factors that enhance intrinsic motivation include curiosity,
 goals set by individual,
 interest,
 mental stimulation and
 greatness mentality/desire to excel.
2. Extrinsic motivation
is aroused to do a particular thing or behave in a particular way as a result
of external factors.
stresses the importance of external condition as the source origin of
motivation that is external factors trigger the learner to be serious in his or
her school work.
Examples of external factors in extrinsic
Parental motivation include:
expectation
 Incentives or reward Availability of materials and interesting apparatus
 Praises Success challenge from friends
 Competition Previous performance
 Counselling
 Punishment
 5.2. Indicators of Motivation
There are many indicators of motivation among human being on
 different events,
 activities,
 achievements,
 intrinsic and
 extrinsic sources.
To begins with extrinsic motivation it involves doing something to obtain
something else (a means to an end) or to avoid an unpleasant
consequence.
Intrinsic motivation involves the internal motivation of doing
something for its own sake (an end in itself).
5.3.Maslow’s need theory of motivation
Abraham Maslow opined that human needs are hierarchical and
that they are in two sets namely the deficiency or primary
needs and the growth or secondary needs.
 Maslow believes that deficiency needs must be satisfied (fulfilled)
before the growth needs can be met.
For example, physiological needs (hunger, thirst, shelter, sex) must be
satisfied before safety needs, then love needs and so on.
In the same manner, a person cannot begin to approach satisfaction
needs until s/he feels personally well-fed, safe and loved.
1. Physiological needs
 the lowest on the hierarchy.
 are the basic needs that human beings need for survival.
 include food, water, rest, oxygen, emptying of bowel, sex etc.
If these needs are not met, the individual will not have the urge, drive or
motivation to want to meet any other needs.
Implication for the teacher
Meeting physiological needs of the child is
 the responsibility of parents and
 the school.
Parents should provide their children with food in the morning before
coming to school.
The school should complement the efforts of the parents by ensuring
that food vendor is available at the school in case children want to buy
food.
In some developed countries, children from low socio-economic
background are given breakfast and lunch at school free of charge.
2. Safety needs
include the need for protection, security and freedom from anxiety.
Effective learning can only take place in a secured environment.
Implication for the teacher
The teacher should create a non-hostile and non-threatening environment in the
classroom.
School environment should guarantee adequate security and safety of learners.
3. Belonging and love needs
Every individual wants to have a sense of belonging to a group.
Failure to satisfy these needs may lead to a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
Learners who feel that they are loved and accepted will be more interested in
learning than those who feel rejected, ignored and maltreated.
 Implication for the teacher
 All children should be appreciated unconditionally by the teacher.
 They should be made to know that they are important.
 Favoritism should be avoided.
 Effort should be made at giving every child a responsibility within the
class.
3. Esteem needs
include the self esteem and need for others’ esteem.
is the positive way one perceives one’s self.
For instance, one may perceive one’s self as competent, strong and an
independent person.
5. Desire to know and understand
the stage where an individual thirsts and craves for more knowledge and
understanding.
 For example a person may wish to have
 the Masters degree,
 Ph.D or venture into other academic fields.
Implication for teacher
The teacher should encourage learners to fully maximize their talents to
the peak of their chosen career especially the gifted pupils.
6. Aesthetic needs
the last stage under the growth needs.
the need to have and maintain beauty and cleanliness of self and
environment.
 Implication for the teacher
Teachers should encourage students to keep their environment clean and
tidy.
Student should also be encouraged to keep themselves clean and tidy.
7. Need for self actualization
is the beginning of secondary needs otherwise called growth needs.
At this level, individual strives for personal growth, discovery and realizing ones
potentialities.
is a stage that individuals want to achieve higher and greater goals to
become the very best person they can be.
Implication for the teacher
The teacher must observe and identify children’s areas of interests,
capacity and potential.
The school counselor should guide students to identify and select
subjects they are best suited for.
Motivation and teaching and its implication
There is some relationship between motivation and teaching.
The primary purpose of teaching is to help children learn.
The teacher accomplishes this through motivating the children.
They should be encouraged anytime a good effort is made towards
understanding what the teacher is teaching.
CHAPTER SIX: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
 Learning Objective
 At the end of this chapter, students will be able to
 Explain why classroom management is both challenging and necessary.
 Describe the positive design of the classroom’s physical environment.
 Discuss how to create a positive classroom environment.
 Identify some good approaches to communication for both students and
teachers.
 Formulate some effective approaches that teachers can use to deal with
problem behaviors.
 6.1. The Concept of Discipline and Classroom Management
Classroom management
refers to the skills and strategies that teachers use to organize
instruction and maximize the productive use of their instructional
time.
Misbehaviors
are any student actions that have the potential to disrupt classroom
learning and activities (Doyle, 1990).
They can range from minor rule and routine violations (e.g., talking
out of turn, turning in homework late) to serious offenses (e.g.,
violence and aggression).
