The Learner

Chapter 2
 The learner as the first element of teaching & learning is the
focus on this chapter.
 The learner is the core of the teaching-learning processes.
It is from him/her that all activities related to classroom
activities revolves. He/She is either pupil – learner in
elementary level and a student –learner who attends an
institution beyond the elementary level.

Factors Affecting Cognitive Development of

Children
• Biological Factors – are substances that affect biological
systems and are necessary to produce a result or cause
activity of the body. These factors are a) Senses b)
Intelligence c) Heredity d) maturation.
• Environmental – these includes surroundings, conditions,
or influences that affects an organisms. These factors are
a) learning opportunities b) Economic status c) Play is
also important in developing cognition d) various types of
stimuli e) family and society.
(7) Characteristics of Independent Learners
1. Curiosity –Seeking out ways to explore. On their own, they
look for additional supplements.
2. Self-Motivation – intrinsic motivation far surpasses any
prize or reward system, that is setting internal goals to
achieve provide motivation to independent learners.
3. Self-examination- Independent learners keep track of their
achievements & failures. They have proper evaluation of
their strengths & weaknesses.
4. Accountability- Knowing what you have to do & doing it
without anyone telling you to, that is being responsible.
5. Critical Thinking – An attitude of examining all possibilities
& often come up with multiple solutions. They do not
memorize, and they probe & analyze the nature of things
or situation.
6. Comprehension (with little instruction) – this is the ability
to read, visualize, or kinesthetically instruct themselves.
They will find ways to understand material thru
application (normally trial and error).
7. Persistence – An attitude of not giving up being serious
learning. They try to comprehend a concept as much as
possible on their own before asking for help. They apply
self discipline when faced with difficulty in finding answer
to a problem.

Approaches to Learning (Deep vs Surface)

Deep Learning
 examining new facts and ideas critically, trying them into
existing cognitive structures, and making numerous links
between ideas
 the student are aiming towards understanding. It involves
the critical & in-depth analysis of new ideas, relating them
with already known concepts & principle.
 It promotes understanding & long term retention of
concepts that are used in problem solving. It is applied in
real life situation.

 Characteristics:
 Looking for meaning
 Focusing on the central argument of concepts needed
to solve a problem
 Interacting actively
  Distinguishing between argument and evidence
 Making connections between different modules
 Relating new to previous knowledge
 Linking course content to real life
 Encouraged by students:
 Having an intrinsic curiosity in the subject
 Being determined to do well and mentally engaged
when doing academic work
 Having the appropriate background knowledge for a
sound foundation
 Having time to pursue interests through good time
management
 Positive experience of confidence in one’s ability to
understand and succeed
 Encouraged by teachers
 Relating new materials to what students already know
and understand
 Allowing students to make mistakes without penalty
and rewarding effort
 Being consistent and fair in assessing declared
intended learning outcomes, hence establishing trust

Surface Learning
 Accepting new facts and ideas uncritically, and attempting
to store them as isolated, unconnected items
 the students are aiming to reproduce material in test or
exam rather than actually understand it.

 It is the explicit recognition of information & memorization.

It leads to superficial retention of materials for examination.

 Characteristics:
 Relying on rote learning
 Focusing on outward signs and the formulae needed
to solve a problem
 Receiving information passively
 Failing to distinguish principles from examples
 Treating parts of modules and programs separately
 Not recognizing new materials as building on
previous work
 Seeing course content simply as material to be
learnt for the exam
 Encouraged by students:
 Studying a degree for the qualification and not
being interested in the subject
 Not focusing on academic areas, but emphasizing
others (e.g., social, sport)
 Lacking background knowledge and understanding
necessary to understand a material
 Not enough time/ too much workload
 Cynical view on education believing that factual
recall is what is required
 Encouraged by teachers
 Conveying disinterest or even negative attitude to
the material
 Presenting material so that it can be perceived as a
series of unrelated facts and ideas
 Allowing students to be passive
 Assessing for independent facts (short-answer
questions)
 Rushing to cover too much material
 Emphasizing coverage at the expense of depth
 Creating undue anxiety or low expectations of
success by discouraging statements or excessive
workload
 Having a short assessment cycle
Designing for Deep Learning
 Students should be encourage to engage in deep learning, no
matter the difficulty.
 It is often argued that the explicit setting of
“straightforward assessments that involve short questions to
test separate ideas encourages “surface learning.”.

