Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1

Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice’, five key

1. Contextual Learning - is reality-based, changes were significantly taking place in
outside-of-the-classroom experience, within a schools. Each of the features will be discussed
specific context which serves as a catalyst for briefly below and are presented in Figure 1.
students to utilize their disciplinary knowledge,
and which presents a forum for further formation
of their personal values, faith, and
professional development.

2. Self- regulation - is the ability to monitor and

manage your energy states, emotions,
thoughts, and behaviors in ways that are
acceptable and produce positive results such as
well-being, loving relationships, and learning.
Balance of Power
3. Feedback - information about reactions to a • In a traditional classroom, the power to decide
product, a person's performance of a task, what lessons to discuss, what learning
etc. which is used as a basis for improvement. activities students must engage in, and what
assessment tasks to give mainly belongs to
4. Formative assessment - refers to the ongoing the teacher with little input from students. On the
process students and teachers engage in other hand, in a student-centered
when they. Focus on learning goals. Take stock classroom, a teacher shares that power by
of where current work is in relation to the consulting learners prior to making final
goal. Take action to move closer to the goal. decisions.
• The traditional exercise of power in the
5. Summative assessment - are often high classroom often benefits the teacher more than
stakes, which means that they have a high point it promotes student learning. The uniform
value; used o evaluate student learning at the instructional approach or ‘one-size-fits-all’
end of an instructional unit by comparing it concept certainly is more convenient on the part
against some standard or benchmark of the teacher who has worked hard in
planning, implementing, and assessing outcomes
LESSON 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO LEARNER- of learning. However, this uniform
CENTERED TEACHING approach has been criticized by scholars by
being unresponsive to the diversity of
Learner Centered Teaching (LCT) has become a needs, interests, and readiness among students.
popular phrase among educators nowadays. It • In order to balance power in the classroom,
has been named in several ways such as learners are frequently consulted and given
student-centred approach or learnercentered immediate and ongoing feedback by the teacher.
pedagogy in many textbooks and journal articles. The teacher empowers students by
Looking at the research literature surrounding giving them the opportunity to choose and make
learner-centred teaching in the past 20 years, a decisions like selecting among lesson
book published in 2002 by Maryllen Weimer topics, choose learning activities, determine pace
stands as one of the earlier attempts to of learning, and select an assessment
comprehensively discuss and define what is LCT task to demonstrate one’s mastery of targeted
about. In Weimer’s book titled, ‘Learner-Centered learning competencies.
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Function of Content
• Current research evidence from educational
psychology calls for a change in the function of Role of the Teacher
curriculum content which should be less on Constructivism theory brings the role of the
covering it and more on using content to develop teacher as that of a facilitator of
a learner’s individual way of understanding or learning, not as the fountain of learning. He/she
sense-making. Teachers neednto allow learners instead encourages students
to raise their own questions, generate their ownn to explore multiple knowledge sources, make
answers or solutions. sense of it, and personally
organize the information taken from different
• From a constructivist perspective, knowledge sources.
cannot simply be given to students: Students
must construct their own meanings” (Stage, • As generally observed, less knowledgeable and
Muller, Kinzie, and Simmons, 1998, p. 35). In experienced learners
other words, learners are capable of constructing will interact with content in less intellectually
and reconstructing their knowledge through active robust ways, but the goal
personal effort. This view debunks the current is to involve students in the process of acquiring
belief about students’ learning from passively and retaining information.
receiving information transmitted from teachers
via lectures. • This shifting view on the role of the teacher
deemphasizes the focus on teaching
In order to facilitate learning that changes how techniques and methods if they are considered
students think and understand, teachers must separate from the subject matter and
begin by finding out students’ prior knowledge or learning structures of the discipline.
conceptions and then design learning activities
that will change these pre-instructional concepts. • Teachers no longer function as exclusive
content expert or authoritarian classroom
• Learner-centered teaching also regards content managers and no long work to improve teaching
as more of competency-based learning by developing sophisticated
in which students master targeted skills and presentation skills.
content before progressing to another
lesson. The more important practice here is to • Greater involvement with students by the
accommodate students’ differing pace of teacher is central to student motivation.
learning. For instance, some students may be Diekelmann et al (2004) show how a nursing
able to demonstrate they know how to use teacher increasingly included students in
a microscope in 1 hour while others need 2 hours ‘cocreating compelling courses’ and was
of practice to demonstrate proficiency surprised ‘by the insights students shared
in manipulating it. regarding how to create compelling courses and
their willingness to collaborate with
• With patient guidance and ongoing support from …[her] to improve teaching and learning
teachers, competency-based learning experiences’ (Diekelmann et al, 2004, p.247).
would ensure that students advance to new • Maclellan finds that ‘the teacher is involved in
material when they are ready, at their own clarifying the subject matter, offering
pace, whether they can move quickly or whether examples, or suggesting arguments for or against
they need more time. a point of view may minimize the
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
students’ need to think’ while, equally, ‘little
engagement by the tutor, leaving students Learning is cooperative, collaborative, and
to determine both what and how to learn without community-oriented.
any criteria to judge their process, is • Students are encouraged to direct their own
unsatisfactory, inefficient and makes a nonsense learning and to work with other students on
of formal, higher education as a research projects and assignments that are both
planned and designed system (Maclellan, 2008, culturally and socially relevant to them.
p.418).
• Class often starts with a mini-lesson, which then
• Teachers must become comfortable with flows into students making choices
changing their leadership style from directive about what they need to do next to meet specific
to consultative-- from "Do as I say" to "Based on learning targets aligned to the
your needs, let's co-develop and Standards.
implement a plan of action.
Evaluation Purpose and Process
Responsibility for Learning • The literature on self-directed learning also
• In recent years, work on self-regulated learning underscores the importance of assessment, only
has advanced, and the goal in this case it is the ability of
of 21st century education ought to be the creation students to self-assess accurately. Sophisticated
of independent, learners know when they do or do not understand
autonomous learners who assume responsibility something.
for their own learning.
• They can review a performance and identify
• Adults are known to be capable of self-directed what needs improvement.
learning and that
continuous learning occurs across their career • They have mechanisms for its collections and
span and lifetime. methods for evaluating it and acting on
It.
• Each student may require different ways of
learning, researching and analysing the
information available.

