Learning and Teaching

REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
Mysuru - 06
LEARNING
AND
TEACHING
Study Notes
Compiled and Edited

Ambady K. G.
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
Learning and Teaching RIEM-NCERT
Learning: Concept, Meaning and Definitions
Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviours, skills,
values, or preferences. Human learning begins before birth and continues until death as a
consequence of ongoing interactions between person and environment. The nature and processes
involved in learning are studied in many fields, including educational psychology, neuropsychology,
experimental psychology, and pedagogy. Research in such fields has led to the identification of
various sorts of learning. For example, learning may occur as a result of habituation, or classical
conditioning, operant conditioning or as a result of more complex activities such as play, seen only
in relatively intelligent animals. Learning may occur consciously or without conscious awareness.
Learning that an aversive event can't be avoided nor escaped may result in a condition called
learned helplessness. There is evidence for human behavioural learning prenatally, in which
habituation has been observed as early as 32 weeks into gestation, indicating that the central
nervous system is sufficiently developed and primed for learning and memory to occur very early on
in development.
We use the term 'learning' all the time in everyday life. But within the field of educational
psychology, the term learning is actually a specific term. Different people use different words to
define learning within educational psychology, but in general, we're talking about a step-by-step
process in which an individual experiences permanent, lasting changes in knowledge, behaviours, or
ways of processing the world.
Learning is an internal activity and a key personal development skill. Learning is not
something that can be directly observed in others. We can, however, observe the results of
learning in ourselves and others – this is why, in formal learning situations, assessment is such a
crucial part of the teaching process. The results of academic assessment, essays, exams etc. are
simply attempts to measure how much an individual has learnt but they cannot measure the actual
process of learning. Learning brings about changes in the way we act, think and/or feel about
ourselves, other people and the world around us. Such changes may be permanent or temporary
depending on our own perceptions of the importance and relevance of the gained knowledge.
Definitions
1. “A change in human disposition or capability that persists over a period of time and is not
simply ascribable to processes of growth.”
— From The Conditions of Learning by Robert Gagne
2. “Learning is the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behaviour due to
experience. This definition has three components: 1) the duration of the change is long-term
rather than short-term; 2) the locus of the change is the content and structure of knowledge
in memory or the behaviour of the learner; 3) the cause of the change is the learner’s
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experience in the environment rather than fatigue, motivation, drugs, physical condition or
physiologic intervention.”
–From Learning in Encyclopaedia of Educational Research, Richard E. Mayer
3. “We define learning as the transformative process of taking in information that—when
internalized and mixed with what we have experienced—changes what we know and builds
on what we do. It’s based on input, process, and reflection. It is what changes us.”
–From The New Social Learning by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner
4. “It has been suggested that the term learning defies precise definition because it is put to
multiple uses. Learning is used to refer to (1) the acquisition and mastery of what is already
known about something, (2) the extension and clarification of meaning of one’s experience,
or (3) an organized, intentional process of testing ideas relevant to problems. In other words,
it is used to describe a product, a process, or a function.”
–From Learning How to Learn: Applied Theory for Adults by R.M. Smith
5. “Acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available from memory so you can
make sense of future problems and opportunities.”
From Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger
III, Mark A. McDaniel
6. “A process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the
potential of improved performance and future learning.”
From How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching by Susan Ambrose,
et al.
7. “The process of gaining knowledge and expertise.”
From The Adult Learner by Malcolm Knowles
8. “Learning involves strengthening correct responses and weakening incorrect
responses. Learning involves adding new information to your memory. Learning involves
making sense of the presented material by attending to relevant information, mentally
reorganizing it, and connecting it with what you already know.”
From eLearning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth C. Clark and Richard E. Mayer
9. “A persisting change in human performance or performance potential… [which] must come
about as a result of the learner’s experience and interaction with the world.”
From Psychology of Learning for Instruction by M. Driscoll
10. “Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements –
not entirely under the control of the individual. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge)
can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on
connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are
more important than our current state of knowing.”
From Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Seimens
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Nature of Learning
Learning may be defined as the acquisition, retention and application of knowledge, skills,
attitudes and ways of thinking or other types of behavioural tendencies. Based on the above
definition we can study about ’the nature of learning’ as follows.
1. Learning as Adaptation or Adjustment:
There is a constant interaction of an individual with his environment. Right from the birth,
the individual is faced with the problem of making adjustment and adaptation to his physical as
well as social environment. Learning is a proper means to achieve this end. Through the process of
continuous teaming as to how to behave or respond to a particular situation the individual prepares
him for necessary adjustment and adaptation. This is why learning is so often described as a
process of progressive adjustment to the ever changing which one encounters.
2. Learning as Improvement:
Learning is often considered as a process of improvement with practice or training. This
means that all types of learning help the child in the path of this progress towards desired ends or
goals. But it is not always true. The child teams so many things in the classroom, which may not
help him to achieve his goal. Therefore it should be known clearly that learning does not
necessarily imply improvement with respect to the achievement of goal.
3. Learning as Development:
While defining learning as a process of development, the word ’development’ should never
be confined to mean ‘to progress in right direction to achieve certain ends or results”. Wordsworth
clarifies that as a result of learning, the pattern of development is free to move either in positive
or negative direction.
4. Learning and Behavioural Changes:
Whatever the direction of the changes may be, it is always true that learning brings
progressive changes in the behaviour of an individual as a result of which he gets adjusted himself
to the changing situation.
5. Learning is Universal:
Every creature that lives learns. But of all creatures, man learns most and has a great power
of adaptation to changing circumstances so learning is universal.
6. Learning is Continuous:
It is the lifelong nature of learning. Everyday new problems are faced, new situations are
created and the individual has to meet situations and bring essential changes in his behaviour
starting right from the birth of a child. It goes on to the end of life. Thus it is a never-ending
process.
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7. Learning is purposeful:
Any learning is goal directed. The purpose or goal is the pivot around which the entire
system of learning revolves. It is the goal, which motivates the learner to learn. It is the purpose,
which determines what, he sees in the learning situations and how he acts there in. Where there is
no purpose, there would hardly be any, learning.
8. Learning is Creative:
Learning involves both creative and critical thinking during the purpose of learning, the
learner is very active. Self-activity is very essential for learning.
9. Learning is interactive:
The effectiveness learning depends upon the learner's interaction with his environment. More
interaction results in effective learning.
10. Learning is Transferable:
Transfer of learning depends upon similarity of contents, techniques, procedures and
attitudes.
11. Learning is an Organizing Experience:
Learning is not more acquisition of facts or skills. It is an organization of old and new
experience which result in a completely new organization of experience.
12. Learning is Comprehensive:
Learning is comprehensive process which covers nearly all the aspects of human
personality. Its scope touches the different aspects of life. Life presents enormous opportunities to
learn and learning activities are so numerous that it is difficult to limit any specific categories. The
scope of learning thus embraces all the aspects of life.
Thus learning brings progressive changes in the behaviour of an individual. The changes
produced through experience and training is relatively more enduring and stable. The effective
learning affects the behaviour of the learner.
Factors Associated with Learning

Two factors that influence learning are
1. Factors Associated with Learner
2. Factors Related to Learning Process
I. Factors associated with learner
Learner is the focal point in any learning. Without learner there cannot be learning. The
following are some of the factors associated with learner:
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1. Motivation:
It is the most important factor influencing the learner. If the learner has no motivation to
learn, any amount of force will be futile. More the motivation better will be the learning. In
addition to motivation, the learner should have a definite goal. It will direct the individual
appropriately and help him to achieve the goal.
2. Readiness and will power:
This is just like motivation. If the learner is ready to learn, he will develop motivation to
learn. Along with readiness a strong willpower is also essential to overcome hurdles and problems.
Readiness will help to develop a positive attitude in learner.
3. Ability of the learner:
This refers to the level of intelligence, creativity, aptitude and such other abilities necessary
for learning. Intelligence enables the learner to learn better and understand things and relationship
between them. It includes both general and specific intelligence related to specific area of learning.
4. Level of aspiration and achievement:
Learning depends upon the level of aspiration to achieve. If the aspiration level is high, the
learner will work hard and achieve more. However, the aspiration level should be in accordance with
the ability of the learner.
Otherwise, it may affect negatively leading to feelings of inferiority. At times the learner may
not realize his ability and keep low level of aspiration resulting in low achievement, which is also a
tendency to be rectified.
5. Attention:
Learner must learn to concentrate his attention on learning. Attentiveness helps to grasp
learning material. Distraction of attention affects learning.
6. General health condition of the learner:
The general health includes the physical and mental health of the learner. The learner should
have good physical health. Organic defects like blindness, myopia, hypermetropia, deafness, paralysis,
mutism, severe handicappedness, etc., will affect learning. Problem in sense organs will lead to
improper perception. Chronic illnesses may lead to fatigue and lack of interest.
In addition to physical health, the mental health of learner is also important. Adjustmental
problems, minor mental problems like worry, anxiety, stress, and inferiority complexes will affect
learning.
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7. Maturation of the learner:
Maturation and learning go hand in hand. We learn things only according to maturity of our
body. For example, a child of 6 months cannot learn to ride a bicycle even after vigorous training,
because it requires muscular or physical maturity.
8. Factors related to learning material:
The nature of learning material is also important. The meaningful material can be learnt
better and more quickly than meaningless material. Because understanding of lessons create interest
in the learner. In addition to meaning, the simple material can be learnt better than the complex
material.
II. Factors Related to Learning Process:

1. Methods of learning:
Effective learning depends upon the methods of study also. There are certain methods which
save the energy and time of the learner. These are called ‘economic methods of learning’. They are:
 Part v/s whole method:
Smaller and shorter lessons may be learnt at a stretch-called whole method. If the
material is too lengthy, it must be divided into parts, so that it will be easy for learning. After
reading in parts the learnt material should be connected or associated with each other.
 Spaced v/s un-spaced method:
Learning continuously without gap leads to interference in memory called inhibition.
Hence, it is always advisable to keep small interval between each reading.
 Recitation v/s repetition:
Just repetition of lessons becomes rote learning in which chances of forgetting are more.
In recitation the learner will check the weak points which may be forgotten and put more
emphasis on those points. This process will help to overcome missing of points from the
memory.
2. Over learning:
It is experimentally proved that over learning helps better learning and memory.
3. Knowledge of results as feedback:
It is essential to know the amount of material grasped, so that changes may be made in
process of learning. Knowledge of results refers to getting feedback by means of testing,
examination, interview, etc.
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4. Good physical atmosphere:
Sufficient light and ventilation, calm and clean place, normal temperature, some minimum
furniture will help learning processes.
Learning is the process of gaining understanding that leads to the modification of attitudes
and behaviours through acquisition of knowledge, skills and values, through study and experience.
Learning causes a change of behaviour that is persistent, measurable, and specified or allows an
individual to formulate new mental construct or revise a prior construct (conceptual knowledge such
as attitudes or values). It is a process that depends on experience and leads to long term changes
in behaviour potential. It is an integrated, ongoing process, occurring within individual, enabling him
to meet specific aims, fulfil and interests and cope with the living process. Conceptually, the
process of learning involves five distinct phases: unfreezing, problem diagnosis, goal setting, new
behaviour, and refreezing.
Maxims / Principles of Learning and their Educational Implications

The major attributes of learning as a process include it as a permanent change in the
behaviour of an individual, but not because of changes due to illness, fatigue and use of
intoxicants. The next attribute is that learning is manifested in the behaviour or activities of an
individual which could be not directly observable. Learning results in some change of persistent
contact with nature. The final attribute is that learning depends on practice and experience in a
given situation.
Learning is a process which occupies an important role in molding the structure of our
personality and behaviour. It develops socially accepted behaviours and also there is equal chance
of building negative side of human behaviour. Learning necessities to meet some personal need as
it is a purposeful and goal oriented. Recognizing and identifying such needs enable us to evaluate
whether that learning has been worthwhile and successful.
Learning involves new ways of doing things with no limit to adopt the ways and means to
attain the goal. It is a continuous, comprehensive process which involves different methods and
covers conative, cognitive and affective domains of human behaviour.
Educational psychologist and pedagogies have defined several principles of learning which is
also referred as ‘laws of learning’ generally applicable to the learning process. These principles have
been discovered, tested and used, in practical situations. They provide additional insight into what
makes people learn most effectively. Edward Thorndike developed the first three ‘laws of learning’
readiness, exercise, and effect.
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1. Law of Readiness:-
First primary law of learning, according to him, is the ‘Law of Readiness’ or the ‘Law of
Action Tendency’, which means that learning takes place when an action tendency is aroused
through preparatory adjustment, set or attitude. Readiness means a preparation of action. If
one is not prepared to learn, learning cannot be automatically instilled in him, for example,
unless the typist, in order to learn typing prepares himself to start, he would not make
much progress in a lethargic & unprepared manner.
2. Law of Exercise:-
The second law of learning is the ‘Law of Exercise’, which means that drill, or practice helps
in increasing efficiency and durability of learning and according to Throndike’s S-R Bond
Theory, the connections are strengthened with trail or practice and the connections are
weakened when trial or practice is discontinued. The ‘law of exercise’, therefore, is also
understood as the ‘law of use and disuse’ in which case connections or bonds made in the
brain cortex are weakened or loosened. Many examples of this case are found in case of
human learning. Learning to drive a motor-car, typewriting, singing or memorizing a poem or
a mathematical table, and music etc. need exercise and repetition of various movements and
actions many times.
3. Law of Effect:-
The third law is the ‘Law of Effect’, according to which the trial or steps leading to
satisfaction stamps in the bond or connection. Satisfying states lead to consolidation and
strengthening of the connection, whereas dis-satisfaction, annoyance or pain leads to
the weakening or stamping out of the connection. In fact, the ‘law of effect’ signifies that if
the response satisfies the subject, they are learnt and selected, while those which are not
satisfying are eliminated. Teaching, therefore, must be pleasing. The educator must obey the
tastes and interests of his pupils. In other words, greater the satisfaction stronger will be
the motive to learn. Thus, intensity is an important condition of ‘law of effect’.
Since Thorndike set down his basic three laws in the early part of the twentieth century,
five additional principles have been added; primacy, recency, intensity, freedom and requirement.
i) Principles of Primacy:
The state being first often creates a strong almost unshakeable impression. Things
learned first create a strong impression on the mind that is difficult to erase. For the
instructor, this means that what is taught must be right the first time. For the student, it
means that learning must be right. ‘Unteaching’ wrong in first impression is harder than
teaching them right at the first time. For instance, a student learns faulty technique, the
instructor will have a difficult task correcting bad habits and ‘reteaching’ correct ones. The
student’s first experience should be positive, functional, and lay the foundation for all that is
to follow.
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ii) Principles of Recency:
The principles of recency states that things most recently learned are best
remembered. For example it is fairly easy to recall a telephone number dialed few minutes
ago, but it is usually impossible to recall a new number dialed last week. The closer the
training or learning time is to the time of actual need to apply the training, the more apt
will to perform successfully.
iii) Principle of Intensity:
The more intense the material taught, the likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear,
vivid, dramatic, or exiting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring
experience. The principle of intensity implies that a student will learn more from the real
thing than from a substitute. For example a student can get more understanding and
appreciation of a movie by watching it than by reading the script. Likewise, a student is
likely to gain greater understanding of task by performing them rather than merely reading
about them. The more immediate and dramatic the learning is to a real situation, the more
impressive the learning is upon the student. Real world applications that integrate procedures
and tasks that students are capable of learning will make a vivid impression on them.
iv) Principle of Freedom:
The principle of freedom states that things freely learned are best learned. Conversely,
further a student is coerced, the more difficult is for him to learn, assimilate what is
learned. The greater the freedom enjoyed by individuals within a society, the greater the
intellectual and moral advancement enjoyed by society as a whole.
Since, learning is an active process, students must have freedom: freedom of choice,
freedom of action, freedom to bear the results of action – these are the three great
freedoms that constitute personal responsibility. If no freedom is granted, students may have
little interest in learning.
v) Principles of Requirement:
The law of requirement states that “we must have something to obtain or do
something.” It can be ability, skill, instrument or anything that may help us to learn or gain
something. A starting point or root is needed; for example, if you want to draw a person,
you need to have the materials with which to draw, and you must know how to draw a
point, a line, a figure and so on until you reach your goal, which is to draw a person
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Significance of Learning
i. Learning helps us understand basic necessities of life, and gives us a way of acquiring and
mastering of knowledge.
ii. Learning helps to adapt to a new environment. We know how to change our ways according
to changes in our locale, we will survive.
iii. Learning helps respond to dangers and rear. Survival even in normal life is impossible without
learning. Learning helps in becoming more efficient and helps attain great positions.
iv. Learning can provide you with deeper knowledge of subject, which cannot be imparted from
bookish education. In totality your ability and inclination to learn determines the course that
your life takes and the success that you achieve.
v. Learning is never complete unless we have both experiences and education. A lack of either
can impair the use of other. For we learn rights and duties of a citizen through education in
schools, but good morals come the family and good behaviour from company through
experience. Unless we have all of these, we cannot become better individuals.
In brief implications of the Theory are-
 According to this theory the task can be started from the easier aspect towards its difficult
side. This approach will benefit the weaker and backward children.
 A small child learns some skills through trial and error method only such as sitting, standing,
walking, running etc. In teaching also the child rectifies the writing after committing mistakes.
 In this theory more emphasis has been laid on motivation. Thus, before starting teaching in the
classroom the students should be properly motivated.
 Practice leads a man towards maturity. Practice is the main feature of trial and error method.
Practice helps in reducing the errors committed by the child in learning any concept.
 Habits are formed as a result of repetition. With the help of this theory the wrong habits of
the children can be modified and the good habits strengthened.
 The effects of rewards and punishment also affect the learning of the child. Thus, the theory
lays emphasis on the use of reward and punishment in the class by the teacher.
 The theory may be found quite helpful in changing the behaviour of the delinquent children.
The teacher should cure such children making use of this theory.
 With the help of this theory the teacher can control the negative emotions of the children such
as anger, jealousy etc.
 The teacher can improve his teaching methods making use of this theory. He must observe the
effects of his teaching methods on the students and should not hesitate to make necessary
changes in them, if required.
 The theory pays more emphasis on oral drill work. Thus, a teacher should conduct oral drill of
the taught contents. This help in strengthening the learning more.
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APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Learning means a change in behaviour or learning is acquiring any skill that enriches our life.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in the behaviour of a person over time, or it is acquiring
knowledge through study, experience or being taught. The above definitions are in general but we
are going to discuss in detail below about different approaches to learning presented by various
educational scientist through their theories.
Associative Learning
Associative learning is a learning principle that states that ideas and experiences reinforce
each other and can be mentally linked to one another. In a nutshell, it means our brains were not
designed to recall information in isolation; instead, we group information together into one
associative memory. That's why it is difficult to recall just one eyebrow without seeing the whole
face.
The definition of associative learning encloses several different types of cognitive processes
and events. It is a learning that takes place when two elements are connected in our brain. For
example, if we associate the alarm clock to get up early, we will find out what this instrument is
for and how little we like it.
Associative learning can be a powerful classroom management and teaching tool and has
many uses in the classroom. It can be used to help students connect with information more deeply
and recall that information with greater accuracy.
Learning new content and constantly adapting to the circumstances is fundamental in all life
stages. Progress in understanding this process favours the advancement of better educational
methods and increases the common welfare.
The processes related to associative learning takes place through experience. Our experiences
teach us what benefits us and what is harmful to us. Although we don’t always get the same
results with the same acts, past events are a fairly reliable guide for our future actions.
Associative learning occurs when you learn something based on a new stimulus. The most
famous example is Ivan Pavlov's use of dogs to demonstrate that a stimulus, such as the ringing
of a bell, leads to a reward, or food. Two types of associative learning exist: classical conditioning,
such as in Pavlov's dog; and operant conditioning, or the use of reinforcement through rewards and
punishments.
The purpose of psychology is to discover ways and means of prediction and control of
human and animal behaviour. Consciousness, if at all it exists, is not the subject for scientific
study. The unit of behaviour should be reflexes or stimulus response connections. One’s behaviour
is composed of stimulus response bond, which can be successfully analysed by objective and
scientific methods.
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Associative learning: Types and examples
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning based on the association between
neutral stimuli with another that is significant for a person or an animal in order to generate a
similar response. It is the process we can see with Pavlov’s dog.
PAVLOV’S CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY
In 1904, Russian psychologist lvan Pavlov, during his experimental work on dog’s digestive
process, accidentally noticed the secretion of saliva in the dog on the sight of food or hearing the
footsteps of the caretaker. Conditioning can be defined as “a process in which a neutral stimulus
which is not associated with any specific natural response, on pairing with a natural stimulus
acquires all the characteristics of natural stimulus.” for example, if food is presented, saliva flows.
Food is the ‘natural stimulus’ (or unconditioned stimulus-U.C.S.) that can elicit the ‘natural response’
(or unconditioned response-U.C.R) salivating’. The sound of a bell which is a neutral stimulus, not
associated with any specific response originally, when paired with food a number of times, acquires
the characteristics of food and starts eliciting the response of salivation, even when presented
alone. Now we say the dog has been conditioned to the sound of bell and we refer the bell sound
as ‘conditioned stimulus’ (C.S.) and salivation as ‘conditioned response’ (C.R.). Classical conditioning
of Pavlov is also called ‘stimulus substitution’ because we substitute a neutral stimulus, through
the process of ‘contiguity’ (occurrence of two events in quick succession).
Experiment
A hungry dog was brought into a laboratory and food was shown. The sight of food is
smell of the food made the dog salivate. The amount of saliva secreted was measured. The real
experiment started. At one stage before offering the food, the small sound of bell was given to
the dog. When a number of trials continued like this, the dog salivated even without seeing the
food but by just hearing the bell. This is because the dog made an association or connection
between the sound of the bell and the arrival of food. The sequence is as follows:
Food (US) Salivation (UR)
Bell (CS) Listening
Bell (S1) (CS) + Food (S2) (US) Salivation (UR)
Bell (CS) Salivation (CR)
Where,
US means Unconditioned Stimulus i.e. natural
CS means Conditioned Stimulus i. e. artificial
UR means Unconditioned Response
CR means Conditioned Response
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A representative experiment in classical conditioning is that of Little Albert. It took place in

1920 and was carried out by Watson and Rayner. They felt that fear, anger, and love were the
original patterns of emotional reactions in children and developed as they grew older.
Therefore, they decided to experiment with Albert, a small nine months remarkably
undisturbed and in good health. Albert only reacted with fear to a thunderous sound caused by a
steel bar being struck behind him.
Subsequently, they began to present white rats while causing noise. There was a firm
association between these two stimuli that was generalized to others like soft cotton or a seal
coat. Albert had developed a phobia of white or hairy objects or living things. Currently, it is
absolutely forbidden to carry out research like this for obvious ethical reasons.
Imagine that you have dined your favourite dish. Then you lie quietly in bed. But for some
reason totally foreign to your dinner, you vomit several times throughout the night. Most likely,
your favourite food will start to look disgusting. This is an example of a process of classical
conditioning. Has it ever happened to you?
Conditioning means making a connection between an artificial stimulus and natural response.
This becomes possible because a connection is made between an artificial stimulus and a natural
stimulus.
Concept and Principles
i) Principle of Acquisition:
Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually
strengthened. For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog salivate in response to
the sound of a bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the
bell. You can say the response has been acquired as soon as, you can gradually reinforce
the salivation response to make sure the behaviour is well earned.
ii) Principle of Extinction:
Extinction is when the occurrences of conditioned response degrease or disappear. In
classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an
unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food (unconditioned stimulus) had been
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paired with the sound of a whistle (conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke
the conditioned response of hunger. However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of
food), were no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the
conditioned response (hunger) would disappear.
iii) Principle of Spontaneous Recovery:
Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or
period of lessened response. If the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no
longer associated, Extinction will occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery.
iv) Principle of Stimulus Generalization:
Stimulus generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar
response after the response has been conditioned. For example, if a child has been
conditioned to fear a suffered white rabbit, the child will exhibit fear of objects similar to
conditioned stimulus.
v) Principle of Discrimination:
Discrimination is the ability of differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli
that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the bell tone
were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference
between the bell tone and other similar sounds.
Implications of Classical Conditioning
 In day to day life, fear, love, hatred towards an object or phenomenon or event is created
through conditioning.
 Most learning is associated with the process of conditioning i.e. stimulus response
association and substitution.
 The phenomenon of stimulus generalization and discrimination goes on throughout our lives.
 Abnormality in one’s behaviour may to a great extent be the result of conditioning.
 Much of our behaviour in the shape of interests, attitudes, habits, sense of application or
criticism, mood & temperaments is fashioned through conditioning.
 Conditioning helps in learning what is desirable and also unlearning what’s undesirable
Classroom Implications
 Classical conditioning is used in language learning by associating words with picture or
meanings.
 It can be used to develop favorable attitude towards learning, teacher’s subjects and the
school.
 Developing good habits in children such as cleanliness, respect for elders, punctually, etc.
through the use of conditioning.
 Breaking of bad habits and elimination of conditioned fear, through the use of reconditioning
process.
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Operant or Instrumental Conditioning
This type of associative learning has many similarities with the previous one, like the
existence of similar procedures of generalization, discrimination, and extinction. However, in operant
conditioning, the individual is less passive than in the classic conditioning and his responses are
not automatic. It is that the consequences of a person’s behaviour produce changes in their
learning, favouring the repetition of their actions or ceasing to occur. Skinner was an influential
behavioural psychologist who continued to work on the ideas of Pavlov and Watson. He created the
famous Skinner boxes, which were used to experiment with rats. A small dose of food was offered
to these animals each time they hit a bar. At first, the rats pressed the bar out of curiosity or
casually. However, when they realized that whenever they acted like that they were rewarded, they
began to perform this act voluntarily.
Prof. Skinner started his research work on behaviour while he was a graduate in the department of
psychology of the Harvard University. In 1931, he wrote his thesis entitled, The Concept of the
Reflex in Description of the Behaviour. Skinner was a practical psychologist who conducted several
experiments on rats on pigeons. He popularized ‘teaching machines’ in learning in 1954.
Experiment
Skinner at first tested this theory with rats. Later, he experimented the test with pigeons.
With bar and a food tray he constructed a puzzle box and drove a hungry rat into the puzzle
box.
The hungry rat wandered here and there and pushed the bar. The bar and the food tray
had its connections. When the rat pushed the bar down a food pellet fell into the tray and it ate
the food. The rat learned the task of pressing to get food on needs from which we can understand
that reinforcement is needed to achieve a task.
In experiments on pigeons a pigeon was rewarded with a food pellet when it approached a
disc and pecked it. Skinner was able to shape even the behaviour of birds.
In the theory of skinner’s operant conditioning, giving correct response is more important.
This type of conditioning is called instrumental conditioning since the response is instrumental in
drawing unconditioned stimulus. Here stimulus’s is only one. In Pavlov’s classical conditioning
theory, we have two conditioned stimuli which precede the response whereas in Skinner’s operant
conditioning theory. It is one unconditioned stimulus which comes later, desired response is
reinforced by unconditioned stimulus.
The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic
to be a complete explanation of complex human behaviour. He believed that the best way to
understand behaviour is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this
approach operant conditioning.
Ambady K. G. 15
B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of
behaviour by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner identified
three types of responses or operant that can follow behaviour.
 Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the
probability of a behaviour being repeated.
 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behaviour
being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. The term reinforce means to
strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to anything stimulus which strengthens or
increases the probability of a specific response.
 Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being
repeated. Punishment weakens behaviour.
Concepts and Principles
i) Positive reinforcement
Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his skinner
box. The box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved about the box it would
accidently knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop in to a container next
to the lever. The rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in
the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would
repeat the action again. Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence
an individual finds rewarding. Some examples of positive reinforcement are:
 Awarding good grades for work that is well done.
 Allowing students to watch a video for finishing an assignment.
 Verbally rewarding students for their effort and hard work.
 Giving students a 'punch' in their punch card each time they do something well. When the
punch card is full, the student receives a reward.
Ambady K. G. 16
ii) Negative reinforcement
The removal of an unpleasant reinforce can also strengthen behaviour. This is known as
Negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is “rewarding” to
the animal or person. Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops or removes an
unpleasant experience. Some examples of negative reinforcement are:
 Removing recess from students who 'act out' in class.
 Taking points off of work that is turned in late.
 Not allowing a student who is misbehaving to sit with his friends.
 Using a chart to document the number of times a student has misbehaved (using stickers).
When the chart line is full, the student loses a classroom privilege.
iii) Punishment (weakens behaviour)

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or
eliminate a response rather than increase it .it is an adverse event that decreases the behaviour
that it follows. Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant
stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for
instance, deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable behaviour.
Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.
There are many problems with using punishment, such as:
 Punished behaviour is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behaviour returns when punishment is
no longer present.
 Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to cope with problems.
 Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviours, e.g., fear of school.
 Does not necessarily guide toward desired behaviour - reinforcement tells you what to do,
punishment only tells you what not to do.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Imagine a rat in a “Skinner box”. In operant conditioning if no food pellet is delivered
immediately after the lever is pressed then after several attempts the rat stops pressing the lever.
The behaviour has been extinguished. Behaviourists discovered that different patterns (or
schedules) of reinforcement had different effects on the speed of learning and on extinction.
Ferster and Skinner (1957) devised different ways of delivering reinforcement, and found that
this had effects
 The Response Rate - The rate at which the rat pressed the lever (i.e. how hard the rat worked).
 The Extinction Rate - The rate at which lever pressing dies out (i.e. how soon the rat gave up).
Skinner found that the type of reinforcement which produces the slowest rate of extinction
is variable-ratio reinforcement. The type of reinforcement which has the quickest rate of extinction
is continuous reinforcement.
Ambady K. G. 17
 Continuous Reinforcement
An animal/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour occurs, e.g. every
time a lever is pressed a pellet is delivered and then food delivery is shut off.
 Response rate is SLOW
 Extinction rate is FAST
 Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
Behaviour is reinforced only after the behaviour occurs a specified number of times. E.g. one
reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses, e.g. after every 5th response. For
example a child receives a star for every five words spelt correctly.
Response rate is FAST
Extinction rate is MEDIUM
 Fixed Interval Reinforcement
One reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response
has been made. An example is being paid by the hour. Another example would be every 15
minutes (half hour, hour, etc.) a pellet is delivered (providing at least one lever press has been
made) then food delivery is shut off.
Response rate is MEDIUM
Extinction rate is MEDIUM
 Variable Ratio Reinforcement
Behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times. For examples, gambling or
fishing.
 Response rate is FAST
 Extinction rate is SLOW (very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability
 Variable Interval Reinforcement
Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an unpredictable
amount of time has passed, e.g. on average every 5 minutes. An example is a self employed
person being paid at unpredictable times.
 Response rate is FAST
Extinction rate is SLOW
Educational Implications
 For developing the motivation in the students for classroom work by reinforcement like
praise, blames, grades etc., should be used.
 Skinner’s principles of learning focus attention on the individual’s pace of learning. Teaching
machines and the programmed learning system have been devised on the basis of the theory
of learning founded by skinner.
 In the classroom, the principle of immediacy of reinforcement is very important. Praise for
a job done well given immediately can be a stronger reinforce or motivator than a grade
given much latter.
Ambady K. G. 18
 The schools should practice the principle of operant conditioning namely to destroy the
elements of fear from school atmosphere by using positive reinforcement.
 Desired behaviours of students should be reinforced at once to increase the likelihood or
reoccurrence of the behaviour in future. Each step of the behaviour is to be reinforced.
Associative Learning and Behaviour
Associative learning is a form of conditioning, a theory that states behaviour can be
modified or learned based on a stimulus and a response. This means that behaviour can be learned
or unlearned based on the response it generates. For example, a student might know that if she
misbehaves in class (stimulus), she will not be permitted to go out for recess (response).
This type of learning can be helpful in classroom management. Much like conditioning,
associative memory can be called upon based on the relationship between two stimuli. Using both
positive and negative reinforcers (stimuli used to change behaviour), teachers can help students
modify their behaviour.
Associative learning: Characteristics