Poor classroom management occurs when students are
 disruptive or off-task and
 learning does not occur.
 A successful learning environment is
 not one in which students have been managed into being quiet and orderly
but one in which their voices and behaviors serve the purpose of learning.
 Therefore, we should not conclude that a quiet classroom is a sign of
management success.
 we should reflect on whether the management methods that we use in
our classrooms are conducive to the learning and motivation of all
students.
 Effective classroom management maximizes student’s learning
opportunities.
 Management that promotes student passivity and compliance with
external rules, on the other hand, it hinders student engagement and high-
order thinking (Jones & Jones, 2004).
6.1.1. The Impact of Good Classroom Management on Learning
teachers can enhance the academic achievement of all students
(Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005).
Research has consistently shown that classroom management is the teacher
variable that has the greatest effect on student achievement.
Students learn more and are more motivated to learn in well-managed
classrooms.
the key to classroom management resides in the teacher’s ability to
prevent problems from occurring rather than on his/her intervention
after occurrence (Kounin, 1977) .
80% of an effective management plan entails anticipating classroom
disruptions and establishing the conditions to prevent them (Freiberg,
1999).
 Prevention
• consists of arranging the classroom environment conditions before the
occurrence of a disruption.
• Perhaps one of Kounin’s greatest contributions was to differentiate
between classroom management, which encompasses
• the prevention,
• intervention, and
• remediation of student misbehavior, and
• the narrower term discipline, which consists of any teacher action
designed to address student misbehavior.
Although safety and order are a necessary component of productive
learning environments, classroom management should not be used as a
synonym of teacher control (Barth, 2002):
Set attainable but challenging goals for the students.
Provide opportunities for each student to succeed.
Provide appealing, interesting, and novel activities.
Supply new or better tools, supplies, or materials.
Encourage students to actively participate and respond.
Solicit, listen to, and act on useful suggestions from students.
Provide opportunities for students to interact with peers.
 6.1.2. Classroom Procedures
Classroom procedures
 are the routines for accomplishing recurring classroom tasks, such as
 how students will turn in homework,
 go to the restroom, or
 transition from one activity to another.
 use procedures to eliminate disruptions and maximize instructional time.
 promote order and help reduce the number of tasks that teachers need to
monitor in the classroom.
 Teachers should develop procedures for the following activities
(Weinstein, 2006):
 Student movement (e.g., entering class, going to recess or the restroom,
sharpening pencils)
 Administrative tasks (e.g., taking roll, responding to lateness)
 Lesson routines (e.g., collecting and returning homework and other assignments)
 Housekeeping (e.g., putting supplies away, storing personal items, cleaning up
desks)
 Student–teacher interactions (e.g., help seeking)
 Student–student interactions (e.g., group work routines, socializing)
 Procedures are especially useful with time-consuming, non-instructional
activities.
 Once established, routines need to be taught and practiced.
 How long it will take until a specific routine becomes automatic depends on the
developmental age of the student.
 A secondary school teacher may model a new procedure and need to revisit it
only occasionally, but elementary school teachers may need to use more active
methods and provide many practice opportunities.
 Effective methods to help younger students learn new procedures include the
following:
 Role-playing (“The First Hour,” 2002)
6.1.3. Classroom Rules
 In addition to establishing efficient classroom procedures, a teacher can prevent
potential classroom management problems by setting clear classroom rules at
the beginning of the school year.
 Classroom rules list the “dos and don’ts” of classroom behaviors and
corresponding consequences and can be thought of as classroom
expectations.
 Studies show that effective classroom managers take time on the first day
of school to help students understand these expectations and their
purpose (Doyle, 1986).
 For instance, the teacher can ask students to suggest potential classroom
 6.1.4. Parent collaboration
Teachers who are successful at collaborating with parents report more
favorable feelings about teaching and their school and have more
positive expectations about parental involvement (Epstein, 2001).
Although schools typically include regular communication
opportunities such as
 start-of-the-year open houses,
 progress reports, and
 parent–teacher conferences,
 teachers can proactively seek more specific involvement opportunities.
According to research, parental involvement is associated with higher long-term
achievement and motivation as well as more positive attitudes and
behaviors in the classroom.
6.1.5. Collaborative learning assignment
Classroom rules are often written in general terms.
Many students need concrete examples of what the rules really
mean.
Another guideline for setting effective classroom rules is to make
sure that the rules help create a productive learning
environment while imposing the least amount of restrictions.
For instance, demanding that students be quiet at all times is an
unreasonably restrictive rule and one that is counterproductive to
learning.
Clear, reasonable rules that are fairly and consistently enforced
reduce behavior problems, promote students’ feeling of pride
and responsibility, and increase their commitment to the rules
(Blumenfeld et al., 2006).