• It establishes that students can and should be

made responsible for their own learning.

• Learning skills of autonomous self-regulating

learners can be learned and must be
taught even at an early age. This is even more
important when entering higher
Education.

• The learning skills acquired in basic education

and higher education will be used
throughout the course of their professional and
personal lives
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Four Principles of Student-centered that both teachers and administrators faced.
Approach Teachers from the participating schools largely
responded that student-centered learning
A more recent research on the student-centered promoted higher student engagement and
approach was reported by Kaput in 2018 that was facilitated learning that was more relevant to
funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation students. Further, a large percentage of the
and UMass Donahue Institute. This study teachers contended that students in student-
surveyed centered environments explored the curriculum
12 public high schools in New England in terms of with more depth and retained knowledge more
how they apply learner-centered teaching in effectively than in traditional settings.
their classroom practices. The said survey
summarized their findings in to 4 tenet which are Top 20 Principles for PreK–12 Teaching
and Learning
Learning is Personalized
Students engage in different ways and in different The American Psychological Association (APA)
places. published in 2015 its top 20 principles for
teaching and learning for basic education
Learning is competency based teachers. These principles were based on
Students move ahead when they have decades of research on human learning and can
demonstrated mastery of well serve as lampposts for today’s teachers on
content, not when they’ve reached a certain how to facilitate learnercentered teaching. A brief
birthday or endured statement of APA on the implications of the top
the required hours in a classroom. 20 principles to current teaching practices is
quoted below:
Learning happens anytime, anywhere
Learning takes place beyond the traditional “Psychological science has much to contribute to
school day, and even enhancing teaching and learning in the
the school year. Learning is also not restricted to classroom. Teaching and learning are intricately
the classroom. linked to social and behavioral factors of human
development, including cognition, motivation,
Students take ownership of social interaction, and communication” (APA,
their learning 2015, p.8) As a future educator, the top 20
Students are engaged in their own success, as principles revolve around the following key
well as incorporate concepts to keep in mind whenever we design
their interests and skills into the learning process. our instructional plans and implement them with
our students.