 Cognitive Processes are often overlooked: The main theorists of associative learning and their
followers prefer to stick to observable events, such as behaviour and the environment.
Everything that is linked to cognitive processes remains relatively hidden and not analyzed by
them.
 It was investigated and explained by behaviourists: Behaviourism is one of the main focuses
of psychology. Behaviourists discarded introspection to study this process. They were
particularly concerned about achieving quantifiable results.
 It is studied scientifically: The main theorists of associative learning worked laboratories under
extremely rigorous conditions, relying especially on experiments with animals.
 It is one of the bases in education: Rewards and punishments are often used while teaching.
However, teaching is not the only profession that uses associative learning.
Associative learning: Applications

1. Examples of associative learning in the classroom
Associative learning in children has been and continues to be studied in depth. Teachers
often use positive reinforcements such as putting star stickers on children who have behaved
extraordinarily well. On the other hand, not reinforcing children who shout deliberately for attention
or punish those who annoy their peers.
Ambady K. G. 19
2. Examples of associative learning in therapy
There are several therapies based on associative learning. For example, systematic
desensitization is a technique based on the principles of classical conditioning. It was created by
Wolpe in 1958 and is used in therapy to reduce anxiety symptoms and avoidance behaviours
manifested by people with problems such as phobias.
If a person feels an intense ffear
ear of heights (acrophobia), the psychologist can apply this
technique. You will choose an answer that is incompatible with anxiety, such as relaxation. He will
then ask his patient to imagine situations in which he progressively approaches the object of hhis
fear.
The affected person should imagine their approach as clearly as possible and assess their
anxiety. Meanwhile, you have to try to relax to be able to gradually face your phobia. Ultimately,
the end of this procedure is for the patient to stop assoc
associating
iating negative feelings with the object of
his fear.
3. Day-to-day
day examples of associative learning
If you are listening to a particular song while telling you bad news, it is very likely that
when you hear it again you immediately remember that event and how you felt. f Examples of
associative learning can be found in virtually every area of our lives.
Associative learning bias

Associative learning can also be viewed from a more cognitive approach. For example, it is
possible to analyze cognitive biases (w(which
hich are deviations in the usual process of reasoning) from
this perspective. They originate when we associate one idea with another without adequately taking
into account all relevant information.
For example, if a redhead steps on us by mistake in the ssubway ubway and since then we
consider that all redheads are clumsy, we will be acting under the effect of a cognitive bias. On
the other hand, if we learn to blame ourselves for any negative events that take place, it is
possible to give rise to biases so negat
negative
ive that they become cognitive distortions.
Associative learning- Operant Conditioning
Ambady K. G. 20
Observational Learning
Observational learning describes the process of learning through watching others, retaining
the information, and then later replicating the behaviours that were observed.
There are a number of learning theories, such as classical conditioning and operant
conditioning that emphasize how direct experience, reinforcement, or punishment leads to learning.
However, a great deal of learning happens indirectly.
For example, think of how a child watches his parents’ wave at one another and then
imitates these actions himself. A tremendous amount of learning happens through this process of
watching and imitating others. In psychology, this is known as observational learning.
Observational learning is sometimes also referred to as shaping, modelling, and vicarious
reinforcement. While it can take place at any point in life, it tends to be the most common during
childhood as children learn from the authority figures and peers in their lives.
It also plays an important role in the socialization process, as children learn how to behave
and respond to others by observing how their parents and other caregivers interact with each other
and with other people.
Observational learning has been a part of the human experience for a long time, but it
wasn't until somewhat recently that psychologists began to examine this phenomenon closely in an
effort to understand it better. Albert Bandura, a Canadian-born psychologist, gets credit for
developing and popularizing Observational Learning Theory. Bandura did most of his work in the
latter half of the 20th century. Bandura theorized that observational learning occurs in four distinct
steps: attention, retention, motor reproduction and reinforcement. These four concepts used in
sequence allow organisms to acquire the ability to engage in new, at times complex, behaviours
simply through observation.
Observational or social learning is based primarily on the work of Albert Bandura (1977). He
and his colleagues were able to demonstrate through a variety of experiments that the application
of consequences was not necessary for learning to take place. Rather learning could occur through
the simple processes of observing someone else's activity. This work provided the foundation for
Bandura's (1986) later work in social cognition. Bandura identified three basic models of
observational learning:
 A live model, which involves an actual individual demonstrating or acting out a behavior.
 A verbal instructional model, which involves descriptions and explanations of a behavior.
 A symbolic model, which involves real or fictional characters displaying behaviors in books,
films, television programs, or online media.
Ambady K. G. 21
Stages
Bandura's social cognitive learning theory states that there are four stages involved in
observational learning:
1. Attention: Observers cannot learn unless they pay attention to what's happening around
them. This process is influenced by characteristics of the model, such as how much one
likes or identifies with the model, and by characteristics of the observer, such as the
observer's expectations or level of emotional arousal.
2. Retention/Memory: Observers must not only recognize the observed behaviour but also
remember it at some later time. This process depends on the observer's ability to code or
structure the information in an easily remembered form or to mentally or physically rehearse
the model's actions.
3. Initiation/Motor: Observers must be physically and/intellectually capable of producing the act.
In many cases the observer possesses the necessary responses. But sometimes, reproducing
the model's actions may involve skills the observer has not yet acquired. It is one thing to
carefully watch a circus juggler, but it is quite another to go home and repeat those acts.
4. Motivation: Coaches also give pep talks, recognizing the importance of motivational processes
to learning.
Bandura clearly distinguishes between learning and performance. Unless motivated, a person
does not produce learned behaviour. This motivation can come from external reinforcement, such as
the experimenter's promise of reward in some of Bandura's studies, or the bribe of a parent. Or it
can come from vicarious reinforcement, based on the observation that models are rewarded. High-
status models can affect performance through motivation. For example, girls aged 11 to 14 performed
better on a motor performance task when they thought it was demonstrated by a high-status
cheerleader than by a low-status model.
Some have even added a step between attention and retention involving encoding behaviour.
Observational learning leads to a change in an individual's behaviour along three dimensions:
1. An individual thinks about a situation in a different way and may have incentive to react to
it.
2. The change is a result of a person's direct experiences as opposed to being in-born.
3. For the most part, the change an individual has made is permanent
Effect on behaviour
According to Bandura's social cognitive learning theory, observational learning can affect
behaviour in many ways, with both positive and negative consequences. It can teach completely
new behaviours, for one. It can also increase or decrease the frequency of behaviours that have
previously been learned. Observational learning can even encourage behaviours that were previously
forbidden (for example, the violent behaviour towards the Bobo doll that children imitated in Albert
Bandura's study). Observational learning can also influence behaviours that are similar to, but not
Ambady K. G. 22
identical to, the ones being modelled. For example, seeing a model excel at playing the piano may
motivate an observer to play the saxophone.
What Bandura found was that children were more likely to imitate the adult's violent actions
when the adult either received no consequences or when the adult was actually rewarded for their
violent actions. Children who saw film clips in which the adult was punished for this aggressive
behaviour were less likely to repeat the behaviours later on.
Examples
 A child watches his mother folding the laundry. He later picks up some clothing and imitates
folding the clothes.
 A young couple goes on a date to a Chinese restaurant. They watch other diners in the
restaurant eating with chopsticks and copy their actions in order to learn out to use these
utensils.
 A boy watches another boy on the playground get in trouble for hitting another child. He
learns from observing this interaction that he should not hit others.
 A group of children plays hide-and-seek at recess. One child joins the group, but has never
played before and is not sure what to do. After observing the other children play, she quickly
learns the basic rules of the game and joins in.
Influential Factors
According to Bandura's research, there are a number of factors that increase the likelihood
that behaviour will be imitated. We are more likely to imitate:
 People we perceive as warm and nurturing.
 People who receive rewards for their behaviour.
 When you have been rewarded for imitating the behaviour in the past.
 When we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities.
 People who are in an authoritative position in our lives.
 People who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests.
 People who we admire or who are of a higher social status.
 When the situation is confusing, ambiguous, or unfamiliar.
Using Observational Learning for Good

Observational learning is often linked to negative or undesirable behaviours, but it can also
be used to inspire positive behaviours.
Television programming has been used to promote a range of healthy behaviours in areas
throughout the world including Latin America, Brazil, India, and Africa. For example, non-profit
organizations have produced programming aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS transmission, reducing
pollution, and promoting family planning.
Observational learning can be a powerful learning tool. When we think about the concept of
learning, we often talk about direct instruction or methods that rely on reinforcement and
punishment. But a great deal of learning takes place much more subtly and relies on watching the
people around us and modelling their actions. This learning method can be applied in a wide range
of settings including job training, education, counselling, and psychotherapy.
Ambady K. G. 23
Habitual learning
The concept of habit learning has developed through the fruitful interaction of researchers in
several intellectual domains, including animal learning, cognitive psychology, cognitive
neuropsychology, and behavioural neuroscience.
The lay definition of ‘habit’ as a synonym for stable, persistent behaviour is unsatisfactory
from a psychological perspective because it offers no explanatory mechanism for the persistence of
behaviour. Social psychologists use the term ‘habit’ to refer to a phenomenon whereby behaviour
persists because it has become an automatic response to particular, regularly encountered contexts
that are acquired through associative learning. Repeatedly and satisfactorily performing a behaviour
(e.g., cycling to work) in a given context (e.g., on work mornings) reinforces a mental context
behavioural-response association.
From the social psychological perspective, habitual behaviours are built on three ‘pillars’. First,
their formation requires repetition. Second, once formed, habit directs behaviour automatically, i.e.,
habitual behaviours can proceed with minimal conscious monitoring. Third, habitual behaviours are
context-dependent; only the situational cues with which the behaviour is associated can activate the
habit impulse.
Meaning of Habit
Habits are found both in man and animal. It is acquired by the living organism. As instincts
motivate one to do various activities, similarly one’s habit also motivate him to do different
activities. Habit is the result of practice of one’s own individual like.
According to James, habit is man’s second nature. According to Behaviourists, “As instincts
motivate man for a specific experience. Similarly habits also make him restless to get back some
past experience.”
Mc. Dougall says, every habit is formed as a result of some instinctive activity so habit is
always related to some instinct.
Characteristics of Habit
The following are some of the characteristics of habit:
 Uniformity
Habit brings uniformity in the activities of an individual. There is a specific habit in our
mode of talking, sleeping, walking and other activities.
 Facility
There is a facility in the performance of an activity if it is due to some habit. In the
beginning it is difficult to ride a bicycle but after the formation of habit, it becomes quite easy.
Ambady K. G. 24
 Interest
The basis of habit is interest. At the beginning of schooling, the child runs away from
the school, but after the formation of habit, going to school becomes interesting to him.
 Independence of attention
Due to our habit we do many things which require no attention at all.
Role of Habit
Habit plays a vital role in our day to day life. Many of the behaviours of an individual are
according to his habits. The development of character depends on our habits and sentiments. A
man who has good habits is supposed to be a man of character. He is respected in the society.
Habit is a great means of our progress in educational situation. It is easy to learn reading
and writing during childhood. But learning is very difficult during adulthood or old age. Habit
strengthens learning activities. Many great things in the world have been achieved through habits.
During early years a child learns alphabets due to habits. At later period different hard learning
tasks can be overcome by a child through habits.
Nature of Habit
A habit is the product of repeated voluntary actions. When a voluntary action is repeated
very often, it is turned into a habit. Voluntary actions involve an effort of will or volition. But
when they become habitual, they dispense with the guidance of attention and volition, and become
automatic. Habitual actions are acquired.
They are sometimes called secondarily automatic actions, because they are uniform and
mechanical, and are performed with ease and facility. Running, reading, writing, type-writing,
swimming, etc., are habitual actions. They are the results of repeated voluntary actions. They are
learned actions as distinguished from unlearned actions. Instinctive acts also may by repeated and
fixed as habits.
Relationship between Habit and Actions
 Habit and Instinct
Habits and instincts are alike marked by uniformity and facility. They are both mechanical
and accurate. They both give rise to periodic cravings, as in smoking, drinking, etc. They both
dispense with the guidance of volition. They are non-voluntary in their nature.
But there is an important difference between them. Instincts are innate, while habits are
learned by repeated voluntary actions. Sometimes instincts are said to be racial habits while
habits are said to be individual habits.
 Habit and Reflex Action
A habit and a reflex action are alike prompt and uniform in character. Both are automatic
and mechanical. Both are without the guidance of consciousness, attention, and volition. But the
reflex action is native, while the habitual action is acquired.
Ambady K. G. 25
The former is simple, while the latter is complex. For example, swimming is a very
complex action, while sneezing is a simple action. Swimming is a habitual action, while sneezing
is a sensation-reflex.
 Habit and Voluntary Action
A habit is the product of repeated voluntary actions. It is mechanical and uniform in nature.
But a voluntary action is the new response to a novel situation. The new response is exploratory
and tentative, while habit is fixed and definite. The new response is slow and uncertain, while
habit is fairly quick and accurate. The new response is variable, while habit is regular.
The new response is attended by effort and strained attention, while habit is easy and
often, only half-conscious. The new response is apt to be unsatisfying to the one who makes it,
whole habit is comfortable and a source of satisfaction. To break a habit is most uncomfortable. To
do it we must form a counter-habit, or opposite habit.
 Habit, Character and Conduct
Habits are results of repeated voluntary actions. They are the foundation of character.
Good habits build good character. Bad (habits build bad character. Character is the permanent
bent of the mind, constituted by settled habits of will. It is a system of permanent tendencies
or dispositions to thought, emotions and actions voluntarily acquired.
Character is the result of habits of thought, emotion and will. Ethical writers lay stress
on habits of the will in the formation of character.
But habits of thought and emotional habits are equally important factors in the formation
of character McDougall emphasize the importance of sentiments, especially the sentiment or self-
regard, as the foundation of character. The sentiment of self-regard is the highest sentiment
under which all other sentiments are organized.
Character is different from nature. Nature is innate, but character is acquired. Character is
acquired by an individual who has voluntary actions. It is built up by a person out of his
natural impulses by controlling and regulating them by reason.
Natural impulses are converted into desires by self-consciousness. The desires are turned
by the self into volitions. These volitions are converted into habits by repetition. Habits produce
a permanent disposition which we call character. Natural impulses are the given elements which
supply the self with raw materials for the formation of character.
Character, on the other hand, is the acquired habit of controlling and regulating these
impulsive tendencies by will or volition in conformity with consciously conceived ends. Character
is the habitual mode in which the will regulates natural impulses and desires.
It is the result of volitions, which, are, in their turn, regulated by it. The self-acquired
character is the result of volitions. Volitions are determined by the character of the self.
Character is expressed in conduct. Conduct is the outer expression of character. It
includes voluntary and habitual actions. They are overt or outward actions. They are determined
by character of the self. Character is not absolutely fixed and permanent.
Ambady K. G. 26
It grows and develops. Free acts of will alter the character already formed. These
volitions are partly determined by past character. But they are free volitions of the self, though
they are influenced by past character. Thus, neither character nor conduct is fixed and
unalterable. They are plastic and modifiable. They are modified by each other.
Functions of Habits
Many bodily habits e.g., habits of personal cleanliness are fixed during childhood. Habits of
dressing, behaving with others, moral and religious habits, are fixed during adolescence. Professional
habits are naturally acquired later. The people belonging to different professions have their
characteristic gestures, attitudes, and habits of thought and action. These habits help mental
development.
Habits play an important role in mental development. They set the mind free to acquire
knowledge of new things and perform new actions in new situations. The mind can pass from
victory to victory on account of habits which are handed over to the body. Without habits we can
never make any progress.
But habits are also a drag to mental progress. They keep the mind within the fixed grooves
of thought and action. They make the mind conservative. So the mind should be on the alert to
respond to new ideas and new ways, of life in novel situations.
The mind should be alive to broader and truer ideas of life and cultivate wider and wider
interests. It should not be a slave of habits. When Harvey discovered circulation of blood in the
body, men above forty shook their heads, but younger men readily accepted the truth of his new
discovery.
Types of Habits
Habits are divided into three types depending upon the nature of activities.
 Motor habits: These habits refer to muscular activities of an individual. These are the habits
related to our physical actions such as, standing, sitting, running, walking, doing exercise,
maintaining particular postures of body, etc.
 Intellectual habits: These are the habits related to psychological process requiring our
intellectual abilities such as good observation, accurate perception, logical thinking, using of
reasoning ability before taking decisions and testing conclusions, etc.
 Habits of character: We express some of our characters in the form of habits. For example,
helping others who are in need, trusting people, being honest, talking in a friendly way, time
management, hard working, keeping our dress clean and tidy, etc. These habits will have
essence of feelings and emotions; hence these are also called as emotional habits.
Habit Formation
Habit is a simple form of learning—a change of behaviour with experience. It is defined as
‘an automatic response to a specific situation, acquired normally as a result of repetition and
learning’. When behaviour is developed to the extent that it is highly automatic, it is called habit.
Generally habit does not require our conscious attention.
Ambady K. G. 27
The term habit is strictly applicable only to motor responses, but often applied more widely
to habits of thought, perhaps more correctly termed attitudes.
Habits play important role in our daily life. All of us acquire different habits. They are the
part of our life.
Habits may be good or bad. Hard working, writing, reading, regular exercise, meditation, etc.
are examples of good habits. Alcoholism, drug addiction, lethargy, procrastination, telling lies,
dishonesty, stealing, deceiving others, escapism, etc. are examples of bad habits.
Basis of Habit Formation
Habit formation may be explained in two terms—Physiological and Psychological.
The physiological basis is related to our nervous system. According to this, when an act is
repeated more number of times, a clear nervous connection is formed, leading to a path way. This
makes smooth shifting of nerve energy, may be from sensory to motor.
According to Hull, when a stimulus is repeated and response is elicited, the connection
becomes strengthened. Eventually it brings about an organization in the nervous system known as
habit, otherwise called learning.
The psychological theories explain that habits are acquired dispositions. According to these
theories, any learning process or experience gained by an individual is retained. When this learning
experience is repeated it is firmly retained. This ability to retain helps us to get it strengthened
and becomes a habit.
Laws of Habit-Formation of Habit

William James gives four laws of formation of habits. They are the following:
 Begin a new habit with a firm resolution. If you make a start with a firm determination, it
often carries you along and fixes the habit. If you want to rise early in the morning, first
make a firm resolve to do it.
 Seize the first opportunity to put the new resolve into practice. When you have made a firm
resolve to rise early, begin it the very next day. Do not wait for the first day of the next
months or the New Year’s Day to start to work. If you do so, your resolution will become
weak and inspiration will vanish.
 Never allow an exception to occur till the new habit is well-learned. Once you have started
rising early, continue the action from day to day and never allow an exception on any
pretext. If you break it once, the pathway that is formed in the nervous system will become
faint, your resolve will become weak, and you may revert to your old habit. But do not permit
an exception to occur, and the new habit will be formed.
 Keep yourself young by a little free practice every day. In order to cultivate the strength of
mind, you should perform a difficult action every day which requires a great effort of will.
Habits make us conservative. We move in fixed grooves of thought and action. But we must
be open to new ideas, to new methods. We can best do this according to James, by a little
practice of doing something new and difficult every day.
Ambady K. G. 28
Measures for Effective Habit Formation
William James, the famous American psychologist has suggested the following measures for
habit formation.
 Make a good start: ‘Good beginning is half done’ is a premise. Accordingly to learn a habit
we must make a good start. We should have strong motivation and determination of mind.
We should not have oscillation of mind. For example, a nursing student decides to start to
study at a fixed time for a fixed length of period. He or she should start as decided and
should not hesitate on the first day itself.
 Keep regular practice: It is essential to practice the new habit regularly until it becomes a
routine in our life. Postponement or interruption should be avoided, because it weakens our
habit formation. Example, giving some lame excuse like headache, lack of interest or mood
and postpone the work- should be avoided.
 Choose favourable environment: Good habit formation depends upon the encouraging
atmosphere also. Example, for a student who wants to work hard, there must be a company
of hard working students and not lazy fellows who have no interest in studies.
 Do not stop till the goal is achieved: Once a habit is formed it is to be strengthened. Hence
it should be continued until it is firmly rooted. Meanwhile we should enjoy the new habit,
so that we find more interest to continue practice. For this purpose, we may keep thinking
of positive effects of that new habit. Example, understanding the subject matter, scoring
good marks, getting good results, achieving good job, etc.
Characteristics of Habitual Learning

 Habitual actions are uniform actions. Voluntary actions vary in their nature in order to adjust
the organism to new situations. But habitual actions performed in the same way. A person
talks or writes in the same way.
 Habitual actions are performed promptly. The stronger is the habit, the quicker is the motor
response to the situation. The soldiers who parade every day perform the required movements
quickly as soon as they hear the commands of an officer.
 Habitual actions are performed not only promptly, but also accurately. The stronger is the
habit the more precise is the motor response. The soldiers perform the precise movements in
a parade in execution of the officer’s commands.
 Habitual actions are performed automatically without the guidance of attention and
consciousness. If they are attended to, they are hindered. When we attend to buttoning our
coats or tying the laces of our shoes, the normally habitual actions are thwarted and lose
Ambady K. G. 29
their automatic nature. But habitual actions are started by attention, and carried on
automatically without attention.
 Habitual actions are performed with ease and facility. As habits are firmly established, they
diminish fatigue. The miners do not feel fatigue when they are accustomed to their work. The
chief difference between the skilled and the unskilled workman is that the former trains his
brain and the letters trains his muscles.
 The stronger is the habit, the greater is the difficulty of breaking it. An inveterate drunkard
finds it extremely difficult to break the habit of drinking. Habits leave mental dispositions and
physiological dispositions which compel the individual to perform them.
 A habitual opium-eater feels an irresistible impulse to take doses of opium regularly. Habits
resist modification. They are characterised by resistance to modification.
Habits as basic principle in education

William James wrote a practical book Talks to Teachers (1899), originally a series of lectures,
giving practical advice to teachers. The difference is that psychology had now become, through his
efforts, a science, and its principles could be used in educational theory.
It was here that he put forward his now famous theory on learning by doing. This was to
heavily influence John Dewey, and the future of educational theory through to Kolb and others. The
book doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, as psychology is a science; teaching an art. But
some psychological principles are clear.
Education is, above all, the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to
behaviour. Children should not be expected to learn by rote. Their experiences must be turned into
useful and habitual behaviour through action. The learner must listen, but then take notes,
experiment, write essays, measure, consult and apply. He recommends learning through work and
the creation of real things or dealings with real people in a shop, to give you educational
experiences beyond mere theory. He was in fact a firm advocate of vocationally oriented schools
and work-based learning (relevant today or not?).
The supervision of the acquisition of habit is another of his principles. Habit is the
enormous flywheel of society, and should be exercised until securely rooted. The result of almost
all learning is this habitual behaviour. Association, interest, attention, will and motivation; these are
James’s driving forces in education. In addition there’s memory, curiosity, emulation,
constructiveness, pride, fear and love - all impulses that must be turned to good use.
This is not to say that he favored a lazy, or what he called ‘soft pedagogics. He recognized
that learning was sometimes hard, even arduous. William James devotes a chapter of ‘The Principles
of Psychology’ to habit and outlines some principles for the acquisition and sustainability of good
Ambady K. G. 30
habits, including; launch yourself with as strong and decided an initiative as possible, never suffer
an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life, seize the very first possible
opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may
experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain.
Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Habit Formation

Advantages
 Habits help us for smooth functioning
 Habitual actions cost us little effort and less strain
 Habits do not require our conscious attention
 Habitual actions save our time
 Habits make our movements simpler, quicker and more accurate
 Our activities do not become tiresome (no fatigue)
 Since the activities become automatic, we do not need our higher mental processes like
thinking, reasoning, creativity, etc. for these activities and such abilities can be used for
other better activities.
 Good habits provide feelings of stableness and security.
Disadvantages
 There is danger of becoming slaves of our habits
 There will not be any scope for thinking or creativity
 We cannot learn new things
 Our actions become mechanical
 Habits interfere in our other activities
 We feel highly disturbed when we have to make any adjustment or change in our routine
like eating, sleeping, etc.
 There may be negative effects both physical and psychological. For example, if there is any
change in timing of sleep, food, etc. we feel highly disturbed both physically and mentally
such as sleeplessness, indigestion, nausea, mood upset, etc.
Ambady K. G. 31
Information Processing Approach
Information processing theory discusses the mechanisms through which learning occurs.
Specifically, it focuses on aspects of memory encoding and retrieval.
The basic idea of Information processing theory is that the human mind is like a computer
or information processor — rather than behaviourist notions that people merely responding to
stimuli.
These theories equate thought mechanisms to that of a computer, in that it receives input,
processes, and delivers output. Information gathered from the senses (input), is stored and
processed by the brain, and finally brings about a behavioural response
Information processing theory has been developed and broadened over the years. Most
notable in the inception of information processing models is Atkinson and Shriffin’s ‘stage theory,’
presenting a sequential method, as discussed above, of input-processing-output. Though influential,
the linearity of this theory reduced the complexity of the human brain, and thus various theories
were developed in order to further assess the inherent processes.
Following this line of thought, Craik and Lockhart issued the ‘level of processing’ model.
They emphasize that information s expanded upon (processed) in various ways (perception,
attention, labelling, and meaning) which affect the ability to access the information later on. In
other words, the degree to which the information was elaborated upon will affect how well the
information was learned.
Bransford broadened this idea by adding that information will be more easily retrieved if the
way it is accessed is similar to the way in which it was stored. The next major development in
information processing theory is Rumelhart and McClelland’s connectionist model, which is supported
by current neuroscience research. It states that information is stored simultaneously in different
areas of the brain, and connected as a network. The amount of connections a single piece of
information has will affect the ease of retrieval.
The Information Processing model places emphasis on how information entering through the
senses is encoded, stored, retrieved and utilised by the brain. Thus, learning becomes the process
of committing our symbolic representations to memory where they may be processed and the study
of learning is primarily approach through the study of memory. In Information Processing memory is
viewed from a computer model perspective by which the mind takes in information, performs
operations on it to change its form and content, stores the information, retrieves it when needed,
and generates responses to it. It is hypothesised that processing involves three stages: Encoding
(collecting and representing information); Storage (holding information); Retrieval (obtaining the
information when needed); and a Control Process that determines how and when information will
flow through the system. This model proposes that information is processed and stored in 3 stages:
Ambady K. G. 32
Theories of Information processing approach

While cognitive psychology is the dominant school of thought today, the information
processing is the dominant view within this area. The information processing approach focuses on
the study of the structure and function of mental processing within specific contacts, environments,
or ecologies.
Cognition can be defined as “the act or process of knowing in the broadest sense;
specifically, an intellectual process by which knowledge is gained from perception or ideas”
(webster’s dictionary).
There are four major theories of how we humans process information:
 Stage approach
 Levels-of -processing theory
 Parallel distributed processing theory
 Connectionistic model
1. The stage theory

The focus of this model is on how information is stored in memory. The model is based on the
work of Atkinson and Shriffin (1968) and proposes that information is processed and stored in
three stages
 Sensory memory
 Short-term memory
 Long-term memory
Ambady K. G. 33
2. The levels-of-processing theory
The levels-of-processing theory is based on the work of Craik and Lockhart (1972). The
major proposition is all stimuli that activate a sensory receptor cell are permanently stored in
memory. According to these researchers, the issue is not storage, but retrieval. Rather than
hypothesize that information is processed in stages, Craik and Lockhart believe that retrieval of
information is based on the amount elaboration used as information is processed. This is done on
a continuum from perception, through attention, to labeling, and finally meaning.
3. Parallel distributed processing theory
The parallel-distributed processing model states that information is processed simultaneously by
several different paths of the memory system, rather than sequentially as hypothesized by Atkinson-
Shiffrin. The stage theory model discussed in this differs slightly from that first proposed by
Atkinson and Shriffin in order to incorporate this principle.
4. Connectionistic theory
The connectionistic model proposed by Rumelharart and McClelland (1986) extends the
parallel-distributed processing model. This model emphasizes the fact that information is stored in
multiple locations throughout the brain in the form of networks of connections. It is one of the
dominant forms of current research in cognitive psychology and is consistent with the most recent
brain research. It is also consistent with the levels-of-processing approach in the more connection
to a single idea or concept; the more likely it is to be remembered.
While there is much disagreement among the various schools of thought related to how
human beings process information, there are few general principles about which almost all
researchers agree.
The general model of information processing theory includes three components:
 Sensory memory
In sensory memory, information is gathered via the senses through a process called
transduction. Through receptor cell activity, it is altered into a form of information that the brain
could process. These memories, usually unconscious, last for a very short amount of time, ranging
up to three seconds. Our senses are constantly bombarded with large amounts of information. Our
sensory memory acts as a filter, by focusing on what is important, and forgetting what is
unnecessary. Sensory information catches our attention, and thus progresses into working memory,
only if it is seen as relevant, or is familiar.
 Working Memory / Short Term Memory
Baddeley (2001) issued a model of working memory as consisting of three components. The
executive controls system oversees all working memory activity, including selection of information,
method of processing, meaning, and finally deciding whether to transfer it to long term memory or
forget it. Two counterparts of this system are the auditory loop, where auditory information is
Ambady K. G. 34
processed, and the visual-spatial check pad, where visual information is processed. Sensory
memories pieces or chunks of information. Information is maintained in working memory through
maintenance or elaborative rehearsal. Maintenance refers to repetition, while elaboration refers to the
organization of information (such as chunking or chronology).
The processing that occurs in working memory is affected by a number of factors. Firstly,
individuals have varying levels of cognitive load, or the amount of mental effort they can engage in
at a given moment, due to individual characteristics and intellectual capacities. Secondly, information
that has been repeated many times becomes automatic and thus does not require much cognitive
resources (e.g. riding a bike). Lastly, according to the task at hand, individuals use selective
processing to focus attention on information that is highly relevant and necessary.
 Long term memory
Long term memory includes various types of information: declarative (semantic and episodic),
procedural (how to do something), and imagery (mental images). As opposed to the previous
memory constructs, long term memory has unlimited space. The crucial factor of long term memory
is how well organized the information is. This is affected by proper encoding (elaboration processes
in transferring to long term memory) and retrieval processes (scanning memory for the information
and transferring into working memory so that it could e used). As emphasized in Bransford’s work,
the degree of similarity between the way information was encoded and the way it is being
accessed will shape the quality of retrieval processes. In general, we remember a lot less
information than is actually stored there.
General Principles
 The first is the assumption of a limited capacity of the mental system. This means that the
amount of information that can be processed by the system is constrained in some very
important ways. Bottlenecks, or restrictions in the flow and processing of information, occur at
very specific points.
 Second principle is that a control mechanism is required to oversee the encoding, transformation,
processing, storage, retrieval and utilization of information. That is, not all of the processing
capacity of the system is available; an executive function that oversees this process will use up
some of this capability. When one is learning a new task or is confronted with a new
environment, the executive function requires more processing power than when one is doing a
routine task or is in a familiar environment.
 Third principle is that there is a two-way flow of information as we try to make sense of the
world around us. We constantly use information that we gather through the senses (often
referred to as bottom-up processing) and information we have stored in memory (often called
top-down processing) in a dynamic process as we construct meaning about our environment and
our relations to it. This is somewhat analogous to the difference between inductive reasoning
Ambady K. G. 35
(going from specific instances to a general conclusion) and deductive reasoning (going from a
general principle to specific examples.) A similar distinction can be made between using
information we derive from the senses and that generated by our imaginations.
 Fourth principle generally accepted by cognitive psychologists is that the human organism has
been genetically prepared to process and organize information in specific ways. For example, a
human infant is more likely to look at a human face than any other stimulus. Given that the
field of focus of a human infant is 12 to 18 inches, one can surmise that this is an important
aspect of the infant's survival. Other research has discovered additional biological predispositions
to process information. For example, language development is similar in all human infants
regardless of language spoken by adults or the area in which they live (e.g., rural versus urban,
Africa versus Europe.) All human infants with normal hearing babble and coo, generate first
words, begin the use of telegraphic speech (e.g., ball gone), and over generalize (e.g., using
"goed to the store" when they had previously used "went to the store") at approximately the
same ages. The issue of language development is an area where cognitive and behavioral
psychologists as well as cognitive psychologists with different viewpoints have fought many
battles regarding the processes underlying human behavior. Needless to say the discussion
continues.
Implications of Information Processing Approach
Information processing approach is based on the idea that humans process the information they
receive, rather than merely responding to stimuli. Some of the implications are –
Principle Example
1. Gain the students' attention.  Use cues to signal when you are ready to begin.
 Move around the room and use voice inflections.
2. Bring to mind relevant prior learning.  Review previous day's lesson.
 Have a discussion about previously covered
content.
3. Point out important information.  Provide handouts.
 Write on the board or use transparencies.
4. Present information in an organized  Show a logical sequence to concepts and skills.
manner.  Go from simple to complex when presenting new
material.
5. Show students how to categorize  Present information in categories.
(chunk) related information.  Teach inductive reasoning.
6. Provide opportunities for students to  Connect new information to something already
elaborate on new information. known.
 Look for similarities and differences among
concepts.
Ambady K. G. 36
7. Show students how to use coding  Make up silly sentence with first letter of each
when memorizing lists. word in the list.
 Use mental imagery techniques such as the
keyword method.
8. Provide for repetition of learning.  State important principles several times in
different ways during presentation of information
(STM).
 Have items on each day's lesson from previous
lesson (LTM).
 Schedule periodic reviews of previously learned
concepts and skills (LTM).
9. Provide opportunities for over learning  Use daily drills for arithmetic facts.
of fundamental concepts and skills.  Play form of trivial pursuit with content related to
class.
Robert Gagne and Information Processing model