 however, even the most apparently simple assessment

questions can require students to demonstrate knowledge
can be applied

Putting Theory in Practice

 Clearly stated academic aims, opportunities to exercise
some choice & well-aligned assessment strategies that help
students to build confidence can be found among the factors
identified as encouraging deep approach to learning.
Example using problem based learning, rather than
producing assessments that require rote application.
 Concentrate on key concepts, not only in isolation, that is
integrated approach to teaching.
 While regular assessment is advantageous to remain focused
on the material, memorization is not encouraged.
 The assessment process must not only give students
opportunity to receive feedback, but also must make the
assessment relevant to the field of study.

Learning Styles & Preferences

 Learning can be done in different ways. From students, it
can by close observation, seeing & hearing, working alone &
 in groups, logical reasoning & intuitively, memorizing or
visualizing & modelling. Some prefer pictures than text,
other concrete before abstract.
 On the part of teacher, there are those who lecture, others
demonstrate or discuss, some focus on principles & others on
applications.
 How much students’ learning in class depends among other
things on match between student’s learning styles and
instructor’s teaching styles, thus there should be jive with
instructor’s teaching style & student’s learning style.
Some guidelines about teaching styles:
• There is not single/definite learning styles. There is a mix
learning styles for everyone.
• Some people have dominant style of learning with far less
use of the other styles.
• Others may use different styles in different circumstances.
There is no right combination.
• Styles that are developed can still be further improved for
learning enhancement.
The 7 learning styles (Memletic styles)
1. Visual (spatial)–prefers using pictures, images, graphs, charts, logic
puzzles & spatial understanding.
2. Aural (auditory-musical)–prefers using sound & music.
3. Verbal (linguistic)–prefer using words, both speech & writing.
4. Physical (kinesthetic)-prefers using body, hands & touch.
5. Logical (mathematical)-prefers using logic, reasoning & systems.
6. Social (interpersonal)-prefers to learn in groups or with other people.
7. Solitary(intrapersonal)-prefers to work alone & use self study.

The Basis of Learning Styles

 Learning styles change the way the learner internally
represents experiences, recall information, and choose
words to explain things.
 According to research, learning styles activates different
parts of the brain. Involving more of the brain during
learning capacitates learner more to remember more of
what he/she learns.

