Prof.

Ed Topics
Facilitating Human Learning
Bio-Ecological Systems Theory
o Urie Bronfenbrenner
This theory explains how the child’s immediate and
surrounding environment affects the way in which
children grow and develop. There are five different
environmental systems that influence childhood
development. If there is a change in any one of the five
environmental systems, it can potentially cause a
change in the others. The name of the five systems are:

1. Microsystem (Immediate Environment)

– This is the layer closest to the child and contains
the structures with which the child has direct contact.
The microsystem encompasses the relationships and
interactions a child has with her immediate surroundings.
Structures in the microsystem include family, school,
neighborhood, or childcare environments.

2. Mesosystem (Connections)
– This layer provides the connection between the
structures of the child’s microsystem.
Examples: the connection between the child’s teacher
and his parents, between his church and his
neighborhood, etc.
 3. Exosystem (Indirect Environment)
– This layer defines the larger social system in
which the child does not function directly. The structures
in this layer impact the child’s development by
interacting with some structure in her microsystem.
Parent workplace schedules or community-based family
resources are examples. The child may not be directly
involved at this level, but he does feel the positive or
negative force involved with the interaction with his own
system.
4. Macrosystem (Social and Cultural Values)
– This layer may be considered the outermost
layer in the child’s environment. While not being a
specific framework, this layer is comprised of cultural
values, systems of beliefs, customs, and laws.
5. Chronosystem (Changes Over Time)
- The environmental events and transitions that
occurs throughout a child’s life.
o Internal - the physiological changes that occur with the
aging of a child
o External - as the timing of a parent’s death and/or tragic
situation

 Bronfenbrenner believes that the primary relationship

needs to be with someone who can provide a sense of
caring that is meant to last a lifetime. This relationship
must be fostered by a person or people within the
immediate sphere of the child’s influence. Schools and
teachers fulfil an important secondary role.
 For the educational community to attempt a primary role
is to help our society continue its the real issue. The
 problems students and families face are caused by the
conflict between the workplace and family life – not
between families and schools.
 Schools and teachers should work to support the primary
relationship and to create an environment that
welcomes and nurtures families.
 According to Urie Bronfenbrenner:
“We as nation need to be re-educated about
the necessary and sufficient conditions for making
human beings human. We need to be re-educated not
as parents – but as workers, neighbors, and friends; and
as members of the organizations, committees, boards –
and, especially, the informal networks that control our
social institutions and thereby determine the conditions
of life for our families and their children.”

 Nature vs. Nurture

More modern child development theories accept
that both a child’s biology and his environment play a
role in change and growth. Theories now focus on the
role played by each and the extent to which they
interact in ongoing development. Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological systems theory focuses on the quality and
context of the child’s environment. He states that as a
child develops, the interaction within these environments
becomes more complex. This complexity can arise as
the child’s physical and cognitive structures grow and
mature.
Individual Differences
Individuals are unique because as explained by the
various developmental theories, they have unique
 characteristics and traits that emerge as children pass
from one stage to another.

What is the task of the Teacher?

- Is to meet adequately the problem of all the needs of a
learner in education.

For this task to be effectively accomplished

 the teacher has to be aware of the nature and extent of
school learners’ differences
 how they affect teaching and learning
 the factors which account for such wide-spread
differences among them

Specific Factors Influencing Differences among Learners

 Age
 Sex
 Family and Community Backgrounds

Age differences and personal adjustment

Age represents the learner’s levels of maturity and,
hence, his possible educability. It is and should be a
factor of difference. As the learner matures and he is
exposed to more complex environmental forces, his
patterns of behavior will change.
Sex differences
Beginning in early life, the culture creates roles
which are believed appropriate for each sex. These roles
are reflected in the kind of toys and games which are
provided to children, and in the kind of behavior which is
expected. As the children develop self-concepts in
 accordance with their roles, certain differences in their
behavior become apparent.
Family and community background
 Studies in psychology have shown that there exist
wide variations among members of different families.
That successive generation of some families do exhibit
varying specific abilities is widely accepted.
 Individual variations can also be attributed to
environmental influences
 The experiences which an individual acquires in his
contact with his physical and social environment at
home and in the community cause him to be different in
his attitude toward learning and in his demonstrating
achievement.

Aspects of Personality in which Learners Show Wide

Variations
 Physical Condition
 Emotional Responses and Attitudes
 Mental Ability and Special Aptitudes
 Social Adjustment

Physical conditions
Not only are there wide variations among individuals
in health as a whole, but also in particular aspects. For
instance, a child is healthier than the other child but the
healthier child has poorer vision than the other.
Emotional response and attitudes
Learners vary in their emotional patterns. School
children bring to their school life varying kinds and
degrees of attitudes and emotional tendencies. No two
students are alike in their degree and kind of emotional
response to the people and things about them.
Teachers need to recognize the importance to the
learner of the effects of his emotional nature upon his
learning success. They, likewise, that it is important for
every learner to develop desirable emotional control.
Teachers can help direct and guide the learner to
achieve emotional stability.
Mental Abilities and Aptitudes
Individual differences in mental and aptitudes are
apparent in the classroom. These differences among the
best and poorest learner in the classroom is
considerable. Because of the fact that differences
affect the method of instruction, psychology have
grouped learners into: (1) genius or mentally gifted; (2)
superior or bright; (3) average; (4) dull or borderline; (5)
mentally retarded or feebleminded. Each group
progresses at its own rate.
Social adjustment
As the individual emerges from the sheltered life
within the home toward an expanded social and
physical environment, new problems arise and
additional needs and wants appear. Social adjustment
is desirable and necessary. Whatever means may be
good for children, it is an important function of a
teacher to give every school child as much guidance
and help as possible toward achievement of good
social adjustment.

Factors that Bring about Student Diversity

 Socioeconomic status-The millionaires’ lifestyle differs
from that of the middle income or lower income group.
 Thinking/learning style- Some of you learn better by
seeing something; others by just listening; and still others
by manipulating something.
 Exceptionalities- In class there maybe one who has
difficulty in spoken language comprehension or seeing,
hearing, etc.

How Student Diversity Enriches the Learning Environment

 Students’ self-awareness is enhanced by diversity.
 Student diversity contributes to cognitive development.
 Student diversity prepares learners for their role as
responsible members of society.
 Student diversity can promote harmony.

Some Tips on Student Diversity

1. Encourage learners to share their personal history and
experiences.
2. Integrate learning experiences and activities which
promote students’ multicultural and cross-cultural
awareness.
3. Aside from highlighting diversity, identify patterns of unity
that transcend group differences.
4. Communicate high expectations to students from all
subgroups.
5. Use varied instructional methods to accommodate
student diversity learning styles.
6. Vary the examples you use to illustrate concepts in
order to provide multiple contexts that are relevant to
student from diverse background.
7. Adapt to the students’ diverse backgrounds and
learning styles by allowing them personal choice and
decision-making opportunities concerning what they will
learn and how they will learn it.
8. Diversify your methods of assessing and evaluating
student learning.
9. Purposely, form small-discussion groups of students from
diverse backgrounds. You can form groups of students
with different learning styles, different cultural
background, etc.

