St.

Louis College of Bulanao

Purok 6, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga 3800

This module is a requirement of the St. Louis College of Bulanao in response to the
implementation of the Blended Learning way of Instruction.

This Learning Material is a property of the College of Education – St. Louis College of
Bulanao, Tabuk City. It aims to improve students’ performance specifically in the Professional
Education.

Date of Development : October 2020

Resource Location : Bulanao, Tabuk City
Learning Area : Principles of Teaching 1
Learning Resource Type : Module
Instructor : Jess M. Arceo

General Instruction/s:
The module will start with an Introduction which will give a general background on the
Principles of Teaching. Series of activities and discussions will encourage you to explore and
learn about the topic. Through this module, the following instruction/s should be followed.

1. This module is exclusively for SLCB students only.

2. Reproduction and use of this module for any purpose is strictly prohibited, unless with the
written permission from SLCB.
3. You may use this module for any acceptable purposes.

DEVELOPED BY: JESS M. ARCEO 1

 St. Louis College of Bulanao
Purok 6, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga 3800

Principles of Learning
I. INTRODUCTION
The learning of our students is our foremost concern. How do we define learning? Learning- is the
acquisition of a knowledge-based used with fluency to make sense of the world, solve problems and
make decisions.
Let us break the long definition for analysis. The key words are: 1) acquisition of a knowledge-base, 2)
fluency, and 3) make sense of the world, 4) solve problems and 5) make decisions. The definition
implies that learning begins with knowledge acquisition. This knowledge learned must be used with
ease or fluency because it has been mastered. This knowledge is applied in problem solving, in
decision-making and in making meaning of this world. Knowledge that is just acquired without being
utilized is what American philosopher North Whitehead referred to as "inert ideas". These are "ideas
that are merely received into the mind without being utilized, or tested, or thrown into fresh
combinations."

II. LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Draw the implications of these principles to the teaching-learning process.

2. Discuss the principles of learning.

III. COURSE CONTENT

Lesson 1
Principles of Learning

IV. LEARNING EXPERIENCE/S

Principles of Learning
By knowing some principles on how learning takes place, we will be guided on how to
teach. Below are some principles of learning from Horne and Pine (1990):
1. Learning is an experience which occurs inside the learner and is activated by the learner.
The process of learning is primarily controlled' by the learner and not by the teacher (group leader)
... Learning is not only a function of what a teacher does to, or says to, or provides for a learner.
More significantly, learning has to do with something which happens in the unique world of the
learner. It flourishes in a situation in which teaching is seen as a facilitating process that assists
people to explore and discover the personal meaning of events for them.
No one directly teaches anyone anything of significance... People learn what they want to learn,
they see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. When we create an atmosphere in
which people are free to explore ideas in dialogue and through interaction with other people, we
educate them. Very little learning takes place without personal involvement and meaning on the
part of the learner Unless what is being taught has personal meaning for the individual, he will shut
it out from his field of perception. People forget most of the content "taught" to them and retain
only the content which they use in their work or content which is relevant to them personally. Then
it must be wise to engage the learners in an activity that is connected to their life experiences. It is
unwise to impose learning on our students. No amount of imposition can cause student learning.
2. Learning is the discovery of the personal meaning and relevance of ideas. Students more
readily internalize and implement concepts and ideas which are relevant to their needs and
problems. Learning is a process which requires the exploration of ideas in relation to self and
community so that people can determine what their needs are, what goals they would like to
formulate, what issues they would like to discuss and what content they would like to learn. Within
broad programmatic boundaries, what is relevant and meaningful is decided by the learner, and
must be discovered by the learner.

DEVELOPED BY: JESS M. ARCEO 2

 It is necessary that teacher relates lessons to the needs, interests and problems of the learners.
3. Learning (behavioral change) is a consequence of experience. People become responsible
when they have really assumed responsibility, they become independent when they have
experienced independent behavior, they become able when they have experienced success, they
begin to feel important when they are important to somebody, they feel liked when someone likes
them. People do not change their behavior merely because someone tells them to do so or tells
them how to change. For effective learning giving information is not enough, e.g., people become
responsible and independent not from having other people tell them that they should be responsible
and independent but from having experienced authentic responsibility and independence.
If experience is the best teacher, then teacher should make use of experiential learning.
Experiential learning makes use of direct as well as vicarious experiences. We have not to
experience everything in order to learn. We learn from other people's experiences, too, good as
well as not so good experiences.
4. Learning is a cooperative and collaborative process. Cooperation fosters learning. "Two heads
are better than one. " People enjoy functioning independently but they also enjoy functioning
interdependently. The interactive process appears to "scratch and kick" people's curiosity,
potential, and creativity. Many times, you are reminded of something because of what you hear
from the group.
Cooperative approaches are enabling. Through such approaches people learn to define goals, to
plan to interact and to fry group arrangements in problem solving. Paradoxically, as people invest
themselves in collaborative group approaches, they develop a firmer sense of their own
identification. They begin to realize that they count, that they have something to give and to learn.
Problems which are identified and delineated through cooperative interaction appear to challenge
and to stretch people to produce creative solutions and to become more creative individuals.
Teacher should make use more of cooperative and collaborative approaches. This way, students
are taught to live together and learn interdependently.
5. Learning is an evolutionary process. Behavioral change requires time and patience... Implicit in
all the principles and conditions for learning is an evolutionary model of
learning. Learning situations characterized by free and open communication, confrontation,
acceptance, respect, the right to make mistakes, self-revelation, cooperation and collaboration,
ambiguity, shared evaluation, active and personal involvement, freedom from threat, and trust in
the self are evolutionary in nature.
Change takes time. Let us not expect results overnight. Rome was not built in one day. Then as
teachers and learners, let us learn to be patient. Things that are worthwhile in life take time.
6. Learning is sometimes a painful process. Behavioral change often calls for giving up the old
and comfortable ways of believing, thinking, and valuing. It is not easy to discard familiar ways of
doing things and incorporate new behavior. It is often "downright" uncomfortable to share one's
self openly, to put one's ideas under the microscope of a group, and to genuinely confront other
people. If growth is to occur, pain is often necessary. However, the pain of breaking away from the
old and the comfortable is usually followed by appreciation and pleasure in the discovery of an
evolving idea of a changing self

