NATURE AND

CHARACTERISTICS OF
LEARNING

DR. MAHESWARI JAIKUMAR

maheswarijaikumar2103@gmail.com
 LEARNING
• Learning refers to the
acquisition of knowledge or
skills through study,
experience, or being taught.
• “Learning is the act of acquiring
new, or modifying and reinforcing,
existing knowledge,
behaviors, skills, values,
or preferences and may involve
synthesizing different types
of information”. wikipedia
• Humans, animals and plants
have the ability to learn. The
following are the nature and
characteristics of learning.
1. LEARNING IS UNITARY.
2. LEARNING IS INDIVIDUAL.
3. LEARNING IS SOCIAL.
4. LEARNING IS SELF-ACTIVE.
5. LEARNING IS PURPOSIVE.
6. LEARNING IS CREATIVE.
7. LEARNING IS TRANSFERRABLE.
 LEARNING IS UNITARY
• The learner responds as a
whole person in a unified way
to the whole situation of
learning. He /she responds
intellectually, emotionally,
physically and spiritually
simultaneously.
• The individual learner reacts
to the whole learning
situation rather than to single
situations in a unified way.
• The total intellectual,
emotional, physical, social &
spiritual processes are wholly
co-ordinated towards the
achievement of goals.
LEARNING IS INDIVIDUAL
• Each learner differs from each
other and hence the teaching
learning situation is
approached differently by
each learner and with
different goal & different
level of result achievement.
• The factors influencing at the
individual are many such as :
hereditary, home environment,
religious background,
educational opportunity,
financial soundness, health,
work experience and
environmental factors, including
the learner’s ability.
 LEARNING IS SOCIAL
• Learning occurs in response to
the environment in which
there are other individuals.
Learning is social.
• Learning is social as it takes
place in the social
environment of the individual.
Social maturity takes place
with opportunities and
develops into actual
achievement.
LEARNING IS SELF ACTIVE
• An individual learns through
his own reactions to
situations. Learning is a
personal process. Each person
develops his own habits of
learning.
• The teacher can set a pattern
for the student to imitate
learning processes. The
intellect is perfected not by
knowledge but by activity.
• Learning is a process of self-
activity, self-direction, and
self-realization of an
individual’s highest
potentialities.
• The various forms of self
activity are listening,
visualizing, memorizing,
reasoning, judgment and
thinking. The self-activity
guided by a teacher becomes
an effective activity.
LEARNING IS PURPOSIVE
• Learning is directed towards a
goals and goals are
determined by motives and
incentives. Motives takes a
variety of forms (energy,
arousing activity).
LEARNING-PURPOSIVE
• Learning experiences become
meaningful when they are
related to the individual’s
interests, when involved in his
living & purpose of life.
• Thus learning enables an
individual to make meaningful
adjustments in life and set
goals, make more meaningful
problem solving and result in
satisfying social relationships.
• Goal setting comprises both
momentary and long terms
goals.
 SHORT TERM GOALS
• Refers to the specific task at
hand, interlocking and over
lapping the immediate goal
into a goal system, thus
establishing a series of
progressive goals.
• Through a progressive goal
setting the learning process
itself becomes the motivation
for more learning and goals
are placed on increasingly
mature levels.
• Learning is influenced by the
intention or will to learn, as
man has a will and can choose
the action he wishes to take.
• The action that an individual
decides to take is determined
by his concept of whether
that action is a good or some
sort. The selection of goal
depends on many factors.
• The factors include religion,
philosophy. Learning includes
a progressive organizing and
re-organizing of educative
experiences.
• Learning is a gradual or
developmental process.
Learning experiences grow
out of past and present
experiences through self-
evidence.
LEARNING IS CREATIVE
• Human learning is both
selective and creative.
Teaching involves the mind’s
activity on the part of the
learner & intellectual
guidance on the part of the
teacher.
• The learner is the primary
force and the teacher is the
secondary force. Learning is a
process of personal choice
making.
• The learner has the power to
vary her responses to the
demands of the situation & to
change responses at will and
thus create a new forms of
response.
 LEARNING IS
TRANSFERABLE
• Transfer refers to the
application of knowledge, skill
gained in one context to affect
another situation.
• The factors that influence the
amount and permanency of
learning are as follows:
1.Intellectual ability.
2.Background experience of
the learner.
3.The explicitness &
definiteness of goals.

4.Relationship between the

activities of the learner
and the goals.
• 5. The whole heartedness of
the learner’s approach.
• Transfer depends on
understanding, also it
depends on the discovery of
essential relationships and
applied deliberately to the
solution of practical problem.
• Teacher should provide
opportunity for problem-
solving for the applications of
principles to the solution of
the problems.
STAGES OF LEARNING
• COGNITIVE STAGE.
• UNDERSTANDING THE
NATURE & GOAL OF THE
ACTIVITY.
• INITIAL ATTEMPTS (GROSS
ERRORS)
• ASSOCIATIVE STAGE.
• MASTERING OF THE SKILL &
TIMING
• FEWER & MORE CONSISTENT
ERRORS
• AUTUNOMOUS STAGE
• WELL CO-ORDINATED &
EFFORTLESS ACTIVITY
• FEW ERRORS
• AUTOMATIC PERFORMANCE
THANK YOU