Kaput’s study reported that the majority of the

participating schools were effective in
personalizing the learning of their students and
creating an environment where students took
ownership of their learning. However, the study
also found that the participating schools struggled
with implementing and practicing “anytime,
anywhere learning” due to a series of challenges
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Prior knowledge What students conceptual change.
already know affects Prior knowledge can
their learning. be used to help
students incorporate
Research shows that background
prior knowledge knowledge and draw
influences both connections between
conceptual growth units during the
and conceptual course.
change in students.
With conceptual
growth, students add
Learners belief on Research shows
to their existing telligence
knowledge, and with that learners who
conceptual change, hold the growth
students correct mindset that
misconceptions or intelligence is
errors in existing malleable, and
knowledge. success is related to
Facilitating effort level are more
conceptual growth or likely to remain
change requires first focused on goals and
obtaining a baseline persist despite
level of student setbacks.
knowledge prior to Creativity
the start of each unit
through formative Teacher Expectations
assessment. One Long term Knowledge
way to assess prior
knowledge involves Contextual Learning Learning is based on
starting the unit with a context, so
short list of five to ten generalizing learning
true/false statements to new contexts is not
and having a class spontaneous, but
discussion about the rather needs to be
results. The results of facilitated.
this discussion can
guide the selection of Student growth and
assignments and deeper learning are
activities that will be developed when
appropriate for instructors help
facilitating either students transfer
conceptual growth or learning from one
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
context to another.
Students will also be
better able to
generalize learning to
new contexts if
instructors invest time
in focusing on deeper
learning. One method
of developing this skill
is to have students
use their
understanding of a
particular unit to
generate potential
solutions for real-
world problems.

Student support

Self regulation

LESSON 1.2 LEARNER-CENTERED

TEACHING APPROACHES
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
According to this image of teaching and learning,
the ideal classroom for the 21st century
learners will no longer be one in which 30-50
students are always listening to the teacher or
silently
working on their own. Although contemporary
teaching practices still involve lecture, drill, and
practice, students need to be trained to work in
alternative arrangements such as:

• talking to each other in small and large groups

• making public their personal knowledge and
beliefs
• constructing and testing their knowledge with
peers and teachers.

Among the popular instructional approaches that

have been extensively researched for more than
two decades are the Cooperative Learning
Approach, Differentiated Instruction Approach,
and the

Personalized Learning Approach.

A comparison of these 3 pedagogical approaches

along with the
traditional approach is shown in the table below
using the 5 essential elements of Learner-
Centered
Pedagogy by Weimer.
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Cooperative Learning Approach (CLA) • Students also develop friendship by building
trust, communicating freely, and
The Cooperative learning Approach (CLA) started resolving conflict.
becoming popular in the 1990’s in an
attempt to move away from traditional Promotive Interaction
pedagogical approach that relied heavily on • Students promote each other's success by
uniform sharing resources or information that will
instruction for a large-sized classroom. The CLA help every member.
used the social interdependence theory, which • Peers take time to encourage, and praise each
proposes that the behavioral outcomes of a other's efforts to learn.
person are affected by their own and others'
actions. Group Processing
Said theory became the framework for designing • Group members need to feel free to
teaching-learning activities in peer group settings. communicate openly with each other to express
concerns as well as to celebrate
Johnson and Johnson (1994) described five accomplishments.
factors that influence the effectiveness of • achieving their goals and maintaining effective
cooperation in working relationships.
classrooms . • Students frequently reflect and discuss on how
well they are achieving their goals and
Positive Interdependence. work to maintain effective working relationships.
• Students commit to personal success as well as
the success of every member of the Differentiated Instructional Approach (DIA)
group. If students are having difficulties, their
group mates are there to support them. The pedagogical concept of differentiation as
opposed to uniform instruction was first
• Positive interdependence can also promote popularized by Carol Ann Tomlinson with her
motivation to learn, because students are book How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-
learning not just for themselves but also for the Ability
benefit of their groups. Classrooms, published in 1995. In Tomlinson’s
2nd edition in 2014, she described teachers in
• Working in groups involved sharing information differentiated classes as using time flexibly,
helping each other in doing the applying a range of instructional strategies, and
group task so that they progress together. becoming partners with their students so that
both what is learned and the learning
Individual and group accountability. environment
• The group is accountable for achieving its goals, are shaped to authentically support the learning
and each member must be process of the student.
accountable for contributing a fair share of the
work toward the group goal In DI approach, teachers usually differentiate their
teaching by modifying three aspects in his/her
Interpersonal and small group skills. classroom practice. Each aspect of practice is
• Group members learn how to how to apply presented below with examples on how each is
teamwork skills that has collaborative applied in actual teaching practice.
leadership, making fair decisions,
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
LESSON 1.3 LEARNING THEORIES Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiological is well
known for his work in classical conditioning or
People learn through repetition. Learner is a stimulus substitution. Pavlov’s most renowned
passive blank slate shaped by environmental experiment involved meat, a dog and a bell.
stimuli, both positive and negative reinforcement. Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s
This topic helps you understand behaviorism and salivation in order to study he stumbled upon
its connection to learning reinforcement. classical conditioning.