The work of Robert Gagne has been particularly influential in the design of instructional
material. Gagne's theory is based on the Information Processing model. It describes the set of
factors that influence learning. Collectively they are called the Conditions of Learning.
There are three main elements in Gagne's theory:
a) taxonomy or classification of learning outcomes;
b) internal and external factors necessary to achieve the learning outcomes;
c) Nine events of instruction which are used as a template to develop and deliver a unit of
instruction.
The factors necessary to achieve the learning outcomes are divided into internal and external.
The internal factors consist of the previous learning that has taken place. External factors include
the stimulation provided by others (e.g. teachers) to recall, inform and guide the learner, the
meaningfulness of the task and learner motivation.
Gagne identifies five major categories of learning:
 Verbal information: reciting something from memory
 Intellectual Skills
 Cognitive strategies: inventing or selecting a particular mental process to solve a problem or
accomplish a task
 Attitudes: choosing to behave in a way that reflects a newly-acquired values or beliefs
 Motor skills: performing a physical task to some specified standard
Ambady K. G. 37
Learning by Insight
The theory of Insight Learning was first proposed by German-American psychologist, one of
the founders of Gestalt psychology, Wolfgang Köhler. Insight learning is among various methods of
Cognitive learning process, which is a fundamental aspect of Cognitive Psychology.
This theory is related to the cognitive type of theory of learning. The main exponents are
Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka and Max Wertheimer.
This theory advocates that when a particular situation is being learnt, it does not help to
learn it in parts but it helps to learn its whole. Learning is an exploratory, purposive and creative
activity but not a trial and error method of activity. Learning means, ‘Reorganization of the
perceptual field”. Learning is dependent upon intelligence of the individuals.
C.V. Good defines gestalt configuration, as total structure, form or shape, a term designating
an undivided articulate as a whole that cannot be made by the more addition of independent
elements, the nature of each element depending on its relationship to the whole. The term ‘gestalt’
means a whole, a total composition. According to this theory, an individual learns an object as a
whole, a single entity, not in parts or bits. In other words, an individual’s understanding of an
object comprehends the whole object, not merely parts or bits of the object. This theory can be
summed up in the succinct statement: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’
Insight learning refers to the sudden realization of the solution of any problem without
repeated trials or continuous practices.
To further elaborate on its definition, insight learning is the type of learning, in which one
draws on previous experience and also seems to involve a new way of perceiving logical and
cause-and-effect relationship.
Insight is an awareness of key relationships between cause and effect, which comes after
assembling the relevant information and either overt or covert testing of possibilities. Learning
through such insight is called insight learning
Kohler’s Experiments
In order to establish the existence of insight, Kohler conducted a number of experiments on
a chimpanzee named Sultan. Although he conducted a number of other experiments on dogs, hens,
and other creatures, his experiments with Sultan were the most noteworthy. Kohler divided his
experiment in to four steps.
 Experiment- Sultan was placed in a cage. A stick was placed in the cage and a banana just
outside the cage, but outside Sultans direct reach. Sultan made many attempts to obtain the
banana but it failed. It sat down in despair. But, after sometime it suddenly got up, lifted
the stick and used it to draw the banana towards itself.
 Experiment- In the second stage, Kohler placed inside the cage two sticks which could be
joined to each other. This time the banana was so placed that it could not be drown by the
Ambady K. G. 38
chimpanzee towards itself with a single stick. After numerous attempts, Sultan joined the
two sticks together and succeeded in obtaining the banana.
 Experiment- In the third step, Kohler hung the banana from the roof of the cage of such a
height as to ensure that Sultan could not reach it even by jumping upwards. A box was
also placed inside the cage. After many attempts, Sultan climbed up on the box and
obtained the bananas.
 Experiment- In the final step, Kohler placed two boxes at one place in the cage the banana
was placed at an even high level. At first, Sultan kept on trying to reach the banana by
standing up on one box, but after numerous failures, it placed one box upon the other and
claiming quit obtained the banana.
Factors Influencing Insight

Many experiments have thrown light upon and established the various factors which influence
insight. Some of them are mentioned below;
 Experience - Past experiences help in the insightful solution of the problems. A child cannot
solve the problems of Modern Mathematics unless he is well acquainted with its symbolic
language.
 Intelligence – Insightful solution depends upon the basic intelligence of the learner. The more
intelligent the individual is the greater will be his insight.
 Learning Situation – How insightfully the organism will react depends upon the situation in
which he has to act. Some situations are more favourable than the others for insightful
solution. As a common observation, insight occurs when the learning situation is so arranged
that all the necessary aspects are open for observation.
 Initial Efforts or Trial and Error – Insightful learning has to pass through the process of trial
and error. Whatever an activity may be, attempts or efforts or trials always lie at its root.
This opens the way for insightful learning.
 Repetition and Generalization – After having an insightful solution of a particular type of
problem, the organism tries to repeat it in another situation, demanding similar type of
solution. The way found in one situation helps him to react insightfully in the other identical
situations.
Ambady K. G. 39
Characteristics of Insight
The above mentioned experiments make it quite obvious that learning by insight has certain
characteristics of its own. They are briefly as follows;
 Insight is sudden.
 Insight alters perception.
 Old objects appear in new patterns and organization by virtue of insight.
 Insight is relative to the intellectual level. The higher species of animals including human
beings have more insight than the members of lower species.
 In insight, understanding is more useful than dexterity of hands.
 Previous experience is of assistance in insight. An organized perception is an essential factor
in learning.
 Maturity also affects insight as evidenced by the smoother working of insight in older age
than in adolescence.
 If the pieces essential for the solution of the puzzle are present together when perceived,
insight comes about earlier.
 Learning by insight is associative learning. Insight appears suddenly after the manipulation of
thoughts or objects for a small, through significant length of time.
 The insight gained in particular circumstances is of assistance in other circumstances.
Criterion or Essentials of Learning by Insight

 Comprehension as a whole: Learning by insight requires full comprehension of the situation as
a whole.
 Clear goal: The goal must be quite clear to begin with.
 Power of generalisation: The learner must possess power of generalisation along with those of
differentiation.
 Suddenness of solution: Suddenness of the solution is the hall mark of learning by insight
i.e., the solution flashes suddenly to the learner. No lengthy reasoning is involved.
 New forms of objects: As a result of insight into the problem or situation objects appear in
new forms and patterns.
 Transfer: Transfer of learning occurs as a result of insight. The principles learnt in one
situation are applied to the other situation.
 Change in behaviour: Insight changes our behaviour to the extent which we have learnt
through insight.
Ambady K. G. 40
Laws of Insight Formation
 Capacities: Insight depends upon the capacity of the organism. Individuals offer in their
capacities. The more developed is the individual; the more will be the capacity to develop
insight.
 Previous experience: Insight depends upon relevant previous experience and maturation. Some
practice, trial and error and maturation up to the level are essential before insight develops. A
child of five years cannot develop mathematical insight since he has not done sufficient
practice in it.
 Experimental arrangement: Development of insight depends upon experimental arrangement also.
 Fumbling and search: Insight follows a period of fumbling and search.
 Readily repeated: Insightful solutions can be readily repeated.
 Use in new situation: Insight once achieved can be used in new situation.
 Wholesome experience: Experience of insight is always wholesome. Whole is just not equal to
its parts.
Educational Implications of Learning by Insight (Role of Teacher in
Insight Learning)
 Integrated curriculum: The curriculum of the class should be an integrated whole i.e., there
should be correlation between various subjects.
 Problem as a whole: The whole problem is to be presented in the class. A piece meal
approach will not develop learning by insight. This theory believes, “The whole is not a sum
of the parts.” The teacher should present the things in the class as a whole at least to start
with. To give a complete insight into the learning material, we should always proceed from
whole to the part. The lesson should form an integrated unit because insight is possible if
the situation is perceived as a whole.
 The whole sentence should be presented first and then analysed into words or letters.
 While teaching Biology, the model of the whole body should be presented before the
children and then the various parts and organs of the body should be emphasized.
 While teaching geography, we should part from the globe and then come down to
country, state, district and city.
 Child as a whole: Parents and teachers should see the child as a whole and in total setting.
It is not wise to conclude on the basis of single act about the child’s behaviour.
 Importance of motivation: The theory stresses the importance of motivation in learning.
Therefore, the teacher should motivate the students properly for insightful learning.
 Importance of transfer: The theory also emphasises the importance of transfer of learning.
Previous experiences are helpful in learning. Hence the teacher should encourage the students
to make the best use of transfer of learning.
 Emphasis on intelligent learning: The theory is economical in terms of human energy. It puts
emphasis on insight and understanding rather than rote learning. So spoon feeding and
Ambady K. G. 41
cramming should be discouraged. There are no useless and random efforts. The teacher should
encourage the students to learn by understanding and insight i.e., intelligence.
 Development of higher mental faculties: Insight involves the maximum use of intelligence.
Therefore, learning by insight is helpful in developing and improving higher mental processes
like thinking, imagination, reasoning, analytical ability, problem solving, creativity etc. The
theory specially encourages creative activity of the child. The teacher has to view the situation
as a whole and then decide the line of action.
 Problem solving approach: Insight helps in solving problems through one’s own efforts. This
approach trains the child to solve his problems in life. Therefore, the teacher should make use
of problems solving approach for better learning. He should prepare children emotionally and
intellectually to solve the problem.
 Useful for difficult subjects: The theory is especially useful for learning difficult subjects like
science, mathematics and literature.
 Useful for scientific inventions: The theory is very useful for scientific inventions and
discoveries.
 Individual differences:
 The teacher keep in mind the intelligence level, maturity and other types of individual
differences. Intelligence plays a major role in learning by insight. The more intelligent a
child is, the more he will learn through insight. The less intelligent child takes more time
and makes more efforts to gain insight.
 Insight of the child should be carefully handled by the teacher. He should know that its
development is related to the physical maturation of the child. He should present the
problem keeping in view the maturation, of the child.
 Logical presentation: The teacher should present his lesson logically. He should proceed from
‘simple to complex’, ‘concrete to abstract’, ’empirical to rational’ and ‘psychological to logical’.
The problems presented in the class should be linked with life so that the learners have the
greatest benefit out of them.
 Persistent efforts: It needs a lot of patience on the part of the teacher. Insight does not
develop in the learner immediately. It needs persistent efforts.
 Goal-oriented approach: The teacher should develop in the learner the purpose of striving
towards a goal on the basis of child’s experience. He should relate the topic taught to the
experiences of the child and then lead him towards the goal.
 Multiple approaches: Ability of the learner and his past experiences play an important role in
insight. Therefore, the teacher should adopt a multiple approach in learning in the following
manner:
 Planning lesson: The teacher should plan his lesson appropriately.
 Providing experiences: He should provide significant and meaningful experiences to the pupil.
 Bringing integration: He should bring integration between theory and practice.
Ambady K. G. 42
Educational Implications of Theory of Learning by Insight
 Proceeding from whole to the part: This theory explains to us the efficacy of the principle.
We must always proceed from the whole to the part, so as to give a complete insight into
the subject. Begin from the globe, and then come to our country, our state and our city.
Teach about the whole flower and then analyse the parts. Teach the whole sentence or word,
and then analyse into words of letters.
 Creating motivation: In Kohler’s experiment enough of the motivation was created by keeping
the monkey hungry. He was impelled to acquire the food, and this made him to put his heart
and soul in the solution of the problem. The teacher should, therefore arouse motivation.
 Emphasis on Understanding: For all higher learning, mechanical repetition, learning by rote, trial
and error and blind processing are useless. What is needed is deep understanding and insight
into the problem. Learning by insight (whether it is a geometrical problem, arithmetical sum or
scientific experiment) saves time and energy.
 The greater contribution of the insight theory of learning is that it has made learning an
intelligent task requiring mental abilities. It has called a halt to the age old mechanical
memorization, drill and practice work which lack in basic understanding and use of thinking,
reasoning and creative mental powers.
 It emphasizes that the learner must be given opportunities for using his mental abilities.
Instead of telling him, how to do a work or solve a problem, he should be placed in the
position of an independent enquirer and discoverer.
 As insight depends upon capacity, all pupils are not able to use insight in an equal measure.
The teacher recognizes differences in capacity and age and understands classroom implications
of readiness.
Limitations of Theory of Learning by Insight
The method of learning by insight has some limitations also. Small children and dull children
learn more through trial and error than through insight which they lack.
Even for insight trial and error in ruled out. Insight is the final stage of trial and error.
Some difficult problems may be solved by insight. But intricate and complex problems may
be beyond normal understanding and insight.
In spite of the above limitations, learning by insight needs to be encouraged in the ordinary
instructional programme of the school. The teacher can adopt the Heuristic Method of teaching. In
this way, he will develop the pupil’s reasoning power and put him in the capacity of a discoverer
of new faces.
In the teaching of geometry, for instance, a problem may be presented, and the pupil asked
to think out and reason out the solution. The teacher may suggest some clues, to help the pupil
arrive at the right solution. The task of the teacher is not in spoon-feeding and transmitting
knowledge, but in helping the child to acquire knowledge himself.
Ambady K. G. 43
Humanistic Approach to Learning
Humanist learning theorists view learning as a function of the whole person and believe that
learning cannot take place unless both the cognitive and affective domains are involved. The
individual’s capacity for self-determination is an important part of humanist theory.
Humanistic “theories” of learning tend to be highly value – driven and hence more like
prescriptions (about what ought to happen) rather than descriptions (of what does happen). The
school is particularly associated with Rogers, Abraham Maslow, John Holt and Malcolm. They
emphasize the “natural desire” of everyone to learn. Whether this natural desire is to learn
whatever it is you are teaching, however, is not clear. It follows from this, they maintain, that
learners need to be empowered and to have control over the learning process. So the teacher
relinquishes a great deal of authority and becomes a facilitator.
Two definitions are central to this topic: humanism and learning.
 Humanism focuses on human beings being free to act and control their own destinies. It
centers on human values, interests, capacities, needs, worth, and dignity. It is a belief that
people have an unlimited potential for growth and development and that they are inherently
good. Individuals have the ability to determine the right and wrong through rational thought.
 Learning refers to the acquisition of new knowledge, behaviours, skills, and values through a
process of study, practice, and/or experience. It is a process by which behaviour is changed,
shaped, or controlled
Humanistic education (also called person-centered education) is an approach to education
based on the work of humanistic psychologists, most notably Abraham Maslow and Rogers that
emphasizes the human capacity for choice and growth. The overriding assumption is that humans
have free will and are not simply fated to behave in specific ways.
In this approach, each individual is unique and all individuals have a desire to grow in a
positive way. An emphasis on active learning is at the core of the humanistic approach to learning.
The learner needs freedom to develop his/her own learning. The existing experiences of the learner
are fundamental for understanding and new learning to take place effectively. The person needs to
be ready to learn, as opposed to being motivated by fear or coercion. The orientation to learning is
paramount: in other words, it is not subject-orientated but learner centred. Spontaneity, feelings and
emotions and human creativity are vital components of this approach. The teacher’s role, according
to be a role model and be an example of appropriate behaviour. The teacher is also expected to
provide a reason and motivation for each task, foster group work and give as much independence
to students as possible to go about the tasks. The role of the student is to explore and observe.
They may observe their own behaviour and make necessary changes. They have to take
responsibility of their own learning and keep their goals realistic.
Ambady K. G. 44
The Humanistic Approach began in response to concerns by therapists against perceived
limitations of Psychodynamic theories, especially psychoanalysis. Individuals like Carl Rogers and
Abraham Maslow felt existing (psychodynamic) theories failed to adequately address issues like the
meaning of behaviour, and the nature of healthy growth. However, the result was not simply new
variations on psychodynamic theory, but rather a fundamentally new approach.
There are several factors which distinguish the Humanistic Approach from other approaches
within psychology, including the emphasis on subjective meaning, a rejection of determinism, and a
concern for positive growth rather than pathology. While one might argue that some psychodynamic
theories provide a vision of healthy growth (including Jung's concept of individuation), the other
characteristics distinguish the Humanistic Approach from every other approach within psychology
(and sometimes lead theorists from other approaches to say the Humanistic Approach is not a
science at all). Most psychologists believe that behaviour can only be understood objectively (by an
impartial observer), but the humanists argue that this results in concluding that an individual is
incapable of understanding their own behaviour--a view which they see as both paradoxical and
dangerous to well-being. Instead, humanists like Rogers argue that the meaning of behaviour is
essentially personal and subjective; they further argue that accepting this idea is not unscientific,
because ultimately all individuals are subjective: what makes science reliable is not that scientists
are purely objective, but that the nature of observed events can be agreed upon by different
observers.
Abraham Maslow is widely regarded as one of the founders of the Humanistic Approach.
While less influential among therapists than Rogers, Maslow may actually be better known to the
general public, because of his interest in applying psychological principles to areas like behaviour in
business settings. In this regard, his hierarchy of needs has been a basic concept in human
resources and organizational behaviour for several decades. Maslow came to believe that human
activity is motivated by an urge to satisfy a set of basic needs and growth needs.
Maslow and the hierarchy of human needs
Five ascending levels
 Food, shelter, clothing
 Safety, protection, security
 Belongingness, love
 Respect, esteem, approval, dignity, self-
respect
 Self-actualization
Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs
Ambady K. G. 45
Strengths of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
 A continuing impact on education
 Focus is on student needs in a learning situation rather than on those of the teacher
or curriculum
 Attention is on meeting students’ basic needs for food, safety and belonging
 On emotional aspects of development
 On motivation rather than academic achievement.
Carl Rogers
Encouraged teachers to become more personal, innovative and non-directive … arguing that
their goal should be to nurture students rather than control their learning.
Rogers: Non-directive teaching and ‘freedom to learn’
 Human beings have an inner drive towards self-fulfilment and maturity. Aim is to help
people achieve health and wellbeing by providing a positive psychological climate
 Importance of freedom and choice
 Education should provide a nurturing environment where learners can follow interests
 Non-directive teaching: the teacher is a facilitator who guides students and nurtures learning
 Active listening: Attending to the meaning and attention of what another person is saying
 Students are free to develop their talents through self-directed activity
 Learners are free to learn, to explore and to reach their full potential
Strength of Rogers’s educational ideas
 Emphasises the value of individuals
 Places importance on teachers having positive views of children and actively listening
 Promotes a climate of trust to enhance learners’ social, emotional and cognitive development
Limitation of humanistic approach
 Many of the concepts do not lend themselves for operational definitions and for scientific
study.
 A great deal of the studies conducted by Maslow and Rogers to support their ideas were
based on their own subjective impressions and intuition.
 The concept of free will has been challenged.
Basic Principles
 Choice and Control
The humanistic approach places a great deal of emphasis on students' choice and control
over the course of their education. Students are encouraged to make choices that range from day-
to-day activities to periodically setting future life goals. This allows for students to focus on a
specific subject of interest for any amount of time they choose, within reason. Humanistic teachers
believe it is important for students to be motivated and engaged in the material they are learning,
and this happens when the topic is something the students need and wants to know.
Ambady K. G. 46
 Felt Concern
Humanistic education tends to focus on the felt concerns and interests of the students
intertwining with the intellect. It is believed that the overall mood and feeling of the students can
either hinder or foster the process of learning.
 The Whole Person
Humanistic educators believe that both feelings and knowledge are important to the learning
process. Unlike traditional educators, humanistic teachers do not separate the cognitive and affective
domains. This aspect also relates to the curriculum in the sense that lessons and activities provide
focus on various aspects of the student and not just rote memorization through note taking and
lecturing.
 Self Evaluation
Humanistic educators believe that grades are irrelevant and that only self-evaluation is
meaningful. Grading encourages students to work for a grade and not for intrinsic satisfaction.
Humanistic educators disagree with routine testing because they teach students rote memorization
as opposed to meaningful learning. They also believe testing doesn't provide sufficient educational
feedback to the teacher.
 Teacher as a Facilitator
"The tutor or lecturer tends to be more supportive than critical, more understanding than
judgmental, more genuine than playing a role." [9] Their job is to foster an engaging environment
for the students and ask inquiry-based questions that promote meaningful learning.
 Field Studies on Humanistic Education
David Aspy and Flora Roebuck performed the largest field study ever done, in 42 states and
7 countries, in the 1970s and 80s, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health over a 12-year
period, focusing on what led to achievement, creativity, more student thinking and interactivity, less
violence, and both teacher and student satisfaction. Their conclusions corroborated the earlier
findings of Carl Rogers's that the more effective teachers were empathic, caring for or prizing their
students, and were authentic or genuine in their classroom presence. In 2010 Jeffrey Cornelius-
White and Adam Harbaugh published a large meta-analysis on Learner Centered Instruction including
in their analysis all the higher quality studies on person-centered or humanistic education ever done
since 1948. In 2013, Rogers, Lyon, and Tausch published On Becoming an Effective Teacher --
Person-centered Teaching, Psychology, Philosophy, and Dialogues with Carl R. Rogers and Harold
Lyon, which contained Rogers' last unpublished work on teaching and documented the research
results of four highly related, independent studies which comprise the largest collection of data ever
accumulated to test a person-centered theory in the field of education.
Ambady K. G. 47
Educational Implications
 Place of the child in teaching-learning:
According to this approach student plays a central role in whole teaching-learning process.
This approach, considers that we should first understand the needs, interests, abilities, age level,
attitudes, aptitude of students then try to organize teaching learning process according to these. It
emphasizes on reach, touch and teaches the child according to his nature, and interests.
 Emphasis on individuality:
According to this approach every individual has his own individuality. Individual differences
should be respected and internal virtues of individual be developed. Teacher should understand this
individuality and organize his/her teaching-learning process according to this individuality.
 Understanding the child:
According to this approach, teacher should understand the child first of all, and then teach
him. A teacher should know their students, their interest, personality, capabilities and background
environment and use teaching methods and content accordingly because this approach believes in
student centered education.
 Method of teaching:
In this approach teacher should use methods of teaching which are based on psychological
principles. Teacher should not use teacher centered and traditional methods of teaching in it.
Teacher should emphasize on active learning which could consider the learner. Teacher should use
the methods which could teach according to needs, interests, abilities and attitudes of learners.
Learner's readiness, mental set and motivation are considered as basis for deciding the
method of teaching to be used.
 Place and role of the teacher:
According to this approach student plays a central role in teaching learning process. Teacher
acts as a guide, friend or helper of the students. Their job is to foster an engaging environment
for the students and ask inquiry-based questions that promote meaningful learning. Students should
have freedom to develop and make progress according to their own pace, needs and interests.
Teacher should be considered as the milestone in the journey of total development of the child.
Teacher should not force his own methods and views on students but he should be only a
guide in this development process.
 Self Evaluation
Humanistic educators believe that grades are irrelevant and that only self-evaluation is
meaningful. Grading encourages students to work for a grade and not for intrinsic satisfaction.
Humanistic educators disagree with routine testing because they teach students rote memorization
as opposed to meaningful learning. They also believe testing doesn't provide sufficient educational
feedback to the teacher.
Ambady K. G. 48
Constructivist Learning Approach
Constructivism is a theory of how the learner constructs knowledge from experience, which
is unique to each individual. Constructivism according to Piaget (1971) is a system of explanations
of how learners as individuals adapt and refine knowledge. Constructivism is relatively a new
paradigm which is based on the assumption that knowledge is subjective, contextual and inherently
partial. It loudly denied the traditional objectivist view of knowledge. The traditional teaching-
learning practices which are based on Objectivism represent knowledge as authoritarian and certain,
whereas constructivism focuses on the resilience of learner beliefs and social construction of reality.
Constructivism represents a paradigm shift from behaviourism to cognitive theory. Behaviourist’s
epistemology focuses on intelligence, domains of objectives, levels of knowledge, and reinforcement.
While the Constructivist epistemology assumes that learners construct their own knowledge on the
basis of interaction with their environment. Four epistemological assumptions are at the heart of
what we refer to as "constructivist learning.”The first one is knowledge is physically constructed by
learners who are involved in active learning. Second is knowledge is symbolically constructed by
learners who are making their own representations of action; Knowledge is socially constructed by
learners who convey their meaning making to others; and last one is, Knowledge is theoretically
constructed by learners who try to explain things they don't completely understand.
Historical Background of Constructivism

The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity, going back to Socrates’
dialogues with his followers, in which he asked directed questions that led his students to realize
for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in
the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan new learning experiences
but it became an emerging philosophy of 21st century. Jean Piaget, David Ausubel, Bruner and Lev
Vygotsky had very significant role in foundation of this philosophy. Jean Piaget, who is considered
as a founder of individual constructivism, believed that learning is strongly influenced by learner’s
developmental stages. Later philosopher considered that knowledge is acquired through social
interaction. Learner is subsequently move from definite stages of physical, intellectual, emotional and
social development and each stage is associated with specific learning experiences which determine
what learner can learn with those experiences and up to what extent. Dewey and later, Vygotsky,
recognized that the construction of knowledge was rooted in group context (oxford, 1997). Vygotsky
believed that learning is social in nature, which employs that learning occur via interaction with
other people i.e., interaction among learners or peer group and also with teacher. During this
interactive process, meaning is shared and information is exchanged and provides opportunity to
learner to compare, examined and redefine his/her knowledge with knowledge and understanding of
other group members. All these learning theory drastically change the concept of learner who was
considered as "subject” by behaviourist psychologist into “active participant” of learning activity who
can controlled their own learning by active meaning making process. Modern educators who have
Ambady K. G. 49
studied, written about, and practiced constructivist approaches to education include John D.
Bransford, Ernst von Glasersfeld, Eleanor Duckworth, George Forman, Roger Schank, Jacqueline
Grennon Brooks, and Martin G. Brooks.
Role of Mentor and Learner in Constructivist Classroom

There is paradigm shift in traditional role of teacher as well as students in constructivist
classroom. The teaching methods used in traditional classroom is based on objectivist view of
knowledge which is grounded on the assumption that knowledge is objective, universal and
complete and can be transfer from head of teacher to the head of students. While in constructivist
classroom role of teacher is shifts from transmitter of knowledge to facilitator of knowledge
construction and role of students changes from knowledge gainer to knowledge constructor.
Classroom environment is not ‘authoritarian’ where supreme power is vested in the teacher who is
considered as expert of knowledge and his duty is to pours knowledge into passive students, who
wait like empty vessel to be filled. In this approach classroom environment is much more
democratic, students are encourage to ask questions, his/her ideas and previous knowledge is
respectfully invited and carefully listen by the teacher. Teacher provides opportunities to learner to
discuss and shared their ideas freely to each other, probing, doing own experiments and other
problem solving activities.
National curriculum framework (2005) also recommends that curriculum should help learner to
become constructor of knowledge and emphasises the active role of teachers in relation to process
of knowledge construction by engaging the learner in process of learning through well-chosen tasks
and questions. In the words of Brooks & Brooks (1999) ‘In a constructivist classroom, the teacher
searches for student’s understanding of the concepts and then structures opportunities for students
to refine or revise these understandings by posing contradictions, presenting new information,
asking questions, encoring research, and/or engaging students in inquired designed to challenge
current concepts.” Thus in constructivist science classroom, the teacher is not the sage on the
stage but mentor or guide on side of students, who not provide instruction to passive students but
designing learning situations for the active learner of subject. There are ten basic guiding principles
of constructivist thinking that educators must keep in mind:
1. Learning is an active process in which the student constructs meaning,
2. People learn to learn
3. Learning involves language
4. Learning is a social activity
5. Learning is contextual
6. The act of constructing meaning is mental
7. Everyone needs knowledge to learn
8. Learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge it takes work
9. Motivation is a major aspect of learning
10. It takes time to learn.
Ambady K. G. 50
CONSTRUCTIVIST MODELS
In the early 1960's, Robert Karplus proposed a teaching/learning model for instruction based
upon the work of Piaget which represented a systematic application of psychology to science
education materials. There are several constructivist models available that can be used for designing
the proper learning experiences to the students. The 5 E's model proposed by Roger Bybee can be
conveniently implemented in science classroom. This model was developed under the Biological
Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) project. The 5 ‘Es’ employs for Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate
and Evaluate. The each of the 5 E’s describes a phase of learning, and these five “E"s can be
further explained as:
 Engage: This phase creates a connection between previous and present learning experiences
and anticipate activities that focus students’ thinking on the learning outcomes of current
activities. Students should become mentally engaged in the concept, process, or skill to be
learned. Here, the role of the teacher is to present the situation and identify the instructional
task.
 Explore: In this phase teacher designed some learning activities so that students have
common, concrete experience upon which they continue building concepts, processes, and
skills. Engagement brings about disequilibrium; exploration initiates the process of restoring
equilibrium. The aim of this phase is to establish experiences that teachers and students can
use later for formal introduction and discussion of concepts, processes, or skills.
 Explain: This phase of the 5 E’s helps students for explaining the concepts they have been
explored in previous step. Here, the teacher tries to focus student attention to specific
aspects of the engagement and exploration experiences. The key to this phase is to present
concepts, processes, or skills briefly, simply, clearly, and directly and move on to the next
phase.
 Elaborate: This phase of the 5 E’s extends students’ conceptual understanding and allows
them to practice skills and behaviours.
 Evaluate: This is the last phase of the 5 E's encourages learners to assess their
understanding and abilities and lets teachers evaluate students' understanding of key
concepts and skill development.
PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

1. Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs meaning
out of it. The more traditional formulation of this idea involves the terminology of the active
learner (Dewey's term) stressing that the learner needs to do something; that learning is not the
passive acceptance of knowledge which exists "out there" but that learning involves the learners
engaging with the world.
2. People learn to learn as they learn: learning consists both of constructing meaning and
constructing systems of meaning. For example, if we learn the chronology of dates of a series
of historical events, we are simultaneously learning the meaning of a chronology. Each meaning
we construct makes us better able to give meaning to other sensations which can fit a similar
pattern.
Ambady K. G. 51
3. The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental: it happens in the mind. Physical actions,
hands-on experience may be necessary for learning, especially for children, but it is not
sufficient; we need to provide activities which engage the mind as well as the hands. (Dewey
called this reflective activity.)
4. Learning involves language: the language we use influences learning. On the empirical level
researchers have noted that people talk to themselves as they learn. On a more general level
there is a collection of arguments, presented most forcefully by Vygotsky, that language and
learning are inextricably intertwined. This point was clearly emphasized in Elaine Gurain's
reference to the need to honour native language in developing exhibits. The desire to have
material and programs in their own language was an important request by many members of
various Native communities.
5. Learning is a social activity: our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other
human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including the
people before us or next to us at the exhibit. We are more likely to be successful in our
efforts to educate if we recognize this principle rather than try to avoid it. Much of traditional
education, as Dewey pointed out, is directed towards isolating the learner from all social
interaction, and towards seeing education as a one-on-one relationship between the learner and
the objective material to be learned. In contrast, progressive education (to continue to use
Dewey's formulation) recognizes the social aspect of learning and uses conversation, interaction
with others, and the application of knowledge as an integral aspect of learning.
6. Learning is contextual: we do not learn isolated facts and theories in some abstract the real
land of the mind separate from the rest of our lives: we learn in relationship to what else we
know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears. On reflection, it becomes clear that this
point is actually a corollary of the idea that learning is active and social. We cannot divorce our
learning from our lives.
7. One needs knowledge to learn: it is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having
some structure developed from previous knowledge to build on. The more we know, the more
we can learn. Therefore any effort to teach must be connected to the state of the learner must
provide a path into the subject for the learner based on that learner's previous knowledge.
8. It takes time to learn: learning is not instantaneous. For significant learning we need to revisit
ideas, ponder them try them out, play with them and use them. This cannot happen in the 5-
10 minutes usually spent in a gallery (and certainly not in the few seconds usually spent
contemplating a single museum object.) If you reflect on anything you have learned, you soon
realize that it is the product of repeated exposure and thought. Even, or especially, moments of
profound insight, can be traced back to longer periods of preparation.
9. Motivation is a key component in learning. Not only is it the case that motivation helps
learning, it is essential for learning. This idea of motivation as described here is broadly
conceived to include an understanding of ways in which the knowledge can be used. Unless we
know "the reasons why", we may not be very involved in using the knowledge that may be
instilled in us.
Ambady K. G. 52
The Nature of Constructivist Learner
 The importance of constructivist learner: Social constructivism -encourages culturalism the
learner to arrive at their version of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or
embedded worldview.
 Learner is responsible: It is argued that the responsibility of learning should reside increasingly
with the learner. Social constructivism thus emphasizes the importance of the learner being
actively involved in the learning process, unlike previous educational viewpoints where the
responsibility is rested with the instructor to teach and where the learner played a passive,
receptive role.
 High motivation is must: The most crucial thing regarding the nature of learner is that they
should have high motivation for learning. According to Von Glaserfeld (1989), sustained
motivation to learn is strongly dependent on the learner’s confidence in their potential for
learning.
 Learner is active: The student is the person who creates new understanding for themselves.
The teacher coaches, moderates, suggest but allow the students room to experiment, ask
questions, learning activities require the students’ full participations. An important part of the
learning process is that students reflect on, and talk about their activities. Students are also
helped set their own goals and means of assessment.
 Learning is reflective: Students control their own learning process and they lead the way by
reflecting on their experiences. This process makes them experts of their own learning. The
teacher helps to create situations where the students feel to ask questioning and reflecting on
their own processes.
 Collaborative learning: There are many reasons for collaboration which contributes to learning.
The main reason in constructivism is that students learn about learning not only by
themselves, but also from their peers. When students review and reflect on their learning they
can pick up strategies and methods from one another.
 Enquiry based learning: The main activity in a constructivist classroom is solving problems.
Students use inquiry methods to ask questions, investigate a topic, and use a variety of
resources to find solutions and answers.
Role of Teacher in the Constructivist Classroom
 Teacher encourages students’ initiatives and gives freedom and encouragement.
 The teacher asks open-ended questions and waits for responses.
 Teacher emphasizes higher-level thinking and reasoning.
 Students are engaged in dialogue with the teacher and with each other.
 Teacher encourages reciprocal learning environment in the classroom.
 Teacher emphasizes on inquiry-based learning.
 There is emphasis on problem-based learning.
 Cognitive apprenticeships, various methods involving collaboration or group work, cooperative
learning (reciprocal questioning, Jig-saw classroom, and structured controversies) are
emphasized.
Ambady K. G. 53
Pedagogical Approaches to Constructivism
Learning involves combining what we know with what was taught, or continually connecting
prior knowledge with new information. This prior knowledge can facilitate, inhibit or transform
learning. Research on the nature of children’s science, (the ideas and experiences students bring
into class with them), shows that the students hold their prior ideas tenaciously. These alternative
conceptions or misconceptions grow out of students’ prior experiences with the world around them
and often interface considerably with teachers’ attempts to foster learning. Teachers need to surface
students’ prior knowledge, connect to it and allow students to build from and onto their prior
knowledge. In order for the students to make use of ideas taught by teachers in the way teachers
intend, knowledge must the present itself as intelligible, fruitful and plausible. This is a move away
from a discovery approach, where students construct knowledge solely based on their own
experience to knowledge construction where students have the opportunity to test their knowledge
within a social context.
The social aspect of knowledge provides clear implications for practice. Learning is seen to
be an active process of knowledge construction and sense making. Beyond that, knowledge is
understood as a cultural artefact of people. It is created and transformed by each individual and by
groups of people. Participating in community discourse allows students to clarify, defend, elaborate,
evaluate and argue over the knowledge constructed. Many teachers use cooperative learning as a
route to building community discourse in their classrooms. The broader knowledge base for teaching,
which included content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), curriculum knowledge,
general pedagogy, learners and their characteristics, educational contexts and educational purposes
involves the transformation of content knowledge by teacher’s indifferent ways that allow the
learners to construct knowledge during classroom practice.
Teachers derive PCK from their understandings of content, their own teaching practice and
their own schooling experience. As such PCK is closely intertwined with both content knowledge
and pedagogical process knowledge. Research in pedagogical content knowledge reinforces the
research in cognitive science. Teacher education programmers can enhance the development of PCK
in student teachers by modelling and sharing teaching decisions and strategies with students.
Faculty should have opportunities to demonstrate and reflect on how they use PCK in their own
teaching.
Although it is difficult to separate PCK from content knowledge, a thorough and coherent
understanding of content is necessary for effective PCK. Teacher education programmes can assist
pre-service teachers in constructing a deep understanding of disciplinary content from a teaching
perspective. A teacher education programme which balances attention to the process of learning
with the content being learned can ultimately result in helping teachers be able to understand better
both their content and the learning of their students. Often content is taught without any attention
to process, or process is taught without a deep understanding of the content involved.
Ambady K. G. 54
Types of Learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviours, skills,
values or preference. Evidence that learning has occurred may be seen in changes in behaviour
from simple to complex, from moving a finger to skill in synthesizing information or a change in
attitude. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Human
learning begins before birth and continues until death as a consequence of ongoing intersections
between person and environment. There are many types of learning occurring in human life.
Concept Learning
Concept learning is also known as category learning, concept attainment and concept
formation. Concept learning can be simply put forward as; they are the mental categories that help
us classify objects, events or ideas, building on the understanding that each object, event, or idea
has a set of common relevant features. Thus, concept learning is a strategy which requires a
learner to compare and contrast groups or categories that contain concept – relevant features with
groups or categories that do not contain concept – relevant features.
Concept learning also refers to a learning task in which a human or machine learner is
trained to classify objects by being shown a set of example objects along with their class labels.
The learner simplifies what has been observed by condensing it in the form of an example.
Concept learning may be simple or complex because learning takes place over many areas. When a
concept is difficult, it is less likely that the learner will be able to simplify, and therefore will be
less likely to learn. The task is simply known as learning from examples. Concept learning’s are
based on the storage of exemplars and avoid summarization or overt attraction of any kind.
CONCEPT LEARNING  Inferring a Boolean – Valued function from training examples of its
input and output. A concept is an idea of something formed by combining all its feature of
attributes which construct the given concept. Every concept has two components:-
1. ATTRIBUTES 2. RULE
1. ATTRIBUTES: Features that one must look for to decide whether a data instance is a positive
one of the concept.
2. RULE: Denotes what conjunction of constrains on the attributes will qualify as a positive
instance of the concept.
Concept
Concept is a mental image or an idea that have some common features. Eg: Metals, Gas,
and Inertia etc. Simply we can say that a concept is the categorization objects or events that have
common properties.
A concept should have a title, essential attributes, non-essential attributes, and examples.
Non-essential attributes are the characteristics of the concept while the essential attribute of a
concept is the peculiar characteristic of the concept, which distinguish the object or event from
Ambady K. G. 55
other concepts. For example “dog” is a concept in which dogs have 4 legs, 2 eyes, specific
structure etc these are the non-essential characteristics of the “dog”, while the barking of the dog
is the essential characteristic that distinguishes from other like animals.
Concept formation
It is the process by which to discover the features which are common to large number of
objects and which thereafter may be applied to other similar objects is called concept formation.
For human beings, concept formation is essential in our life for living in the complex world of
interactions with not only objects but also people and abstract ideas.
Definitions of Concept Learning
Concept learning is one of the major learning styles. It is defined by Burner, Goodnow and
Austin (1967), as the “search for and listing of attributes that can be used to distinguish exemplars
from non-exemplars of various categories”.
While teaching some simple concepts with clear instances is not that difficult teaching
concepts broader case is difficult and teaching complex concepts remain more challenge.
“Psychologists use the term concept formation or concept learning to refer to the
development of the ability to respond to common feature of categories for objects, events, or ideas
that have a common set of features”
Concept learning is a strategy which requires a learner to compare and contrast groups or
categories that contain concept-relevant features with groups or categories that do not contain
concept-relevant features. Psychologists refers the term concept learning or concept formation is the
development of the ability to respond to the common features of categories for objects, ideas or
events that have a common set of features.
Concept learning encompasses learning how to discriminate and categorize things (with critical
attributes).It also involves recall of instances, integration of new examples ad sub - categorization
concept formation is not related to simple recall it must be constructed.
This is how concept learning helps an individual in learning complex concepts through
examples rather than from abstract rules.
Types of Concept Formation/ Concept learning
 Direct Experience: It is the first type of concept formation, which occurs at a stage of
childhood. The learner attains the concept through direct experience with events, objects or
persons.
 Indirect experience: Here the learner create concept from pictures, photos, reading descriptions
or from hearing from others etc.
 Faulty Concepts: Sometimes the learners have idea or an image about the concept but which
may not adequate or accurate always. Mainly in childhood the chance developing faulty
concepts are more. For example, the superstitions or some myth.
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NATURE OF CONCEPT LEARNING
 Concept Learning is Universal: Every creature that lives learns. Man learns most. The human
nervous system is very complex, so are human reactions and so are human acquisition.
Positive learning is vital for children’s growth and development.
 Is through Experience: Learning always involves some kind of experience, direct or indirect
(vicarious).
 Learning is from all Sides: Today learning is from all sides. Children learn from parents,
teachers, environment, nature, media etc.
 Learning is Continuous: It denotes the lifelong nature of learning. Every day new situations
are faced and the individual has to bring essential changes in his style of behaviour adopted
to tackle them. Learning is birth to death.
 It results in Change in Behaviour: It is a change of behaviour influenced by previous

behaviour. It is any activity that leaves a more or less permanent effect on later activity.
 Learning is an Adjustment: Learning helps the individual to adjust himself adequately to the
new situations. Most learning in children consists in modifying, adapting, and developing their
original nature. In later life the individuals acquire new forms of behaviour.
 It comes about as a result of practice: It is the basis of drill and practice. It has been
proven that students learn best and retain information longer when they have meaningful
practice and repetition. Every time practice occurs, learning continues.
 Is a relatively Permanent Change: After a rat wake up from his nap he still remembers the
path to the food. Even if you have been on a bicycle for years, in just a few minutes
practice you can be quite proficient again.
 Learning as Growth and Development: It is never ending growth and development. At reach
stage the learner acquires new visions of his future growth and news ideals of achievement
in the direction of his effort. According to Woodworth, “All activity can be called learning so
far as it develops the individual.”
 Concept Learning is not directly observable: The only way to study learning is through some
observable behaviour. Actually, we cannot observe learning; we see only what precedes
performance, the performance itself, and the consequences of performance.
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Steps / Stages of Concept Learning
Tennyson & Cocchiarella (1986) suggest a model for concept teaching that has three stages:
 Establishing a connection in memory between the concept to be learned and existing
knowledge,
 Improving the formation of concepts in terms of relations
 Facilitating the development of classification rules. This model acknowledges the declarative
and procedural aspects of cognition
Klausmeier (1974) suggests four levels of concept learning:
 Concrete - recall of essential/critical attributes

Attaining a concept at the concrete level is inferred when the individual recognizes an
object that has been encountered on a prior occasion. The operations in attaining this level,
are attending to an object, discriminating it from other objects, representing it internally as
an image or trace, and maintaining the representation (remembering).
 Identity - recall of examples
Attainment of a concept at the identity level is inferred when the individual
recognizes an object as the same one previously encountered when the object is observed
from a different spatio-temporal perspective or sensed in a different modality, such as
hearing or seeing.
 Classification - generalizing to new examples
The operation at the classificatory level is generalizing that two or more things are
alike in some way. The lowest level of attaining a concept at the classificatory level is
inferred when the individual responds to at least two different examples of the same class
of objects, events, or actions as equivalent.
 Formalization - discriminating new instances
Attainment of a concept at the formal level is inferred when the individual can give
the name of the concept, can define the concept in terms of its defining attributes, can
discriminate and name its defining attributes, and can evaluate actual or verbally described
examples and non examples of the particular concept in terms of the presence or absence
of the defining attributes.
One of the major goals of this model was to reduce three typical errors in concept
formation: overgeneralization, under generalization and misconception.
Categorization has always been a central aspect of concept learning research (e.g., Rosch &
Lloyd, 1978). Recent theory tends to include concept acquisition as part of the general reasoning
processes involved in both inductive and deductive inferences.
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Principles of Concept Learning
Principle 1: Prior Knowledge
Learners use what they already know to construct new understandings. People
construct meaning for a new idea or process by relating it to ideas or processes they
already understand. This prior knowledge can produce mistakes, but it can also produce
correct insights. Some of this knowledge base is discipline specific, while some may be
related to but not explicitly within a discipline. Research on cognition has shown that
successful learning involves linking new knowledge to what is already known. These links can
take different forms, such as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing knowledge or skills.
Principle 2: Readiness
Readiness implies a degree of concentration and eagerness. Individuals learn best
when they are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to learn. The learner must be
emotionally committed to integrate new concepts with the existing knowledge. The eagerness
in a learner is seen only when they are ready to accept and learn new things and change
things which they have already learnt.
Principle 3: Understanding the Concept and giving examples
Understanding of the concept takes place only when the learner is able to identify
the key features or characteristics of the topic. Clarification of the terms is important in
order to understand the concept. The concept can be further clarified by giving examples.
Principle 4: Relating to prior knowledge
Relating the new concept to the prior information creates a better understanding of
the topic and the learner is able to contrast between the two information. When prior
knowledge contains misconceptions, there is a need to reconstruct a whole relevant
framework of concepts, not simply to correct the misconception or faulty idea.
Principle 5: Generalisations and Discrimination
We generalize a certain response (like the name of an object) to all members of the
conceptual class based on their common attributes.
We discriminate between those which belong to the conceptual class and those that
don’t because they lack one or more of the defining attributes.
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Concept Learning: Strategies and Approach
1. Words – Hearing or reading new words leads to learning new concepts, but forming a new
concept is more than learning a dictionary definition. A person may have previously formed a
new concept before encountering the word or phrase for it.
2. Compare and contrast is a strategy used to analyze the similarities and differences between
ideas, objects, people, and events as well as to expose the relationships between items being
examined. The primary purpose of this instructional strategy is to aid students in develop
developing
critical thinking skills and provide a means to organize new information.
Comparing and contrasting to analyze and evaluate concepts promotes deeper

understanding. When we compare, we examine similarities among details or between what is
known and suppositions.
ositions. When we contrast, we focus on differences. Applying both methods
together aids understanding.
3. Using examples and non-examples

examples helps students solidify and clarify their understanding of
important learning concepts. Non
Non-examples that could possibly be confused with examples are an
important component of refining concept acquisition. Additionally, beginning with examples and
non-examples
examples that are simple to understand can be an invaluable scaffolding tool that you can
build upon to eventually get to a more complex grasp of a concept.
4. Examples – Supervised or unsupervised generalizing from examples may lead to learning a new
concept, but concept formation is more than generalizing from examples.
5. Invention – When prehistoric people who lacked tools use

usedd their fingernails to scrape food from
killed animals or smashed melons, they noticed that a broken stone sometimes had a sharp
Ambady K. G. 60
edge like a fingernail and was therefore suitable for scraping food. Inventing a stone tool to
avoid broken fingernails was a new concept.
6. Analogies can be used for abstract and concrete concepts because they require the learner to
relate prior knowledge and assist with grouping of characteristics.
7. Concept trees or concept map is a representation of an idea as it relates to other ideas. A

visual representation of a concept‘s connection and hierarchal organization. Getting students to
create a map of a concept’s feature or characteristics can help them to learn the concept. These
can be illustrated through prezi, bubbl or any mind mapping tools.
8. Prototype matching: In this, individuals decide whether an item is a member of a category by

comparing it with the most typical item(s) of the category. The more similar the item is to the
prototype more likely it is that the individual will say the item belongs to the category. For
example, robins are viewed as being more typical birds than ostriches or penguins. Nonetheless,
member of a category can vary greatly and still have qualities that make them a member of
that category. They can be asked for non prototypical examples of the concept.
9. Rule example strategy
It involves four steps:

a. Define concept
b. Clarify the terms in the definition
c. Give examples to illustrate the key features or characteristics
d. Provide additional examples and ask students to categorize these and explain their
categorization or have students generate their own examples of the concepts.
10. Help students learn not only what a concept is but also what it is not. Let’s take the concept
‘cartoon’. Students can learn that even though they are humorous, jokes clowns, and funny
poem are not cartoons.
11. Make concept as clear as possible and give concrete examples.
12. Help students relate new concepts to concepts they already know.
13. Discovery – Every baby discovers concepts for itself, such as discovering that each of its
fingers can be individually controlled or that care givers are individuals. Although this is
perception driven, formation of the concept is more than memorizing perceptions.
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SKILL LEARNING
Skills are efficient ways of doing something. They are coordinated series of responses of
responses performed with proficiency. It implies proficiency in the performance of a task. Skill can
be defined as the physically encoding of information, with movement and/or with activities where
the gross and fine muscles are used for expressing or interpreting information or concepts. This
area also refers to natural, autonomic responses or reflexes.
Skill Learning: Meaning and Definitions

SKILL is the ability to do something well. LEARNING is the process of acquiring new or
modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, and skills. Therefore, skill learning is the learning of a task
to give accuracy, speed and performance after a high degree of practice. In other words we can say
a skill is learning to carry out a task with pre-determined results often within a given amount of
time, energy or both. Skills can often be divided into domain general and domain specific skills. For
example in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, team work
and leadership, self motivation and others. Whereas, domain specific skills would be useful only for
a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level
of skill being shown and used.
According to the Portland business journal, people skills are described as;
 Understanding ourselves and moderating our responses.
 Talking effectively and empathizing accurately.
 Building relationships of trust, respect and productive interactions.
Classification of Skills
 MOTOR SKILLS: part of a movement or group of movement that produce a desired outcome
when performed in a sequence.
 COGNITIVE SKILLS: understand skill and technique
SKILL ACQUISITION
Skill acquisition is a specific form of learning. It refers to a form of prolonged learning about
events. Through many pairings of similar stimuli with particular responses, a person can begin to
develop knowledge representations of how to response in certain situations. Thus skilled behaviours
can become routinized and even automatic under some condition. The range of behaviors that can
be considered to involve skill acquisition could potentially include all responses that are not innate.
That is, any response that can be learned can potentially be refined with practice, given the right
condition.
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Skilled behavior also includes overt behavior. Writing, playing a musical instrument, driving a
car, all is examples of behaviours that could not be performed well without a great deal of practice.
One of the methods researchers have used to track improvement on a skill has been a plot
performance as a function of amount of practice.
To understand more about skill learning let’s focus on teaching skills

The aim of all teaching activity is to facilitate and support student learning. Doing this is
the best way to show teaching skill.
Teaching [including supervision and examination], the preparation of study guides and
learning material, the development of courses and new methods, efficient administration and good
pedagogical leadership are examples of different types of pedagogical work.
Skills for learning, Skills for life and Skills for work
This framework has been developed for use in the national qualifications development
programme in support of curriculum for excellence.
The main skill areas are:
 Literacy: this is the ability to communicate by reading, by writing, by listening and by
talking.
 Numeracy: this is the ability to use numbers to solve problems by counting, doing
calculations , measuring etc
 Health and well being: this is the ability to take care of yours and others. And to be
responsible for your learning and welfare.
 Thinking skills: this is the ability to develop the cognitive skills of remembering,
identifying, understanding, applying, evaluating and creating.
Skill and Talent
Talent and skill are often used interchangeably in conversations and perceptions. Talent is
defined by resources as the ability by a person that is inherent. A skill is an ability that is learned
and practiced for a period of time. Skill are often taught and considered as a demonstrated talent.
Using both skill and talent can drive an individual to success and fulfill a goal in life.
NATURE OF SKILL LEARNING

The concept of ‘skill’ is important in many areas of education. However, despite its
widespread use, this concept remains ambiguous and hard to define. At the core of dictionary
definitions of skill is the idea of competence or proficiency – the facility, or dexterity that is
acquired or developed through training or experience the ability to do something well. While skill is
synonymous with competence, it also evokes images of expertise, mastery and excellence (i.e.
Superior, even extraordinary, ability).
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Skill can be defined as the physically encoding of information, with movement and/or with
activities where the gross and fine muscles are used for expressing or interpreting information or
concepts. This area also refers to natural, autonomic responses or reflexes.
Characteristics of a Skill
A skill has three characteristics: It represents a chain of motor responses; it involves the
coordination of hand and eye movements; and it requires the organization of chains into a complex
response patterns.
 A skill involves a chain of motor responses or muscular movements.
 Skill behaviour involves the co-ordination of hands and eye movements.
 Skill is specific to the activity, not a general motor ability.
 It involves the organization of individual sub tasks.
 A skill is somewhat general in form of expression, that is, it is never repeated precisely the
same way in all details of the movement pattern.
 Learning of skill involves some amount of trial and error behaviour.
 Learning is a skill depends upon development and experience.
 Skill learning is chiefly the integration of simpler movements in to a pattern of perceptual
motor behaviour for some purpose,
 A well developed skill is adjustable to changing environmental conditions.
Hierarchical levels of Skill Learning
Every skill has a psychomotor component. In the learning situation there is again a
progression from mere physical experience – seeing, touching, moving etc. – through the carrying
out of complex skills under guidance, to the performance of skilled activities independently.
Skilled activities are sub divided into hierarchical levels. The six levels from simplest to most
complex are:
 Reflex movements
 Basic fundamental movements
 Perceptual abilities
 Physical abilities
 Skilled movements and
 Non-discursive communication
Stages of Skill Learning

Every skill requires a series of organized actions performed with precision, timing and co-
ordination of muscular movements. Skill learning refers to the acquisition of precision, timing and
co-ordination of muscles required for performing an organized action.
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Fitts and Posner distinguished three phases of skill learning-cognitive phase, associative
phase and autonomous phase. The phases, of course overlap; they are not distinct units. Moving
from one phase to another is a continuous process.
 Cognitive phase
In the beginning learner attempts to understand the task and what it demands. The
instructor provides verbal guidance directing the learner’s attention to the proper sequence of action
and putting together the various parts. This phase is also known as phase of instruction and
intellectualization.
 Associative phase
During this stage the learner practices the skill. Introduces the individual sub-skills, puts
together and co-ordinate them in to a meaningful pattern. In this phase the correct behavior
patterns are practiced until the chance of making incorrect responses is reduced to zero; the
behavior become fixed. This stage lasts for days and months. At the most basic level the student
is learning to link together the basic units of the chains. At a more advanced level he is learning
to organize the chains into an overall pattern.
 Autonomous phase
At this stage the skill becomes autonomous in the sense that outside activities
do not interfere with its performance. Improvements in smoothness and precision of the skill
continue to take pace gradually. This phase is characterized by increasing speed of performance in
skills in which it is important to improve accuracy to the point at which errors are very unlikely to
occur. In this phase the student also increases his resistance to stress and to the interference of
outside activities which he is able to perform at the same time. This is the stage achieved by the
expert, for whom the performance of the skill has become involuntary, inflexible, and even locked
in.
Steps in Skill Learning

The important steps in skill learning are following:
 Preparation: This implies motivating pupils so as to male them interested in learning the skill.
This may be done by creating a learning situation in which pupil feel the need to learn.
 Statement of the aim: After the students are properly motivated, the teacher should clearly state
what type of skill they are going to learn. A clear objective makes the students ready to learn
the skill.
 Presentation: It involves two types-verbal explanation and actual demonstration
Ambady K. G. 65
 Verbal explanation-the teacher gives verbal instructions as to how the skill is to be
performed. Teacher may explain various steps in the learning of the skill. May make use of
blackboard or other audio visual aids to make things clear.
 Actual demonstration-The teacher must be very skillful in giving demonstration. Firstly
demonstration of the whole skill should be given. Then the skill should be sub divided in to
its components parts and each part should be demonstrated separately and slowly.
 Performance by the learners: After the demonstration is given the pupils are asked to perform
the activity by themselves. The teacher gives necessary encouragements and the resources
supports to them.
 Correction by the teacher: The teacher will pays individual attention to the learners, and will
correct their performance.
 Practice by the learner: When the students are in a position to perform the activity reasonably
correctly he should be allowed to start practice. Practice should continue until the skill is
thoroughly mastered.
Role of the Teacher
The teacher has the following important role in the teaching of skills:
 Analyze the skills to be taught, break it down in to sub tasks or part skills.
 Try to determine the extent of student’s preparation, previous knowledge and abilities in
respect of the skills to be taught.
 Give adequate incentives or sufficient motivation to the learner. Motivation makes them learn
it with perfect attention and with all their energy directed towards its mastery.
 Give the learner good suggestion and secure positive transfer to facilitate the acquisition of
new skills.
 The teacher should allow sufficient practice for students. Encourage them to learn in natural
units.
 During and after practice teacher should give feed back to the students about how well they
are doing.
Principles of Skill Learning

The following list presents the basic principles that underlie effective learning. These
principles are distilled from research from a variety of disciplines.
1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.

Students come into our courses with knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes gained in other
courses and through daily life. As students bring this knowledge to bear in our classrooms, it
influences how they filter and interpret what they are learning. If students’ prior knowledge is
Ambady K. G. 66
robust and accurate and activated at the appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for
building new knowledge. However, when knowledge is inert, insufficient for the task, activated
inappropriately, or inaccurate, it can interfere with or impede new learning.
2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they
know.
Students naturally make connections between pieces of knowledge. When those connections
form knowledge structures that are accurately and meaningfully organized, students are better able
to retrieve and apply their knowledge effectively and efficiently. In contrast, when knowledge is
connected in inaccurate or random ways, students can fail to retrieve or apply it appropriately.
3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.

As students enter college and gain greater autonomy over what, when, and how they study
and learn, motivation plays a critical role in guiding the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality
of the learning behaviours in which they engage. When students find positive value in a learning
goal or activity, expect to successfully achieve a desired learning outcome, and perceive support
from their environment, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn.
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating

them, and know when to apply what they have learned.
Students must develop not only the component skills and knowledge necessary to perform
complex tasks, they must also practice combining and integrating them to develop greater fluency
and automaticity. Finally, students must learn when and how to apply the skills and knowledge they
learn. As instructors, it is important that we develop conscious awareness of these elements of
mastery so as to help our students learn more effectively.
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of

students’ learning.
Learning and performance are best fostered when students engage in practice that focuses
on a specific goal or criterion, targets an appropriate level of challenge, and is of sufficient quantity
and frequency to meet the performance criteria. Practice must be coupled with feedback that
explicitly communicates about some aspect(s) of students’ performance relative to specific target
criteria, provides information to help students progress in meeting those criteria, and is given at a
time and frequency that allows it to be useful.
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6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and
intellectual climate of the course to impact learning.
Students are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and they are still
developing the full range of intellectual, social, and emotional skills. While we cannot control the
developmental process, we can shape the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical aspects of
classroom climate in developmentally appropriate ways. In fact, many studies have shown that the
climate we create has implications for our students. A negative climate may impede learning and
performance, but a positive climate can energize students’ learning.
7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their
approaches to learning.
Learners may engage in a variety of metacognitive processes to monitor and control their
learning—assessing the task at hand, evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses, planning their
approach, applying and monitoring various strategies, and reflecting on the degree to which their
current approach is working. Unfortunately, students tend not to engage in these processes
naturally. When students develop the skills to engage these processes, they gain intellectual habits
that not only improve their performance but also their effectiveness as learners.
APPROACHES OR STRATEGIES OF SKILL LEARNING

