PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION

LEARNING & MOTIVATION

LEARNING

3 DESIRABLE FIELDS OF LEARNING

3 fields of learning are desirable and those are what we aim for in Schooling- CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE of

various domains- PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE of

various skills- REASONING SKILLS of higher order

Brain is highly capable in some innate areas of learning from an early age, which includes both Conceptual as well as Procedural learnings.

In innate or biologically primary domain, the two kinds are inseparable.

Much of the conceptual and procedural learning we wish to convey in schools in non-innate, biologically secondary domains.Traditional model of Education

Progressive model of Education

Proce

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Learn

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3 faculties that are to be co-opted for assisting in children in those domains at which they lack natural competence

- Constructivism and Conceptual Change- Practice and Procedural Learning- Context dependent Reasoning

Constructivism & Conceptual change

- Emphasis on Knowledge Construction- Reason for differences in perceptions &

memories arise because of our interpretations in the light of knowledge we already possess.

- Knowledge in organized in brain in meaningful ways and is constructed as per different schemas viz. assimilation and accommodation.

- Knowledge is to be constructed, not imported wholesale.

- Conceptual change is a process or series throughout which the student’s schema contains misconceptions, errors and sometimes inconsistencies, until a complete and thorough understanding is achieved.

? How do we apply these- Accepting the fact child is not a blank slate and has

some pre-conceptions and designing our mode of teaching by that

- Confront students with clear examples - Conversations, classroom discussions, open-ended

questions, journal writing- Asking the right questions, like, instead of what,

laying emphasis on how and why- Asking them to approach the problem in various

ways, teach others the content they understood- Problems set are to be contextual, relevant to the

student- Self-directed learning with a sufficient scope to

kindle the students, challenging their concepts - Emphasizing on Cognitive activity rather to

behavioral activity

Procedural knowledge & Skill learning

- Procedural knowledge refers to “ how to do things”, these skills are most needed in mathematics, fine arts, language, science…….

- Characteristics: learning best by doing, not merely following the verbal instructions, improved with repeated exposure & practice, implicit, automatic

- Practice is not a substitute for understanding- Practice alone can not lead to conceptual knowledge, and understanding alone can not lead

to the mastery of a procedure.- Conceptual learning and procedural learning are bidirectional, reflecting on the use of a

procedure reinforces our understanding of the concept. Asking questions like whether or why , helps improve the conceptual understanding as well.

- Improved procedural learning skills become automatic--> mental resources freed for high level reasoning

- A good practice must be a mixture of procedures per session, should be for longer periods in small doses and should be supplemented by REFLECTION.

Context dependent reasoning

Why Informal Reasoning?- helps in decision making in situations where you need to

evaluate after weighing evidence on several sides- Many of our decisions in our life could be improved by better

reasoning

What does a good informal reasoning include?- More lines of argument- More objections to one’s own points- Ability to stick on to the issue at hand

Question of the hour

Can we learn to think better?

How ??????????????

To teach thinking as a separate Subject

- Make students aware of the process of their thinking

- Reorganize their thinking with the help of strategies

- Time consuming, might be no space in Indian curriculum

- Courses avoid dealing with subject-matter informations and prefer to stick to abstract problems

- Might not give students skill of situated thinking

Reciprocal teaching

- Makes the classroom a collaborative learning community

- Using the process of “Infusion”- Encourages an awareness of one’s own

understanding of the material (Metacognition).

- Ability to know what one knows, how well one knows, and what will help to improve to one’s knowledge

- Increased knowledge as well as enhanced reasoning abilities

- Teaching in such a way so as to enhance the reasoning capabilities contextually, facilitates better-organized knowledge and better generalized reasoning skills.

Thank you