The Learning Process

Learning is a key process in human behavior. All
living is learning. If we compare the simple, crude ways
in which a child feels and behaves, with the complex
modes of adult behavior, his skills, habits, thought,
sentiments and the like- we will know what difference
learning has made to the individual.

The individual is constantly interacting with and

influenced by the environment. This experience makes
him to change or modify his behavior in order to deal
effectively with it. Therefore, learning is a change in
behavior, influenced by previous behavior. As stated
above the skills, knowledge, habits, attitudes, interests
and other personality characteristics are all the result of
learning.

Learning is defined as “any relatively permanent

change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice
and experience”. This definition has three important
elements.

a. Learning is a change in behavior—better or worse.

b. It is a change that takes place through practice or
experience, but changes due to growth or maturation
are not learning.
c. This change in behavior must be relatively permanent,
and it must last a fairly long time.

All learning involves activities. These activities involve

either physical or mental activities. They may be simple
mental activities or complex, involving various muscles,
bones, etc. So also the mental activities may be very
simple involving one or two activities of mind or complex
which involve higher mental activities.

What activities are learned by the individual refer to

types of learning. For example, habits, skills, facts, etc.
There are different types of learning. Some of the
important and common learning activities are explained
here.

Nature of Learning:
1. Learning is Universal. Every creature that lives
learns. Man learns most. The human nervous system is
very complex, so are human reactions and so are
human acquisition. Positive learning vital for children’s
growth and development.
 2. Learning is through Experience. Learning always
involves some kind of experience, direct or indirect
(vicarious).
3. Learning is from all Sides: Today learning is from all
sides. Children learn from parents, teachers,
environment, nature, media etc.
4. Learning is Continuous. It denotes the lifelong
nature of learning. Every day new situations are faced
and the individual has to bring essential changes in his
style of behavior adopted to tackle them. Learning is
birth to death.
5. It results in Change in Behavior. It is a change of
behavior influenced by previous behavior. It is any
activity that leaves a more or less permanent effect on
later activity.
6. Learning is an Adjustment. Learning helps the
individual to adjust himself adequately to the new
situations. Most learning in children consists in modifying,
adapting, and developing their original nature. In later
life the individuals acquire new forms of behavior.
7. It comes about as a result of practice. It is the
basis of drill and practice. It has been proven that
students learn best and retain information longer when
they have meaningful practice and repetition. Every
time practice occurs, learning continues.
8. Learning is a relatively Permanent Change. After
a rat wake up from his nap he still remembers the path
to the food. Even if you have been on a bicycle for
years, in just a few minutes practice you can be quite
proficient again.
 9. Learning as Growth and Development. It is never
ending growth and development. At reach stage the
learner acquires new visions of his future growth and
news ideals of achievement in the direction of his effort.
According to Woodworth, “All activity can be called
learning so far as it develops the individual.”
10. Learning is not directly observable. The only way
to study learning is through some observable behavior.
Actually, we cannot observe learning; we see only what
precedes performance, the performance itself, and the
consequences of performance.

Types of Learning:
1. Motor learning
Most of our activities in our day-to-days life refer to
motor activities. The individual has to learn them in order
to maintain his regular life, for example walking, running,
skating, driving, climbing, etc. All these activities involve
the muscular coordination.

2. Verbal learning
This type of learning involves the language we
speak, the communication devices we use. Signs,
pictures, symbols, words, figures, sounds, etc., are the
tools used in such activities. We use words for
communication.

3. Concept learning
It is the form of learning which requires higher order
mental processes like thinking, reasoning, intelligence,
etc. we learn different concepts from childhood. For
example, when we see a dog and attach the term
‘dog’, we learn that the word dog refers to a particular
animal. Concept learning involves two processes, viz.
abstraction and generalization. This learning is very
useful in recognizing, identifying things.

4. Discrimination learning
Learning to differentiate between stimuli and
showing an appropriate response to these stimuli is
called discrimination learning. Example, sound horns of
different vehicles like bus, car, ambulance, etc.

5. Learning of principles
Individuals learn certain principles related to
science, mathematics, grammar, etc. in order to
manage their work effectively. These principles always
show the relationship between two or more concepts.
Example: formulae, laws, associations, correlations, etc.

6. Problem solving
This is a higher order learning process. This learning
requires the use of cognitive abilities-such as thinking,
reasoning, observation, imagination, generalization, etc.
This is very useful to overcome difficult problems
encountered by the people.

7. Attitude learning
Attitude is a predisposition which determines and
directs our behavior. We develop different attitudes from
our childhood about the people, objects and everything
 we know. Our behavior may be positive or negative
depending upon our attitudes. Example: attitudes of
nurse towards her profession, patients, etc.

 Theories of Learning:
Psychologists have tried to explain how people
learn and why they learn. They have conducted many
experiments on animals and children and come to
certain definite conclusions which explain the modes of
learning.
These are called as theories of learning. In many
books, these explanations are treated as kinds of
learning. In a sense it is true. But the term learning is very
comprehensive. It covers a wide range of activities
which cannot be explained within a limited framework.
There are many theories explaining modes of learning.
Important among them are:

Trial and Error Learning Theory

This theory was developed by an American psychologist

EL Thorndike (1874-1949). He argues that learning takes
place through trial and error method. According to him
learning is a gradual process where the individual will
make many attempts to learn. The essence of this theory
is-as the trials increase, the errors decrease.

This is possible because of association formed between

sense impressions and impulses to action. Such an
association comes to be known as a ‘bond’ or a
‘connection, because it is these bonds or connections
which become strengthened or weakened in making
and breaking of habits. According to this theory when
an individual is placed in a new situation, he makes a
number of random movements. Among them, those
which are unsuccessful are eliminated and the
successful ones are fixed.

These random movements are not eliminated at once.

In the first attempt their number is very large, in the
second attempt the number of errors diminishes and the
range of activity becomes narrower. Gradually the
individual learns to avoid unnecessary movements and
reaches the goal. Improvement takes place through
repetition.

Thorndike studies the character of trial and error learning

in a number of experiments on cats-using a box which
he called ‘puzzle box’. In one of the experiments a
hungry cat was placed in the box and the door was
closed which could be opened by pressing a Latch. A
fish was placed outside the box in a plate.

The cat could see this fish. The cat was given 100 trials-
ten in the morning and ten in each afternoon for five
days. The cat was fed at the end of each experimental
period and then was given nothing more to eat until
after the next session. If, succeeded in opening the door
in any trial by chance, he went to eat food (fish). A
complete record was made of the cat’s behavior during
each trial.
 In the beginning the cat made a number of random
movements like biting, clawing, dashing, etc. gradually
in subsequent trials the cat reduced the incorrect
responses (errors), as it was in a position to manipulate
the latch as soon as it was put in the box.

