Learning takes time and patience. It is a process — a journey. A self–directed learning process is arguably the most powerful model for facilitating and inspiring individual, group and organizational learning and development.

Learning Process

Learning: Definition• A change in behavior correlated with experience• Acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, preferences or understanding, and may involve synthesizing different types of information.

Types of LearningA. Simple non-associative learning1. Habituation - non-associative learning in which there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with

repetition of a stimulus. It is another form of integration. 1. Sensitization - an example of non-associative learning in which

the progressive amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a stimulus. Sensitization is thought to underlie both adaptive as well as maladaptive learning processes in the organism.

B. Associative learningAssociative learning is the process by which an element is learned through association with a separate, pre-occurring element.

1. Operant conditioning - is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behavior.

2. Classical conditioning - involves repeatedly pairing an unconditioned stimulus (which unfailingly evokes a

particular response) with another previously neutral stimulus (which does not normally evoke the

response).

Types of Learning3. Imprinting - the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior.

C. Observational learning 1. Play2. Enculturation - the process by which a person learns the

requirements of their native culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviors that are appropriate or necessary in that culture. The influences which as part of this process limit, direct or shape the individual, whether deliberately or not, include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture

D. Multimedia learning 1. e-Learning 2. Augmented

Learning

E. Rote learninga technique which avoids understanding the inner

complexities and inferences of the subject that is being learned and instead focuses on memorizing the material so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the way it was read or heard.

F. Informal learningoccurs through the experience of day-to-day

situations (for example, one would learn to look ahead while walking because of the danger inherent in not paying attention to where one is going).

Types of Learning

Types of Learning

G. Formal learningtakes place within a teacher-student relationship,

such as in a school system.

H. Nonformal learningorganized learning outside the formal learning

system. For example: learning by coming together with people with similar interests and exchanging viewpoints, in clubs or in (international) youth organizations, workshops.

Types of Learning

I. Tangential Learningis the process by which some portion of people will

self-educate if a topic is exposed to them in something that they already enjoy such as playing an instrument like the guitar or playing the drums.

J. Dialogic Learning is the type of learning based on dialogue. Its

conception is based on contributions of diverse disciplines.

Conditions of Learning

1.Readiness2.Motivation3.Interest4.Retention5.Cooperative Learning6.A. Good Learning Environment

ReadinessA certain level of maturity which is

a combination of characteristics that makes the learner behave in one way than another.

Could it be as simple as: Students have a hard time learning when they are not "ready" to learn?

Components of Readiness

1.The Disposition For Learning 2. Adequate Cognitive Functioning

3. Adequate Knowledge Base For The Content Being Presented

4. Adequate Study Skills And Strategies

The DISPOSITION FOR LEARNING is a characteristic that the student must possess before entering an academic setting if he/she is to gain the maximum benefit from his/her time and effort. It includes such constructs

as:A desire to learn

A positive attitude toward the learning situation

A willingness to make the investment of time and effort that is necessary for learning

The ability to persevere An understanding of the importance and

value of learning

ADEQUATE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING refers to the possession of the cognitive (mental) skills that are necessary for learning. These skills should be acquired, in the normal process of maturing, from caring parents, or parent substitutes, and from teachers. They include such constructs as the ability to process information efficiently, the ability to make comparisons, the ability to organize information, the ability to handle more than one piece of information at the time, the ability to adequately communicate answers, etc. Although formal instruction in these skills is usually not a part of the school curriculum, these skills can be learned and/or improved through good study strategies and/or through focused instruction in cognitive functions.

ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE BASE for a class is sometimes referred to as having "pre-requisite skills". In any academic setting, the instructor assumes a certain knowledge base-even if it may only be the ability to read. For example, in mathematics the knowledge base is particularly important. For a given lesson, certain mathematical skills are assumed and students who do not possess those prerequisite skills are at a decided disadvantage in learning "new material". Students often assume they don't have the cognitive skills for learning a subject when the real problem is that they have continuously tried to take in new concepts without as adequate knowledge base. If this essential component for learning is lacking it must be remedied if effective learning is to take place.

ADEQUATE STUDY SKILLS, like cognitive functions can, and should, be acquired as a result of maturing academically. However, if this is not the case, it may be necessary to provide focused instruction in study skills. (Such instruction should include mediation of many of the affective skills that make up a disposition for learning.) Fortunately, there are many good courses and abundant reading materials that address this need.