Key areas of the brain responsible for learning style

are as follows:
1. Visual-the occipital lobes at the back of brain manage
visual sense.
2. Aural-the temporal lobes handle aural content. The right
temporal lobe is specially important for music.
3. Physical-the cerebellum & the motor cortex (at the back
of the frontal lobe handle much of our physical
movement.
4. Logical-the parietal lobes especially the left side, drive
our logical thinking.
5. Verbal-the temporal and frontal lobes especially the two
specialized areas called Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
(in the left hemisphere of these two lobes) govern the
use of manually articulated (i.e. signed) or vocally
articulated (i.e. spoken) language as shown on Figure 2.
6. Social-The frontal & temporal lobes handle much of our
social activities. The limbic system (not shown apart
from the hippocampus) also influences both social &
solitary styles. The limbic system has a lot to do with
emotions, moods & aggression.
The Dunn & Dunn Learning Style Model
 Learning style is the way person processes, internalizes
studies, interprets, & changes new & challenging materials.
 Most people can learn & each individual has his own unique
ways of mastering new & difficult subject matter. This is the
cornerstone of Dun & Dunn Learning style.
 Dunn’s model is a complex & encompasses five strands of 21
elements affecting each individual’s learning. Some of these
elements are biological, and others are developmental.
A summary of these elements as provided as follows:
 Environmental- this strand refers to these elements:
lighting, sound, temperature & seating arrangement. People
prefer a place to study that facilitates more learning.
Depending upon which learning situation is more compatible
& conducive to learning.
 Emotional –this strand involve the following elements:
motivation, persistence, responsibility & structure, i.e. some
people work best when motivated & encouraged, or when
allowed to do multi-tasking (persistence), while other feel
motivated when assigned to lead.
 Sociological- the strand represent elements which make
individual learn while in association with other people. It
can be a) alone or with peers; b) an authoritative adult or
with collegial colleague; and c) learning a variety of ways or
routine patterns.
 Physiological-elements in this strand are: perceptual
(auditory, visual, tactile & kinesthetic), time of the day
energy levels, intake (eating, or not while studying), &
mobility (sitting or moving around).
 Psychological- the elements in this strand correspond to the
following psychological processing: hemispheric, impulsive
or reflective and global versus analytic. Hemispheric
element refers to the left & right brain processing modes.
The impulsive versus reflective style describe how some
people do something or resort to doing something before
thinking and others scrutinize the situation before moving an
inch. Global & analytic element are unique, as these two
elements are made up of clusters of elements from the
other four strands. The elements are sound, light & seating
arrangement (environmental) and persistence (emotional),
sociological preference & intake (physilogical).

Differences among Student’s leaning styles

(4) Factors that significantly differ between groups & among
individuals
1. Global & analytic- Global learner prefers to work in an
environment with soft lighting & informal setting; need breaks,
mobility & sound, while analytic learners prefers to work in an
environment with bright lights & formal setting, work best when
uninterrupted or with few; prefer a quiet surrounding & little or
no snacking. C
2. Age-learning styles vary & change with age. Some learning
styles (sociological, motivation, responsibility & internal vs
external structure) are developmental & change as people grow
older. Children prefer to work with peers than being alone. The
auditory & visual perceptual elements strengthen with age for
many.
3. Gender-Perceptual strengths of males are often visual,
tactile & kinesthetic. More mobile than females & they function
& achieve better in an informal environment. On the other
hand, females tend to be more auditory, prefer quiet
atmosphere while studying, work best in formal setting & need
less mobility. They are more conforming , authority oriented &
parent & self motivated & engaging than males.
4. High vs low academic achievement- High & low achieving
students learn in statistically different ways from one another.
Successful teaching strategies for one group may not produce
similar outcomes in the other group, thus teacher should
remember that there are various range of learners; one learning
style may apply to some but not to others.
Kolb’s Learning Style
This model sets out four distinct learning style. The intersection
of the processing & perception dimension in this model creates a
set of learning style.
1. Social learner are leaders. They learn best by
analyzing & solving problem using their intuition &
information from other people rather from books or
lectures.
2. Creative learners are imaginative. They have open
mind to new ideas & offer multiple perspectives. They
value brainstorming with a group although they often
listen & observe first before sharing their own ideas.
3. Intellectual learners are organized, logical & precise.
They like to learn from lectures, reading &
 contemplation. They find fact, ideas & information
fascinating & challenging to people & emotions.
4. Practical learners are both thinkers & doers. They
are those who learn through experimentation, seeking
out new ideas, & discovering practical application for
them. They can focus intently on select subjects; they
favor technical challenges to interpersonal matters.

Kolb explained that different people naturally prefer a certain

single different style & several factors influence a person’s
preferred style. In Kolb’s ELT, he define three stages of person’s
development & suggested that propensity to reconcile &
successfully integrate the four different learning styles improve
as we mature.
1. Acquisition (birth to adolescence)-development of basic
abilities & “cognitive structures”.
2. Specialization (schooling, early work & personal
experiences of adulthood) – the development of
particular “specialized learning style” shaped by social,
educational & organizational socialization.
3. Integration (mid-career thru later life) – expression of
non-dominant learning style in work & personal life.