1) FOCUS ON THE CORE: This strategy focuses on the importance of mastering the core
processes, languages and procedures which can later be applied in the real world to solve
problems and provide critical analysis. Tools used in this are reading, attending classes,
active participation in classroom and reflection of learning.
2) ADOPT CRITICAL THINKING: Developing the skills of critical thinking along with all the
proven methods and tool which are used to battle the complex problems and these help
the learner to identify the cause of each issue and figure out the best way to take action
to solve the problems.
3) MEMORY AS PROBLEM- SOLVING TOOL: problem solving requires an active memory. To

improve memory learner can use original awareness with invention to remember,
organization & review.
Ambady K. G. 68
4) CONCENTRATION: Concentration is “exclusive attention on one subject” to gain concentration
some of the factors are very important like interest and activity, ignoring distractions, being
fully alive in the classroom discourse, motivation regarding the subject.
5) ACTIVE READING &LISTENING: Active reading includes reading for a purpose with accurate
speed &critical thinking .Active listening includes listening to lectures with full concentration,
reviewing etc.
6) INTRODUCTION OF SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS IN LEARNING: Science faithfully represents the

challenges that learners will come across in their careers, so teachers should encourage
students to take part in science fairs and prepare models etc.
7) PRACTICE TEAM WORK: Learners need to learn how to cooperate on multiple levels .This
includes not only building a successful team around them, that they can rely on and find
ideas, but they also help in solving various conflicts and sharing useful information etc.
8) LEARN TO COMMUNICATE: Developing communication skills is essential for learners, because

it allows for proper conflict resolution &constructive dialogue which enables both ideas to
flow between both sides. Communication is not just addressing others but it is also about
listening and receiving useful feedback &suggestions.
9) LEARN LEARNING: Embracing the learning process is an important prerequisite for adopting
new skills &knowledge, as well as all the intellectual challenges that go along with it. An
essential part of the learning process should be setting goals, reflecting, accepting the fact
that you may not know everything at all times and accepting criticism and applying
feedback and suggestion to become better are required.
10) DIGITAL LEARNING: By new adaptive technology and tools, teachers can extend their
influence way beyond the limits of what they were able to do before. Technology can allow
teachers to focus their efforts on deeper learning; digital learning can establish a connection
between their learning and work.
11) EXAM PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE: Exam preparation involves gathering information,
early exam preparation, and late exam preparation. Exam performance depends on
motivation, confidence, practice, planning etc.
12) TIME MANAGEMENT & LIFESTYLE CHANGES: Time management is required to plan learning,
lifestyle changes include sufficient sleep and diet as required and study environment.
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VERBAL LEARNING
Verbal learning is the process of acquiring, retaining and recalling of verbal material. In
everyday terms, it’s like “memorization”. At its most elementary level, it can be defined as a
process of building associations between a stimulus and a response, with both of them being
verbal. At a broader level, verbal learning includes the processes of organizing the stimulus material
by the learner and the related changes in the learner's behavior.
Linguistic intelligence is better known as verbal intelligence, and this is where an individual
responds best through auditory methods of teaching. Essentially, this is verbal learning, where a
student will learn most efficiently from listening to people and taking in information. It means an
individual has an ability to solve complex problems, come to conclusions and learn overall using
language alone.
Verbal learners will usually go on to study language, or performing arts, writing, law, politics
and other paths concerning language, in order to satisfy their linguistic needs in life.
Verbal learning is the process of actively memorizing new material using mental pictures,
associations, and other activities. Verbal learning was first studied by Hermann Ebbinghaus, who
used lists of nonsense syllables to test recall. Later, Frederic Bartlett refuted Ebbinghaus' beliefs that
nonsense syllables had an advantage over using words when testing verbal learning because the use
of words adds the element of making a meaningful connection between words.
DEFINITIONS OF VERBAL LEARNING
The procedure involves in learning about verbal stimulants and reaction, like letters, numbers,
nonsense syllables or learning. The techniques utilize in verbal learning are inclusive of pared
associates learning and serial learning.
From psychology dictionary by Nugent Pam S
A field of experimental psychology which studies the formation of certain verbal associations
deals with acquisition of the association. Learning is respond verbally to a verbal stimulus.
By from U.S Library of Medicine
NATURE OF VERBAL LEARNING
Verbal learning is different from conditioning and is limited to human beings. Human
beings, as you must have observed, acquire knowledge about objects, events, and their features
largely in terms of words. Words then come to be associated with one another. Psychologists have
developed a number of methods to study this kind of learning in a laboratory setting. Each method
is used to investigate specific questions about learning of some kind of verbal material. In the
study of verbal learning, psychologists use a variety of materials including nonsense syllables,
familiar words, unfamiliar words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Ambady K. G. 70
Methods used in Studying Verbal Learning
 Paired-Associates Learning: This method is similar to S-S conditioning and S-R learning. It is
used in learning some foreign language equivalents of mother tongue words. First, a list of
paired-associates is prepared. The first word of the pair is used as the stimulus, and the
second word as the response. Members of each pair may be from the same language or two
different languages. A list of such words is given in Table 6.3. The first members of the pairs
(stimulus term) are nonsense syllables (consonant vowel-consonant), and the second are
English nouns (response term). The learner is first shown both the stimulus-response pairs
together, and is instructed to remember and recall the response after the presentation of each
stimulus term. After that a learning trial begins. One by one the stimulus words are presented
and the participant tries to give the correct response term. In case of failure, s/he is shown
the response word. In one trial all the stimulus terms are shown. Trials continue until the
participant gives all the response words without a single error. The total number of trials
taken to reach the criterion becomes the measure of paired-associates learning.
 Serial Learning: This method of verbal learning is used to find out how participants learn the
lists of verbal items, and what processes are involved in it. First, lists of verbal items, i.e.
nonsense syllables, most familiar or least familiar words, interrelated words, etc. are prepared.
The participant is presented the entire list and is required to produce the items in the same
serial order as in the list. In the first trial, the first item of the list is shown, and the
participant has to produce the second item. If s/he fails to do so within the prescribed time,
the experimenter presents the second item. Now this item becomes the stimulus and the
participant has to produce the third item that is the response word. If s/he fails, the
experimenter gives the correct item, which becomes the stimulus item for the fourth word.
This procedure is called serial anticipation method. Learning trials continue until the participant
correctly anticipates all the items in the given order.
 Free Recall: In this method, participants are presented a list of words, which they read and
speak out. Each word is shown at a fixed rate of exposure duration. Immediately after the
presentation of the list, the participants are required to recall the words in any order they
can. Words in the list may be interrelated or unrelated. More than ten words are included in
the list. The presentation order of words varies from trial to trial. This method is used to
study how participants organise words for storage in memory. Studies indicate that the items
placed in the beginning or end of the lists are easier to recall than those placed in the
middle, which are more difficult to recall.
Ambady K. G. 71
Determinants of Verbal Learning
Verbal learning has been subjected to the most extensive experimental investigations. These
studies have indicated that the course of verbal learning is influenced by a number of factors. The
most important determinants are the different features of the verbal material to be learned. They
include length of the list to be learned and meaningfulness of the material. Meaningfulness of
material is measured in several ways. The number of associations elicited in a fixed time, familiarity
of the material and frequency of usage, relations among the words in the list, and sequential
dependence of each word of the list on the preceding words, are used for assessing
meaningfulness. Lists of nonsense syllables are available with different levels of associations. The
nonsense syllables should be selected from a list containing the same association value. On the
basis of research findings, the following generalisations have been made. Learning time increases
with increase in length of the list, occurrence of words with low association values or lack of
relations among the items in the list. The more time it takes to learn the list, stronger will be the
learning. In this respect psychologists have found that the total time principle operates. This
principle states that a fixed amount of time is necessary to learn a fixed amount of material,
regardless of the number of trials into which that time is divided. The more time it takes to learn,
the stronger becomes the learning. If participants are not restricted to the serial learning method
and are allowed to give free recall, verbal learning becomes organisational. It implies that in free
recall participants recall the words not in their order of presentation, but in a new order or
sequence.
Bowesfield first demonstrated this experimentally. He made a list of 60 words that consisted
of 15 words drawn from each of the four semantic categories, i.e. names, animals, professions, and
vegetables. These words were presented to participants one by one in random order. The
participants were required to make free recall of the words. However, they recalled the words of
each category together. He called it category clustering. It is worth noting that, though, the words
were presented randomly the participants organised them category-wise in recall. Here category
clustering occurred because of the nature of the list. It has also been demonstrated that free recall
is always organised subjectively. Subjective organisation shows that the participants organise words
or items in their individual ways and recall accordingly. Verbal learning is usually intentional but a
person may learn some features of the words unintentionally or incidentally. In this kind of
learning, participants notice features such as whether two or more words rhyme, start with identical
letters, have same vowels, etc. Thus, verbal learning is both intentional as well as incidental.
Ambady K. G. 72
STAGES OF VERBAL LEARNING
There are three main stages involved in verbal learning.
 ACQUISITION
Under acquisition there are three tasks involved which are frequently used in verbal
learning studies.
Serial learning: It involves having subjects learn a list of items according to the order in
which the items appear in the list. Serial learning may have effect lower recall error rates –
primary effect and last few items -recency effect.
Paired associate learning: It involves having to items –a stimulus item and a response
item paired as stimuli.When the item pairs are connected to memory, the presentation of the
first word-stimulus word evoke the second word-response word.
There are certain disadvantages in paired associate learning .If the items used as stimulus
words in a paired associate task are too similar, discrimination ability decreases which leads to
errors in recall .Meaningful responses are learned easier than non-meaningful responses.
Free recall: Free recall is much unstructured; one can recall words in any order they like.
The more an item is rehearsed, the greater the likelihood that the item will be recalled
.Organizing to-be-recalled information into some types of meaningful system also enhances recall
ability. Although different from serial learning, free call tasks will also show a serial position
effect similar to that obtained with serial learning.
 TRANSFER
Transfer is a gross learning phenomenon that represents the effects of past or present
acquisition. Transfer has been focal point for verbal learning theory. Transfer effects in verbal
learning are classified as either specific or non-specific.
Non-specific transfer: This results from practice on a list prior to the transfer task,
regardless to the stimulus-response relationship between the prior and transfer lists. In other
words, non- specific transfer is independent of list content.
Specific transfer: Specific transfer varies with relationship between the stimulus and
response components of the two lists.
 RETENTION
Retention refers to a person’s ability to retain and use information. This ability is
imperative in learning new skill. The continuity of acquisition and retention is so inherent that
their processes are inseparable. Retention is a continuous process. Retention is mainly based on
performance and practice.
Ambady K. G. 73
Long term retention: Long term retention involves the recall and use of knowledge after a
relatively long period of time has passed since instruction on that knowledge. Long term
retention does not have duration based restrictions. The long term store is a permanent storage
system, receiving data from short term.
Short term retention: Short term retention deals with the information storage system that
has a limited capacity and duration and it is studied in contrast to long term retention. The
mental workspace can be used and reused constantly. The short term store is responsible for
temporary processing, governed by working memory control process.
The three stages of verbal learning are very essential and helpful in the education of an individual.
PRINCIPLES OF VERBAL LEARNING

 Create Appreciation of the Written Word:
Long before children are able to engage in reading themselves, they must feel that
reading is something they would like to do. They must develop an appreciation of the pleasures
of written language and of the many ways language is useful.
 Develop Awareness of Printed Language:
Children need to develop a basic sense of what print looks like and how it works. They
must learn how to handle a book, which way to turn the pages, and that the printed words -
not the pictures - tells the story when you read. Children should be taught that words are all
around them - in newspapers, mail, billboards, signs, and labels - and have many different and
valuable purposes.
 Learn the Alphabet:
Comfortable and early familiarity with letters is critical for learning to read. Children
should learn the names of letters and to recognize and form their corresponding shapes.
 Understand the Relation of Letters and Words:
Children need to learn that printed words are made up of ordered strings of letters, read
left to right. They should be helped to understand that when the combination or order of letters
is changed, the word that is spelled also changes.
 Understand That Language is Made of Words, Syllables, and Phonemes:
The ability to think about words as a sequence of phonemes is essential to learning how
to read an alphabetic language. Children should become aware of the building blocks of spoken
language.
Ambady K. G. 74
 Learn Letter Sounds:
Given a comfortable familiarity with letters and an awareness of the sounds of

phonemes, children are ready to learn about letter-sound correspondence. The most important
goal at this first stage is to help children understand that the logic of the alphabetic writing
system is built on these correspondences.
 Sound Out New Words:
As children learn specific letter-sound correspondences, they should be challenged to use

this knowledge to sound out new words in reading and writing. Making a habit of sounding out
unfamiliar words contributes strongly to reading growth, not just for beginners, but for all
readers. Children need to understand that sounding out new words can actually be strategies for
helping them unlock pronunciations of words they have never seen before, and can make what
they are reading understandable.
 Identify Words in Print Accurately and Easily:
The ability to read with fluency and comprehension depends on recognizing most words
almost instantly and effortlessly. Once the framework for a new word or spelling has been laid,
through sounding and blending, the key to recognizing it quickly and easily is practice. The
most useful practice is reading and rereading of meaningful text made up of words the child
has been taught to sound out. For beginners, such reading helps most if it is relatively easy.
 Know Spelling Patterns:
As children become reasonably capable of sounding out words in reading and spelling, it
is important that they notice the similarities in their spellings. Awareness of spelling patterns
that recur across words hastens progress in reading and writing, and weak knowledge of spelling
is an impediment to mature readers.
 Learn to Read Reflectively:
Although the ability to sound out words is essential for learning to read, it is not
enough. Written language is not just speech written down. Instead, text brings new vocabulary,
new language patterns, new thoughts, and new modes of thinking.
 Writing:
A child's writing development parallels their development as a reader. Writing is a

complex task that balances purpose, audience, ideas and organization with the mechanics of
writing (sentence structure, word choice, and spelling).
Ambady K. G. 75
Strategies of Verbal Learning
When one learns best through the written and spoken word, the person can be said to have
a verbal/linguistic learning style. Verbal learning style can be closely associated with an auditory
learning style, in which a person learns best from what they hear, but verbal learners are
specifically interested in the words they hear. Some of the strategies are 
 Recognize the value of students transforming new information into their own words.
 Allow students to participate in the Debates and conversations to try to reward what has
been taught.
 Rewriting notes or reading them aloud may be helpful to a verbal learner.
 Asking them to summarize the time line themselves with a few sentences.
 This style may prefer to write out their thoughts for those who favor writing. Provide plenty
of opportunity to digest information in notes or journals.
 Prefers to have language in the environment.
 Translates emotions into linguisting forms.
 Invents words, stories, dialogues.
 Reacts with pleasure to information in linguistic form.
 Enjoying reading /writing to relax.
 Imagines events/interactions by thinking of words, phrases, dialogue.
 Hears language more than anything else.
 Writes to communicates ideas.
 Plays with sounds /words to make jokes, puns, humor.
Verbal learners will be able to express themselves, their problems, and solutions to problems
through words. Oftentimes, also, they will have particularly good memories, as verbal learning
involves taking in a lot of information in short periods of time and retaining it.
Verbal learners often learn numerous other languages in an effort to increase their
knowledge, their wisdom, and their ability to use words to communicate with a larger audience
during their lifetime.
Verbal learners will usually go on to study language, or performing arts, writing, law, politics
and other paths concerning language, in order to satisfy their linguistic needs in life.
Ambady K. G. 76
LEARNING OF PRINCIPLES
Principles prescribe the relationship between among two or more concepts. These
relationships are usually if-then relationships. Other terms that are used for principles are
propositions, axioms, theorems and postulates.
A principle is a concept or value that is a guide for behaviour or evaluation. In law, it is a
rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable
consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is
constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential
characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed purpose, and the effective operation or
use of which would be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored. Examples of
principles are entropy in a number of fields, least action in physics, those in descriptive
comprehensive and fundamental law: doctrines or assumptions forming normative rules of conduct,
separation of church and state in statecraft, the central dogma of molecular biology, fairness in
ethics, etc.
NATURE
The word principle is used in many contexts as we see
As law
1. As moral law
A principle represents values that orient and rule the conduct of persons in a particular
society. To "act on principle" is to act in accordance with one's moral ideals.[4] Principles are
absorbed in childhood through a process of socialization. There is a presumption of liberty of
individuals that is restrained. Exemplary principles include first, do no harm, the golden rule and
the doctrine of the mean.
2. As a juridical law
It represents a set of values that inspire the written norms that organize the life of a
society submitting to the powers of an authority, generally the State. The law establishes a legal
obligation, in a coercive way; it therefore acts as principle conditioning of the action that limits
the liberty of the individuals. See, for examples, the territorial principle, homestead principle, and
precautionary principle.
3. As scientific law
Archimedes principle, relating buoyancy to the weight of displaced water, is an early
example of a law in science. Another early one developed by Malthus is the population
principle, now called the Malthusian principle. Freud also wrote on principles, especially the
reality principle necessary to keep the id and pleasure principle in check. Biologists use the
Ambady K. G. 77
principle of priority and principle of Binominal nomenclature for precision in naming species.
There are many principles observed in physics, notably in cosmology which observes the
mediocrity principle, the anthropic principle, the principle of relativity and the cosmological
principle. Other well-known principles include the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics and
the pigeonhole principle and superposition principle in mathematics.
STAGES OF LEARNING OF PRINCIPLES

Learners should practice principles at four levels:
 Firstly, they should practice stating the principle
 Next, they should practice recognizing the situations in which the is applicable
 Then, they should practice applying the principle
 Lastly, they should practice determining if the principle has been correctly applied
Noel Burch developed FIVE stages of learning of principles, which are:
STAGE 1: UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE
“I don’t know what I don’t know”
In the beginning of learning of any principle, a person is at zero level i.e. he/she doesn’t
know what that particular principle is all about and what are the ways to learn it.
STAGE 2: CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE
“I now know about it but, I’m not very good at it”
Here the student now knows what the principle is all about but, is hesitant to learn it
having a mental assumption that it would be tough.
STAGE 3: CONCIOUS COMPETENCE
“I know how, but I need to think about and concentrate on what I have to do”
This is a slower learning stage where realization regarding focus and concentration is
initiated. This is a slower stage than previous stage because; the new learning is not consistent or
habitual yet.
STAGE 4: INCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE
“I know and I can do it effortlessly”
Learning in this stage is habitual and automatic. Learner is quite confident. The learner
actively participates in learning and is very active.
STAGE 5:
This stage is a consequence of all the above mentioned stages. This can be called as
FLOW/MASTERY
Ambady K. G. 78
Principles for Learning of Principle

There are two types of principles: process principles and casual principles.
Process Principles
How is a process principle learned? As with concepts and procedures, the statement
of the principle could certainly be memorized. It is also possible to memorize one particular
demonstration of the principle. Dave Merrill refers to these as "remember-a-generality" and
"remember-an-instance", respectively. But what we really want is for the students to be able
to apply the principle in new (previously unencountered) situations. This makes it skill
application, or what Merrill calls "use-a-generality".
But how is process principles applied? Let's look at a case in point. The life cycle of
a flowering plant is a process principle. A seed grows into a seedling, which in turn grows
to become a mature plant, which then develops flowers, which produce seeds, which grow
into seedlings, and the cycle continues. It is a process principle rather than a causal one
because it is a sequence of changes in which one change does not cause the next, it just
naturally precedes it.
So how can this principle are applied? Application entails generalizing the sequence of
events to new cases. So we can look at a "new" plant and describe what phase or change
is going to occur next (e.g., the flower will form seeds), or we can look at it and describe
what phase or change occurred immediately prior to now, or we can look at all of the
Ambady K. G. 79
various phases or changes which occurred and arrange them in the proper sequence.
Statements which are often used include "arrange the events in proper order", "predict what
will happen next", and "infer what happened just prior to now". But all of these are
essentially the same in that they entail describing a sequence of events as they apply in a
new (previously unencountered) situation.
As with concept classification, there is some evidence that there are two phases to
learning a principle at the application level. Similar to the notion of prototype formation, the
learner needs to comprehend the principle. We refer to this as the acquisition phase. Then
the learner needs to learn to generalize it to new situations, which is called the application
phase. When generalization is involved, we know that there have to be variable
characteristics across which we generalize. What are those likely to be for process principles?
What would they be for the life cycle of a flowering plant? Is there such a thing as
"equivalence classes" for principles? Think about these issues, and discuss them with a
colleague.
As with concepts and procedures, not all principles require a lot of generalization.
Remember the "one-dollar bill" phenomenon for concepts and the "recipe" phenomenon for
procedures. Some principles have very little variation among their instances. For example, the
phases of the moon comprise a process principle. Each week brings a new phase, yet each
month's phases vary little from the previous month's phases. As with concepts and
procedures, such principles are virtually remember-level tasks: if you've learned one instance,
you've learned them all. Again, there is a continuum ranging from such principles on one
extreme to very highly divergent principles on the other extreme. This has important
implications for your instruction.
Causal Principles
How is a causal principle learned? Like a process principle, it can be learned at the
"remember-a-generality" level or the "remember-an-instance" level, and either of those can
be rote (memorization) or meaningful (understanding). But what we really want is for the
students to be able to "use the generality “apply the principle in new (previously
unencountered) situations.
So how are causal principles applied? We saw that process principles are applied by
describing the sequence of events in a new situation. But causal principles are much more
complex. There are three very different forms of behavior by which causal principles can be
applied. These three behaviors can most easily be understood by looking at the two changes
which comprise a simple cause-effect principle: the cause and the effect. For example, in the
Ambady K. G. 80
law of supply and demand, an increase in price (the cause) results in a decrease in demand
(the effect).
Prediction. One way to apply a causal principle is when a particular cause is given
and the learner must predict what its particular effect will be. For example, the learner is
told that the price of gasoline will soon increase due to a gasoline tax, and is asked what
effect it is likely to have. "Implication" is another term which is commonly used.
Explanation. Another way a causal principle can be applied occurs when a particular
effect is given, and the learner must explain what its particular cause was. For example, the
learner is told that consumption of sugar in the U.S. decreased considerably in the early
1960s and is asked for a possible reason. "Inference" is another common term for this form
of application.
Solution. A third way a causal principle can be applied is when a particular desired
effect is given, and the person must select and implement the necessary particular causes to
bring it about. It is similar to procedure using, except that the appropriate procedure is
unknown and must be invented or derived by the person. For example, the learner is asked
to figure out how to decrease the consumption of electricity (to reduce pollution and
conserve fossil fuels). "Problem solving" is the common term for this form of application.
In a process principle, the kind of behavior that represents application of the principle is to
describe what occurs in what order in a particular situation. For example, a learner is shown a
marigold in flower and is asked to predict what will happen next to it. Verbs that are often used
include "arrange the events in proper order", "predict which event will come next", and "infer what
event occurred just prior to now". But all of these are essentially the same in that they entail
describing a sequence of events as they apply in a new (previously unencountered) situation. They
are not prediction or explanation in the sense you have with causal principles. For each of these
four kinds of behavior, we can identify a procedure (or "cognitive processing routine") which is
used to apply a particular principle in that way. Hence, there are two distinct things which are
learned: the principle itself and the procedure for applying it. This is quite similar to concept
classification, where prototype formation preceded generalization (algorithm formation).
In essence, then, there are two phases to learning a principle at the application level:
acquisition and application. This has important implications for how to teach principles on an
application level.
Take a moment to think back now. What are the four types of behavior one could acquire
in learning to apply a principle? Try to recall and define each without looking back. And what are
the two phases to learning a principle at the application level?
Ambady K. G. 81
The Complex Nature of Principles
There are some interesting features of both process and causal principles, an understanding
of which can help us to teach them better. First, they may be anywhere on a continuum of
certainty as to their validity, ranging from hypotheses through propositions, postulates and rules, to
laws. When people talk about "fundamental concepts", they are often referring to principles, as in
the "fundamental concepts of science".
Second, principles vary greatly in the consistency with which a given cause has a given
effect. If a principle is highly consistent, it is called "deterministic", whereas if it only sometimes
has that effect, it is called "probabilistic". Principles also exist on a broad range of levels of
complexity, which vary depending on whether they are correlational or causal, directional or non-
directional, and quantitative or qualitative. Another aspect of their complexity is their level of
generality.
Another aspect of the complexity of principles is their level of inclusiveness. A principle like
"Prejudice is caused by ignorance and intolerance toward others" is very inclusive, applying to very
many situations; whereas the related principle, "People of one race or ethnic group become
intolerant toward another because they feel their way is the only way or the only right way",
applies in far fewer situations and is therefore much less inclusive.
Yet another aspect of the complexity of principles is that there are usually multiple causes
for any given effect and multiple effects of any given cause. For example, an increase in price will
cause an increase in the amount supplied as well as a decrease in amount demanded. There are
often tens of factors that can "cause" a given event (result), and tens of effects that can result
from any given event (cause).
Furthermore, causes and effects usually exist in chains, whereby a cause has a certain effect,
which in turn is a cause of another effect, which in turn is a cause of another effect, and so
forth.
Ambady K. G. 82
APPROACHES OR STRATEGIES OF LEARNING OF PRINCIPLES
Learning strategies are devices employed by learners to assist in the acquisition of
knowledge and skills. Instruction should guide the learner in the choice of appropriate learning
strategies for particular learning tasks. Facilitating the learning of declarative knowledge, concepts,
procedures, principles, problem solving, cognitive, attitudes, and psychomotor skills begins with
decisions on what content should be presented, how it should be presented, and in what sequence
the instruction should follow.
1. Micro-Level Instructional Strategies
Lesson (micro)-level instructional strategies should include an Introduction, Body, Conclusion,
and Learning Assessment. Because adult learners need to know why they need to learn, strategies
that deploy attention, arouse interest and motivation, establish instructional purpose, and provide a
preview of the lesson should be included in the Introduction. Strategies that facilitate the recall of
prior knowledge, process information, focus attention, facilitate learning, provide practice, and give
feedback should be included in the Body. The Conclusion should include a summary and review,
strategies to assure the transfer of knowledge, and exemplification of the usability of the new
knowledge.
Exemplification is necessary to demonstrate to adult learners how this new knowledge can
be applied in their workplace or daily lives. Assessment of performance, feedback and remediation
should also be included.
2. Instructional Approaches for Principle Learning
Principles define the relationship among concepts. When designing a strategy for principle
learning, the instructional designer chooses between an inquiry (constructivism) and an expository
(cognitivism) approach. Learners’ attention is deployed in both approaches by demonstrations of the
application of the principle.
When an inquiry strategy is used, the instructional purpose is established by presenting the
purpose as an enigma to be resolved. Expository strategies state the purpose of the instruction
more overtly. Preview of the instruction using an inquiry strategy directs learners how the enigma
may be resolved, while an expository lesson may preview the lesson using an outline. Analogies
may be used to recall relevant prior knowledge. Applications of the principle can be directly
experienced by the learners or demonstrated to the learners to process information. While learners
experience the principle, their attention should be focused on the key features in each application.
Instructional strategies certainly have their advantages in assisting learners in the acquisition
of knowledge and skills. Instructional designers should carefully perform a task analysis, analyze
learners, and the analyze the context when designing instruction to make a determination to
facilitate the use of strategies with more direct prompting of learning strategies or more direct and
complete instruction. If inhibitors to use of strategies are present (learners have low skill in
strategy use, learners are not motivated, learners do not recognize the applicability of the strategy,
learners lack awareness of their own cognitive capabilities, learners are unaware of the learning
task, learners have no prior content knowledge, etc.) the instructional designer may need to develop
Ambady K. G. 83
a technique to improve them or choose strategies with more direct prompting or instruction that is
more direct. A continuing goal of the instructional designer is to apply the different types of
instructional strategies to best achieve the different types of learning.
To make sure principle learning takes place, teachers must ensure that students have prior
knowledge of the concepts that are being represented in the principle being taught.
Instructors can use either the inquiry or expository approach to teach principles. An inquiry
approach to principle learning involves the instructor presenting learners with examples and non
examples of the principle and encouraging the learners to discover the principle. An expository
approach has the instructor presenting and demonstrating the principle and the student practicing
the principles application.
DEFINITION OF INQUIRY
 The scientific method, problem solving, critical thinking
 Historical thinking or historical interpretation
 When students are engaged in enquiry often, there enquiry skills improve greatly
 Children who have develop their inquiry abilities are able to draw conclusions based on
evidence and judged whether conclusions drawn are supported by evidence
WHAT IS INQUIRY BASED LEARNING APPROACH
 A process that teaches research skills in any subject or content area
 Promotes critical thinking skills
 Information gathering process related to life
 During an inquiry approach the purpose can be defined as a puzzle to solve but it should
be explicitly stated before the lesson is concluded
 In the inquiry approach the lesson is previewed by giving students directions to the solution
of the puzzle as well as an overview of how the lesson is going to progress
 Students work cooperatively in groups to solve problems and answer questions
BENIFITS OF INQUIRY BASED LEARNING
 Encourages cooperative learning
 Takes one project through major content area
 Caters to different learning style
 Multiple intelligence friendly
 learners learn initiative observes
 many kids ‘who have trouble in school because they do not response well to lectures and
memorization will blossom in an inquiry based learning setting, awakening there confidence,
interests ,self-esteem
DISADVANTAGES OF INQUIRY BASED LEARNING
 can be when teaches leave students solely to their own devices
 Many experts refer to inquiry based learning as a student centred teaching strategy. However
the strategy can become in effective when sufficient teacher involvement is not present.
 Inquiry based learning requires a balanced teacher and student involvement.
Ambady K. G. 84
APPLYNG INQUIRY BASED LEARNING
Six step inquiry process
1. Questioning
2. Planning
3. Collecting and crediting
4. Organising
5. Synthesising
6. Communicating
EXPOSITORY APPROACH OF LEARNING
 Direct instruction is a way of teaching which is aimed at helping students acquires some
basic skills and procedure knowledge.
 It is straight forward and is done in a step by step manner. This emphasis is on how to
execute the step of entire procedure.
 this may involve a simple or a complex skill such as solving a problem by using a
mathematical equation
 During the expository approach the purpose is explicitly state.
 In the expository approach previewing a lesson may involve an outline of how the lesson
will allow the learners to solve a puzzle or resolve a scenario that has been presented.
What is expository learning?
Teachers who use expository instruction present information to their students in a purposeful
way that allows students to easily make connections from one concept to the next. Students
receive the information from an expert, which could be the teacher or another expert, such as a
textbook author or educational video.
In expository method of approach it’s a method of telling where facts, concepts, principles,
and generalizations are stated, presented, defined, interpreted by the teacher, and followed by the
application or testing of these concepts, principles, and generalizations in new examples generated
by students.
CHARECTERISTICS OF EXPOSITORY APPROACH BASED LEARNING
 refers to skills needed while performing to task
 use for principles that are factual and not controversial
 The learners gain “how” rather than “what” [procedural knowledge]/each step must be
mastered. Step by step procedure with no step missed
 Lesson objectives easily observed behaviours that can be measured accurately.
 The level of performance can be assessing from the number of steps performed correctly.
 Form of learning through imitation[behavioural modelling]
During the process of information students are either presented with a statement of the
principle and examples of the principle's application or presented with examples of the principle's
application and are asked to come up with the principle.
Ambady K. G. 85
PROBLEM SOLVING
A problem is an obstacle to adjustment that is recognized by the individual. Because problems
exist only in terms of the experience of the individual.
The term problem solving is used in numerous disciplines, sometimes with different
perspectives, visuals, and often with different terminologies. For instance, it is a mental process
in psychology and a computerized process in computer science. Problems can also be classified into
two different types (ill-defined and well-defined) from which appropriate solutions are to be made.
Ill-defined problems are those that do not have clear goals, solution paths, or expected solutions.
On the contrary, well-defined problems have specific goals, clearly defined solution paths, and clear
expected solutions.
Meaning and Definitions
The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues. The process of working
through details of a problem to reach a solution. Problem solving may include mathematical or
systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skills. The act or
process of finding solutions to problems, especially by using a scientific or analytical approach.
Problem solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving
problems. The ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that
best resolves the issue. The best strategy for solving a problem depends largely on the unique
situation. In some cases, people are better off learning everything they can about the issue and
then using factual knowledge to come up with a solution.
The process of working through details of a problem to reach a solution. Problem solving may
include mathematical or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking
skills.
A mental process or a phenomenon dedicated towards solving problems by discovering and
analyzing the problem is referred to as problem-solving. It is a process dedicated to finding not
just any solution, but the best solution to resolve any problems. There is no such thing as one
best way to solve every kind of problem, since there are unique problems depending upon the
situation there are unique solutions too.
Thomas J. D'Zurilla in 1988 defined problem solving as a “cognitive–affective–behavioural
process through which an individual (or group) attempts to identify, discover, or invent effective
means of coping with problems encountered in everyday living”.
Problem solving specifically in psychology refers to a state of desire for reaching a definite
'goal' from a present condition that either is not directly moving toward the goal, is far from it, or
needs more complex logic for finding a missing description of conditions or steps toward the goal.
Ambady K. G. 86
The nature of human problem solving processes and methods is a field of study and work
for mental health professionals. Methods of studying problem solving include introspection,
behaviorism, simulation, computer modeling, and experiment. Social psychologists look into the
person-environment relationship aspect of the problem and independent and interdependent problem-
solving methods. Problem solving has been defined as a higher-order cognitive process and
intellectual function that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills.
Problem-solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving problems.
The ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best
resolves the issue. The best strategy for solving a problem depends largely on the unique situation.
Problem solving has two major domains: mathematical problem solving and personal problem
solving both are seen in terms of some difficulty or barrier is encountered.
Problem solving refers to cognitive processing directed at achieving a goal when the problem
solver does not initially know a solution method. A problem exists when someone has a goal but
does not know how to achieve it.
Problem Solving is the term used for thinking or thought processes that are specifically
aimed at finding solutions to specific problems. This process continues on a spectrum from
conceiving an idea through accomplishing a goal by means of a set of mental operations.
A mental process or a phenomenon dedicated towards solving problems by discovering and
analyzing the problem is referred to as problem-solving. It is a process dedicated to finding not
just any solution, but the best solution to resolve any problems. There is no such thing as one
best way to solve every kind of problem, since there are unique problems depending upon the
situation there are unique solutions too.
A process of combining previously learned principles into novel higher order principles to
achieve some goal in the form of arriving at a solution for a problematic situation.
NATURE OF PROLEM SOLVING
Problem Solving is one among the ten life skills that is very important in one’s life. A
problem is a dilemma with no apparent solution, an undesirable situation without a way out, a
question that cannot be answered, the difference between the current situation and a desired state
or a situation which should be managed effectively. Every person in this earth has problems it is
the skill to solve it makes the difference. The acquisition of increased levels of problem solving
competency provides a basis for future learning, for effective participation in society and for
conducting personal activities. Students need to be able to apply what they have learned to new
situations. The study of individuals’ problem solving strengths provides a window on their
capabilities to employ basic thinking and other general cognitive approaches to confronting
challenges in life.
Ambady K. G. 87
THE PROBLEM SOLVING CYCLE
Psychologists have described the problem solving process in terms of a cycle [Branford&
Stein, 1993; Hayes, 1989; Sternberg, 1986]. The cycle consists of the following stages in which the
problem solver must
 Recognize or identify the problem
 Define and represent the problem mentally
 Develop a solution strategy
 Organize his or her knowledge about the problem
 Allocate mental and physical resources for solving
the problem
 Monitor his or her progress toward the goal
 Evaluate the solution for accuracy
There are two classes of problems; those that are considered well defined and others that
are considered ill defined. WELL DEFINED problems are those problems whose goals, path to
solution, and obstacles to solution are clear based on the information given. For e.g.; the problem
of how to calculate the price of a sale item is well defined. The solution is straightforward
calculation
In contrast ill defined problems are characterized by their lack of a clear path to solution.
Such problems often lack a clear problem statement as well making the task of problem definition
and problem representation quite challenging. For eg, the problem of how to find a life partner is
an ill defined problem.
Being able to solve problems sometimes involves dealing with pragmatics [logic] and
semantics [interpretation of the problem]. The ability to understand what the goal of the problem is
and what rules could be applied represent the key to solving the problem .sometimes the problem
requires some abstract thinking and coming up with a creative solution. Methods of studying
problem solving include introspection, behaviourism, simulation, computer modelling, and experiment.
This process includes problem finding or problem analysis, problem shaping, generating alternative
strategies, implementation and verification of the selected solution. Distinguished feature of a
problem is that there is a goal to be reached and how you get there depends upon problem
orientation [problem solving coping style and skills] and systematic analysis.
STAGES OF PROBLEM SOLVING