This experiment revealed that the random movements

were decreased gradually, that is-as the trials increased
the errors decreased. As the trials increased the solution
to open the door (pressing the latch) was discovered
and at the end, the cat could open the door with zero
error. The time taken in each trial was eventually
reduced.

Thorndike conducted many experiments with maze and

puzzle box learning in which cats and rats were used. He
has demonstrated that through numerous trials the
animal learns much and gradually improves his effort.

We all learn many skills like swimming, cycling, riding,

etc., through this method. Children learn to sit, stand,
walk, and run by this method only. However, this method
involves considerable waste of time and effort.

 Learning by Conditioning:
In literal sense, conditioning means ‘getting used’
to, or ‘adjusted ‘to a new situation, or a stimulus. It is a
process of substituting the original stimulus by a new one
and connecting the response with it. There are two types
of conditioning theories:

1. Classical Conditioning (Ivan Petrovich Pavlov)

This method of conditioning got its name from
the fact that, it is a kind of learning situation that
existed in the early classical experiments of Ivan P Pavlov
(1849-1936), Russian physiologist who was awarded
Nobel Prize, in 1904 for his experiments.
Pavlov designed an apparatus to measure the
quantity of saliva produced in response to food (meat
power). At the beginning of his experiment Pavlov noted
that no saliva flowed when he rang the bell. He then
trained the dog by sounding the bell, and shortly
afterwards presenting food.
After the sound of the bell had been paired with
food a few times, he tested the effects of the training by
measuring the amount of saliva that flowed when he
rang the bell and did not present food. He found that
some saliva was produced in response to the sound of
the bell alone. He then resumed the training-paired
presentation of bell and food a few times and then
tested again with the bell alone.
As the training continued, the amount of saliva on
tests with the bell alone increased. Thus, after training
the dog’s mouth watered-salivated- whenever the bell
was sounded. This is what was learned; it is the
conditioned response.
This theory states that CS (bell) becomes a substitute
after pairing with UCS (food) and acquires the capacity
to elicit a response. It is because the association
 (conditioning) is formed between CS and UCS. This may
be symbolically presented as follows:

Sub-principles of Classical Conditioning:

There are certain sub-principles which explain the
different phenomena of this experiment.
1. Stimulus generalization: A tendency to respond to a
stimulus which is similar to original one is called stimulus
generalization, the greater the similarity, the more the
generalization. In this experiment, the dog started
salivating even for the sound of a buzzer which was
similar to bell.
2. Extinction: Extinction means cessation of a response. The
strength of the CS gradually decreases when it is
presented alone and not followed by UCS for a number
of trails. This process is called ‘extinction’. In this
experiment when only bell is presented without food for
a number of trials, the dog stopped salivation gradually.
3. Spontaneous recovery: But when the CS (bell) was
paired again with UCS (food) for some trials, the CR
(salivation) recovered. This is known as ‘spontaneous
recovery’. In spontaneous recovery the dog required
less number of trials than the first time, because the
association between CS and UCS still existed in the brain
of the animal.
4. Stimulus discrimination: When there is much difference
between two stimuli, the animal can discriminate
between the two. The dog for instance could learn to
discriminate between similar bells (stimuli) and discern
which bell would result in the presentation of food and
which is not.
5. Higher order conditioning: If a ‘light’ is presented
followed by bell and then by food for a number of trials,
the dog will start salivating to light itself. This
phenomenon is called higher order condition.

All these principles are very useful in behavior

therapy. Conditioning is not confined only to the
laboratory.
In our day-to- day’s life we come across many
instances of such learning. For example, a small child
who does not know, touches a burning candle, it gives
him a painful experience and withdraws his hand. Later
this experience will make him withdraw from burning
objects and avoid them all together.

Conditioning is used as psychotherapeutic

technique very effectively in the treatment of abnormal
behaviors such as phobias, alcoholism, enuresis, etc.
These are called behavior modification techniques.
Watson and others have conducted many experiments
to prove the usefulness of this method.

2. Operant Conditioning (Burrhus Frederic Skinner)

One of the most widespread and important types of
learning is operant conditioning, which involves
increasing a behavior by following it with a reward, or
decreasing a behavior by following it with punishment.
For example, mother always gives her son his favorite
snack every day that he cleans up his room, before long
the boy may spend some time each day cleaning his
room will gradually expect of a snack from his mother.
So, the son’s room-cleaning behavior increases because
it is followed by a reward or reinforcer.
Unlike classical conditioning, in which the
conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are presented
regardless of what the learner does, operant
conditioning requires action on the part of the learner.
So, in our example, the son will not get his snack unless
he first cleans up his room. The term operant
conditioning refers to the fact that the learner
must operate, or perform a certain behavior, before
receiving a reward or punishment.
Reinforcement refers to any process that strengthens
a particular behavior—that is, increases the chances
that the behavior will occur again. There are two
general categories of reinforcement, positive and
negative.
Thorndike and Skinner’s experiment illustrate positive
reinforcement, a method of strengthening behavior by
following it with a pleasant stimulus.
Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for
controlling the behavior of both animals and people. For
people, positive reinforcers include basic items such as
food, drink, sex, and physical comfort. Other positive
reinforcers include material possessions, money,
friendship, love, praise, attention, and success in one’s
career.
Depending on the circumstances, positive
reinforcement can strengthen either desirable or
undesirable behaviors. Children may work hard at home
or at school because of the praise they receive from
parents and teachers for good performance. However,
they may also disrupt a class, try dangerous stunts, or
start smoking because these behaviors lead to attention
and approval from their peers. One of the most
common reinforcers of human behavior is money. Most
adults spend many hours each week working at their
jobs because of the paychecks they receive in return.
For certain individuals, money can also reinforce
undesirable behaviors, such as burglary (robbery), selling
illegal drugs and any other crime that causes us to do
just for money.
Negative reinforcement is a method of
strengthening a behavior by following it with the
removal or omission of an unpleasant stimulus. There are
two types of negative
reinforcement: escape and avoidance. In escape,
performing a particular behavior leads to the removal of
an unpleasant stimulus. For example, if a person with a
headache tries a new pain reliever and the headache
quickly disappears, this person will probably use the
medication again the next time a headache occurs.
In avoidance, people perform a behavior to avoid
unpleasant consequences. For example, citizens may
pay their taxes to avoid fines and penalties, and
students may do their homework to avoid detention.
Skinner soon tried rewarding only some instances of
the desired response and not others—a schedule known
as partial reinforcement. To his surprise, he found that
animals showed entirely different behavior patterns.
Skinner and other psychologists found that partial
reinforcement schedules are often more effective at
strengthening behavior than continuous reinforcement
 schedules, for two reasons. First, they usually produce
more responding, at a faster rate. Second, a behavior
learned through a partial reinforcement schedule has
greater resistance to extinction—if the rewards for the
behavior are discontinued, the behavior will persist for a
longer period of time before stopping. One reason
extinction is slower after partial reinforcement is that the
learner has become accustomed to making responses
without receiving a reinforcer each time. There are four
main types of partial reinforcement schedules: fixed-
ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval.
Each produces a distinctly different pattern of behavior.

