Facilitating Learning

 A learning approach where students are encouraged to take ownership and control of
their learningprocess and the role of the teacher changes from supplier of knowledge
to facilitating the process of learning. This is done by providing learning resources and actively
challenging students through systematic problem-based learning and other
active learning methods.

Five Strategies Teachers Use to Facilitate Learning

1. CHOICE - Not every student is the same kind of learner, so try giving them multiple options
when assigning projects. This shows that you respect their unique learning style. It also shows
that you're more interested in facilitating their learning than exercising your authority.
2. VARIATION - Vary class activities to give students the ability to try out different learning
styles, and to give each student their moment to shine. It also will help them to choose their
approach to assigned projects.
3. CONNECTION - Give context for each lesson, and show how it relates to other things your
students might be learning or experiencing. Tie the material in to other lessons, classes, subjects,
current events, or real-life examples. Tell them why the lesson is relevant to their lives and why it
should matter to them.
4. CONVERSATION - Learning how to problem-solve is just as important as knowing the answer,
so give students time to talk through a problem in small groups or as a class. Conversation also
promotes communication skills, socialization, and cooperation.
5. RESOURCES - Today's students have access to a lot more information than the students of
previous generations. The real challenge is teaching them how to assess the quality and validity of
the information they find. Provide students with resources they can trust, and tools for gauging
trustworthiness.
10 Tools Used to Facilitate Learning Strategies

1. Facilitate class, group, and one-on-one discussions and debates.

2. Allow students to call on one another for answers, rather than the instructor.
3. Ask questions that don't have one single answer. Leave it open-ended.
4. Roleplay different scenarios or play games to illustrate lessons.
5. Create multimedia presentations, utilizing technology your students use at home.
6. Record and post lessons and resources online for students to reference later.
7. Use guest teachers and speakers to show a different perspective.
8. Supplement lessons with virtual field trips or projects that involve field research.
9. Collaborate with other teachers to teach related lessons in different subjects.
10. Have students explain what they learned to someone who doesn't know the material.

Teacher and Student Relationship

Student-teacher relationships can be just like a friend who try to understand our problems very
well and help us to try to solve it. Teachers can be just like a mother who worries a lot about their
children in their studies, sorrows, their problems, etc. a teacher can be exactly like a mother who gives
 her all happiness, love, attention and special care towards her child. A teacher can be a god who gives us
all his blessing to be successful in each and every field.

Classroom Environment
The classroom environment is the learning environment you create in the classroom that will
maximize instructional time, help students feel secure and supported, and motivate them to learn and
succeed. It includes the choices you make about rules and expectations, reward and discipline system,
class procedures, seating arrangement, available tools and resources, and class culture/atmosphere. Just
as importantly, it’s how consistently you hold students accountable for following what you have
established.

Role Characteristics of a Teacher

 Expert communication skills
 Superior listening skills
 Deep knowledge and passion for their subject matter
 The ability to build caring relationships with students
 Friendliness and approachability
 Excellent preparation and organization skills
 Strong work ethic
 Community-building skills
 High expectations for all

Characteristics of a Learner
 Intellectually curious-In order to be a successful student, it is particularly important that you are
interested in and engaged with your subject.
 Self-driven-Unlike in school, at university, you are expected to manage your own workload,
attendance, and engagement. Commitment is a vital aspect of being self-driven. It's easy to
concentrate for a short time on something you find interesting.
 Good time management-The ability to organise your time and schedule is another incredibly
important ability.
 Admitting you don't understand-One quality which is often overlooked is the ability to admit
when you don't understand something. Seriously this is big. Although you may feel embarrassed to
admit the gaps in your knowledge, it is the only way to learn.
 Creative and original-The ability to come up with new ideas or new ways of thinking about a
problem is a characteristic of an exceptional student. So don't be afraid to give your own opinion
on a topic or argument, even if it's contradictory to what others have said. As long as you can
justify your view, teachers and other students should welcome your input There are lots of things
you can do to improve your creativity.
  Seeing the big picture and thinking broadly-Great students need to be able to take their
knowledge and fit it into a broader picture of their subject. It helps to stay well informed about a
range of topics, even those which are not directly related to your specific area of study.
 Solid reading, writing, and analysis skills-The ability to read materials and glean the relevant
facts, the ability to write up your findings in a clear and engaging way, and the ability to
critically analyse the material you find will be needed at every stage of your academic career.
 Communication skills-Being able to present the information you know to both a lay audience
and an expert audience is vital for demonstrating your grasp of the material.
 Performing under pressure-There are times when you need to perform under pressure,
particularly in written or oral exams.
 Understanding other perspectives-One characteristic which you may not realize that you need is
the ability to listen to and understand other people. Academic success is not only about putting
forward your own views; it is also about being able to engage productively with people who have a
different perspective.

Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the different objectives and skills that educators set for
their students (learning objectives). The taxonomy was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, an
educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. The terminology has been recently updated to
include the following six levels of learning. These 6 levels can be used to structure the learning
objectives, lessons, and assessments of your course. :
1. Remembering: Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long‐term memory.
2. Understanding: Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages
through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.
3. Applying: Carrying out or using a procedure for executing, or implementing.
4. Analyzing: Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another
and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.
5. Evaluating: Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.
6. Creating: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements
into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.
Operant Conditioning by B.F Skinner
Operant conditioning (also called instrumental conditioning) is a learning process through which the
strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment. It is also a procedure that is used to bring
about such learning.
Although operant and classical conditioning both involve behaviors controlled by environmental
stimuli, they differ in nature. In operant conditioning, stimuli present when a behavior is rewarded or
punished come to control that behavior. For example, a child may learn to open a box to get the sweets
inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove; in operant terms, the box and the stove are "discriminative
stimuli". Operant behavior is said to be "voluntary": for example, the child may face a choice between
opening the box and petting a puppy.
In contrast, classical conditioning involves involuntary behavior based on the pairing of stimuli with
biologically significant events. For example, sight of sweets may cause a child to salivate, or the sound of a
door slam may signal an angry parent, causing a child to tremble. Salivation and trembling are not operants;
they are not reinforced by their consequences, and they are not voluntarily "chosen".

Reinforcement and punishment are the core tools through which operant behavior is modified. These
terms are defined by their effect on behavior. Either may be positive or negative.

 Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability of a behavior that
they follow, while positive punishment and negative punishment reduce the probability of behaviour that
they follow.
Another procedure is called "extinction".

 Extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced with either
positive or negative reinforcement. During extinction the behavior becomes less probable. Occasional
reinforcement can lead to an even longer delay before behavior extinction due to the learning factor of
repeated instances becoming necessary to get reinforcement, when compared with reinforcement being given
at each opportunity before extinction.
There are a total of five consequences.

1. Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior (response) is rewarding or the behavior is

followed by another stimulus that is rewarding, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example, if a
rat in a Skinner box gets food when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will go up. This procedure is
usually called simply reinforcement.
2. Negative reinforcement (a.k.a. escape) occurs when a behavior (response) is followed by the
removal of an aversive stimulus, thereby increasing the original behavior's frequency. In the Skinner Box
experiment, the aversive stimulus might be a loud noise continuously inside the box; negative reinforcement
would happen when the rat presses a lever to turn off the noise.
3. Positive punishment (also referred to as "punishment by contingent stimulation") occurs when
a behavior (response) is followed by an aversive stimulus. Example: pain from a spanking, which would
often result in a decrease in that behavior. Positive punishment is a confusing term, so the procedure is
usually referred to as "punishment".
4. Negative punishment (penalty) (also called "punishment by contingent withdrawal") occurs
when a behavior (response) is followed by the removal of a stimulus. Example: taking away a child's toy
following an undesired behavior by him/her, which would result in a decrease in the undesirable behavior.
 5. Extinction occurs when a behavior (response) that had previously been reinforced is no longer
effective. Example: a rat is first given food many times for pressing a lever, until the experimenter no longer
gives out food as a reward. The rat would typically press the lever less often and then stop. The lever
pressing would then be said to be "extinguished."