BEHAVIORISM Pavlov’s Experiment.

This particular learning theory assumes that the 1.Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral
learner is essentially passive, simply responding stimulus) caused no response from the dog.
to 2.Placing meat (unconditioned stimulus) in front
their environmental stimuli. Behavioral theorists of the dog initiated salivation (unconditioned
therefore believe that a learner basically begins response).
as 3.During conditioning, the bell was rung a few
a clean slate, and their behavior is shaped by seconds before the dog was presented with meat.
positive/negative reinforcement 4.After
conditioning, the ringing of the bell (conditioned
The theory of behaviorism focuses on the study stimulus) alone produce salivation (conditioned
of observable and measurable behavior. It response). This is classical conditioning.
emphasizes that behavior is mostly learned
through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards Classical conditioning happens when a stimuli
and that triggers a biological response is paired with a
punishment). It does not give much attention to new present stimuli that creates the same
the mind, and the possibility of thought processes reaction.
occurring in the mind. Contributions in the
development of the behaviorist theory largely Pavlov’s Experiment Schematic
came from
PAVLOV ALSO HAD THE FOLLOWING
Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner. FINDINGS:

Stimulus Generalization. Once the dog has

learned to salivate at the sound of the bell, it
well salivate at the other similar sounds

Extinction. If you stop pairing the bell with the

food, salivation will eventually cease in response
to
the bell.
Spontaneous Recovery. Extinguished responses
can be “recovered” after an elapsed time, but will
soon extinguish again if the dog is not presented
with food.
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Discrimination. The dog could learn to
discriminate between similar bells (stimuli) and
discern which
bell would result in the presentation of food and
which would not.

Higher-Order Conditioning. Once the dog has

been conditioned to associate the bell with food,
another unconditioned stimulus, such as a light
may be flashed at the same time that the bell is
rung. Eventually the dog will salivate at the flash
of the light without the sound of the bell.

CONNECTIONISM
He explained that learning is the
Connectionism is a learning theory developed by result of associations forming between
George Siemens and Steven Downs. It stresses stimuli and responses. Such
the connections and combinatorial creativity. All associations or “habits” become
the knowledge is out there – it’s a matter of strengthened or weakened by the
making the connections. Siemens (2004) states, nature and frequency of the S-R
“A community is the clustering of similar areas of pairings.
interest that
allows for interaction, sharing, dialoguing, and Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in
thinking together.” psychology for his work on learning
theory that lead to the
For example, if a learner is trying to learn how development of operant conditioning
Donald Trump has risen to power, they may start within Behaviorism.
on aFacebook post that a friend made, which
could then take them to an article, but the text is classical conditioning depends -on
dense and confusing, so instead the student the developing associations between
student scroll down to the comments sections events
and finds another link to blog, and from the blog
there is an embedded YouTube video that they operant conditioning- involves
watch to more fully understand the issue. The learning from the consequences of our
student has used various forms of gathering behavior.
information using the internet, and has gleaned
the most salient information by using many Skinner wasn’t the first psychologist to
different modes to more study learning by consequences.
fully understand the issue. Indeed, Skinner's theory of
operant conditioning is built on the
ideas of Edward Thorndike.