Fixed-ratio Schedules
o A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards a
response only after some set number of correct
responses
o The faster the subject responds, the more reinforcements
they will receive.
Variable- ratio Schedule
o A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards an
unpredictable average number of correct responses
Fixed-interval Schedule
o A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards only the
first correct response after some set period of time
o Produces gradual responses at first and increases as you
get closer to the time of reinforcement
o “Procrastinator Schedule”
Variable-interval Schedule
o A partial reinforcement that rewards the first correct
response after an unpredictable amount of time
o Produces slow and steady responses

Punishment
- An undesirable event following a behavior
- Reducing the chances that the behavior will occur
again
- Its effect is opposite that of reinforcement
- it decreases the frequency of behavior

There are two kinds of

punishment, positive and negative.
Positive punishment involves reducing a behavior by
delivering an unpleasant stimulus if the behavior occurs.
Parents use positive punishment when they spank, scold,
or shout at children for bad behavior. Societies use
positive punishment when they fine or imprison people
who break the law.
Negative punishment, also called omission, involves
reducing a behavior by removing a pleasant stimulus if
the behavior occurs. Parents’ tactics of grounding
teenagers or taking away various privileges because of
bad behavior are examples of negative punishment.

Shaping is a reinforcement technique that is used to teach

animals or people behaviors that they have never
performed before. In this method, the teacher begins by
reinforcing a response the learner can perform easily,
and then gradually requires more and more difficult
responses. For example, to teach a rat to press a lever
that is over its head, the trainer can first reward any
upward head movement, then an upward movement
of at least one inch, then two inches, and so on, until the
rat reaches the lever. Psychologists have used shaping
to teach children with severe mental retardation to
speak by first rewarding any sounds they make, and
then gradually requiring sounds that more and more
closely resemble the words of the teacher.

In operant conditioning, extinction is the elimination of

a learned behavior by discontinuing the reinforcer of
that behavior.
With people, withholding the reinforcer may eliminate
some unwanted behaviors. For instance, parents often
reinforce temper tantrums in young children by giving
them attention. If parents simply ignore the child’s
tantrums rather than reward them with attention, the
number of tantrums should gradually decrease.

Connectionism Theory
(Edward L. Thorndike)
Thorndike explained that learning is the result of
associations forming between stimuli and response.
The main principle of connectionism (like all
behavioral theory) was that learning could be
adequately explained without considering any
observable internal states.
Thorndike’s Theory on connectionism, stated that
learning has taken place when a strong connection or
bond between stimulus and response is formed.
 Three Primary Laws
Law of Effect

 Stated that a connection between a stimulus and

response strengthen when the consequence is
positive (reward) and the connection between the
stimulus and the response is weakened when the
consequence is negative (punishment).
 The revision of the Law of Effect-the negative does

not necessarily motivate performance.

Law of Exercise
o The more an S-R (stimulus-respond) bond is practiced the
stronger it will become.
o The revision of the law of exercise-practice without
feedback does not necessarily enhance performance.
Law of Readiness
o The more the readiness the learner has to respond to the
stimulus, the stronger will be the bond between them.
o When a person is ready to respond to a stimulus and is
not made to respond, it becomes annoying to the
person.
o If a person is not all ready to respond to a stimuli and is
asked to respond, that also becomes annoying.

These three laws were supplemented by five

characteristics of learning “secondary in scope and
importance only to the laws of readiness, exercise, and
effect” (Thorndike, 1914a, p. 132). They are
 1. Multiple response or varied reaction – When
faced with a problem an animal will try one response
after another until it finds success.
2. Set or attitude – The responses that an animal will
try, and the results that it will find satisfying, depend
largely on the animal’s attitude or state at the time.
The chick, according to his age, hunger, vitality,
sleepiness, and the like, may be in one or another
attitude toward the external situation. A sleepier and less
hungry chick will, as a rule, be ‘set’ less toward escape-
movements when confined; its neurons involved in
roaming, perceiving companions and feeding will be
less ready to act; it will not, in popular language, ‘try so
hard to’ get out or ‘care so much about’ being out.
3. Partial activity or prepotency of elements –
Certain features of a situation may be pre-potent in
determining a response than others and an animal is
able to attend to critical elements and ignore less
important ones. This ability to attend to parts of a
situation makes possible response by analogy and
learning through insight.
Similarly, a cat that has learned to get out of a
dozen boxes—in each case by pulling some loop,
turning some bar, depressing a platform, or the like—will,
in a new box, be, as we say, ‘more attentive to’ small
objects on the sides of the box than it was before. The
connections made may then be, not absolutely with the
gross situation as a total, but predominantly with some
element or elements of it.
 4. Assimilation – Due to the assimilation of analogous
elements between two stimuli, an animal will respond to
a novel stimulus in the way it has previously responded
to a similar stimulus. In Thorndike’s words, “To any
situations, which have no special original or acquired
response of their own, the response made will be that
which by original or acquired nature is connected with
some situation which they resemble.”
5. Associative shifting – Associative shifting refers to
the transfer of a response evoked by a given stimulus to
an entirely different stimulus.

In addition to these two major changes to the law

of exercise and the law of effect, Thorndike also began
to explore four other factors of learning that might be
viewed as precursors to cognitive learning research,
which emerged in the decades that followed. They are
summarized by Bower and Hilgard (1981):

1. Belongingness – “a connection between two units or

ideas is more readily established if the subject perceives
the two as belonging or going together”.
2. Associative Polarity – “connections act more easily in
the direction in which they were formed than in the
opposite direction”. For example, if when learning
German vocabulary a person always tests themselves in
the German-to-English direction it is more difficult for
them to give the German equivalent when prompted
with an English word than to give the English word when
prompted with the German equivalent.
3. Stimulus Identifiability – “a situation is easy to connect to
a response to the extent that the situation is identifiable,
distinctive, and distinguishable from others in a learning
series” (p. 36).
4. Response Availability – the ease of forming connections
is directly proportional to the ease with which the
response required by the situation is summoned or
executed:
Some responses are overlearned as familiar acts (e.g.,
touching our nose, tapping our toes) which are readily
executed upon command, whereas more finely skilled
movements (e.g., drawing a line 4 inches as opposed to
5 inches long while blindfolded) may not be so readily
summonable.

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

- This theory focuses on the learning that occurs within
social context.
- It considers that people learn from another, including
such concepts as observational learning, imitation and
modelling.

General Principles of Social Learning Theory

o Learning by Observing
o Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
o Cognition plays a role in learning.
o Social Learning theory can be considered a bridge or a
transition between behaviorist learning theories and
cognitive learning theories.
 Environment Reinforces in several possible ways:
o The observer is reinforced by the model.
o The observer is reinforced by a third person.
o The behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences.
o Vicarious Reinforcement.