A. Approaching the Problem
3. Define the problem. Find the real problem, not just the symptoms that result from the
problem. When defining the problem, do not consider things that are extraneous matters,
only what the actual problem is. You can consider the other issues later. Become familiar
with the problem and understand it fully.
Ambady K. G. 88
For example, if your room is constantly messy, the problem might not be that you’re
a messy person. It might be that you lack containers or places to put your items in an
organized way.
Try to be as clear and thorough as possible when defining the problem. If it is a
personal issue, be honest with yourself as to the causes of the problem. If it is a logistics
problem, determine exactly where and when the problem occurs.
Determine whether the problem is real or self-created. Do you need to solve this
problem or is this about something you want? Putting things in perspective can help you
navigate the problem-solving process.
4. Make important decisions first. Recognize the decisions you need to make and how they will
contribute to solving your problem. Making decisions can help you move forward in solving
your problems, so start by deciding on what to focus on, what needs to get done, and how
you will go about doing it.
For example, you might have several problems to solve and need to decide which
ones to tackle first. Solving one problem may ease tension or take stress off of another
problem.
Once you make a decision, don’t doubt yourself. Be willing to look forward from that
point on without wondering what would have happened had you chosen something else.
5. Simplify the problem. An overly-complicated problem can feel overwhelming and be difficult
to solve. If there are multiple problems, break them down into smaller parts and deal with
them individually. If you can break the problem down into the smallest terms, this will help
you in understanding it and finding a solution.
For example, if you need to turn in many assignments to pass a class, focus on how
many you have to do and approach them one by one.
Try to combine and solve problems together whenever possible. For example, if you're
running out of time to study, try listening to a recorded lecture while walking to class or
flip through note cards as you're waiting for dinner.
6. Outline what you know and don't know. Familiarize yourself with the knowledge and
information you already have. Then, seek out what you need. Inform yourself of all possible
information, and then organize it in a meaningful way.
For example, if you’re trying to pass a cumulative test, figure out what you already
know and what you need to study for. Review everything you already know, then start
learning more information from your notes, textbook, or other resources that may help you.
7. Anticipate future outcomes. Come up with a Plan B (or more) so you’re not locked into one
solution. Once you’ve come up with possible solutions, think about how each one would play
out. Consider possible outcomes and how they would affect you and those around you.
Create a best-case scenario and a worst-case scenario in your imagination.
Pay attention to know these scenarios make you feel.
Ambady K. G. 89
8. Allocate your resources. Your resources may include time, money, effort, travel, etc. If solving
the problem is a top priority, you may need to allocate more resources toward solving the
problem than you otherwise would. Think about what resources you have that you can give
toward solving your problem.
For example, if you have a deadline, you may skip cooking dinner or going to the
gym so that you can give that time to your project.
Cut down on unnecessary tasks whenever possible. For example, you might get your
groceries delivered to you to save on shopping time. You can spend that time instead on
other tasks.
B. Taking a Creative Approach
9. Brainstorm different solutions. Think of different ways to solve your problem. Knowing that
there is more than one way to approach the problem can help you realize that you have
choices. Once you’ve thought of some alternatives, decide which ones are plausible and
which ones you can forget about.
If you’re making a complex decision, write down your alternatives. This way, you
won’t forget any options and will be able to cross off any that aren’t plausible.
For example, you might be hungry and need something to eat. Think about whether
you want to cook food, get fast food, order takeout, or sit down at a restaurant.
10. Try different approaches to a problem. If you’re solving a straightforward problem, then
analytical or logical skills will aid you best. Other times, you may need to rely on your
emotions to guide you. Often, problems require a combination of thinking skills, your
feelings, and maybe even your gut to come to a solution. Don't be afraid to utilize these
ways of approaching problems, but play around with them and see what works best for you.
Problems like accepting the job across the country that offers good pay but takes you
away from your family may require different ways of approach. Consider the logical solution,
but also consider your thoughts, feelings, and the way the decision affects others.
11. Get advice from others. If your problem is not immediate, ask advice from other people.
Maybe you know someone who has faced a similar problem in the past who can weigh in
and give you some feedback. Whether you follow their advice or not is up to you, however,
it can be helpful to gain some different perspective.
For example, if you’re buying a home and not sure how to make your final decision,
talk to other homeowners about their thoughts or regrets about buying a home.
12. Monitor your progress. If you’re working toward a goal, notice how things are coming along.
If you’re making progress and going in a positive direction, keep going. If you’re realizing
your approach isn’t the best, then think about solving the problem in a different way. You
may need to come up with some new strategies to better solve your problem.
For example, if you’re having financial difficulties, notice how your efforts are
affecting the money coming in and the money you’re spending. If keeping a budget helps,
keep with it. If using cash exclusively is a headache, try something else.
Keep a journal where you record your progress, successes, and challenges. You can
look at this for motivation when you are feeling discouraged.
Ambady K. G. 90
C. Managing Your Emotions While Confronting Difficulties
13. Calm your emotions. Making a decision or solving a problem can be difficult if you feel
anxious or nervous about how it will go. If your fear is clouding your ability to solve a
problem, take a moment to feel calm. Take a deep breath so that you feel centered and
relaxed before moving forward with the problem.
You can also take a walk or write in a journal. The goal is to lessen your fear and
increase your sense of calm.
The first step is often the scariest. Try doing something small to start. For example,
if you're trying to become more active, start going for daily walks.
14. Address any underlying problems. An obvious problem might have some underlying problems
that would be better to resolve. If you’ve solved a similar problem like the current one in
the past yet it keeps coming up, explore whether there may be some underlying causes. You
may be able to solve a problem for good.
For example, if you’re overwhelmed by having a long to-do list, maybe the problems
is not the list, but not saying “no” to things you can’t do.
If you're feeling stressed, angry, or overwhelmed, you may be burned out. Make a list
of things that cause stress or frustration. Try to cut down on these in the future. If you
start feeling overwhelmed again, it may be a sign that you need to cut back.
15. Work with a therapist. if you find yourself constantly struggling to make decisions or
doubting yourself after you solve a problem, you might benefit from working with a mental
health professional. You might struggle with low self-esteem, which can make you doubt
yourself or feel defeated. Your therapist can provide insight and challenge you to see
yourself in a more positive and realistic way.
Find a therapist by calling your local mental health clinic or your insurance provider.
You can also get a recommendation from a physician or friend.
Identify the problem, divide the problem into smaller parts, make a plan, implement
the plan, and evaluate the outcome.
PRINCIPLES OF PROBLEM SOLVING

There are no hard and fast rules that will ensure success in solving problems. However, it is
possible to outline some general steps in the problem solving process and to give some principles
that may be useful in the solution of certain problems. These steps and principles are just made
explicit, you can resolve problems quickly and effectively .Here’s how;
1. PRIORITIZE PROBLEMS – Deal with key issues first. The 19th century Italian economist Alfredo
Pareto taught us to differentiate between the critical few and trivial many (later known as
80/20 rule).
Ambady K. G. 91
2. FOCUS – Focus on problems over which you have control. Problems can be classified into
those which you have
# Full control
# Some control
# No control
3. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN BACKYARD FIRST – Don’t look for problems in other areas until you
are perfect! Your own problems usually can be fixed the quickest. Then go on to problems
that require the co-operation of your boss or the other people there. Don’t get frustrated
about problems over which you have no control. Leave them. If they really bother you, bring
them to the attention of senior management and then get back to solving your own issues.
4. FOLLOW A STEP BY STEP APPROACH – It’s most effective, when it follows a sequence of
steps .without such an approach, people often start with solutions. Don’t jump to conclusions
or try to solve problems before defining them or finding their real causes. This actually
wastes time, since the solution might not remove the root cause.
5. RELY ON DATA WHENEVER POSSIBLE- Facts are always more compelling than opinions.
Unless the problem is small or insignificant, collect statistics to provide answers to the five
WS and an H
o Who is causing the problem?

o What is causing the problem?
o When does this happen?
o Where does it happen?
o Why does it happen?
o How does it happen?
6. FORM CHUNKS – Break the problem down so you can deal with one aspect at a time.
Problem s having to do with quality, communications and productivity can be enormous and
may defy solution. So it’s better to deal with it, one at a time.
7. USE TEAM APPROACH – Remember that many hands make light work. The greater the
involvement and contribution of others, the more the commitment to implementing the
solution.
8. INVOLVE PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS – Every organization is staffed with people anxious
and willing to solve problems , they bring variety of talents to team problem-solving .use
them, Don’t try to do everything by yourself ; you’ll become dumping ground for problems.
Ambady K. G. 92
Some people are – good in detail work, collects data accurately, creative, good in group
process.
9. DON’T BE BOUND BY AN OLD PARADIGM- There is lot of conventional wisdom about how
things should be done. Sweep it away.., look for new and innovative solutions. After a
successful test, implement it across the board.
10. GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON OLD PROBLEMS- get the opinion of the new, they may
probably have new ideas for solving old problems
ROAD MAP FOR PROBLEM SOLVING
STEP 1 DEFINE THE PROBLEM – state the opportunity succinctly.
STEP 2 FIND THE CAUSE – investigate all possibilities. Narrow down to the most likely.
STEP 3 FIND SOLUTIONS – be creative. Look for alternatives. Pick the best.
STEP 4 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION – list dates, action, and who will assume responsibilities.
STEP 5 IMPLEMENT – carry out actions according to the plan.
STEP 6 MONITOR – measure progress.
STRATEGIES OF PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for
finding solutions to problems. Some of the problem-solving techniques developed and used in
artificial intelligence, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or medicine are related to mental
problem-solving techniques studied in psychology.
PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

Problem solving strategies are the steps that one would use to find the problems that are in
the way to getting to one’s own goal. Firend’s problem solving model (PSM) is practical in
application and incorporates the conventional 5WH approach, with a systematic process of
investigation, implementation and assessment cycle. Some would refer to this as the “problem
solving cycle” (Bransford and stein, 1993). In this cycle one will recognize the problem, define the
problem, develop a strategy to fix the problem, organize the knowledge of the problem cycle, figure
out the resources at the user’s disposal, monitor one’s progress, and evaluate the solution for
accuracy. The reason it is called a cycle is that once one is completed with a problem another will
usually pop up.
Blanchard-Fields (2007) looks at problem solving from one of two facets. The first looking at
those problems that only have one solution (like mathematical problems, or fact-based questions)
Ambady K. G. 93
which are grounded in psychometric intelligence. The other that is socio-emotional in nature and are
unpredictable with answers that are constantly changing (like what’s your favorite color or what you
should get someone for Christmas).
The following techniques are usually called problem-solving strategies:
 Abstraction: solving the problem in a model of the system before applying it to the real
system
 Analogy: using a solution that solves an analogous problem
 Brainstorming: (especially among groups of people) suggesting a large number of solutions or
ideas and combining and developing them until an optimum solution is found
 Divide and conquer: breaking down a larger, complex problem into smaller solvable problems
 Hypothesis testing: assuming a possible explanation to the problem and trying to prove (or,
in some contexts, disprove) the assumption
 Lateral thinking: approaching solutions indirectly and creatively
 Means-ends analysis: choosing an action at each step to move closer to the goal
 Method of focal objects: synthesizing seemingly non-matching characteristics of different
objects into something new
 Morphological analysis: assessing the output and interactions of an entire system
 Proof: try to prove that the problem into another problem for which solutions exist
 Research: employing existing ideas or adapting existing solutions to similar problems
 Root cause analysis: identifying the cause of the problem
 Trail-and-error: testing possible solutions until the right one is found
Ambady K. G. 94
ATTENTION
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the words like observation, attentiveness, intentness,
notice, concentration, heed, heedfulness, mindfulness, regard, and, scrutiny are the synonyms of the
word “Attention”, and means
 Notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as
interesting or important.
 The mental faculty of considering or taking notice of someone or something.
 The action of dealing with or taking special care of someone or something.
The word “Attention” gets attended when called in a public place like railway station, bus
stand, airport, and classroom etc. It is to make our mind alert on something that we need at the
particular time of process. In general if we attempt to learn or know a thing, we should focus our
attention on that particular thing. The verb “attending” in the learning process involves the act of
listening, looking at or concentrating on a topic or concept.
When we look at a thing our sense organs get simulated by a stimulus among many stimuli
present in our environment and generate corresponding sensation which would reach our brain. In
the brain, it gets interpreted according to the past experiences so that we perceive meaning out of
that particular stimulus or object.
Hence,”Attention” is the first step of an individual to make readiness of mind in the process
called cognition.
Definitions
“Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one subject rather than upon another”
- David Dumville (1938)
“Attention is the process of getting an object of thought clearly before the mind.”
- J. S. Ross (1951)
“Attention can be defined as, a process which compels the individual to select some particular
stimulus according to his interest and attitude out of the multiplicity of stimuli present in the
environment”
- R. N. Sharma (1967)
“Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factors in our environment. It is a preparatory
adjustment for response”
- Morgan.
“Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment
while ignoring other things”
– John R. Anderson
Ambady K. G. 95
Thus attention is essentially process and not a product. It helps in our awareness or
consciousness of our environment, which is of selective kind, because in a given time, we can
concentrate or focus our consciousness on a particular object only.
Modern psychologists, emphasized that attention should be considered as an independent
capacity or unique power of mind, in the integrated functioning of the mind. There have been
controversial proposals and theories to state and conclude how an individual could be able to select
one particular stimulus among many stimuli from the environment and ignore the remaining other
stimulus at a particular time.
Nature
 Attention is a process that helps in responsiveness to our environment.
 It is a selective and shifting mental process that moves from object to another.
 It is attached by only one new object or thing at a particular time.
 It increases one’s efficiency in acquiring new knowledge or skills.
 It involves the special adjustment of sense organs in understanding a particular stimulus or
object involved.
 It involves the entire mental [cognition]and physical activity sensory] by stimulus – response
behavior to make the mind alert or prepared in the cognition process.
TYPES OF ATTENTION
According to Ross attention is branched into:
ATTENTION
NON-VOLITIONAL VOLITIONAL
ENFORCED SPONTANEOUS IMPLICIT EXPLICIT
 Non-volitional or Involuntary Attention:

This type of attention is aroused without the play of will. Here we attend to an object
or condition without making any conscious effort, e.g. a mother’s attention towards her crying
child, for example, attention towards the members of the opposite sex, and towards bright
colours, etc.
The attention which is aroused by the instincts is called “enforced non-volitional
attention”. A young man when we remark on his sex instinct or his curiosity, he becomes
quite attentive in his task.
Ambady K. G. 96
The other subtype of non-volitional attention, produced by the sentiments is called
“spontaneous non-volitional attention”. It is the result of properly develop sentiment, towards
the object, or idea of a person around which our sentiments are formed with.
 Volitional or Voluntary Attention:
When the ‘exercised will’ is called upon, it becomes volitional attention. Because it
demands the conscious efforts on our part it is least automatic and spontaneous like that of
non-volitional attention. Attention payed at the time of solving an assigned problem of
mathematics, answering question in an examination hall and so on comes under volitional
attention category.
Volitional attention is further subdivided into two categories:
 A single act of volition is sufficient to bring about attention in the case of implicit attention,
e.g. for single act of will can arouse attention.
 In explicit volitional attention we need repeated acts of will to sustain it, e.g. here attention
is obtained by repeated acts of will.
Attention is often the beginning to other cognitive functions. We must first pay attention to
something before we can process it for meaning and understanding and this differs from situation
to situation. So depending upon the need and circumstances there are 4 types of attention:
1) SUSTAINED ATTENTION: it is the ability to focus on one specific task for a continuous
amount of time without being distracted. E.g. listening to lecture, reading a book, etc. It
can be challenging to maintain this type of attention for a significant amount of time
without becoming distracted.
2) SELECTIVEATTENTION: it is the ability to select from many factors or stimuli and to focus
on only one that you want while filtering out other distractions. E.g. listening to your
friend at a loud party. Here we are able to avoid distractions from both external (noise)
and internal (thoughts) influences.
3) ALTERNATING ATTENTION: it is the ability to switch your focus back and forth between
tasks that require different cognitive demands. E.g. reading a recipe and preparing a meal.
We use alternate attention almost all the time.
4) DIVIDED ATTENTION: it is the ability to process two or more different responses or react
to two or more different demands simultaneously. Often referred to as multi-tasking. E.g.
talking on phone and getting dressed. Here we attempt to perform more than one task at
the same time thus, splitting our attention.
The first two types (sustained and selective) are needed when you have to focus on one
thing at a time. The other two types of attention (alternating and divided) are needed when a
person has to focus on multiple things at once.
Ambady K. G. 97
FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTENTION
As attention is a process of selection of stimuli, we need to know on basis that we select
that particular stimulus among many stimuli present around us in the environment that we are.
Actually there are many factors that determine the process of attending. Two types of factors that
bring about attention towards an object are ‘External factors’/ ‘objective factors’ and ‘Internal
factors’/ ‘subjective factors’.
The factors that operate on an individual from outside the individual to capture their
attention are known as ‘External factors. External factors are those factors which compel an
individual to attend to an object or stimulus though he /she is not interested to attend to it.
They are nature, intensity, change, contrast, novelty, movement, repetition, systematic form
of a stimulus.
The factors that operate within an individual to make them attend to objects are known as
‘Internal factors’. The internal factors such as interest, motive or need, mental set, mood and the
physiological conditions present in a person to fulfil his desires, urges etc.
There are mainly five factors influencing attention. They are:
1) Motivation
2) Interest
3) Intellectual Ability
4) Attention Spans
5) Prior Knowledge
 MOTIVATION
Adults and children are more likely to pay attention to an object with there is motion
involved. Someone who is motivated to learn a particular task or bit of information generally
succeeds, even if she has to work long and hard to do so. When teaching a concept, always
consider how the material is relevant to your students' lives, because when individuals see the
reason for learning, their motivation increases. Provide feedback on students' learning to help
them maintain their motivation.
 INTEREST
Interest of the subject in the object of attention is a very important factor that affects
attention. We attend easily when we have interest in a topic. When there is interest, attention
is not enforced, rather it comes spontaneously. A child’s interest in toys makes him attend to
the toy section in a super market but his mother’s interest in cooking may make the food
section interesting to her. In the class, pupils’ interests must be kept in mind while teaching.
Ambady K. G. 98
 INTELLECTUAL ABILITY
Intellectual ability also affects learning. For example, some people have easier time
remembering information than others. Some students can readily understand abstract concepts,
while others need concrete examples. Everyone has different intellectual strengths and
weaknesses. Once you get to know your students, you can help them understand the
information you want to get across by teaching to their strengths.
 ATTENTION SPANS
Attention spans vary among both children and adults. Some people simply prefer to be
on the go and have difficulty attending to a lecture or task for any length of time. Since the
most popular method of teaching requires students to listen and read, often while sitting still,
students who have a short attention span might have difficulty learning. You can help these
students by incorporating hands-on activities into your lesson plans, allowing for frequent
short breaks and breaking large blocks of information into smaller chunks. Keep in mind that
students who are experiencing upheaval in their lives may temporarily suffer from shortened
attention spans.
 PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
A student could have the highest IQ in the room, but if he hasn't been exposed to
basic information that relates to the lesson, he will have difficulty learning. For example,
imagine that you were placed in a chemistry class without having been taught the periodic
table. You'd likely not learn a thing. The same is true for a student who is being asked to
solve algebraic equations but does not know his multiplication tables a scenario that is all too
common. Activate students' prior knowledge before beginning a lesson. You will find out what
information you need to pre-teach before jumping into the actual lesson.
Strategies to Enhance Attention

Students often struggle to pay attention in class if they aren’t interested in the class.
Students should be attentive in class in order to understand the topic and acquire knowledge.
Teachers can use various strategies in order to enhance attention which is:-
 Include Physical Activity

Children who struggle with attention often do better if they are given brief breaks for
active play. Taking a break to bounce on an exercise ball, breaking up learning into chunks, and
outdoor play times, or providing a quick stretching or jumping jacks break in the classroom, can
all help the attention-challenged student stay focused.
Ambady K. G. 99
 Have "Attention Breaks"
Teach the child or children what "paying attention" means and how it looks. Practice
attentive behaviour in non-threatening, non-crucial times during the school day. Then, at periodic
intervals, have practice attention breaks. Using a timer or an app on the phone, have a signal
go off during the work period, and have the child mark whether he/she was paying attention.
This can help train a student's brain to understand what attention looks like, and how often
he/she are tempted to disengage.
 Adjust Time Frames

If you find that, no matter what you do, the kids just can't seem to stay on task, it
may be time to break content into smaller time intervals. Even a simple question, asking for a
raise of hands, can be what is necessary to keep students on task for your students.
 Concentrate on the topics before starting a new chapter.
Often students feel boring if the topic is a little known to them so teachers can ask
questions before starting the new chapter. Also, she can give them a gist about the topic
she/he is going to start and give assignments related to that.
 Use different teaching aids.

Usage of projector, showing different videos, using of models of cube cuboid etc… can
really help students show interest towards the topic and learn better.
 Increase your motivation

Create a reward for answering the correct answer and no matter what student answer in
class appreciate it and correct it.
 Play Memory Games

Memory isn't really a muscle, but it can help improve focus. Memory games help hone
that focus for kids in a fun way, so that they are able to concentrate when something
challenging is presented. Have regular times in the normal school day where the class plays
memory games, or work with the attention-challenged students outside of normal class time to
play concentration games. Add memory games to classroom electronics to encourage this type of
play during free time.
Memory games do not have to be complicated. Even a simple game of red-light-green-
light, I-Spy or Simon Says forces a child to concentrate. Memory matching cards or the game
Concentration can also be used to increase attention.
Ambady K. G. 100
 Size
Objects or texts that are larger gain more attention than normal or small objects.
Example: Traffic signs are large and are usually in all capital letters.
 Intensity
Intense objects or text garner attention. Example: Bright colors attract more attention
than plain black text.
 Emotion
Words with strong emotional connections seem to gain more attention than others.
 Personal Significance
A person is more likely to pay attention to a person or concept that hold personal
significance to them.
 Contrast
Contrast usually catches attention. Hence use of yellow chalk on a blackboard is
advisable. Modulation of voice while reading or narrating brings contrast. Monotony in narration
will cause loss of attention. A teacher who pauses for silence is likely to attract more attention
than one who shouts out to the class asking the class to be silent.
 Movement
Moving objects attract attention. Hence animated pictures, movie clips are more effective
than stationery teaching aids. Appropriate body movements or facial expressions of the teacher
may help to sustain pupils’ attention.
 Repetition
A stimulus that is repeated is likely to attract. Hence in poems, certain lines are repeated
for effect. A teacher must repeat important matter to draw pupil’s attention.
These are some ways to make student concentrate in class.
When we look at a thing our sense organs get stimulated by a stimulus among many stimuli
present in our environment and generate corresponding sensation which would reach our brain. In
the brain, it gets interpreted according to the past experiences so that we perceive meaning of that
particular stimulus or object. Hence, ’Attention’ is the first step of an individual to make readiness
of mind in the process called ‘cognition’.
Ambady K. G. 101
Perception
Perception is the way we interpret the sensations and make sense of everything around us.
The knowledge or information that we got from our sensory system, make us to become aware of
that particular thing or object or information. The process of getting aware or meaning of those
thing or object or information is known as ‘Perception’.
Simply saying, the process of detecting a stimulus and assigning meaning to it is called
‘perception’. This meaning is constructed based on both physical representations from the
environment and our existing knowledge.
For example, the sound we hear or experience from a distance could be sensed as sound
made by a speeding bus not a motorbike. The sound would be sensed by auditory sensation but
interpreted as the sound made by a bus is our perception. We should also know that this
perception could be made only if we had experienced the same sense before and retained it in our
memory.
Definitions
“Perception is the process of getting to know objects and objective facts by the use of the
senses” – R.S. Woodworth and D.G. Marquis (1949).
“Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions
in order to give meaning to their environment” – Stephen. P. Robbins (2010).
Characteristics or Nature
 Perception is a meaningful interpretation of received stimuli through sensation.
 It is objective and needs retention of past experiences.
 It involves selection of particular stimuli received through sensation.
 It last as long as the sensory stimulus is present and makes an experience.
 Analysis and synthesis of sensory stimulus takes place in the process of perception.
Laws of Perceptual Organisation (Gestalt Psychologists View)

Gestalt psychology was founded by German thinkers Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and
Kurt Koffka and focused on how people interpret the world. The Gestalt perspective formed partially
as a response to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt, who focused on breaking down mental events
and experiences to the smallest elements.
Max Wertheimer noted that rapid sequences of perceptual events, such as rows of flashing
lights, create the illusion of motion even when there is none. This is known as the phi
phenomenon. Motion pictures are based on this principle, with a series of still images appearing in
rapid succession to form a seamless visual experience.
According to Gestalt psychology, the whole is different from the sum of its parts. Based
upon this belief, Gestalt psychologists developed a set of principles to explain perceptual
Ambady K. G. 102
organization, or how smaller objects
cts are grouped to form larger ones. These principles are often
referred to as the "laws of perceptual organization."
However, it is important to note that while Gestalt psychologists call these phenomena
"laws," a more accurate term would be "principles ooff perceptual organization." These principles are
much like heuristics, which are mental shortcuts for solving problems.
The Gestalts principles of perceptual organization are as follows.
1. Law of Similarity: Similarity occurs when objects look similar to on
one another. People often
perceive them as a group or pattern. Many units of distinct objects could form as a whole
group.
Fig (a) Law of Similarity

2. Law of Proximity: Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together so that to be
perceived as a group.
up. Elements are perceived as separate shapes when placed without
proximity but would be perceived as a single group when they are given close proximity.
Fig (b) Law of Proximity

3. Law of Continuity: Continuation occurs when perception appears to be going infinitely
towards the same direction, movement and continuation. We ignore the gaps when dots are
lie along a straight line or curve and see them together.
Fig (c) Law of Continuity
Ambady K. G. 103
4. Law of Closure: Closure occurs when an object in incomplete or a space is enclosed. If
enough of shape is indicated, people perceive the whole by filling in the missing
information.
Figure (d) Law of closure

5. Law of Common fate: Common fate occurs when all elements move in a same direction in a
same speed. People perceive
ceive the elements moving in the same direction, in a same speed as
a single group not the elements passing in different directions in different speed.
Figure (e) Law of Common Fate

These principles of organization play a role in perception, but it is also important to
remember that these principles can sometimes lead to incorrect perceptions of the world. For
example, imagine that you are out hiking in the woods one afternoon when you spot what appears
to be a moose behind a large tree. You immedia
immediately
tely begin to leave the area to ensure you don't
disturb the animal, but as you are hiking around you realize that the "moose" behind the tree is
actually just two large broken tree stumps. Because of the Gestalt law of continuity, you perceived
the two disconnected
sconnected shapes as one continuous object, which your brain then interpreted as a
moose.
It is important to remember that while these principles are referred as laws of perceptual
organization, they are actually heuristics, or short
short-cuts. Heuristics are usually
sually designed for speed,
which is why our perceptual systems sometimes makes mistakes and we experience perceptual
inaccuracies.
Ambady K. G. 104
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS ON PERCEPTUAL ORGANISATION
Perceptual organization refers to the ability to impose organization on sensory data, so as to
group sensory primitives arising from a common underlying cause. The existence of this sort of
organization in human perception, including vision, was emphasized by Gestalt psychologists.
Here are the applications of Gestalt theory to the teaching and learning process and
perceptual organisation.
 Make your lesson holistic. The word Gestalt itself is almost synonymous to the word
"whole". And for this, Gestalt psychology proposes education to be an integration of
affective and cognitive domains of learning. And as for teachers, they can actually do this
by setting the objectives that do not only focus on the cognitive (and psychomotor) domains
of teaching and learning but also on the affective domain as well.
 In relation to above application, the fulfilment of the cognitive-affective integration is not
only limited to instruction rather also related to the experiences of the students inside the
classroom. This can be done when teachers maintain an emotionally harmonious and non
threatening atmosphere during the teaching and learning process which consequently caters
exchange of ideas and learning. Teacher behaviour is a critical factor, and if necessary,
should be changed in order to maintain good relationship between the teacher and his/her
students, and relationship among and between students. This can be realized through teacher
development programs, trainings or seminars.
 Gestalt psychology is a proponent of discovery or insight learning. This takes place when
learners forms relationships of the elements around them then integrates and organizes these
elements to form insight (Remember Sultan?). Hence, teachers must make use of discovery
approach in learning. Teachers can use experiments, laboratory and inquiry-based strategies.
These are implications of the Gestalt principles in the teaching and learning process.
 Law of Proximity
Related concepts or lessons should be taught aligned or closely to each other. This is
the reason why subtraction is taught after addition, multiplication after subtraction then
division after multiplication. Imagine teaching addition then jumping directly to polygons.
 Law of Similarity
Similar lessons or contents should be grouped together to make learners develop
understanding more efficiently and effectively. This is the reason why lessons are grouped
into units: Unit I is for human body, Unit II is for energy and motion, so on and so forth.
 Law of Closure
When a concept or topic is incomplete thus isn't "closed", incomplete information may
make learners want to discover what’s missing, rather than concentrating on the given
instruction. If students find a math algorithm confusing because a certain question is left
Ambady K. G. 105
unanswered or a step isn't clear, they will tend to concentrate on that confused part of the
process rather than the total process as a whole. This is why students get "lost". Thus,
make the lesson complete. Present it clearly; simply and always be ready for students'
clarifications.
 Law of Good Continuation
Lessons should be presented in such a way that learners will see these as connected
and continuous. Now you know why we have the "Review" part of the lesson plan. This
way, students will realize that their new lesson actually has continuity and is related to what
they already know or to the previous lesson.
 Law of Pragnanz
Pragnanz states that when things are grasped as wholes, the minimal amount of
energy is exerted in thinking. In short, make your lesson holistic, complete and most of all
simple.
 Law of Figure/Ground
For a figure to be perceived, it must stand out from the background. Emphasis should
be done on important aspects of the lesson. For example, teachers should vary the tone of
their voice or write boldly or underline the important key words of the lesson.
Errors in Perception
There always exists possibility for wrong interpretation of our sensory input. If so, our
perception may not be true and accurate. We know that if a stimulus is interpreted correctly it is
known as ‘perception’ but when a stimulus through sensation is wrongly interpreted then it is
known as ‘misperception’ or ‘error in perception’. There are two types of errors of perception. They
are: Illusion and Hallucination.
Illusion means perception of objects or things or situations which does not really exists.
They are wrong or mistaken perceptions which could lead us to false or wrong interpretations of
sensory stimulus. Example: Seeing a rope as a snake is optical or visual illusion. Types of illusions
are as follows
 Illusions of movements Eg. A spot of light in dark appears to be moving around.
 Illusions of perspectives Eg. Two parallel lines appear to meet at along distance
 Reversible perspective figures
 Muller - Lyer illusion and Vertical –Horizontal illusion
 Optical illusion
A stimulus which is perceived without an object is called ‘hallucination’. It is only a sense
experienced in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus. Hence it is a misinterpretation
based on imaginary experience as real perception. Hallucinations occur under particular circumstances
in different individuals. Ex: Hearing tapping of sounds of the house door, seeing a dinosaur from a
distance etc.
Ambady K. G. 106
MEMORY
The development, progress and survival of human beings are based on learning. The ability
to recall what we have learnt earlier is called ‘memory’. The learned things and experiences are
stored in our mind so that it can be utilized at the time of requirement. In psychology, learning,
retention, recall and recognition together constitutes memory. Effective learning process needs good
memory. We think and reason largely with remembered facts and with the help of our perception
and continuity of our memories. Memory is the function of the mind by virtue of which it records,
retains and produces ideas by its own activity.
One of the important aims of learning is to acquire and retain acquired knowledge for future
use in meeting the day by day life experiences and problems. The experiences or learned
knowledge leaves behind memory images or traces .This preservation of memory traces by our
central nervous system or brain is known as retention of the learned act. The strength and quality
of the memory traces determines the duration of the retention. These retained memory traces are
recognised and recalled when need arises. Thus memory involves four stages, learning or
experiencing something, its retention, recognition and recall.
Definitions
“Memory is a mental power which consists in leaning, retaining and remembering what has
previously been learnt” – Woodworth and Marquis (1948).
Memory is the “learning capacity for responding and its persistence over time is measured by the
retention test. Memory is the “state of a subject that gives the capability for correct occurrences of
a criterion response. There is an initial acquisition session in which the subject makes a
discriminative response to a stimulus, followed by a period of time called the retention interval
when the criterion response does not occur.” – J. A. Adams (1967)
“Memory can be likened to a giant filing cabinet in the brain, with data sorted, classified and
cross-filed for future references. Remembering depends on how the brain goes about coding its
input” – Levin (1978)
“Memory is the retention or storage of information in any form”. - Guilford
“The power that we have to store our experience and to bring them back into the field of
consciousness some time after the experience have occurred is termed as memory”. – Ryburn
“Memory is the ability to retain and reproduce impressions once perceived”. - F'iedsetal
Ambady K. G. 107
Types of Memory
Psychologists have classified memory into certain types according to its nature and the
purpose it serves.
 Sensory memory or immediate memory