Edward Lee Thorndike 1904-1990

Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
.PUZZLE BOX EXPERIMENT when the consequence is positive
(reward) and the connection between
He placed a cat in the puzzle box, the stimulus and the
which was encouraged to escape to response is weakened when the
reach a scrap of fish consequence is negative. Thorndike
placed outside. later on, revised this “law”
when he found that negative reward,
Thorndike would put a cat into the box seemingly pleasurable consequences
and time how long it took to escape. do not necessarily
motivate performance.
The cats experimented with different
ways to escape the puzzle box and Law of Exercise.
reach the fish. Tell us that the more an S-R (stimulus
response) bond in practice the
Eventually they would stumble upon stronger it will become.
the lever which opened the cage. “Practice makes perfect” seem to be
associated with this. However, like the
When it had escaped law of effect, the law of
it was put in again, and once more the exercise also had to revise when
time it took to escape was noted. In Thorndike found that practice without
successive trials the cats feedback does not
would learn that pressing the lever necessarily enhance performance.
would have favorable consequences
and they would adopt this Law of Readiness.
behavior, becoming increasingly quick This states that, the more readiness
at pressing the lever. the learner has to respond to the
stimulus, the stronger
Edward Thorndike put forward a will be the bond between them. When
a person is ready to a stimulus and is
“Law of effect” which stated that any not made to respond, it
behavior that is followed by pleasant becomes annoying to the person.
consequences is likely to be repeated, Example, if the teacher says, “Okay
and any behavior followed by we will now watch the movie
unpleasant consequences is likely to (stimulus) you’ve been waiting for.”
be stopped. And suddenly the power goes off, the
students will feel
3 LAWS OF THORNDIKE frustrated because they were ready to
CONNECTIONISM THEORY respond to the stimulus but were
prevented from doing so.
Law of Effect. Likewise, if the person is not at all
The Law of Effect stated that a ready to respond to stimuli and is
connection between a stimulus and asked to respond, that becomes
response is strengthened annoying. For instance, the teacher
asks the question and expects the
students to respond right
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
away when he is still not ready. This particularly if they see the similarity.
will be annoying to the student. This is You may start responding with trial
why teacher should and error (behavioral), but
remember to say the question first,
and wait for a few seconds before later on your response becomes more
calling anyone to answer. internally driven (cognitive
perspective). This is what neo-
Principles Derived from Thorndike’s behaviorism is all about. It has
Connectionism: behavioral aspects, but it also has a
cognitive perspective.
1. Learning requires both practice and
reward (laws of effect/exercise) There are two neo-behaviorism-
2. A series of S-R connections can be reflecting theories that stand out.
chained together if they belong to the Edward Tolman's
same action purposive behaviorism and Albert
(law of readiness) Bandura's theory of social learning.
3. Transfer of learning occurs because Both theories are influenced
of previously encountered situations. by behaviorism (focused on internal
4. Intelligence is a function of the elements and learning).
number of connections learned.
Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism

Purpose behaviorism has also been

referred to as sign learning theory and
Behaviorism: Tolman & Bandura is often seen as a link
between behaviorism and cognitive
Generalization: Tolman’s Purposive theory. Tolman 's theory was based on
Behaviorism the psychological views
of the Gestalt Psychologist and the
Usually, people who worked on a behaviorist John Watson.
maze activity, which you just
did, would say they found the second Tolman believes that learning is a
maze easier. This is cognitive process. Learning involves
because they say that the two mazes building belief in the
were identical, except that acquisition of knowledge about the
the entrance and exit points had been environment and then the discovery of
reversed. Their experience knowledge through
in Maze A was much easier for them purposeful and objective behavior.
to answer Maze B. People are building
mind maps of events Tolman stated in his sign theory that
that they perceived. These mental an organism learns by
maps help them to respond to other pursuing
things or tasks later, signs for a goal, i.e. learning is
acquired through meaningful
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
behavior. He stressed that the Social Learning Theory:
organized aspect of learning is Albert Bandura
acquired through meaningful behavior. The social learning theory of Bandura
He emphasized that the emphasizes the
organized aspect of learning is that importance of observing and modeling
the stimuli allowed in are not the behaviors, attitudes,
connected by simple one-to-one and emotional reactions of others.
switches to the outgoing Bandura (1977) states:
reactions. Rather, the incoming “Learning would be exceedingly
impulses are usually worked out laborious, not to mention
and elaborated in the central control hazardous, if people had to rely solely
room into a tentative cognitive on the effects of their
environment map. And it is this own actions to inform them what to do.
tentative map, indicating routes and Fortunately, most
pathways, and environmental relations human behavior is learned
that finally determines observationally through
what kind of response the animal will modeling: from observing others one
finally make. forms an idea of how new
behaviors are performed, and on later
Tolman's form of behaviorism occasions this coded information
underscored the relationship between serves as a guide for action.
stimuli rather than stimulus- Social learning theory explains human
response. Tolman said that a new behavior in terms of continuous
stimulus (sign) would be associated reciprocal interaction
with already meaningful between cognitive, behavioral, an
environmental influences.
stimuli (significant ones) through a
series of pairings; there was no need The component processes underlying
for reinforcement to observational learning are:
establish learning. In your labyrinth
activity, the new stimulus or "sign" 1. Attention - includes modeled events
(maze B) has become (distinctiveness, affective valence,
associated with the already complexity,
meaningful stimulus, the signicate prevalence, functional value) and
(maze A). So you may have observer characteristics (sensory
connected capacities, arousal
the two stimuli, Labyrinth A and level, perceptual set, past
Labyrinth B, and used your knowledge reinforcement).
and experience in Labyrinth 2. Retention - includes symbolic
A to learn how to respond to Labyrinth coding, cognitive organization,
A. symbolic rehearsal, motor
rehearsal)
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
3. Motor Reproduction - includes equated with discrete changes
physical capabilities, self-observation between states of knowledge rather
of reproduction, than with changes in the
accuracy of feedback. probability of response. Cognitive
theories focus on the
4. Motivation, including external, conceptualization of students’ learning
vicarious and self-reinforcement. processes and address the issues of
how information is received,
organized, stored, and retrieved by
COGNITIVISM the mind. Learning is concerned not
so much with what learners do but
Cognitivism is "the psychology of with what they know and
learning which emphasizes human how they come to acquire it
cognition or intelligence as a (Jonassen, 1991b). Knowledge
special endowment enabling man to acquisition is described as a mental
form hypotheses and develop activity that entails internal coding and
intellectually" structuring by the learner. The learner
is viewed as a very
(Cognitivism) and is also known as active participant in the learning
cognitive development. process.

Cognitivism involves examining Which factors Influence Learning?

learning, memory,
problem solving skills, and Cognitivism, like behaviorism,
intelligence. Cognitive theorists may emphasizes the role that
want to understand how problem environmental
solving changes throughout childhood, conditions play in facilitating learning.
how cultural differences affect the way Instructional explanations,
we view our own demonstrations, illustrative examples
academic achievements, language and matched non-examples are
development, and much more. all considered to be instrumental in
(Feldman, Cognitivism) guiding student learning. Similarly,
emphasis is placed on the role of
Building prior knowledge practice with corrective feedback. Up
to this point, little difference can be
How Does Learning Occur? detected between these two
theories. However, the “active” nature
Cognitive theories stress the of the learner is perceived quite
acquisition of knowledge and internal Differently.
mental structures and, as such,
are closer to the rationalist end of the
epistemology continuum (Bower &
Hilgard, 1981). Learning is
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
The cognitive approach focuses on the In a classroom environment, there are
mental activities of the learner that many variables that influence and
lead up to a response and contribute to learning.
acknowledges the processes of When creating and implementing a
mental planning, goal-setting, and learning environment, it is imperative
organizational strategies (Shuell, that the teachers not only
1986). Cognitive theories contend that create a setting that promotes
environmental “cues” and instructional learning, but also take the time to
components alone understand each child. Classrooms
cannot account for all the learning that are widely diverse and complex.
results from an instructional situation. Students learn differently and are at
Additional key various developmental levels.
elements include the way that learners Teachers who properly manage their
attend to, code, transform, rehearse, classrooms and establish expectations
store and retrieve will be able to
Information. incorporate diverse teaching
philosophies and create an excellent
How Does Transfer Occur? learning environment for each
student. It is important that teachers
According to cognitive theories, create a learning environment that
transfer is a function of how encourages students to do
information is stored in memory their best and makes learning
(Schunk, 1991). When a learner interesting. This creates a motivational
understands how to apply knowledge climate within the classroom.
in different contexts, then
transfer has occurred. Understanding There are two factors that are critical
is seen as being composed of a to motivate students, value and effort.
knowledge base in the form of (Classroom
rules, concepts, and discriminations Management) Students must
(Duffy & Jonassen, 1991). Prior understand that the work they are
knowledge is used to establish performing is
boundary constraints for identifying the worthwhile. Value measures the
similarities and differences of novel importance of a student's work to
information. Not only himself and others. Effort is the
must the knowledge itself be stored in amount of time and energy students
memory but the uses of that put into their work. Understanding the
knowledge as well. Specific value of academic tasks
instructional or real-world events will and the effort needed to complete
trigger particular responses, but the those tasks can motivate students to
learner must believe that perform better in the
the knowledge is useful in a given classroom environment (Classroom
situation before he will activate it. Management)