Cognitive Factors in Social Learning

o Learning without performance.
o Attention processing during learning.
o Expectations
o Reciprocal Causation
o Modelling
Types of Models:
a. Live Model
b. Symbolic Model

Four Conditions for effective Modelling:

1. Attention – person must pay attention to the
model.
2. Retention – observer must be able to
remember the behavior that has been observed.
3. Motor Reproduction – ability to replicate the
behavior.
4. Motivation – necessary for modelling to occur is
motivation.

Effects of modelling on behavior:

 Modeling teaches new behavior.
 Modeling influences the frequency of previously learnt
behaviors.
 Modeling may encourage previously forbidden
behaviors.
 Modeling increases the frequency of similar behaviors.
For example a student might see a friend excel in
basketball and he tries to excel in football because he is
not tall enough for basketball.

Educational Implications of social learning theory

Social learning theory has numerous implications
for classroom use.
1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing
other people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior can
effectively increase the appropriate behavior and
decrease inappropriate ones. This can involve discussing
with learners about the rewards and consequences of
various behaviors.
3. Modeling provides alternative to shaping for teaching
new behaviors. Instead of using shaping, which is the
operant conditioning, modeling can provide a faster,
more efficient means for teaching new behavior. To
promote effective modeling a teacher must make sure
that the four essential conditions exist; attention,
retention, motor reproduction, and motivation.
4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate
behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other
models. This techniques is especially important to break
down traditional stereotypes.
 Insight Learning Theory
(Wolfgang Kohler – 1925)
In the 1920s, German psychologist Wolfgang Kohler
was studying the behavior of apes. He designed some
simple experiments that led to the development of one
of the first cognitive theories of learning, which he called
insight learning.

In his experiment, Kohler hung a piece of fruit just

out of reach of each chimp. He then provided the
chimps with either two sticks or three boxes, then waited
and watched. Kohler noticed that after the chimps
realized they could not simply reach or jump up to
retrieve the fruit, they stopped, had a seat, and thought
about how they might solve the problem. Then after a
few moments, the chimps stood up and proceeded to
solve the problem.

In the first scenario, the problem was solved by

placing the smaller stick into the longer stick to create
one very long stick that could be used to knock down
the hanging fruit. In the second scenario, the chimps
would solve the problem by stacking the boxes on top of
each other, which allowed them to climb up to the top
of the stack of boxes and reach the fruit.

Learning occurs in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is

the result of direct observation; other times, it is the result
of experience through personal interactions with the
environment. Kohler called this newly observed type of
 learning insight learning. Based on these observations,
Kohler's theory of insight learning became an early
argument for the involvement of cognition, or thinking, in
the process of learning.

Definition of Insight Learning

Insight learning is the abrupt realization of a
problem's solution. Insight learning is not the result of trial
and error, responding to an environmental stimulus, or
the result of observing someone else attempting the
problem. It is a completely cognitive experience that
requires the ability to visualize the problem and the
solution internally - in the mind's eye, so to speak - before
initiating a behavioral response.

Insight learning is considered a type of learning

because it results in a long-lasting change. Following the
occurrence of insight, the realization of how to solve the
problem can be repeated in future similar situations.
Steps in insight learning
ying the problem: The learner recognizes the presence of an
intervening obstacles on his way to the goal.
standing the Problem: The learner observes the problematic
situation, analyze it and perceive the relation between
the goal and the obstacles.
ation of Ideas: After analyzing the total situation he reaches in
conclusions by means of hesitation, pause,
concentrated attention etc.
f Mode of Response: The learner makes initial efforts in the form
of a simple trial and error mechanism.
 ned Attention: The learner maintains frequently recurrent
attention to the goal and motivation.
t Development: In a certain moment there is a sudden
perception of the relationship in the total situation and
the organism directly performs the required acts.
dy Repetition of Adaptive Behavior: After getting an insightful
solution, the individual tries to implement it in another
situation.
prehension of Ability: The learner reaches the ability to
understand the relevant parts of the situation and
overlooking the irrelevant ones.

Application or implications of insight learning

1. We should recognize that people have active minds
which work with the information they receive. Children
will therefore make sense of what they learn by
cognitively restructuring events. Children can therefore
be able to think and solve problems.
2. A rich environment is very important as far as insight
learning is concerned. The environment should be
arranged in a manner that makes insight possible. Clues
should be provided so that children do not get
discourages that is, possibilities should be provided e.g.
the two sticks for Sultan. Children have to be given an
opportunity to try out possibilities.
3. Teachers and guardians should realize that the
structure and organization of the subject matter plays an
important part.
4. If children are to gain insight learning, there have to
be diagrams and demonstrations
 5. Questions also have to be used that is, challenging
questions.
6. We should realize that small children perceive
concrete things better therefore we should try to
capture children’s attention using visible objects.
7. Practice is important. If practice is to lead to
improvement of skills, there are some rules which have to
be enforced that is:
 guidance should be given in the early stages
 knowledge of the results is necessary that is, feedback
should be given
 practice must be regular
 Practice periods must be of suitable length. If they are
too long they will be boring, if they are too short, facts
will not be grasped adequately
 There should be practice of wholes. Some important
things should not be left out during the practice exercise
 as much as possible, the practice should be done in
lifelike conditions
(Sir Marvin: “Read more about Kohler’s Theory online
using the links provided below.”)

Gestalt Psychology
“GESTALT” is a German term which means “Pattern”
or “Organized Whole”.
- It means that the whole is more than the sum of its parts
and the whole gets its meaning from its parts.
- The essential point of gestalt is that in perception
the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Putting this into teaching and learning scenario:

 1. Learners must be holistic rather than to be
particularistic most of the time.
2. Teachers must set an objectives in every lesson that
does not only focus on cognitive domains, but will also
develop the learners’ affective, psychomotor domains.

Gestalt Principles/LAWS
Law of Proximity
- When elements are placed close together.
They tend to be perceived as a group.
- In the learning process, the learners can easily recognize
concepts if they are in group rather than isolated.
- In teaching process, the closer the teacher, the better is
the response of the learners and the farther the teacher
in his or her location makes learners feel bored.
- also, lessons should be taught aligned or closely to each
other.

Law of Similarity
- When objects look similar to one another.
They are perceived as a part of the same form.
- The mind of the learners groups similar elements
into f orm, color, or size, etc.
- In this law, the learners’ skill in comparison and
contrast will be fully developed.
- In teaching, teachers should group their lessons together
to make learners develop understanding efficiently and
effectively.

Law of Closure
- When an object is incomplete or a space is not
completely enclosed, learners perceived the whole by
filling in the missing information.
- When a concept or topic is incomplete thus isn't
"closed", incomplete information may make learners
want to discover what’s missing, rather than
concentrating on the given instruction.
- Thus, teachers should make the lesson
complete. Present it clearly, simply and always be ready
for students' clarifications.

Law of Good Continuation

- Individuals have the tendency to continue contours
whenever the elements of the pattern establish an
implied direction.
- Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to
move through one object and continue to another
object.
- Learners continuously engaged in the learning process
because they feel it is useful and effective way in
achieving goals, ambitions and dreams in life.
- Teachers’ lessons should be presented in such a way
that learners will see these as connected and
continuous. Now you know why we have the "Review"
part of the lesson plan.