6.1.6. Collaborating with other teachers
Classroom teachers have higher
 self-efficacy about their teaching and
 are much more effective when they collaborate regularly with other
teachers to identify obstacles to students’ learning and
 find ways to overcome such obstacles (Langer, 2000).
6.1.7. Culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM)
Culturally Responsive Classroom Management is an approach to running
classrooms with all children, [not simply for racial/ethnic minority
children] in a culturally responsive way.
More than a set of strategies or practices, CRCM is a pedagogical approach
that guides the management decisions that teachers make.
It is a natural extension of culturally responsive teaching which uses students’
backgrounds, rendering of social experiences, prior knowledge, and
learning styles in daily lessons.
 Even the literature on
 culturally responsive or
 culturally sensitive pedagogy,
 which is fairly extensive, focuses primarily on curriculum content and
teaching strategies, but doesn’t really focus on the issue of
management.
6.1.8. Essential Elements of CRCM
Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clarke and Curran (2004) developed a five-part
concept of CRCM derived from the literature on culturally responsible
pedagogy, multicultural counseling and caring:
 (1) recognition of one’s own cultural lens and biases,
 (2) knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds,
 3) awareness of the broader social, economic and political context,
 (4) ability and willingness to use culturally appropriate management
strategies, and
 Even the literature on culturally responsive or culturally sensitive
pedagogy, which is
fairly extensive, focuses primarily on curriculum content and teaching
strategies, but doesn’t really focus on the issue of management.
6.1.8. Essential Elements of CRCM
a five-part concept of CRCM derived from the literature on culturally
responsible pedagogy, multicultural counseling and caring:
 (1) recognition of one’s own cultural lens and biases,
 (2) knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds,
 3) awareness of the broader social, economic and political context,
 (4) ability and willingness to use culturally appropriate management
strategies, and
 (5) commitment to building caring classroom communities.
 In turn, the goal of classroom management is to
 create an environment in which students behave appropriately from a sense
of personal responsibility, not from a fear of punishment or desire for a
reward.
As such the environment must acknowledge and be responsive to who
are
 the students (cognitively, socially and emotionally), and
 create a safety net that equitably responds to what teachers know about their
students.
6.1.9. The crowded, complex, and potentially chaotic classroom
Carol Weinstein and Andrew (2007) used the title of this section “the
Crowded, Complex, and Potentially Chaotic Classroom,” as an alert for
potential problems and highlighted Walter Doyle’s (1986, 2006) six
characteristics that reflect a classroom’s complexity and potential for
problems.
 1. Classrooms are multidimensional
2. Things happen quickly.
3. Events are often unpredictable.
4. There is little privacy.
5. Classrooms have histories.
6.2. Principles of classroom arrangement
Here are four basic principles that a teacher can use when arranging
his/ her classroom (Evertson & Emmer, 2009):
1. Reduce congestion in high-traffic area.
 Distraction and disruption can often occur in high-traffic areas.
 These include group work areas, students’ desks, the teacher’s desk,
the pencil
 sharpener, bookshelves, computer stations, and storage locations.
 Separate these areas from each other as much as possible and make
sure they are easily accessible.
2. Make sure that you can easily see all students
3. Make often-used teaching materials and student supplies easily
accessible’
4. Make sure that students can easily observe whole-class presentations.
6.2.1. Arrangement style
In thinking about how a teacher will organize the classroom’s physical space,
teachers should ask themselves what type of instructional activity students
will mainly be engaged in (whole-class, small-group, individual
assignments, and so on).
1. Auditorium style
 In traditional auditorium style, all students sit facing the teacher.
 This arrangement inhibits face-to-face student contacts, and the
teacher is free to move anywhere in the room.
 Auditorium style often is used when the teacher lectures or someone
is making a presentation to the entire class.
2. Face-to-face style
In face-to-face style, students sit facing each other.
Distraction from other students is higher in this arrangement than in the
auditorium style.
3. Of set style
In of set style, small numbers of students (usually three or four) sit at tables
but do not sit directly across from one.
This produces less distraction than face-to-face style and can be effective for
cooperative learning activities.
4. Seminar style
In seminar style, larger numbers of students (10 or more) sit in
circular, square, or U-shaped arrangements.
This is especially effective when you want students to talk with each
other or to converse with you.
5. Cluster style
In cluster style, small numbers of students (usually four to eight) work in
small, closely bunched groups.
This arrangement is especially effective for collaborative learning activities.
Clustering desks encourages social interaction among students.
In contrast, rows of desks reduce social interaction among students and
direct students’ attention toward the teacher.
Arranging desks in rows can benefit students when they are working on
individual assignments, whereas clustered desks facilitate cooperative
learning.
In classrooms in which seats are organized in rows, the teacher is most
likely to interact with students seated in the front and center of the
classroom.
This area has been called the “action zone” because students in the front
and center locations interact the most with the teacher.
For example, they most often ask questions and are most likely to initiate
discussion.