Sensory or immediate memory is the memory that helps an individual to recall something
immediately after it is perceived. In this type of memory, the retention time is extremely brief –
generally from a fraction of second to several seconds. Immediate memory is needed when we want
to remember a thing for a short time and can then forget it. Ex: We remember te telephone numbers
till we get connection to that number.
 Short-term memory
It is a temporary memory, where the retention is less than one second in immediate
memory, the information temporarily stored in short
short-term
term memory may last as long as thirty
seconds even
ven if the material is not being rehearsed. Ex: Experimental evidences show that “seven
plus or minus two” item numbers can be stored in short term memory at one time.
 Long-term memory
Long-term
term memory stores all the significant events that mark our lives and lets us retain the
meaning of words and the physical skills that we have learned. Its capacity seems unlimited, and it
can last days, months, years, or even an entire lifetime. It sometimes distorts the facts, and it
tends to become less reliable as we age. Long – term memory codes information according to
meaning, pattern and other characteristics. Ex: The multiplication tables we have learnt, the poem
we have memorized, our date of birth, etc.
Ambady K. G. 108
The long term memory is further classified into two types. They are Explicit Memory and
Implicit Memory. Explicit Memory is the conscious, international recollection of factual information,
previous experiences and concepts. Implicit Memory is sometimes referred to as unconscious memory
or automatic memory. This uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them.
Explicit Memory is further divided into 4 types. They are:
 Semantic Memory: This refers to general world knowledge that we have accumulated throughout
our lives.
 Episodic Memory: This refers to a person’s unique memory of a special event, so it will be
different from someone else’s recollection of the same experience.
 Auto biographical Memory: This refers to a memory system consisting of episodes recollected
from an individual’s life.
 Visual Memory: This refers to memory which preserves some characteristics of our senses
pertaining to visual experience.
Process of Memory
1. Registration or Learning
2. Retention
3. Recall
4. Recognition
 Registration or Learning: Before remembering it must be registered or learnt. Learning
requires time. It has economical use of time in learning. Registration is the first stage of
memory. As the term suggests, this is the stage of memory which accumulates all the
information from the surrounding and encodes or stores it in our brain. The information
we intake from the world around us is processed in three different forms.
 Visual (picture)
 Acoustic (sound)
 Semantic (meaning)
In simple words, these different forms are how we take in the information. We either
consume information as a picture, a sound, or we make it meaningful. These three
different forms are termed as visual, acoustic and semantic accordingly. Registration can
also be defined as the process used to remember the information. We retrieve information
in the same form we take it in because of this process.
 Retention: This stage deals with nature of the memory where the information is stored,
time duration of the memory, the amount of information that can be stored, and type of
memory. The manner in which information is stored directly affects the way in which
information is retrieved. Information is stored in two main parts of memory.
Ambady K. G. 109
 Short Term Memory (STM)
 Long Term Memory (LTM)
Total capacity of Short Term memory is said to be around 0 – 30 seconds. Long Term
Memory, however, is a whole different ball game when it comes to memory. Its capacity
is said to be unlimited and the information stored can last a whole life time.
 Recall: As the term suggests, recall refers to retrieving information out of our memory
storage. Failure to retrieve information is often understood as not being able to remember
or recall the particular information. Trying to retrieve information from our memory makes
the differences between STM and LTM pretty apparent.
STM is both stored and retrieved in a sequential manner. For example, let’s say a subject
is given a phone number to remember and then asked the second last number on the
list. The person goes through the number from the start to retrieve the required
information.
LTM is both stored and retrieved by association. Remembering a certain action might lead
to retrieval of information about some other actions. For instance, travelling the same road
you were walking the day before might lead you to retrieve information about the girl you
had seen the day before.
 Recognition: Memory organization is one of the ways to increase your ability to retrieve
memory. Information can be organized alphabetically, by time, by size, or by any other
means you deem fit. This will help you recall the information in a swift manner as you’ll
be more comfortable with the manner in which you organized the information.
Factors Influencing Retention

 Reception
Make sure all students are paying attention and listening to the lecture and discussion
and taking notes. This will help important information to be retained more easily. Encourage
them to ask questions if they don’t understand some information that is being taught,
because they don’t remember what they don’t understand. Encourage the students to survey
the lesson or read it before the next lesson because if they know what the selection is
about before it is taken in class, they will be more attentive to the lesson.
 Conscious Effort
Encourage students to make a conscious effort to remember what is being said. Taking
notes and reviewing them afterward increases students’ memories. Sometimes reciting notes
Ambady K. G. 110
aloud can help with retention. Making sure homework is assigned to students on a regular
basis also helps them become actively involved in the lesson.
 Accountability
Make sure the students are held accountable for a notebook. Make sure they correct all
papers that are handed back to them and that they organize their papers by chapters or
lessons. Make sure the students understand the goals in each lesson that is being taught.
Also encourage students to go back and study a week before the test, possibly about 2-3
hours a week. Students should take breaks when studying. You could also give the
students practice tests to study so they can be familiar with the evaluation.
 Exercise
There is an abundance of evidence citing the general benefits of exercise. Students
should be encouraged to participate or take part in some form of aerobic exercise, such as
walking 20 minutes at least three times a week. This stimulates the blood flow and the
delivery of essential oxygen to the brain.
 Routines
If we as teachers encourage students to write down the homework assignments or a
“things to do list” on a regular basis, it will decrease the number of students that forget to
complete an assignment. You might even want to take up the students’ list of homework
assignments at the end of each week and grade them.
 Colours
Coloured words would be remembered better than those in black and white.
 Alcohol
Drinking of alcohol at an early age is not just against the law but also can change the
functions of their brain. The effects of alcohol on underage drinkers may be even more
severe because their brains’ nerve cells and receptors are still being moulding into a mature
form.
 Pictures
It is usually believed and said that “picture is worth a thousand words” is usually
applied to the effectiveness of a picture in communicating an idea that would take many
words to express, but it may also apply to the effectiveness of a picture in remembering
what was communicated. Later another study was done with as many as 10,000 pictures
and it also found that picture memory exceeds word memory when measured by recall as
well as by recognition.
Ambady K. G. 111
 Foods That Might Affect Your Memory
In a recent report published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Dr.
Steven Zeisel, from the School of Public Health and School of Medicine at the University of
North Carolina, reported that choline (a substance found naturally in many fatty foods), when
added to a mother’s diet during pregnancy, boosted memory retention later in life for the
developing fetus. Students can be reminded about the foods that may increase memory
such milk, liver, eggs, and peanuts.
There is a need to encourage students to drink sufficient amounts of water so their
brains don’t become dehydrated. Six to eight glasses of good quality water every day is
recommended by nutritionists. Coffee, tea, and soft drinks are not included as they act as
diuretics, pulling water out of our bodies.
 Meaningfulness
The meaningfulness of the content makes it easier to learn. If it doesn’t make sense, it
will be hard to learn. The more meaningful it is, the easier it will be to learn. We as
teachers need to make sure the students are clear on why they need to learn certain
material that is being taught and emphasize those things versus others. The principles such
as association, visualization, and organization help make a material meaningful. In addition,
there are other principles such as familiarity, rhymes, patterns, and acronyms.
 Study Shows Sleep Helps Memory

According to some studies it is said that it’s more important to get a good night’s rest
before an exam. Harvard Medical School researchers, led by assistant professor of psychiatry
Robert Stickgold, found that people who slept after learning and practicing a new task
remembered more about it the next day than people who stayed up all night after learning
the same thing.
Strategies to Enhance Students' Memory

The following ten general strategies are offered to help students develop a more efficient
and effective memory.
 Give directions in multiple formats

Students benefit from being given directions in both visual and verbal formats. In
addition, their understanding and memorizing of instructions could be checked by encouraging
them to repeat the directions given and explain the meaning of these directions. Examples of
what needs to be done are also often helpful for enhancing memory of directions.
Ambady K. G. 112
 Teach students to over-learn material
Students should be taught the necessity of "over-learning" new information. Often they
practice only until they are able to perform one error-free repetition of the material. However,
several error-free repetitions are needed to solidify the information.
 Teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies

Another memory strategy that makes use of a cue is one called word substitution. The
substitute word system can be used for information that is hard to visualize, for example, for
the word occipital or parietal. These words can be converted into words that sound familiar that
can be visualized. The word occipital can be converted to exhibit hall (because it sounds like
exhibit hall). The student can then make a visual image of walking into an art museum and
seeing a big painting of a brain with big bulging eyes (occipital is the region of the brain that
controls vision). With this system, the vocabulary word the student is trying to remember
actually becomes the cue for the visual image that then cues the definition of the word.
 Give teacher-prepared handouts prior to class lectures

Class lectures and series of oral directions should be reinforced by teacher-prepared
handouts. The handouts for class lectures could consist of a brief outline or a partially
completed graphic organizer that the student would complete during the lecture. Having this
information both enables students to identify the salient information that is given during the
lectures and to correctly organize the information in their notes. Both of these activities enhance
memory of the information as well. The use of Post-Its to jot information down on is helpful
for remembering directions.
 Teach students to be active readers
To enhance short-term memory registration and/or working memory when reading,
students should underline, highlight, or jot key words down in the margin when reading
chapters. They can then go back and read what is underlined, highlighted, or written in the
margins. To consolidate this information in long-term memory, they can make outlines or use
graphic organizers. Research has shown that the use of graphic organizers increases academic
achievement for all students.
 Write down steps in math problems
Students who have a weakness in working memory should not rely on mental
computations when solving math problems. For example, if they are performing long division
problems, they should write down every step including carrying numbers. When solving word
problems, they should always have a scratch piece of paper handy and write down the steps in
their calculations. This will help prevent them from losing their place and forgetting what they
are doing.
Ambady K. G. 113
 Provide retrieval practice for students
Research has shown that long-term memory is enhanced when students engage in
retrieval practice. Taking a test is a retrieval practice, i.e., the act of recalling information that
has been studied from long-term memory. Thus, it can be very helpful for students to take
practice tests. When teachers are reviewing information prior to tests and exams, they could ask
the students questions or have the students make up questions for everyone to answer rather
than just retelling students the to-be-learned information. Also, if students are required or
encouraged to make up their own tests and take them, it will give their parents and/or teachers
information about whether they know the most important information or are instead focused on
details that are less important.
 Help students develop cues when storing information

According to the memory research, information is easier retrieved when it is stored using
a cue and that cue should be present at the time the information is being retrieved. For
example, the acronym HOMES can be used to represent the names of the Great Lakes —
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. The acronym is a cue that is used when the
information is being learned, and recalling the cue when taking a test will help the student
recall the information.
 Prime the memory prior to teaching/learning

Cues that prepare students for the task to be presented are helpful. This is often referred
to as priming the memory. For instance, when a reading comprehension task is given, students
will get an idea of what is expected by discussing the vocabulary and the overall topic
beforehand. This will allow them to focus on the salient information and engage in more
effective depth of processing. Advance organizers also serve this purpose. For older students,
Clif Notes for pieces of literature are often helpful aids for priming the memory.
 Review material before going to sleep

It should be helpful for students to review material right before going to sleep at night.
Research has shown that information studied this way is better remembered. Any other task
that is performed after reviewing and prior to sleeping (such as getting a snack, brushing teeth,
listening to music) interferes with consolidation of information in memory.
Ambady K. G. 114
Transfer of Learning
Transfer of Learning is the ability to take information learned in one situation and apply that
to another and different situation. One example of this is being able to take mathematic techniques
and procedures learned in a classroom and applying these to a practical situation, i.e. going to the
grocery store and using multiplication or division to determine the price per ounce of foods to
determine the actual best prices. In other words Transfer of learning is at the heart of social work
training yet there has been very little exploration of what transfer of learning is and how it might
be facilitated. From the perspective of a literature review covering the fields of education,
psychology, social work and nursing studies we examine the concept and process of transfer of
learning. From a basic definition of ‘prior learning affecting new learning or performance’, we look
at transfer of learning from the point of view of the learner, discussing the concept of the active
learner striving to make connections between previous knowledge and new input. We look at
cognitive models of learning which illuminate the transfer task schema theory the idea that
knowledge is retained in the mind in terms of representations which are continually reconstructed
according to new experience; and information processing theory which describes the active
processes of generalization and abstraction through which such representations are reconstructed.
We look at the importance of mindfulness, reflection and metacognitive awareness in these
processes.
In general terms, transfer of learning occurs when prior-learned knowledge and skills affect
the way in which new knowledge and skills are learned and performed. Seen in the specific context
of transfer, following an identified period of learning related to an individual’s place of work,
transfer is the process of applying skills, knowledge and attitudes acquired during a training
programme to the work place. Their successful application leads to an improvement in job
performance and has a lasting effect. Transfer can be regarded as a process, where the learner
plays a key role. This transfer process may involve a number of participants, primarily the learner,
the educator or facilitator and the colleague or manager, who play different parts in the various
phases of the transfer process – before, during and after initial learning.
Definitions
Transfer of learning has been discussed in a number of different contexts, including education,
psychology and management and has been defined in a number of ways:
 Transfer of learning is whatever is learned will be retained or remembered over some interval
of time and used in appropriate situations (Ripple and Drinkwater, 1982).
 When learning in one context enhances (or undermines) a related performance in another
context. (Perkins and Salomon, 1992)
Ambady K. G. 115
 The process of using knowledge or skills acquired in one context in a new or varied context.
(Alexander and Murphy, 1992)
 Real transfer happens when people carry over something they learned in one context to a
‘significantly different’ context (Fogarty et al., 1992).
 The effective and continuing application by trainees to their jobs, of knowledge and skills
gained in training – both on and off the job (Broad and Newstrom, 1992).
 Transfer is the application of knowledge learned in one setting or for one purpose to another
setting and/or purpose (Gagne et al., 1993).
 The ability to extend what has been learned in one context to new contexts (Brandsford,
Brown, Cocking, 1999)
 The process of using knowledge or skills acquired in one context in a new or varied context.
(Alexander and Murphy, 1992)
 When learning in one context enhances (or undermines) a related performance in another
context. (Perkins and Salomon, 1992)
 The ability to extend what has been learned in one context to new contexts
TYPES OF TRANSFER OF LEARNING
Differences in beliefs about the manner in which transfer occurs, as well as attempts to
categorize differences in the quality of transfer, have led to the emergence of several descriptions
of transfer. Some of those widely used, include positive and negative transfer, simple verses
complex transfer, and low road and high road transfer. Some of the major types are:
 Positive transfer: When learning in one situation facilitates learning in another situation, it is
known as positive transfer. For example, skills in playing violin facilitate learning to play piano.
Knowledge of mathematics facilitates to learn physics in a better way. Driving a scooter
facilitates driving a motorbike.
 Negative transfer: When learning of one task makes the learning of another task harder- it is
known as negative transfer. For example, speaking Telugu hindering the learning of Malayalam.
Left hand drive vehicles hindering the learning of right hand drive.
 Neutral transfer: When learning of one activity neither facilitates nor hinders the learning of
another task, it is a case of neutral transfer. It is also called as zero transfer. For example,
knowledge of history in no way affects learning of driving a car or a scooter.
 Near transfer: transfer between very similar but not identical contexts. Eg: when a mechanic
repairs an engine in a new model of a car, but with a design similar to the prior models.
 Far transfer: transfer between contexts that, on appearance, seem remote and alien to one
another. Applying learning to situations that are quite dissimilar to the original learning. Eg: A
chess player may apply basic strategies to investment practices and policies.
Ambady K. G. 116
 Low road transfer: (a.k.a. reflexive transfer) involves the triggering of well practiced routines by
stimulus conditions similar to those in the learning context. Eg: when a person rents a truck for
the first time to move, he finds that the familiar steering wheel and shift evoke useful car
driving responses.
 High road transfer: (a.k.a. mindful transfer) involves deliberate effortful abstraction and a search
for connections. Eg: A person familiar with chess but new to politics might carry over the chess
principle to control the political centre.
 Forward reaching transfer (a form of "high road" transfer): one learns something and abstracts it
in preparation for application elsewhere.
 Backward reaching transfer (a form of "high road" transfer): one finds oneself in a problem
situation, abstracts key characteristics from the situation, and reaches backward into one's
experience for matches.
Theories of Transfer of Learning

Transfer of learning is a phenomenon of learning more quickly and developing a deeper
understanding of the task if we bring some knowledge or skills from previous learning to a new
learning situation. There are different theories about the transfer of learning. These are –
 The Mental Discipline Theory
 Apperception Theory
 The Identical Elements Theory
 Generalization Theory
 The Gestalt Theory of Transfer or Transposition Theory
 Theory of Learning to Learn
Theory of Mental Discipline
It tells that education is a matter of training in the mind or disciplining the mind. These
training or disciplines are the vigorous mental exercises in the field of classics, in the field of logic,
in the field of grammar, science and mathematics. The theory assumes that those training can make
an individual effective in all area where a given faculty is employed.
This theory came to existence in 20th century. It is philosophical in nature. Mind is the
central position which is composed of several facilities. These faculties are to be trained through
muscular and physical training. This facility psychology developed during 1734.
The earliest mental-discipline theories of teaching were based on a premise that the main
justification for teaching anything is not for itself but for what it trains—intelligence, attitudes, and
Ambady K. G. 117
values. By choosing the right material and by emphasizing rote methods of learning, according to
that theory, one disciplines the mind and produces a better intellect.
The theory of learning involving mental discipline is more commonly associated with the
“faculty psychology” of Aristotle, by which the mind is understood to be composed of a number of
faculties, each of which is considered to be relatively independent of the others. The principle had
its origin in a theory that classified mental and spiritual life in terms of functions of the soul:
knowing, feeling, hungering, reasoning, and doing.
Theory of Apperception
Apperception is the process of learning new information by relating and incorporating it into
past knowledge and experience. Perception is experiencing stimuli through our senses. Apperception
is taking the information from stimuli (perception) and relating or comparing it to information
gathered in the past. For example, a perception would be seeing a dog and thinking “There is a
dog”. Apperception would be seeing a dog and thinking “The dog looks like my friend’s dog”. From
the Latin ad-, “to, toward” and percipere, “to perceive, gain, secure, learn or feel”. Herbert Spencer,
Herman Lotze, and Wilhelm were the early psychologists who carried their work on the different
approaches of apperception in the learning process. In simple words, the transfer of learning is
done by becoming consciously aware of a particular idea and assimilates this idea with the other
which was already acquired. It is a process of relating new ideas to the older ideas that was
already acquired.
The storage of old ideas and experiences is called apperceptive mass. The students acquire
various types of experiences in day-to-day life in informal encounters or through lectures, textbooks
and other learning sources. These experiences help them have a build up of apperceptive mass in
their sub-conscious mind. All forms of ideas or mental states may lie in the sub-conscious mind in
the form of apperceptive masses is utilised for shaping of transfer of memory images, dynamic
perceptions and feelings to the conscious layer of our mind. Thus the apperceptionist focussed on
building up of a huge mass of apperception (a powerful reservoir) related to a particular area into a
person’s subconscious mind and tried to strengthen it by repetition.
To obtain good results in the transfer of learning, apperception as a theory of transfer,
advocates a rigidly planned and fixed order of teaching-learning. This theory like any other theory
was also criticised and abandoned, on the grounds, such as the following
 It made the teaching learning process a very routine and rigid affair, by advocating fixed
steps of planning and delivering of lessons.
 It encouraged memorisation and dependence on the past learning by making the students
completely docile and dependent on the teachers and textbooks.
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 It discouraged problem-centred approach or classroom interaction approach in seeking any
transfer of learning.
 It completely reduced the transfer mechanism to mechanical storage of ideas in an inert and
inactive mind.
The enlightenment was established by this theory as a firm distinction between teaching and
educating. Teaching does not assure education, it does, however, assure the activity of one person
and the passivity of another. Educating, on the other hand, ensures the active participation of all, a
child and her/his parents, a professor and a class of students, etc. The basis for education in
these examples is socialization as much as the conveying of information. Children learn constantly
but can only be considered educated when they apply new information to that which they already
know. Once connections are made between the old and new information the transfer of learning
occurs in an effective manner.
Theory of Identical Elements

The Principle of Identical Elements introduced by Thorndike and Woodworth (1901) states that
the level of training transfer depends on the level of similarity between training and performance
environments. In other words, the theory states that there is a positive correlation between the
similarities between training and performance environments and the level of training transfer.
For example, in a cross-cultural awareness training arranging role playing games where
individuals have to interact with the representatives of various cultural backgrounds in typical
working environments would have a positive contribution to the levels of training transfer.
In the theory of identical elements, it was postulated that transfer between activities would
take place only if they shared common elements or features. Thus it was predicted that one’s
training in addition would transfer to his ability to learn how to multiply. It was reasoned that both
tasks share identical features, multiplication basically requiring a series of successive additions, and
that both tasks demand the individual’s concentration.
According to him most of transfer occurs from one situation to another in which there are
most similar or identical elements. This theory explains that carrying over from one situation to
another is roughly proportional to the degree of resemblance in situation, in other words- more the
similarity, more the transfer.
The degree of transfer increases as the similarity of elements increase. For example, learning
to ride moped is easy after learning to ride a bicycle. Here, transfer is very fast because of
identical elements in both vehicles. Thorndike was convinced that the method used in guiding a
pupil’s learning activities had a great effect upon the degree of transferability of his learning.
Ambady K. G. 119
But the identical-elements formulation soon came under attack when experimental results
suggested that one’s understanding of general principles, rather than the presence of identical task
elements, has substantial effects on transfer of training. In one notable experiment, two groups of
boys practiced throwing darts at a target placed under about a foot of water. Only one group,
however, was instructed about the principle that water bends (refracts) light.
According to this principle, the apparent position of the target should vary with the depth of
the water. When the target depth was reduced to four inches, the group that had been taught the
general principle of refraction adjusted rapidly to the change and exhibited substantial positive
transfer; the other boys showed comparative difficulty in learning to hit the target at the shallower
level.
The essence of the Principle of Identical Elements can be explained in a way that “the more
elements (i.e., content and procedure) of one situation are identical to the elements of a second
situation, the greater the transfer, and thus the easier learning in the second situation”
Theory of Generalization
Generalization is the concept that humans and animals use past learning in present
situations of learning if the conditions in the situations are regarded as similar. For example, if a
person has learned in the past that every time they eat an apple, their throat becomes itchy and
swollen, they might assume they are allergic to all fruit. When this person is offered a banana to
eat, they reject it upon assuming they are also allergic to it through generalizing that all fruits
cause the same reaction. Although this generalization about being allergic to all fruit based on
experiences with one fruit could be correct in some cases, it may not be correct in all.
This theory was developed by Charles Judd, who viewed transfer of learning as essentially a
transfer of principles (Johri, 2005). The theory of generalization contends that transfer occurs as a
result of common features or general principles which one learns in a situation. As a result, one is
able to apply those generalizations to a new situation. In one experiment, two groups of children
were asked to throw darts at an underwater target. The experimental group which was taught the
principles of light refraction was able to transfer that knowledge and perform better than the
control group. Judd’s theory also posited that the attitudes and dispositions of the learners, such as
motivation, also impacted on transfer, and that the subject matter is not as important as the
methodology. His model, in essence, is a precursor to the cognitive perspective on transfer in the
sense that it acknowledges the learners prior knowledge, as well as the use of strategies to
promote transfer.
For instance, the generalization theory hold that people have certain frustrations when we
learn with a single teacher/ professor discussing different courses/ subjects within a day. Thus, it
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is considerably wise to assign different subjects to different teachers in order to make learning
more efficient for the students.
Transposition Theory
The application of skills, knowledge, and or attitudes that were learned in one situation to
another learning situation. Transfer of learning implies that what is learned in one situation can be
shifted directly to another situation. It is based on Gestalt theory of learning.
According to Gestalt psychologist transfer of learning means that generalization, concept or
insights which are developed in one learning situation are employed as a whole in other situation
in which they an applicable.
Gestalt psychologists believed that transfer happens when the individual is able to recognize
similarities among facts, and general concepts or principles which can be applied in another context.
This theory is known as the Configuration or Transposition Theory. They do not subscribe to the
view that parts of a whole can operate in isolation, but instead believe in emphasizing, in a
holistic manner, common elements like perception, insight, and intelligence.
The learner’s perception of the relationship between the old and the new situation is also
important. The more meaningful an experience is, the more thoroughly the concepts will be grasped,
thus facilitating maximum transfer. The use of appropriate teaching methods also plays an
important role in the transfer process.
Kohler began six years of experimental animal research on the Canary Islands during which
he made many discoveries that applied Gestalt theories to animal learning and perception. One of
his most famous experiments was with chickens which he trained to peck grains from either the
lighter or darker of two sheets of paper. When the chickens trained to prefer the light colour were
presented with a choice between that colour and a new sheet that was still lighter, a majority
switched to the new sheet. Similarly, chickens trained to prefer the darker colour, when presented
with a parallel choice, chose a new, darker colour. These results, Kohler maintained, proved that
what the chickens had learned was an association with a relationship, rather than with a specific
colour. This finding, which contradicted contemporary behaviourist theories, became known as the
Gestalt law of transposition, because the test subjects had transposed their original experience to a
new set of circumstances.
Theory of Learning to Learn

Harry Harlow proposed a new method for measuring higher learning abilities of animals in
1949. Harlow suggested those humans and other highly intelligent animals not only mastered
isolated tasks but also noticed patterns and shortcuts that made them more efficient learners. They
not only learned, they learned to learn, becoming faster at solving new problems as they gained
experience solving similar classes of problems (Harlow, 1949).
Ambady K. G. 121
Learning to learn, which Harlow also called learning set, means picking out a pattern in a
series of learning experiences, so that you learn even faster when facing similar situations in the
future. An example in humans would be learning how to study correctly for a class. You might find
that you do better as you go along, because you have "learned how to learn" in that class
Here is an example of a learning set experiment for non-humans. Rhesus monkeys had to
decide which of two doors to open. If they selected the correct door, they found food. If they
selected the other door, they found no food. Food was put behind the same door for six trials in a
row. Each group of six trials was called a block.
If the animal caught on to the pattern (that food was behind the same door for the whole
block of six trials) then it should stop making errors on the second trial. Why? Because if the
animal guessed wrong on the first try (the first of six in a block), it could switch to the other
door and look behind it for the next five trials in the block. If it guessed right on the first try, it
should keep choosing that door.
In accordance with the logic of the experiment, Harlow was interested in each animal's
success rate on trial 2 in the block of six. At first, animals performed poorly on trial 2. They
guessed randomly or persisted in whatever worked during the previous session. As the experiment
went along, the more intelligent animals grasped the pattern of the experiment and started
improving their odds of success on trial 2.
A "smart" species like a rhesus monkey improved its success rate on trial #2 until it topped
off at 100% (never failing to receive food on trial 2). To less brilliant species, the pattern of the
experiment was not so clear. Some animals persisted with whatever worked most recently. If they
found food behind door #1 during the last block, they might persist in looking behind the door #1
for all six trials of the second block, even though they were not getting much food as a result.
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Other animals adopted a random switching strategy, seemingly unable to "pick up" the pattern in
the experiment.
Harlow found that rhesus monkeys were fast at improving their percentage on trial #2.
Squirrel monkeys were slower (Harlow, 1959). Rats, cats, and raccoons were slower still. Cats were
only as smart as pigeons, by this criterion.
Strategies to Enhance Positive Transfer of Learning

 Provide opportunity for Reflection and Self-explanation
Reflection strategies encourage people to expand on what they are learning and to identify
where they have deficiencies in order to correct them. Metacognitive strategies like these encourage
people to be aware of their own thinking as they are learning.
To implement this approach, instruct learners to study in a meaningful way so they monitor
their comprehension of the content. Provide prompts where learners must give reasons for their
decisions or use a reflection questionnaire. Researchers used this approach in simulated aviation
training to teach a safety principle and got the highest transfer rates using self-explanation. Still,
transfer was less than 70%.
 Vary Modalities
Adding voice narration to complex simulations—rather than using textual explanations—can
improve learning transfer. According to multimedia learning theory, balancing the presentation of
material across both visual and verbal channels prevents a learner’s cognitive resources from being
overloaded.
In one study, participants viewed a complex computer-network training simulation. The
modality of the tutorial (text, narration or narration plus text) was varied between subjects and
then learning transfer was measured in a timed activity transfer test. Participants who received the
voice-only tutorial performed better on the transfer task compared with students who received the
text tutorial. (Mayrath et al.) Keep in mind that narration-only was most effective when explaining
an animated and complex simulation. Text with narration might be effective in other contexts.
 Use a random practice schedule
Research shows that sequencing practice tasks in a random way can increase retention and
transfer after but not during training. A typical instructional design pattern would be to present
practice material sequenced in separate blocks (practice task 1, practice task 2, practice task 3 etc.).
Although this improves performance during training, it is not as effective as using a mixed practice
when it comes to a post-test and on-the-job transfer.
One study examined critical thinking and predictive judgment skills in scenario-based
exercises. Researchers found that increasing the interference between training tasks by using random
sequencing is a way to provide exposure to many different types of problems. (Helsdingen et al.)
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Most likely, this provides a more realistic simulation of the types of critical thinking and quick
judgments required of emergency, military and management jobs.
 Use relevant visuals rather than text alone
Many studies demonstrate that learning is enhanced with explanatory pictures. Visuals can
decrease cognitive load and improve retention and transfer. To benefit from this effect, provide
opportunities for learners to attend to the pictures and to integrate visual information with the
narration or text. Often, explicit instructions to examine the visuals are helpful.
In one study, learners who took an eLearning course that included relevant visuals achieved
higher retention and learning transfer scores than those whose course did not include pictures. In
addition, those who saw visuals perceived the content as less difficult. (Schwamborn et al.)
Although this particular study used high school students as participants, it’s safe to say that
relevant visuals enhance learning for all age groups.
 Enhance social learning at work
In many careers, the work itself is a learning experience. Learning transfer and work become
one process as the individual continuously acquires knowledge and applies it. For these individuals,
learning transfer is enhanced and improved through social learning. As workers discuss and problem
solve, they apply their knowledge to new situations.
In a study that analyzed the work practices of design engineers and product developers,
researchers found that these professionals learn through shared problem solving and shared practices
as well as from the experiences and mistakes of others. To implement this approach, create a
community of practice with an open atmosphere for discussion (whether online or in person). In
these situations, learning experience designers can place themselves in the role of community
manager.
Apparent changes in performance during training are not necessarily indicative of improved
performance on the job. Learning transfer is defined as the ability to apply what has been learned
to novel situations and tasks. Appropriate use of any of the five strategies above should improve
transfer of learning. To understand what works and what doesn’t, ensure that post-training tests
measure application of knowledge and skills to new situations rather than the recall of facts alone.
Also observe learners on the job or discuss the effects of training with supervisors to see what
improves performance.
Learning Curve
Learning process is not always similar. There is more progress in sometimes, sometimes less
and sometime absolutely nil. So, we cannot find out the rate of learning. But, psychologists have
attempted to measure the progress in learning. They described the progress in learning by drawing
a line on the graph paper. This line is curve, and not straight. So, it is called Learning curve.
Ambady K. G. 124
The first person to describe the learning curve was Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. He found
that the time required memorizing a nonsense syllable increased sharply as the number of syllables
increased. Psychologist, Arthur Bills gave a more detailed description of learning curves in 1934. He
also discussed the properties of different types of learning curves, such as negative acceleration,
positive acceleration, plateaus.
Definitions
 According to Skinner, a learning curve is a progress representation of person’s improvement
or lack of improvement in a given activity.
 Raimers et.al defined the learning curve as a method of partial learning of a given activity.
 A learning curve is a graphical representation of how learning takes place in a particular
situation – S.K.Mangal.
 Learning curve refers to the graphical relationship between the amount of learning and the
time it takes to learn.
Types of Learning Curves