MotivationThe derivation of the word tells us that motivation refers to getting someone moving. When we motivate ourselves or someone else, we develop incentives - we set up conditions that start or stop behavior. In education motivation deals with the problem of setting up conditions so that learners will perform to the best of their abilities in academic settings. We often motivate learners by helping them develop an expectancy that a benefit will occur as a result of their participation in an instructional experience. In short, motivation is concerned with the factors that stimulate or inhibit the desire to engage in a behavior.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION 1. The environment can be used to focus the student's attention on what needs to be learned.

Teachers who create warm and accepting yet business-like atmospheres will promote persistent effort and favorable attitudes toward learning. This strategy will be successful in children and in adults. Interesting visual aids, such as booklets, posters, or practice equipment, motivate learners by capturing their attention and curiosity. 2. Incentives motivate learning. Incentives include privileges and receiving praise from the instructor. The instructor determines an incentive that is likely to motivate an individual at a particular time. In a general learning situation, self-motivation without rewards will not succeed. Students must find satisfaction in learning based on the understanding that the goals are useful to them or, less commonly, based on the pure enjoyment of exploring new things.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION 3. Internal motivation is longer lasting and more self-directive than is external motivation, which must be repeatedly reinforced by praise or concrete rewards.

Some individuals -- particularly children of certain ages and some adults -- have little capacity for internal motivation and must be guided and reinforced constantly. The use of incentives is based on the principle that learning occurs more effectively when the student experiences feelings of satisfaction. Caution should be exercised in using external rewards when they are not absolutely necessary. Their use may be followed by a decline in internal motivation.

4. Learning is most effective when an individual is ready to learn, that is, when one wants to know something.

Sometimes the student's readiness to learn comes with time, and

the instructor's role is to encourage its development. If a desired change in behavior is urgent, the instructor may need to supervised directly to ensure that the desired behavior occurs. If a student is not ready to learn, he or she may not be reliable in following instructions and therefore must be supervised and have the instructions repeated again and again.

5. Motivation is enhanced by the way in which the instructional material is organized.

In general, the best organized material makes the information meaningful to the individual. One method of organization includes relating new tasks to those already known. Other ways to relay meaning are to determine whether the persons being taught understand the final outcome desired and instruct them to compare and contrast ideas.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION

6. Because learning requires changed in beliefs and behavior, it normally produces a mild level of anxiety.

This is useful in motivating the individual. However, severe anxiety is incapacitating. A high degree of stress is inherent in some educational situations. If anxiety is severe, the individual's perception of what is going on around him or her is limited. Instructors must be able to identify anxiety and understand its effect on learning. They also have a responsibility to avoid causing severe anxiety in learners by setting ambiguous of unrealistically high goals for them.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION 7. It is important to help each student set goals and to provide informative feedback regarding progress toward the goals.

Setting a goal demonstrates an intention to achieve and activates learning from one day to the next. It also directs the student's activities toward the goal and offers an opportunity to experience success. 8. Both affiliation and approval are strong motivators.

People seek others with whom to compare their abilities, opinions, and emotions. Affiliation can also result in direct anxiety reduction by the social acceptance and the mere presence of others. However, these motivators can also lead to conformity, competition, and other behaviors that may seem as negative.

9. Many behaviors result from a combination of motives. It is recognized that no grand theory of motivation exists.

However, motivation is so necessary for learning that strategies should be planned to organize a continuous and interactive motivational dynamic for maximum effectiveness. The general principles of motivation are interrelated. A single teaching action can use many of them simultaneously.

Finally, it should be said that an enormous gap exists between knowing that learning must be motivated and identifying the specific motivational components of any particular act. Instructors must focus on learning patterns of motivation for an individual or group, with the realization that errors will be common.

“The will to learn is an intrinsic motive, one that finds both its source and its reward in its own exercise. The will to learn becomes a "problem" only under specialized circumstances like those of a school, where a curriculum is set, students are confined, and a path fixed. The problems exist not so much in learning itself, but in the fact that what the school imposes often fails to enlist the natural energies that sustain spontaneous learning...” -BRUNER 1966