Classical Conditioning by Pavlov

Classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned
stimulus (US). Usually, the conditioned stimulus is a neutral stimulus (e.g., the sound of a tuning fork), the
unconditioned stimulus is biologically potent (e.g., the taste of food) and the unconditioned response (UR) to
the unconditioned stimulus is an unlearned reflexresponse (e.g., salivation). After pairing is repeated the
organism exhibits a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus when the conditioned stimulus is
presented alone. (A conditioned response may occur after only one pairing.) Thus, unlike the UR, the CR is
acquired through experience, and it is also less permanent than the UR.
Usually the conditioned response is similar to the unconditioned response, but sometimes it is quite
different. For this and other reasons, most learning theorists suggest that the conditioned stimulus comes to
signal or predict the unconditioned stimulus, and go on to analyze the consequences of this signal. Robert A.
Rescorla provided a clear summary of this change in thinking, and its implications, in his 1988 article
"Pavlovian conditioning: It's not what you think it is". Despite its widespread acceptance, Rescorla's thesis
may not be defensible.Papini MR, Bitterman ME (July 1990). "The role of contingency in classical
conditioning".
Classical conditioning differs from operant or instrumental conditioning: in classical conditioning,
behaviors are modified through the association of stimuli as described above, whereas in operant
conditioning behaviors are modified by the effect they produce (i.e., reward or punishment).

The best-known and most thorough early work on classical conditioning was done by Ivan Pavlov,
although Edwin Twitmyerpublished some related findings a year earlier. During his research on the
physiology of digestion in dogs, Pavlov developed a procedure that enabled him to study the digestive
processes of animals over long periods of time. He redirected the animal's digestive fluids outside the body,
where they could be measured. Pavlov noticed that his dogs began to salivate in the presence of the
technician who normally fed them, rather than simply salivating in the presence of food. Pavlov called the
dogs' anticipatory salivation "psychic secretion". Putting these informal observations to an experimental test,
Pavlov presented a stimulus (e.g. the sound of a metronome) and then gave the dog food; after a few
repetitions, the dogs started to salivate in response to the stimulus. Pavlov concluded that if a particular
stimulus in the dog's surroundings was present when the dog was given food then that stimulus could become
associated with food and cause salivation on its own.

In Pavlov's experiments the unconditioned stimulus (US) was the dog food because its effects did not
depend on previous experience. The metronome's sound is originally a neutral stimulus (NS) because it
does not elicit salivation in the dogs. After conditioning, the metronome's sound becomes the conditioned
stimulus (CS) or conditional stimulus; because its effects depend on its association with food. Likewise, the
responses of the dog follow the same conditioned-versus-unconditioned arrangement. The conditioned
response (CR) is the response to the conditioned stimulus, whereas the unconditioned response
(UR) corresponds to the unconditioned stimulus.
 Pavlov reported many basic facts about conditioning; for example, he found that learning occurred
most rapidly when the interval between the CS and the appearance of the US was relatively short

Laws of Learning by Edward Thorndike

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949) was a professor of American Psychology, a disciple of William
James who developed a series of laws about trial and error learning. Thorndike's theories are considered as
the precursors of American behaviorism that would find its maximum exponent in the figure of Skinner,
father of operant conditioning.

1. Law of the preparation, that affirms that the preparation or disposition of the subject
contributes to the learning. In other words, that the own expectations of the subject constitute the intrinsic
reinforcement of all action.
2. Law of the exercise that sustains that the exercise or the practice of the appropriate response
contributes to strengthen the connection between the stimulus and the corresponding response.

 Law of effect. This is considered the most important. According to this law, the succession of
stimuli and responses is not enough for learning to occur. For the learning to happen, reinforcement is
needed. This is that when an act is followed by a reward it tends to repeat itself, whereas when it is followed
by a punishment the probability of its repetition decreases.