Law of Good Pragnanz

- Pragnanz is German for pregnant, but in the sense of
pregnant with meaning, rather than pregnant with
child. This law says that we are innately driven to
experience things in as good as possible. “Good” can
 mean many things here, such a regular, orderly,
simplicity, and symmetry.
- Learners tend to learn something which is in order,
simple and in symmetry.
- Teachers should make their lesson holistic, complete
and most of all simple and easy to understand to the
part of the students.

Law of Figure/ Ground

- Figure and ground can make the perceived image
clearer.
- As it is associated to learning experiences, the learner
develops an insight / discovery form of learning.
- For a figure to be perceived, it must stand out from the
background. Emphasis should be done on important
aspects of the lesson.
- For example, teachers should vary the tone of their
voice or write boldly or underline the important key
words of the lesson.

Lewin’s Topological Theory

(Kurt Lewin)
Who is Kurt Lewin?
o American social psychologist who carried out researches
that are fundamental to the study of the dynamics and
the manipulation of human behavior.
o considered by some as the father of modern social
psychology
o one of the first psychologists to propose that the
development of an individual was the product of the
 interaction between inborn predispositions (nature) and
life experiences (nurture)
o adapted Gestalt principle and further applied them to a
theory of personality and development into what is now
known as the Psychological Field Theory

What is his theory?

o “Life space adhered to gestalt psychology”
o According to Lewin’s theory, an individual lives in life
space which is actually his environment; there external
forces which are acting on the individual such as things,
situations, or conditions.
o Lewin’s field theory can be expressed by
a mathematical equation: B = f(P,E), stating that
behavior (B) is a function of the person (P) interacting
within his environment (E)

Factors that affect perception and learning of an

individual:
 Inner Forces
- Motivation, attitudes and feelings
 Outer Forces
- attitude and behavior of the teacher and classmates

Main Principles
Life Space
- it is most frequently determined by the physical and
social environment that the individual finds himself in
- It consists of all events in our past, present and future
that help shape and affect us. Each of the events helps
determine our behavior in any given situation we are in.
 The life space also consists of a person’s needs in
interaction with the psychological environment.

Two major components

o Environment - refers to the objective situation in which
the person perceives and acts
o Person
Lewin applied the term person in three different ways:
1. Properties/characteristics of the individual. (needs,
beliefs, values, abilities)
2. A way of representing essentially the same
psychological facts of "life space" itself.
3. "The behaving self"

Behavior
- exists in a totality of interacting facts which comprise a
dynamic field
- depends on the present field rather than on the past or
the future
- Lewin asserted that the behavior of an individual is
always geared toward some goal or objective and it is
precisely this intention that matters most in the
performance of behavior

Jerome Bruner’s THEORY OF LEARNING

Three ways to represent knowledge

 Enactive Representation- At earliest ages, children learn
about the world through action on physical objects and
the outcomes of these action. (e.g. riding a bicycle)
 Iconic Representation- This second stage learning can
be obtained through using models and picture.(e.g.
mountains with or without snow at the top).
 Symbolic Representation- In this third stage, the learner
has developed the ability to think in abstract terms. This
uses symbol system to encode knowledge.

Bruner’s Main Concept

 Spiral Curriculum
- Brunner stressed that teaching should always lead to
boosting cognitive development.
- Student will not understand the concept if teachers plan
to teach it using only the teacher’s level of
understanding.
- Instruction needs to be anchored on learner’s cognitive
capabilities.
- In spiral curriculum, teachers must revisit the curriculum
by teaching the same content in different ways
depending on students’ developmental levels.

Principles of instruction stated by Brunner

 Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and
context that make the student willing and able to learn
(readiness).
 Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily
grasped by the students (spiral organization).
 Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation
or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given)

 Discovery Learning
- Discovery Learning refers to obtaining knowledge for
oneself. Teachers plans and arranges activities in such a
way that students search, manipulate, explore, and
investigate. Students learn new knowledge relevant to
the domain and such general problem-solving skills as
formulating rules testing and gathering information.

Classroom Example:
Learning becomes more meaningful when students
explore their learning environment rather than listen
passively to teachers.
In Elementary School- teachers might use guided
discovery to help children learn about animal groups
(e.g. mammals, birds, reptiles). Rather than provide
students with the basic animals group and examples for
each, the teacher could ask students to provide the
names of animals. Then the student and teacher could
classify the animals by examining their similarities and
differences.
In High School- a chemistry teacher might use
“mystery” liquids and have students discover the
elements in each.

Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction

should address four major aspects:
1. Predisposition to learn. He introduced the ideas of
“readiness for learning”. Bruner believed that any
subject could be thought at any stage if the
development in a way that fits the child’s cognitive
abilities.
2. Structure Knowledge. The ways in which a body of
knowledge can be structured so that it can be most
readily grasped by the learner. Bruner emphasized the
role of structure in learning and how it may be central in
teaching.
- Bruner offered considerable details about structuring
knowledge.
a. Understanding the fundamental structure of a subject
makes it more comprehensible.
b. To generate knowledge which is transferable to other
context, fundamental principles or patterns are best
suited.
c. The discrepancy between beginning and advance
knowledge in a subject area as diminished when
instruction centers on a structure and principles of
orientation.
3. Effective sequencing. No one sequencing will fit every
learner, but in general, the lesson can be presented in
increasing difficult.
4. Reinforcement. Rewards and punishment should be
selected and paced appropriately.

 Categorization
- Bruner gave much attention to categorization of
information in construction of internal cognitive maps.
He believe that perception, conceptualization, learning,
decision making inferences all involved categorization.
1. Critical attributes- Required characteristics for inclusion
of an object in a category.
2. The second rule prescribed how the criteria attributes
was combined.
3. The third rule assigns weight to various properties.
4. The fourth rule sets acceptance limits on attributes.
Some attributes may vary widely, such as color. Others
are fixed.

Several kinds of categories:

a. Identity categories- categories include objects based
on their attributes or features.
b. Equivalent categories- (provide rules for combining
categories) Equivalence can be determined by
affective criteria, based on related functions.
c. Coding systems- are categories that serve to recognize
sensory input. They are major organizational variables in
higher cognitive functioning.

The principles of Bruner launched the notation that

people interpret the world mostly in terms of similarities
and differences. This is a valuable contribution to how
individuals construct their own models or view of the
world.

Information Processing Theory

Information Processing
 is a cognitive theoretical framework that focuses on how
knowledge enters and is stored and retrieved from our
memory.

Cognitive Psychologists believed that cognitive

processes influenced the nature of what is learned.
 Learning is an internal process, not an external behavior.
 They believed that how a person thinks about and
interprets what he/she receives shapes what he/she will
learn.

Types of knowledge
General vs. Specific
- This involves whether the knowledge useful in
many tasks, or only in one.
Declarative
- This refers to factual knowledge.
Procedural
- This includes knowledge on how to do things.
Episodic
- This includes memories of life events.
Conditional
- This is about “knowing when and why” to apply
declarative or procedural strategies.

