WELCOME TO

PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION 1
The Child and Adolescent
Learners and Learning
Principles

NIKA JEAN T. LAROMBE, MAEd

Instructor
 MODULE I: Learner-Centered
Psychological Principles (LCP)

INTRODUCTION
The learner is the center of
instruction. The world of instruction
revolves around the learner. This module
introduces you to the fourteen (14) learner-
centered principles which shall be used as
a guide in determining appropriate
pedagogy for learners at different life
stage.
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The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principl
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 Do these activities before you read about the Learner-
Centered Principles.

1. Examine the title, “Learner-Centered Principles”.

Quickly jot down at least 10 words that come to
your mind.
2. Go back to each word and write phrases about why
you think the word can be associated with LCP.
3. I think that Learner-Centered Principles focus on:
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 LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles were put
together by the American Psychological Association. The following
14 psychological principles pertain to the learner and the learning
process. The 14 principles have the following aspects:
 They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal
to and under the control of the learner rather than conditioned
habits or physiological factors. However, the principles also
attempt to acknowledge external environment or contextual
factors that interact with these internal factors.

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  The principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in
the context of real-world learning situations. Thus, they are best
understood as an organized set of principles; no principle
should be viewed in isolation.
 The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1)
cognitive and metacognitive, (2) motivational and affective, (3)
developmental and social, and (4) individual difference factors
influencing learners and learning.
 Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners –
from children, to teachers, to administrators, to parents, and to
community members involved in our educational system.

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 COGNITIVE & METACOGNITIVE FACTORS
1. Nature of the learning process
The learning of complex subject matter is most
effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and
experience.
 There are different types of learning process, for
example, habit formation in motor learning; and
learning that involves the generation of knowledge,
or cognitive skills and learning strategies.
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 COGNITIVE & METACOGNITIVE FACTORS
 Learning in schools emphasizes the use of
intentional processes that students can use to
construct meaning from information, experiences,
and their own thoughts and beliefs.
 Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-
regulating, and assume personal responsibility for
contributing to their own learning.

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 2. Goals of the learning process
 The successful learner, over time and with support and
instructional guidance, can create meaningful, coherent
representations of knowledge.
 The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal-
directed.
 To construct useful representations of knowledge and to
acquire the thinking and learning strategies necessary for
continued learning success across the life span, students must
generate and pursue personal relevant goals.
 Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning
goals that are consistent with both personal and educational
aspirations and interests.
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 3. Construction of knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing
knowledge in meaningful ways.
Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to
build links between new information and experiences and
their existing knowledge base.
Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating
knowledge by a number of strategies that have been
shown to be effective with learners of varying abilities,
such as concept mapping and thematic organization or
categorizing.
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 4. Strategic thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire
of thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve
complex learning goals.
 Successful learners use strategic thinking in their
approach to learning, reasoning, problem solving,
concept learning.
 They understand and can use a variety of strategies
to help them reach learning and performance goals,
and to apply their knowledge in novel situations.
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  They also continue to expand their repertoire of
strategies by reflecting on the methods they use to
see which work well for them, by receiving guided
instruction and feedback, and by observing or
interacting with appropriate models.
 Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators
assist learners in developing, applying, and assessing
their strategic learning skills

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 5. Thinking about thinking
 Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring
mental operations facilitate creative and critical
thinking.
 Successful learners can reflect on how they think and
learn, set reasonable learning or performance goals,
select potentially appropriate learning strategies or
methods, and monitor their progress toward these
goals.

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  In addition, successful learners know what to do if a
problem occurs or if they are not making sufficient or
timely progress toward a goal. They can generate
alternative methods to reach their goal (or reassess
the appropriateness and utility of the goal).
 Instructional methods that focus on helping learners
develop this higher order (metacognitive) strategies
can enhance students learning and personal
responsibility for learning.

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

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 MOTIVATION & AFFECTIVE FACTORS
 Student’s beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of
learning have a marked influence on motivation. Motivational
and emotional factors also influence both the quality of thinking
and information processing as well as an individual’s motivation
to learn.
 Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance
motivation and facilitate learning and performance. Mild anxiety
can also enhance learning and performance by focusing the
learner’s attention on a particular task.

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

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 9. Effects of motivation on effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills
requires extended learner effort and guided practice.
Without learners’ motivation to learn, the willingness
to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.
 Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn.
The acquisition of complex knowledge and skills
demands the investment of considerable learner
energy and strategic effort, along with persistence
over time.