Classroom Implications
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Examples of Cognitive Games in the
Classroom
Cognitive Development Implied in the
Classroom (“Piaget’s Theory”) Cognitive games are designed to help
stimulate various regions of the brain.
Teachers should carefully assess the These games are used
current stage of a child's cognitive to improve reflexes, help people learn,
development and promote critical thinking, and help
only assign tasks for which the child is people learn different
prepared. The child can then be given patterns of association. Cognitive
tasks that are games are helpful when used to learn
tailored to their developmental level a foreign language and
and are motivating. memorize new material. Various
• Teachers must provide children with learning techniques are used
learning opportunities that enable in the classroom because there are
them to advance various learning styles. There are
through each developmental stage. many games that promote and
This is achieved by creating influence cognitive learning.
disequilibrium. Teachers
should maintain a proper balance Examples of cognitive games include:
between actively guiding the child and
allowing Educational Websites and Computer
opportunities for them to explore Games
things on their own to learn through Most educational websites computer
discovery. games focus on stimulating a young
• Teachers should be concerned with child's senses
the process of learning rather than the while engaging them in various
end product. For cognitive tasks. Below are three of the
example, the teacher should observe many learning websites that
the way a child manipulates play are available to enhance cognitive
dough instead of development in young children.
concentrating on a finished shape. Example, PBS kids Educational
• Children should be encouraged to Games, Spelling City, Cognitive Fun
learn from each other. Hearing others' Games etc.
views can
help breakdown egocentrism. It is Sorting Games
important for teachers to provide
multiple opportunities Sorting games require individuals to
for small group activities. utilize recognition and reasoning.
• Piaget believed that teachers should Teachers can engage children
act as guides to children's learning in games in which the children sort
processes and that items by various criteria, such as
the curriculum should be adapted to color, size, texture, and other
individual needs and developmental
levels.
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
physical attributes of the items. A Finding a solution to a puzzle
more advanced approach to sorting is develops a child's problem solving
discussing how the items ability.Children who actively solve
are similar. This process promotes puzzles that they are able to touch and
critical thinking. piece together are more likely to
understand certain
Flash Cards concepts and develop their own
Flash cards can be used various theories about those concepts.
tasks. This involves notecards or an
even scrap of paper in
which two parts of information is What are the principles of
written on either side of the notecard. constructivism?
These can be as simple as 1. Knowledge is constructed, rather
having cards with a red dot on one than innate, or passively absorbed
side and the word red on the other.
Flash cards are typically used Constructivism's central idea is that
in a classroom for drills or in private human learning is constructed, that
study. These cards are used to aid learners build new
memorization. Pre-made knowledge upon the foundation of
flash cards are available for many previous learning. This prior
subjects. Teachers and students may knowledge influences what new or
also make homemade flash modified knowledge an individual will
cards, depending on how and what construct from new learning
they are studying. Flash cards may experiences (Phillips,1995)
also be personalized and
printed from certain websites. 2. Learning is an active process.
(Flashcards) Flash cards can be
utilized into various games as well. The second notion is that learning is
an active rather than a passive
Board Games process. The passive view of
Teachers may include board games in teaching views the learner as ‘an
their classrooms to promote cognitive empty vessel’ to be filled with
development. Unlike knowledge, where constructivism
computer and video games, states that learners construct meaning
boardgames are tangible. Children only through active engagement with
can manipulate different pieces in the world (such as
the game. Board games can be experiments or real-world problem
implemented to enhance mathematical solving). Information may be passively
and linguistic skills and received, but
enhance a child's ability to understand understanding cannot be, for it must
and follow directions. Example, come from making meaningful
monopoly and bingo connections between prior
knowledge, new knowledge, and the
Puzzles processes involved in learning.
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
3. All Knowledge is socially cultures of one. Cultures and their
constructed knowledge-base are constantly in a
process of change and the knowledge