Stages in the Information Processing Theory

o This stages involves the functioning of the senses, sensory
register, short term memory and the long term memory.
o Primary stages in the memory process:
1. Encoding
- Information is sensed, perceived, and attended.
2. Storage
- The information is stored for either a brief or extended
period of time, depending upon the processes following
encoding.
3. Retrieval
- The information is brought back at the appropriate time,
and reactivated for use on a current task, the true
measure of effective memory.
o Sensory Register
- Capacity: our mind receives a great amount of
information but it is more than what our minds can hold
or perceives.
- Duration: The sensory register only holds the information
for an extremely brief – in the order of 1 – 3 seconds.
- There is a difference in duration based on modality:
auditory memory is more persistent than visual.
The Role of attention
 To bring information into consciousness, it is necessary
that we give attention to it.
 Getting through this attentional filter when the learner is
interested in the material.
 Before information is perceived, it is known as
“precategorical” information.
o Short Term Memory (STM or Working Memory)
- Capacity: can hold 5 to 9 chunks of information
- It is called working memory because it is where new
information is temporarily placed while it is mentally
processed.
- Maintain information for a limited time, until learner has
adequate resources to process the information or until
the information is forgotten.
- Duration: around 18 second or less.
- To reduce the loss of information, you need to do
maintenance rehearsal.
o Long Term Memory (LTM)
- The LTM is the final or permanent storing house for
memory information. It holds the stored information until
needed again.
- Capacity: has unlimited capacity.
- Duration: is indefinite

Executive Control Processes

- involves the metacognitive skills.
- guides the flow of the information through the
system and it helps the learner.
Example:
1. Paying Attention
2. Rehearsals
3. Organization

Forgetting
- The inability to retrieve or access
information when needed.
Two main ways in which it occurs:
a. Decay – information is not
attended.
b. Interference – new or old
information blocks access to the information.

Methods for Increasing Retrieval of Information

1. Rehearsal
- repeating information verbatim, either
mentally or aloud.
2. Meaningful Learning
- making connections between new
information and prior knowledge.
 3. Organization
- making connections among various
pieces of information.
4. Elaboration
- adding additional ideas to new information
based on what one already knows.
5. Visual Imagery
- forming a “picture” of the information.
6. Generation
- Things we produce are easier to
remember than things we hear.
7. Context
- remembering the situation helps recover
information.
8. Personalization
- Information relevant to individual.

Other Memory Methods

1. Serial Position Effects
- You will remember the beginning and
end.
2. Part Learning
- break up the list or chunk information to
increase memorization.
3. Distributed Practice
- break up learning sessions, rather than
cramming all the information into once.
4. Mnemonic Aids
- A memory technique that learners may employ to help
them retain and retrieve information.
 Learning Theories and Application to Classroom Practices
I. Social learning theory
(Albert Bandura and Lev Vygotsky)
 It focuses on the learning that occurs within a social
context.
Ways Social Learning Can Be Addressed in the Classroom
Role playing
 Debating a topic
 Create quizzes
 Group test taking
 Mind maps

II. Contextual Learning Theory

 Based on a constructivist theory of teaching and
learning.
Application/practices
 Anchor teaching in students' diverse life-contexts
 Emphasize problem-solving
 Encourage students to learn from each other and
together
 Teach students to monitor and direct their own learning
III. Experientialism Learning Theory
 defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is
created through the transformation of experience”
Application and practices
 various types of group work
 role-playing
 case studies
 presentations
IV. Constructivism Learning Theory
  An active, constructive process.
 This view of learning led to the shift from the “knowledge-
acquisition” to “knowledge-construction”.
Application/practices
 Hands on activities
 Having students working together
 Aiding to answer one another’s question
 Designating one student as an “expert” on a subject
V. Cognitivism learning theory
 Learners are viewed as an information processor.
 Teacher seeks to make connections among the
information in the brain and find the best way to do so
by examining how the brain works and process
information (Laureate Education, 2010a).
Applications/practices
 Questions
 Advance Organizers
 Summarizing
 Note taking
 Manipulations
VI. Behaviorism learning theory
 Operates on a principle of “Stimulus-Response”. All
behavior caused by external stimuli (Operant
Conditioning).
 Learners starts of as a clean state and behavior is shaped
through positive reinforcement or negative
reinforcement”
Applications /practices
 Contracts
 Consequences
 Reinforcement
 Extinction
 Transfer of learning
It refers to the influence which learning one task
may have upon the subsequent learning or
performance of another task. Transfer of learning means
that performance on one task is affected by
performance on another task. Performance might be
positively affected or it might be negatively affected.
Types of transfer
1. Negative transfer of learning – This is where previous
learning hinders or interferes with future learning. It
inhibits the learning and/or retention of something new
for example, children who speak mother tongue at
home have difficulties when they join a preschool where
Kiswahili is being used. They might include words from
their mother tongue when talking to the teacher in the
preschool.
2. Positive transfer of learning – This is where previous
learning precipitates or facilitates future learning.
Positive transfer is probably one of the most important
goals of teachers. One can say that teaching is
successful to the extent that children learn to apply
what they have learned to new situations, in and out of
school. An example of positive transfer of learning is that
learners who did home science in secondary school
perform better than their classmates in the unit “Foods
and Nutrition”.

There are two kinds of positive transfer that is, vertical

and horizontal.
 Vertical transfer – describes the way in which an
individual becomes increasingly capable of more
complex tasks, the way an individual ascends from
simple tasks to more and more difficult ones. Application
in the classroom – the teacher must be certain that
children attain prerequisite capabilities before moving
on to more advanced capabilities e.g. the learner
should be able to do simple addition and subtraction
before he starts learning multiplication. Greater
knowledge of prerequisites facilitates learning, retention
and transfer.
 Horizontal transfer or lateral transfer – This refers to the
individual’s ability to apply a skill learned in one situation
to another situation for example; can a child who learns
how to count in the classroom be able to count
tomatoes when his mother sends him to the shop to buy
some tomatoes? Several factors influence horizontal
transfer and the learner’s chances of success:
- The similarity between the school situation and the
real-life situation
- Knowledge of the underlying principles
- Amount of practice

Fostering Positive Transfer of Learning

How do you as a teacher teach something to
learners that they will apply it later on in life?
a. Meaningfulness of the material learnt – to be able to
apply what they learn in class, children should
understand what they are learning.
b. Degree of mastery of the learnt material – If the degree
of mastery is very high, one can apply knowledge or skills
without difficulty.
c. Constant review of the learnt material/Practice – studies
show that where learners review what they previously
learnt, they show more positive transfer of learning than
those who do not.
d. Distributed learning – This means there should be
intervals in the learning e.g. breaks in between school
terms. When there are no pauses or breaks, we have
what we call massed learning. Material learnt under
distributed learning shows more positive transfer than
that learnt under massed learning.
e. Use of principles and concepts – When teaching
emphasis should be on principles and concepts rather
than on isolated facts e.g. not just ask children to cram a
formula in math. If a child has learned the principle
behind a type of mathematical problem, he/she should
be able to do related problems without difficulty. If
he/she has only learned to do a particular type of
problem by imitation, he/she may be totally unable to
transfer the problem-solving ability to similar problems.