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 9. Effects of motivation on effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills
requires extended learner effort and guided practice.
Without learners’ motivation to learn, the willingness
to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.
 Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn.
The acquisition of complex knowledge and skills
demands the investment of considerable learner
energy and strategic effort, along with persistence
over time.

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 DEVELOPMENTAL & SOCIAL FACTORS
10. Developmental influences on learning
As individuals develop, there are different
opportunities and constraints for learning. Learning is
most effective when differential development within
and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social
domains is taken into account.
 Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to
their developmental level and is presented in an
enjoyable and interesting way.
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 DEVELOPMENTAL & SOCIAL FACTORS
 Because individual development varies across
intellectual, social, emotional, and physical domains,
achievement in different instructional domains may
also vary.
 Over emphasis on one type of developmental
readiness such as reading readiness, for example, may
precluded learners for demonstrating that they are
more capable in other areas of performance.

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  The cognitive, emotional, and social development of individual
learners and how they interpret life experiences are affected by
prior schooling, home, culture, and community factors.
 Early and continuing prenatal involvement in schooling and the
quality of language interactions and two-way communications
between adults and children can influence these developmental
areas.
 Awareness and understanding of developmental differences
among children with and without emotional, physical, or
intellectual disabilities can facilitate the creation of optimal
learning contexts.
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 11. Social influences on learning
Learning is influenced by social interactions,
interpersonal relations, and communications with
others.
 Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an
opportunity to interact and to collaborate with others
on instructional tasks.
 Learning settings that allow for social interactions, and
that respect diversity, encourage flexible thinking and
social competence.
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  In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts,
individuals have an opportunity for perspective taking
and reflecting thinking that may lead to higher level of
cognitive, social, and moral development, as well as
self- esteem.
 Quality personal relationships that provide stability,
trust, and caring can increases learners‟ sense of
belonging, self-respect and self-acceptance, and
provide a positive climate for learning.

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  Family influences, positive interpersonal support and
instruction in self- motivation strategies can offset factors that
interfere with optimal learning such as negative beliefs about
competence in a particular subject, high levels of test anxiety,
negative sex role expectations, and undue pressure to perform
well.
 Positive learning climates can also help to establish the context
for healthier levels of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Such
context help learners feel safe to share ideas, actively
participate in the learning process, and create a learning
community.
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 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES FACTORS
12. Individual differences in learning
Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities
for learning that are a function of prior experience and heredity.
 Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and
talents.
 In addition, through learning and social acculturation, they have
acquired their own preference for how they like to learn and the pace
at which they learn. However, these preferences are not always useful
in helping learners reach their learning goals.
 Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences
and expand or modify them, if necessary.
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 • The interaction between learner differences and
curricular and environmental conditions is another key
factor affecting learning outcomes.
• Educators need to be sensitive to individual
differences, in general. They also need to attend to
learner perceptions of the degree to which these
differences are accepted and adapted to by varying
instructional methods and materials.
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 13. Learning and diversity
Learning is most effective when differences in learners’
linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds are taken into account.
 The same basic principles of learning, motivation, and effective
instruction apply to all learners. However, language, ethnicity,
race, beliefs, and socioeconomic status all can influence learning.
Careful attention to these factors in the instructional setting
enhances the possibilities for designing and implementing
appropriate learning environments.
 When learners perceive that their individual differences in
abilities, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are valued,
respected, and accommodated in learning tasks and contexts,
levels of motivation and achievement are enhanced.
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 Alexander and Murphy gave a summary of the 14
principles and distilled them into five areas:
1. The knowledge base. One’s existing knowledge serves
as the foundation of all future learning. The learner’s
previous knowledge will influence new learning
specifically on how to be represents new information
makes associations and filters new experiences.
2. Strategic processing and control. Learners can develop
skills to reflect and regulate their thoughts and
behaviors in order to learn more effectively
(metacognition).
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 3. Motivation and affect. Factors such as intrinsic
motivations (from within), reasons for wanting to
learn, personal goals and enjoyment of learning tasks
all have a crucial role in the learning process.
4. Development and individual differences. Learning is a
unique journey for each person because each learner
has his own unique combination of genetic and
environmental factors that influence him.
5. Situation or context. Learning happens in the context
of a society as well as within an individual.
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 Let’s See What
‘s
on Your Mind
1. Why there were no two living
individuals as the learners we are
studying about are exactly alike?
2. Why do you think learners respond
differently to academic stimuli?
3. Do you believe that nearly all
human behavior is learned rather than
inherited?

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 -End of
Discussion-
THANK YOU!

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