It may be good to make our students realize that learning is a difficult task. It is accompanied by
sacrifice, inconvenience and discomfort. But it leads to inner joy.
7. One of the richest resources for learning is the learner himself. In a day and age when so
much emphasis is being placed upon instructional media, books and speakers as resources for
learning, we tend to overlook perhaps the richest source of all - the learner himself Each individual
has an accumulation of experiences, ideas, feelings and attitudes which comprise a rich vein of
material for problem solving and learning. All too often this vein is barely tapped. Situations which
enable people to become open to themselves, to draw upon their personal collection of data, and to
share their data in cooperative interaction with others maximize learning.
As a teacher, you must draw these learners' ideas, feelings and experiences. You midwife the birth
of ideas.

DEVELOPED BY: JESS M. ARCEO 3

8. The process of learning is emotional as well as intellectual. Learning is affected by the total
state of the individual. People are feeling beings as well as thinking beings and when their feelings
and thoughts are in harmony, learning is maximized. To create the optimal conditions in a group
for learning to occur, people must come before purpose. Regardless of the purpose of a group, it
cannot be effectively accomplished when other things get in the way. If the purpose of the group is
to design and carry out some tasks, it will not be optimally achieved if people in the group are
fighting and working against each other. If the purpose of the group is to discuss current issues and
problems in a given field with reason and honesty, then it will not be achieved if people are afraid
to communicate openly. Barriers to communication exist in people and before We conduct
"official business, " we need to work with the people problems that may exist in a group. It might
be said that in any group, regardless of the people problems which exist, enough group intellectual
capacity remains intact for members of the group to acquire information and skills. However, to
maximize the acquisition and internalization of ideas it seems reasonable that the people problems
would have to be dealt with first.
As teachers, let us appeal to our students' intellect as well as to their emotions.
9. The process of problem solving and learning is highly unique and individual. Each person has
his own unique styles of learning and solving problems. Some personal styles of learning and
problem solving are highly effective, other styles are not as effective, and still others may be
ineffective. We need to assist people to define and to make explicit to themselves the approaches
they ordinarily use so that they can become more effective in problem solving and learning. As
people become more aware of how they learn and solve problems and become exposed to
alternative models used by other people, they can refine and modify their personal styles so that
these can be employed more effectively. (Source: Gerald J. Pine and Peter J. Horne, (1990).
It pays to allow students to learn in accordance with their unique learning styles and
multiple intelligences.
Laws of Learning
It is worth including other principles / laws of learning by Thorndike (1932). Give the teaching
implications of the following laws of Thorndike:

Law of effect

Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling.

Learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling.
Learning takes places properly when it results in satisfaction and the learner derives pleasure out
of it.

The law of exercise

Things most often repeated are best remembered.
Students do not learn complex tasks in a single session.

The law of readiness

Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to learn, and they
do not learn well if they see no reason for learning.
Additional Laws (Principles)

The law of primacy

Things learned first create a strong impression.
What is taught must be right the first time.
The law of recency
Things most recently learned are best remembered.

The law of intensity

The more intense the material taught, the more it is, likely learned.
The law of freedom
Things freely learned are best learned.

DEVELOPED BY: JESS M. ARCEO 4

 The greater the freedom enjoyed by the students in the class, the greater the intellectual and moral
advancement enjoyed by them.

V. ASSESSMENT
A. Present and explain Thorndike's laws of learning by way of a graphic
organizer.
B. Based on the nine principles of learning, do metaphorical thinking by
completing this statement: Learning is like…

Note:
 Encode your answer in a long bond paper, with a font size of 12, font style Times New
Roman, Margin 1”, Line Spacing 1.5.
 You can submit the soft copy of your requirement in my email arceojess8@gmail.com
 You can write your answer in a Long Bond Paper, but make sure that your penmanship is
understandable and organize.
 If you have difficulty in accessing into the internet, you can submit the hard at the Faculty
Office, 3rd floor and look for my table. My name was labelled in my table.
 No to pictured activities
 Copied answer in the internet will not be recorded.
 Submit your requirements/activities on or before October 7, 2020.

VI. REFERENCES
Book/s
Principles of Teaching 1: Brenda B. Corpuz, Ph.D., Gloria G. Salandanan, Ph.D.
Principles of Teaching 1: Erlinda D. Serrano, MA. Ed., Ana Ruby M. Paez, M.S.
Internet
https://www.flightliteracy.com/thorndike-and-the-laws-of-learning/

DEVELOPED BY: JESS M. ARCEO 5