Ways of Teaching for Transfer

There are two basic ways of teaching for transfer:
 Substantive method – This is derived from the theory of
identical elements which says that for transfer to take
place there has to be similarity for example, if the child is
learning how to ride a tricycle, then he should be
tutored using a real tricycle. If he is being taught how to
swim, then we should have a pool of water.
 Procedural method – This method entails the teacher
ensuring that basic principles and concepts are
understood. If the main principles and concepts are not
understood, understanding becomes very difficult. For
example, in learning the meaning of words such as
untie, unfair or unarmed, it is useful for the learner to be
told that the prefix “un” means not or contrary to. The
learner will then find meanings for many works like
unaffected, unaccompanied, etc. In this kind of
teaching for transfer, teachers should try to present a
wide range of examples in which the learners can see
how new principles and techniques are used. As much
as possible, examples should be placed in real world
settings.
 Near transfer
-refers to transfer between very similar contexts
-also referred to as specific transfer
 Far transfer
-refers to transfer between contexts that, on
appearance, seem remote and alien to one another.
-also called general transfer

PRINCIPLES OF TRANSFER
 The more similar the two situations are, the greater the
chances that learning from one situation will be
transferred to the other situation.
 Meaningful learning leads to greater transfer than rote
learning.
 The longer the time spent in instruction, the greater the
probability of transfer.
 Exposure to many and varied examples and
opportunities for practice to encourage transfer.
 Transfer of learning is most likely to happen when learners
discover that what they learned is applicable to various
contexts.
 Principles transfer easier than facts.
 Student reflection improves transfer of learning.

Theories of Transfer of Learning:

Theory # 1. Mental Discipline:
This theory came to existence in 20th century. It is
philosophical in nature. Mind is the central position
which is composed of several facilities. These faculties
are to be trained through muscular and physical
training. This facility psychology developed during 1734.

Theory # 2. Identical Elements:

E.L. Thorndike has developed this theory. It goes
from on learning situation to other situation. Two
identical factors or activities or common factor transfer
to total situation where maximum transfer of learning or
total learning can be taken place. It goes from matter to
mind.

Identities of substances:
Identities of procedure → Total result

Matter → Mind
Exp — Piano → Typing/Computer
Sanskrit → Hindi
 Latin → English
Car driving →Bus driving

Theory # 3. Generalization:
This theory is developed by C. Judd. In this theory
transfer of learning takes place primarily through
generalization and degree of transfer depends upon the
extent to which experiences in the first situation are
understood and consolidated into generalization.
Better transfer can be possible when one can
understand the principle. It is just an extension of the
theory of identical elements. General principle Specific
solution Laws of refraction More significant One situation
—> transfer other superior situation. It is a fact that when
practice of anything is made without training, then result
comes within automatically.

Theory # 4. Transposition:
It is advocated by Gestalt psychology. Transfer starts
in understanding the fact and perception of similarity by
the learner. It is known as pattern of relationship. It is not
the specific skills or facts or even underlying principles
which are important, but the understanding of
relationship between facts, process and the principles
are the real basis of transfer.

Theory # 5. Ideals:
It was propounded by W.C. Bagley. When ideas are
stressed are perused then transfer of learning can be
taken place. Ideas like honesty, truthfulness, love etc.
can be transferred in this theory.
 Theory # 6. Learning to Learn:
After practicing a series of related or similar tasks
then learner learns the capacity to learn the same thing.
It is found that whenever learner comes in contact with
various learning materials then he learns efficiently and
effectively. Learning to learn means when learning starts
from one method then it goes to another method.

Focus on the Classroom Process: Motivation

Motivation
- is an inner drive that causes you to do something or
persevere at something.
- refers the initiation, direction, intensity and
persistence of behavior.

For example, hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire

to eat

Indicators of High Level Motivation

 Your student’s level motivation is shown in his choice of
action, intensity and persistence of effort
 He takes the initiative to undertake learning tasks,
assignments and projects without being push by his
teachers and parents.
 He has goal accomplish and dreams to realize
 He is convinced that accomplishing things he is asked to
accomplish in class helps him realize the goals has set for
himself and his dream in life
 He is willing to give up the satisfaction of immediate
goals for the sake of more important remote goals
 He is willing to give up joining his “barkada” to watch a
movie in order to prepare thoroughly for final
examinations
 He persists and perseveres in his studies even when
things turn out difficult
 He does not give up easily
 As a result his performance will be satisfactory

Types of Motivation
 Intrinsic
o The source of motivation is from within the person
him/herself for the activity itself.
o the most powerful motivation is intrinsic motivation for no
matter how favorable external factors are, unless a
student has set goals that he is determined to achieve,
he can easily be side tracked by factors such as peer
pressure, complacency or simply his own indecisiveness.
 Extrinsic
o The source of motivation is from outside of an individual.
It can be in a form of reward, punishments and other
incentives.
(E.g. home environment, peer motivation, teacher
motivation)

Motivation Principles
 Motivation is a key to change.
Throughout our lives, we discover things about
ourselves (and our life) that we would like to change.
 Motivation is dynamic, NOT static.
 An important point to remember about motivation is
that it is never the same at any one time. Motivation is
always evolving, just as we are always changing and
evolving. People think that you either have motivation or
you don’t. This is not true. The truth is, a person’s
motivation, and the intensity of their motivation,
changes for a variety of reasons.
 Motivation is influenced by internal and external factors.
Our thoughts and emotions represent the internal
factors that influence motivation. Our family, culture,
society, and friends represent the external factors. Even
though we may have the internal factors that lead us to
be motivated, there may be external factors that work
against us. We need to be aware of these and figure out
how to listen and honor the factors that are most
important to us
 Motivation is influenced by social interactions.
 Motivation can be modified.
People can feel different levels of motivation for
different behaviors, and at different times in their life.

Factors Affecting Motivation

1. Home Environment
A child who comes from a home environment
which is caring, comfortable and supportive brings to
the classroom, motivation arising from his conducive
home environment. On the other side of the coin, an
unfavorable home environment produces a pupil who
arrives at school perhaps hungry, angry, resentful, bitter,
depressed, lethargic or just simply stressed out. Such a
student would require really strong school motivation to
prod him out of his malaise and cause him to perform.

2. Classroom Environment
A positive school environment will reinforce the
student's motivation and cause him to achieve at even
higher levels or it will create motivation where there was
none from the home.

3. The School System

The school system itself can influence students either
to excel or to rebel. A school system which is extremely
regimented can impact negatively on students. The
converse is true; one which is too lax will eventually have
discipline problems and lose reputation. Nobody wants
to be associated with a school whose reputation is poor,
thus students who attend such schools feel that nothing
good is expected of them and so they are not
motivated to do well.