Learning is a social activity - it is stored by individuals
something we do together, in is not a rigid copy of some socially
interaction with each other, rather constructed template. In learning a
than an abstract concept (Dewey, culture, each child changes
1938). For example, Vygotsky (1978), that culture.
believed that community 5. Learning exists in the mind
plays a central role in the process of
"making meaning." For Vygotsky, the The constructivist theory posits that
environment in which knowledge can only exist within the
children grow up will influence how human mind, and that it
they think and what they think does not have to match any real world
about.Thus, all teaching and reality (Driscoll, 2000). Learners will
learning is a matter of sharing and be constantly trying to
negotiating socially constituted develop their own individual mental
knowledge. For example, model of the real world from their
Vygotsky (1978) states cognitive perceptions of that world. As
development stems from social they perceive each new experience,
interactions from guided learning learners will continually update their
within the zone of proximal own mental models to
development as children and their reflect the new information, and will,
partner's co-construct knowledge. therefore, construct their own
4. All knowledge is Personal interpretation of reality.
Each individual learner has a
distinctive point of view, based on What are the three main types of
existing knowledge and values.This constructivism?
means that same lesson, teaching or Typically, this continuum is divided
activity may result in different learning into three broad categories:
by each pupil, as their
subjective interpretations differ.This Cognitive constructivism based on the
principle appears to contradict the work of Jean Piaget, social
view the knowledge is constructivism based on the work
socially constructed. Fox (2001, p. 30) of Lev Vygotsky, and radical
argues (a) that although individuals constructivism. According to the GSI
have their own personal Teaching and Resource Center
history of learning, nevertheless they (2015, p.5): Cognitive constructivism
can share in common knowledge, and states knowledge is something that is
(b) that although actively constructed by
education is a social process, learners based on their existing
powerfully influenced by cultural cognitive structures. Therefore,
factors, nevertheless cultures are learning is relative to their stage of
made up of sub- cultures, even to the cognitive development.
point of being composed of sub-
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1
Cognitivist teaching methods aim to What is the role of the teacher in a
assist students in assimilating new constructivist classroom?
information to existing The primary responsibility of the
knowledge, and enabling them to teacher is to create a collaborative
make the appropriate modifications to problem-solving environment
their existing intellectual where students become active
framework to accommodate that participants in their own learning.
information. According to social From this perspective, a teacher
constructivism learning is a acts as a facilitator of learning rather
collaborative process, and knowledge than an instructor. The teacher makes
develops from individuals' interactions sure he/she understands
with their culture and the students' preexisting conceptions,
Society. and guides the activity to address
them and then build on
Social constructivism was developed them (Oliver, 2000).
by Lev Vygotsky (1978, ) who
suggested that, every function in Scaffolding is a key feature of effective
the child's cultural development teaching, where the adult continually
appears twice: first, on the social level adjusts the level of his
and, later on, on the or her help in response to the learner's
individual level; first, between people level of performance. In the
(interpsychological) and then inside classroom, scaffolding can
the child include modeling a skill, providing
(intrapsychological). hints or cues, and adapting material or
activity (Copple &
Radical constructivism was developed Bredekamp, 2009).
by Ernst von Glasersfeld (1974) and
states that all knowledge Features of a Constructivist
is constructed rather than perceived Classroom
through senses. Learners construct Tam (2000) lists the following four
new knowledge on the basic characteristics of constructivist
foundations of their existing learning environments,
knowledge. However, radical which must be considered when
constructivism states that the implementing constructivist teaching
knowledge individuals create strategies:
tells us nothing about reality, and only 1) Knowledge will be shared between
helps us to function in your teachers and students.
environment. Thus, knowledge is 2) Teachers and students will share
invented not discovered. The humanly authority.
constructed reality is all the time being 3) The teacher's role is one of a
modified and facilitator or guide.
interacting to fit ontological reality, 4) Learning groups will consist of small
although it can never give a ‘true numbers of heterogeneous students.
picture’ of it. (Ernest, 1994, )
Facilitating LearnerCentered Teaching ULO 1