The progress made in the acquisition of skills when graphically plotted takes the form of
several curves;
 Straight Line Curve: Such a curve shows a constant or uniform rate of growth in the
progress of learning. This type of curve is seldom found. The progress or gain in learning in
straight line curve is same in each successive trial.
 Convex Curve (Negatively accelerated curve): In such a curve the rate of improvement is
fastest at the beginning but decreases gradually as practice continues. Percentage or
proportion of gain decreases in successive trails.
 Concave Curve (Positively accelerated curve): this curve shows that initial rate of growth
gradually increases. An example is increase in child’s vocabulary. However, positive
acceleration cannot continue indefinitely, as sooner or later, one attains the highest stage of
mastery.
 Concave-convex curve: It represents both positive and negative acceleration. On account of
individual differences, these curves vary from person to person and from to subject. The
form of the curve depends on partly on the nature of the work and partly on the learner’s
ability to perform a task.
Ambady K. G. 125
Concave-Convex curve
Factors Affecting Learning Curve
1. Psychological factors: It means nature of the learner like the learner’s readiness, attitude,
intelligence, interest, etc.
 Readiness: to be mentally ready to learn a skill.
 Attitude: negative attitude slows down the speed of learning and positive attitude speeds
up learning process.
 Intelligence: it is natural capacity and ability which helps the man to understand and
solve the problems according to the situation.
 Interest: it refers to the feelings of writing to known or learns about something.
Ambady K. G. 126
2. Nature of learning material: the more the interesting the learning materials, the more the
children are motivated to learn.
3. Length of practice period: If the task is very difficult, and lot of time is also given then it
leads to progress. But if the task is difficult and there is no enough time than the progress
is affected, it may lead to less or no learning.
4. Previous learning: it adopts the principle of moving from the known to unknown. This lead
to progress in learning.
5. Environmental factors: Factors like proper ventilation, lighting, seating arrangements etc leads
to better learning and it leads to progress in learning. On the other hand poor environmental
condition affects learning and leads to downward moving curve.
6. Known the extent to which objective have been achieved: Objective achieved leads to
progress – curve moves upward. Objective not achieved- leads to no progress, decline in the
progress.
Educational Importance of Learning Curves

1. Learning curve helps the teacher to acquaint himself within the individual differences in
learning among his students.
2. It helps the teacher to improve the method of teaching.
3. It provides him the opportunity of self appraisal
4. It helps the teacher to understand the emotional life and other personality characteristics of
the learner.
5. Learning curve helps the teacher to maintain a proper account of regular progress of his
students.
6. It helps the students to acquaint themselves within their progress.
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MOTIVATION
The term motivation is derived from the word ‘motive’ as a noun means an objective, as a verb
this word means moving into action. Therefore, motives are forces which induce people to act in a
way, so as to ensure the fulfillment of a particular human need at a time. Behind every human
action there is a motive. Therefore, management must provide motives to people to make them
work for the organization.
Motivation is an important factor which encourages persons to give their best performance and help
in reaching enterprise goals. A strong positive motivation will enable the increased output of
employees but a negative motivation will reduce their performance. A key element in personnel
management is motivation.
According to Likert, “It is the core of management which shows that every human being gives him
a sense of worth in face-to face groups which are most important to him….A supervisor should
strive to treat individuals with dignity and a recognition of their personal worth.”
Definitions
Motivation has been variously defined by scholars. Some definitions are discussed as follows:
“A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates, or moves and directs or channels behaviour
goals.”
Berelson and Steiner
“It is the stimulation of any emotion or desire operating upon one’s will and promoting or driving
it to action.”
Lillis
“Motivation refers to degree of readiness of an organism to pursue some designated goal and
implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces, including the degree of readiness.”
The Encyclopedia of Management
“Motivation is the complex of forces starting and keeping a person at work in an organization.”
Dubin
“Motivation implies any emotion or desire which so conditions one’s will that the individual is
properly led into action.”
Vance
“Motivation represents an unsatisfied need which creates a state of tension or disequilibrium,
causing the individual to make in a goal-directed pattern towards restoring a state of equilibrium by
satisfying the need.”
Vitiles
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“A willingness to expend energy to achieve a goal or reward. It is a force that activates dormant
energies and sets in motion the action of the people. It is the function that kindles a burning
passion for action among the human beings of an organization.”
Memoria
“Motivation is the process of arousing the action, sustaining the activity in process and regulating
the pattern of activity.”
Youn
“Motivation refers to the states within a person or animal that drives behavior toward some goals.”
Morgan and King
“Motivation refers to all the internal conditions that stir up activity and sustain activity of an
individual.”
Guilford
Nature of Motivation
1. Motivation is a personal and internal feeling: Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which
generates within an individual.
2. Motivation is need based: If there are no needs of an individual, the process of motivation fails.
It is a behavioral concept that directs human behavior towards certain goals.
3. Motivation is a continuous process: Because human wants are unlimited, therefore motivation is
an ongoing process.
4. Motivation may be positive or negative: A positive motivation promotes incentives to people

while a negative motivation threatens the enforcement of disincentives.
5. Motivation is a planned process: People differ in their approach, to respond to the process of
motivation; as no two individuals could be motivated in an exactly similar manner. Accordingly
motivation is a psychological concept and a complex process.
CONCEPTS OF MOTIVATION
Some of the concepts of motivation are:
1. Needs and Motives
A need is a condition of lack of something required by an organism. Ex: Needs for food,
shelter, water, sleep etc are primary needs and needs for achievement, power, affiliation are
examples of social needs. And motive is a reason to do something.
2. Goals
Goal motivates a person to organise his or her action. It is related to the need state. Ex: if
hunger is need, eating food is a goal. If attendance is a need, attending class is goal.
Ambady K. G. 129
3. Incentives
They refer to the goal objects which satisfy the needs. It may vary in quantity and quality
which make them less or more satisfying and attractive.
4. Instincts
It is defined as the innate biological force that predisposes the organism to act in a certain
way.
Ex: fight, repulsion, curiosity, self-abasement, acquisition etc. They can be modified by
learning and experience.
Hierarchy of Motives
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow's theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of motivation. Abraham
Maslow believed that man is inherently good and argued that individuals possess a constantly
growing inner drive that has great potential. The needs hierarchy system, devised by Maslow (1954),
is a commonly used scheme for classifying human motives.
The American motivation psychologist Abraham H. Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs
consisting of five hierarchic classes. According to Maslow, people are motivated by unsatisfied
needs. The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complexes (highest-latest) are as
follows:
 Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)
 Safety/Security/Shelter/Health
 Social/Love/Friendship
 Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement
 Self actualization/achievement of full potential
The basic requirements build upon the first step in the pyramid: physiology. If there are
deficits on this level, all behaviour will be oriented to satisfy this deficit. Essentially, if you have
not slept or eaten adequately, you won't be interested in your self-esteem desires. Subsequently,
we have the second level, which awakens a need for security. After securing those two levels, the
motives shift to the social sphere, the third level. Psychological requirements comprise the fourth
level, while the top of the hierarchy consists of self-realization and self-actualization.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory can be summarized as follows:
 Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behaviour. Only unsatisfied
needs influence behaviour, satisfied needs do not.
 Needs are arranged in order of importance to human life, from the basic to the complex.
 The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need is at least
minimally satisfied.
 The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and
psychological health a person will show.
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Achievement Motivation
Motivation can be defined as the driving force behind all the actions of an individual. The
influence of an individual's needs and desires both have a strong impact on the direction of their
behavior. Motivation is based on your emotions and achievement-related goals. There are different
forms of motivation including extrinsic, intrinsic, physiological, and achievement motivation. There
are also more negative forms of motivation. Achievement motivation can be defined as the need for
success or the attainment of excellence. Individuals will satisfy their needs through different means,
and are driven to succeed for varying reasons both internal and external.
Psychologist David McClelland studied workplace motivation extensively and theorized that
workers as well as their superiors have needs that influence their performance at work. One of
these needs is Achievement Motivation - which can be defined as an individual's need to meet
realistic goals, receive feedback and experience a sense of accomplishment.
For example, employees who are Achievement-Motivated thrive very well in corporations
where they receive regular performance evaluations. They feel energized and satisfied with their jobs
because goals are set, they are given positive or negative feedback on past behaviors and given
some type of rewards if they performed well.
Achievement motivation can be conceptualized in many different. Ways our understanding
achievement relevant effects, cognition, and behavior has improved. Achievement motivation is based
on reaching success and achieving all of our aspirations in life. Achievement goals can affect the
way a person performs a task and desire to show competence.
INTRINSIC & EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from within.
The individual has the desire to perform a specific task, because its results are in accordance with
his belief system or fulfills a desire and therefore importance is attached to it.
Our deep-rooted desires have the highest motivational power. Below are some examples:
1. Pursuit of knowledge.
2. Curiosity about the topic.
3. Enjoyment of effortful thinking.
4. Mastery of the topic.
5. Achievement of learning topics.
Ambady K. G. 131
Factors that Promote Intrinsic Motivation
 Challenge: We are best motivated when we are working toward personally meaningful goals
whose attainment requires activity at a continuously optimal (intermediate) level of difficulty.
 Curiosity: Something in the physical environment attracts our attention or there is a
discrepancy between present knowledge or skills and what these could be if we engaged in
some activity.
 Control: We have a basic tendency to want to control what happens to us.
 Fantasy: We use mental images of things and situations that are not actually present to
stimulate our behavior.
 Competition: We feel satisfaction by comparing our performance favorably to that of others.
 Cooperation: We feel satisfaction by helping others achieve our goals.
 Recognition: We feel satisfaction when others recognize and appreciate our accomplishments.
Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from outside.
In other words, our desires to perform a task are controlled by an outside source. Note that even
though the stimuli are coming from outside, the result of performing the task will still be rewarding
for the individual performing the task.
Extrinsic motivation is external in nature. Below are some other examples:
 Student of the year award
 Grades
 Praise and fame
Extrinsic Motivation: Factors
 Financial Rewards
Commissions, bonuses, stock options and employee stock plans are compensatory rewards used
to motivate employees. Within the range of extrinsic motivations, these are "carrots." The
drive for money and success can often get people's feet marching.
 Praise and Recognition
Some people aim to please. And nothing pleases them more than receiving praise for their
hard work. This extrinsic motivation is one of the strongest, most common motivations in the
workplace. Numerous studies show recognition and praise contribute more to job satisfaction
than financial incentives. Regularly delivering sincere and genuine compliments is a strong
extrinsic motivational method.
Ambady K. G. 132
 Peer Pressure
A teenager and anyone who has been a teenager know all about the power of groups as
extrinsic motivating factors. The pressure to feel accepted and valued can in fact be a
motivator. Perhaps at some point it was a motivator to try cigarettes. Or at work, it may be
the reason people work their hardest to keep up with their team or why they take longer or
shorter lunches. If the rest of the kids are doing it.
 Consequences and Punishment
When the heat's on, many people take action or step up their performance. Knowing the boss
will be angry or their job may be on the line is a reason many people get their work done.
Is fear the best motivational tool in the arsenal? Psychologists and management experts
debate this. But it is definitely an extrinsic motivation.
Undermining Theory
When it comes to examining intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, psychologists in the 1970s
did a great deal of research and developed undermining theory. Undermining theory states that
using extrinsic motivations when people have intrinsic motivations to do the same thing can cause
dejection. In other words, giving a reward for something someone wanted to do anyway or a
punishment before the person has the opportunity to do it undermines the person's original
motivation. Undermining theory argues rewards and punishments are not preferable to allowing
people's own motivations to come out. This theory is still hotly debated in behavioral psychology
circles, but is sometimes used as an argument against motivation via financial reward or workplace
disciplinary systems.
Strategies for Enhancing Achievement Motivation in Students

Motivation as discussed earlier, occupies a central place in the teaching-learning process. It
is, in fact, indispensable to learning. Every teacher, at one time or the other, is faced with the
problem of motivating his students to learn. Therefore, it is essential to think of the ways and
means for achieving motivation in the class room situation. The principles of motivation described
earlier may provide necessary guidelines for this purpose. However, in brief, we can adopt the
following techniques in this regard.
 Child-centered approach
It is the child who has to learn. The teacher only helps him to learn. Therefore, what
the child has to learn, the teacher is only to help him in learning that. But, what child has to
learn, should be judged according to the ability, interest, capacity and previous experience of
the child. Is he mature enough to understand the new material or do the assigned task? Does
Ambady K. G. 133
he posses necessary skills and abilities for doing the present task? Is he mentally prepared for
the present learning? These are some of the questions which should be kept in mind while
asking the child to learn something new or perform some assigned task. The learning material
or experiences should always be assigned according to the needs, interest and abilities of the
child.
 Linking the new learning with past

Experience is a great teacher. What has been learned or experienced in the past proves
a good base for the present learning. The assigned task seems to be interesting, easy and
within the capacity of an individual, if it is properly related with the past experience. The child
is easily motivated to learn the new material if he thinks that he knows all that which is
required as a base for the new learning. Therefore it is the duty of the teacher to base his
present teaching upon the previous learning experiences acquired by the pupil.
 Use of effective methods, aid and devices in teaching

Whatever the subject matter may be, a good teacher with his art of teaching can
stimulate the student for learning. Old dogmatic methods kill the initiative and interest of the
learner while the progressive methods based on the psychological principles, keep him motivated.
The use of audio-visual aids and the service rendered by museum, library, visit of places etc..,
directly help the teacher in motivating his students. Therefore, a teacher should make use of the
suitable methods, devices and aid-material in his teaching.
 Definiteness of the purpose and goals

One cannot feel interested in a task if one is not aware of the purpose served by doing
that. Definiteness of aims and the goals makes the learner interested and sets him to work in a
desirable direction. The students must be acquainted well with the aims and objectives of
studying a subject or topic. They must be told the purpose of acquiring a new skill or
experiences so that a clear perception of the goals may motivate them and bring required
results.
 Knowledge of the results and progress

Every learner wishes to know the result of his striving. When we make ourselves
engaged in doing some task, it is natural to have to have curiosity about the progress made in
completing that task. The child, who is attempting mathematical problem concerning with his
progress. Immediate knowledge of the results provides sufficient feed-back to the learner. It
does not only acquaint him with his success or failure but makes him able to plan his further
attempts in reaching toward specific goals. The proper critical evaluation of the pupils work, in
terms of specific defects, error and good points, etc., proves an effective incentive for the
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desirable improvement. Teachers should make provision for acquainting the students well with
their progress. For this purpose, proper record cards, graphs should be maintained in the
schools.
 Praise and reproof

Both praise and reproof are the potent incentives. They can be safely used for the
achievement of desired motivation in the class room situations. Which one of these incentives
will prove more effective depends upon the personality of the learner as well as of the person
who gives them. In the case of some individuals, both praise and reproof work well while
others respond best to one or the other. Generally, those having feeling of inadequacy respond
more favorably to praise, and those who are self assured, work harder after criticism. The ways,
in which these incentives are given or repeated by the teacher, also count much. The essential
condition for the effectiveness of these incentives is that they must either satisfy or threaten
our security or one or more of our other motives. In this way, the teacher must try to
recognize the nature of the student and consequently make use of the praise or reproof in
motivating and inspiring them.
 Rewards and Punishment

Rewards and punishment bring the same results as praise and reproof. Both of these are
powerful incentives and try influence the future conduct or learning of an organism favorably.
While punishment as a negative motive is based on fear of failure, fear of losing prestige, fear
of insult or rejection, fear of physical pain, and so on; the reward as a positive motive seeks
to influence conduct favorably by associating a pleasant feeling with the desired act. The use of
punishment as a motivating agent should be avoided as it kills initiative, readership,
resourcefulness and the spirit of free thinking and adventurous living. On the other hand, the
rewards like prizes, honors, certificates, medals, etc., have psychological value and develop in the
student’s creative abilities, spirit of emulation, self confidence and self respect and other
democratic feelings.
 Ego-involvement
The ego consists of attitudes relating to the self. Every one of us tries to maintain
status and self-respect. We like those people; objective and situation that make us feel
important and dislike those that make us feel inferior. Teachers generally, are in the habit of
ridiculing and snubbing their students. It is not the proper way of motivating them. Instead of
using such means, the teacher should try to motivate his students by appealing to ego
maximization. He should engage them in the activities which can appeal to his self-respect and
raise his status among his class-mates or peer.
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 Development of Proper Attitude
Attitude is defined as one is set to react in a given way in a particular situation. It is
closely related to attention and interest. A child, who has developed a healthy attitude towards
manual work, takes genuine interest in working with hands, while the other one who has developed
a negative attitude, shirks away from it. In this way a favorable attitude helps the learner in setting
of his mind or preparing him mentally for doing a particular task or learning something.
 Appropriate learning situation and environment

This situation and the environment, in which the learning is to be made by the learner,
influence the learning process. A well equipped, healthy class room environment proves a
motivating force. The child likes to read, write or listen to the teacher carefully if he finds
favorable environment and appropriate learning situations. The suitability of the school building,
the seating arrangement and other physical facilities available and affection he gets from his
teachers, the mutual cooperation and help he gets from his class mates, the opportunity to
participation he gets in the school co curricular activities, etc. all influence and motivate the
learning behavior of the child. Therefore, efforts should be made to provide suitable learning
situations and environment for effective learning.
 Competition and Co-operation

Competition as a source of motivation is universally recognized. In a simple language, it
indicates the desire to excel others. In the field of education, this spirit can be used us a
powerful motivating force. We can crate learning situations, where the students of a class are
engaged in a healthy competition. Competition may take one of the two forms competition
against another person or competition against one’s own record. In the former form of the
competition there lies a danger of developing undesirable habits in the individual as he may
resort to unfair means for excelling other. The other form of competition stimulates the learner
to compete with his own past record. It sets him on the path of self learning and provides an
intrinsic motivation. Therefore, the teacher should try to inculcate the feeling of self-improvement
in the learner.
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Need and Importance of Classroom Teaching
Teaching is a complex, goal oriented; multifaceted activity. Teaching and learning are the set
of events that are designed to bring about behavioural changes in instruction. It is an event that
happens outside the learners supports the internal process which modifies the behaviour of an
individual through learning. Hence, teaching is an internal process of learning.
Psychologist found different concepts of the process of teaching. Those who see learning as
a process of conditioning define teaching in terms of what teachers do in various stimuli of their
environmental. Psychologists who see learning as an individual’s personal discovery of meaning
emphasis teaching as procedure designed to involve learners in defining their own purpose and
problems and in formulating and testing plans for achieving those purposes and solving those
problems.
Teaching is a process which usually takes place in the classroom situations. It is a formal
process through which the teacher interacts with the students to give what he/she wants the
learners to learn according to their learning needs. It is a systematic way to attain some pre-
determined goal. Teaching is to cause motivation to learn and to fill the minds of the learners by
information knowledge of facts. It imparts understanding of concepts and basic life skills.
The role of the teacher in the teaching – learning process can be categorized as follows
 Traditional Role – Teacher - Centred
 Modern Role - Facilitator (Student – Centred)
There has been a change from the traditional role to the modern role in the present context.
The learning increases when the teacher builds on the previous experience of the student. However,
individual’s learning differs and each individual learns at his or her own pace. Thus, effective
learning is to a great extent based on experiences. Direct experiences are student - centred and
the teacher should carefully design and organize the contents for direct and indirect experiences of
learning.
According to Gage, "Teaching is a form of interpersonal influence aimed at changing the
behaviour potential of another person."
Edmund Amidon defined it as-" Teaching is an interactive process, primarily involving class
room talk which takes place between teacher and pupil and occurs during certain definable activity."
Brubacher," Teaching is an arrangement and manipulation of a situation in which an
individual will seek to overcome and from which he will learn in the course of doing so."
Skinner- Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement.
Ryans- "Teaching is concerned with the activities which are concerned with the guidance or
direction of the learning of others."
Abbatt Mcmohan- “Teaching is helping other people to learn.’’
Ambady K. G. 137
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD TEACHING
 The main character of teaching is to provide guidance and training.
 Teaching is interaction between teacher and students.
 Teaching is an art to give knowledge to students with effective way.
 Teaching is a science to educate fact and cause different topics of different subjects.
 Teaching is continuous process.
 Teacher can teach effectively, if he has full confidence on the subject.
 Teaching encourages students to learn more and more.
 Teaching is formal as well as informal
 Teaching is communication of information to students. In teaching, teacher imparts information
in interesting way, so that students can easily understand the information.
 Teaching is tool to help student to adjust himself in society and its environment.
 A desire to share your love of the subject with students
 An ability to make the material being taught stimulating and interesting
 A facility for engaging with students at their level of understanding
 A capacity to explain the material plainly
 A commitment to making it absolutely clear what has to be understood at what level and
why?
 Showing concern and respect for students
 A commitment to encouraging independence
 An ability to improvise and adapt to new demands
 Using teaching methods and academic tasks that require students to learn actively, responsibly
and co-operatively
 Using valid assessment methods
 A focus on key concepts, and students misunderstandings of them, rather than covering the
ground
 Giving the highest quality feedback on student work
 A desire to learn from students and other sources about the effects of teaching and how it
can be improved.
Ambady K. G. 138
Goals of a Teacher
Teachers are in a unique position to have a direct impact on their students. Teachers can
see their work in action, see the changes they affect, and in so doing they witness firsthand their
goals coming to fruition. An architect can hope to design affordable homes for people in need but
may not necessarily meet every person who benefits from his noble intentions. But teachers have
direct interactions with the people they’re helping, and whatever their goals may be, this allows
them to see these goals realized.
Goals for teaching are highly individualized. Most teachers aren’t in it for the money (and
indeed there are many grants available for teachers to make funding a bit easier). They’re not in it
for the time off or the recognition they’re in it to make a difference, to learn and to inspire, and
they teach because they realize the value of education. Only you can set goals for yourself. Only
you know why you want to teach. But no matter what those specific goals are, they can pretty
much is summed into a single goal: You want to help people. And there are many ways you can
help someone as a teacher. To name a few, teachers aspire to educate, to inspire, to learn and to
affect positive change.
 Educate
A great teacher should love educating students, and one of the principal goals many
teachers set for themselves is to be the best educator they can be. There is something extremely
gratifying about imparting information to your students and working with them to ensure they
understand not only concepts, but practical applications as well. There are different methods you
can use to teach, and while your teaching style is unique to you, the most important thing is that
you engage, motivate and inspire students to learn. Many people teach out of a passion for their
subject. If you truly love a particular topic, you may have a desire to share that knowledge with
others indeed that passion can make you excel at it.
 Inspire
Teachers seek to inspire students in all aspects of their lives, and for many teachers, their
greatest goal is to be a role model. A role model is someone who inspires and encourages
students to strive for greatness, and teaches them through experience and commitment how to
realize their full potential to become the best they can be. Teachers can inspire an uninterested
student to become engrossed in learning. They can motivate them to participate and focus, and
even bring introverted students out of their shells. A great teacher can get students reading, inspire
a passion for languages, and make math or science fun, and turn history lessons into fun and
exciting stories.
Ambady K. G. 139
 Learn
Teaching is one of those careers where you learn something new every day, and many
educators cite this as one of the main things they hope to get out of their career. On a strictly
professional level, the education you attain to become a teacher opens your eyes to many things
you may never have been exposed to before. Teachers also learn a great deal about themselves
through teaching.
 Change
Ambitious teachers are the ones who enter this career to affect change. These are the ones
who want to meet the demand for great teachers: They make it their goal to help improve the
quality of education for everyone.
Ambady K. G. 140
Teaching as a Profession
Teachers’ involvement of intellectual competence, the ability to perform all their skilled
service upon which continued functioning of modern society depends therefore we can say the
meaning thereby that teaching is a profession. Effective teacher provide the students opportunities
for learning. Teacher facilitates the interaction among the students. Teacher organizes to co
construct
the knowledge. In short, teaching is effective to the extent that the teachers’ art in ways that are
favourable to the development of basic skill, understanding, work habits, desirable attitudes, and
value judgments of students. Teaching profession is related to teaching job. The profession can be
started at job—role
role of teaching. Teaching profession requires education and training and attitudes
toward his students. Teaching is considered as a noble profession. There are several professions
which have different job roles.
Characteristics of a Profession
 It has long term education and training for a job
job-role.
 It should cater the needs of the society and the nation.
 There should be social accountability.
 There should bee some ethical norms or considerati
considerations.
 There should be a professional association.
 There should be autonomy and self regulations.
 There should be freedom to charge reasonable fee for the service
service.
Six Characteristics of a Professional

Theoretical
Altruistic Intellectual
Responsible Committed
Ethical
Ambady K. G. 141
Theoretical trait of a Professional
 Practices critical thinking
 Contributes to knowledge base
 Shows appreciation for scholarship, research and theory
 Presents theoretical foundations of ideas and actions
 Evaluates own practice in the light of new knowledge
Intellectual trait of a Professional
 Reads current journals
 Keeps abreast of technical advances
 Reads about own and related profession specializations
 Interacts with colleagues to gain new perspectives
 Participates in conferences
 Enrolls in courses regularly
 Strives towards self-improvement
 Develops performance skills
Altruistic trait of a Professional
 Behaves unselfishly
 Devotes practice to the interests of others
 Shows respect for others
 Shows positive attitude towards co-workers, children, parents and community members
Responsible trait of a Professional
 Promises only what can be delivered
o Follows through on commitments
o Delivers on time
o Says ‘no’ without guilt
o Is accountable for own actions
 Develops a philosophy and sound rationale for professional practice
 Thinks before reacting
o Foresees possible outcomes of professional actions
o Makes decisions based on possibilities
o Considers the best interests of the client
 Evaluates his/her professional practice
o Confronts discrepancies between ‘intentions’ and ‘actions’
o Assesses own contribution realistically
Ambady K. G. 142
Committed trait of a Professional
 Spends time beyond the call of duty
 Belongs to and takes active part in professional organizations
 Identifies with the profession both when it is praised and criticized
Ethical trait of a Professional

 Deals honestly with others
 Maintains confidentiality in professional matters
 Does not misrepresent personal qualifications
 Has a clear idea of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ professional practice
Teacher as a Professional
Teaching as a profession implies that a candidate who has joined teaching, he should take
it us vocation that he has the aptitude of teaching. Teaching skills can be developed with the help
of feedback devices. It involves more than job skill and aptitude teaching. There are some ethical
considerations and social accountability and responsibility. He should look like a teacher and behave
like teacher. It should be an ideal person of society as his students follow or imitate to a teacher.
He is an architect of young generation. Education is the creature and creator of the society.
Education is the powerful instrument for social change and social control. Thus a teacher has the
great responsibility of a society as well as the nation. Teaching as a profession consists of
teaching aptitude, teaching skills, social responsibility programme these factors should be included
and awareness can be about provided about the teaching profession.
 Professional Commitment:
o Teacher should have the professional commitment and enthusiasm for accomplishing their
responsibilities as well as their duties.
o They should give priority to his professional commitment and development.
o The teacher should be enthusiastic towards his teaching and teaching programmes.
o Teacher should have emotional tie with his students. He should provide educational
guidance to his students.
o Teacher should have a positive out-look and sympathetic attitude toward his children.
o Teacher should try to understand his students with regard to their abilities, capacities,
needs, aims, weakness and their level of aspirations and beliefs because there is a great
variation among the student, knowledge, expression and rapid change in the society.
Ambady K. G. 143
 Professional Norms:
The human behaviours are relative; therefore group behaviours are the frame of reference.
The norms indicate acquired behaviours or attainable behaviours. Similarly every profession has
group of workers. They are required to behave and act in specific manner. The average behaviour s
of profession is known as professional norms. It is basis for assessing the job predominance of an
individual. The professional behaviour is the manifestation of the aptitude required for the jobs.
There are most essential qualities for performing a job successfully but other characteristics
are significant for a profession
 Code of conduct of a profession or values.
 Terms and conditions for the profession.
 Roles, responsibilities and duties.
 Attitude, values and beliefs for the professional values.
The professional norms are specific but has wide field to develop. Every professional group
has own code of conduct, roles and responsibilities.
 Professional ethics:
Professional ethics give a certain set of broad principles, derived in turn from a spectrum of
values which are arrived at after deep philosophical reflection on the mature and role of the
profession in the life of mankind. The teaching profession has slowly evolved a code of conduct
and Professional ethics is in the offering. The profession is lagging behind other profession in this
respect because the philosophy of education, being one of the oldest branches of philosophy, was
learnt and taught by every philosopher who invariable was teacher. Therefore the teaching
profession should have taken the leads in the matter of offering its own professional and arriving
explicitly at a code of professional ethics. It does not mean that the teaching profession has not
any ethical basis. The professional ethics has to the following components;
 Roles and responsibilities of a school teacher
 Functions and duties of a teacher
 To follow the norms of teaching or teacher council.
 To follow the values, beliefs and ideals of a teacher
 To follow the terms and conditions of teaching procession.
In our context teacher has wide responsibilities and considered to be an ideal for the
student as well as to the society. The following code may suggest which each teacher should
understand and should try to adapt as his professional ethics.
Ambady K. G. 144
 Attitude towards students - It shall be our primary duty to understand to be just,
courteous, to promote a spirit of enquiry, fellowship and joy in them to do are say anything
that would determine their personality, not to exploit them for personal interest and to test
before them a high standard of character, discipline and personality.
 Attitude towards profession - It shall be our primary duty to be sincere and honest our
work and to go thoroughly prepared to the class, to endeavour to maintain our efficiency by
study and other mean; not to do say anything which may lower our prestige in the eyes of
our students; not to write or encourage the use of help-books; not to exact any pressure upon
our students their engage private tuition, not to act as an agent or accept commissions and
other compensation for recommending books.
 Attitude towards society - It shall be our primary duty to set an example in citizenship, to
endeavour to promote the public good, to uphold the dignity of our calling on all occasions, to
size up the demands and aspirations of the society, to be dynamic leaders when required and
to be ideal followers when desired.
 Teacher’s union- Teachers’ union can also play a very significant role in creating an
atmosphere in which shirkers and other people with doubtful intentions may not find a
congenital environment. Union should create a public opinion which should serve as an
adequate sanction against such unsocial acts. Now teachers unions are merely used as a forum
for ventilating their grievances and otherwise trying to promote service conditions. In addition,
these unions should also take steps which may help the teachers in projecting their proper
image among the people.
Functions of a Teacher in Classroom

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the student in their classrooms. Teachers are best
known for the role of educating the students that are placed in their care. Beyond that, teachers
serve many other functions in the classroom. teacher function as a planner of activities and
instructions, source of knowledge, creator of classroom setting environment, as role model, a
supporter of student interaction, mentor in the classroom.
 Planner of activities and instructions: Teachers play multiple roles as a planner of

activities and classroom instructions. They attend professional development sessions to learn
the latest practices and strategies for effective teaching. They collaborate with one another to
gain new ideas for teaching, planning instruction combining subjects to enhance the learning
experience, they analyze test results and other data to help determine the course of their
instruction and make changes in their classroom. Teachers also design lesson plans to teach
the standards and provide engaging activities, while taking into account each student with the
Ambady K. G. 145
information and activities they need to master a subject. At the times, teachers act like
tutors, working with small groups of students or individual students within the classroom or
after class. Teacher also functions as evaluators constantly assessing students’ abilities through
formal and informal assessments, providing suggestions for improvement and assigning grades.
 Resource of knowledge: The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to
teach knowledge to learners. They need to follow the given the curriculum throughout the
year, so that all pertinent knowledge is dispensed to the learners. Teachers teach in many
ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities.
 Creator of classroom environment: The function of a teacher in a creating positive
classroom environment is very important. Students often mimic a teacher’s actions. If the
teacher prepares a warm happy environment students environment set by the teacher can be
either positive or negative. If students sense the teacher is angry, students may react
negatively to that and before learning can impaired. Teachers are responsible for the social
behaviour is primarily reflection of the teacher’s actions and environment provide.
 Supporter of Student’s Interaction: The most important function of a teacher involves
interacting with learners. Teachers must be leaders in the classroom and in the school,
learning the respect of students and setting a positive example. They must be disciplinarians,
doing out fair and consistent punishments to students who break the rules. At the same time,
teachers must show care and concern for students. Learners need support when the learner
needs this help. Support can come in many forms such as a coach, leader or a counsellor. In
professional circles, a teacher may even have to support other teachers leading a particular
subject matter.
 Mentor: Mentoring is a natural role taken on by teachers, whether it is international or not.
This again can have positive or negative effects on children. Mentoring is a way a teacher
encourages students to strive to be the best they can. This also includes encouraging students
to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of listening to students. By taking time to listen
to what student say, teachers impart to students a sense of ownership in the classroom. This
helps build their confidence and helps them want to be successful.
Teaching means teacher doing the act of teaching to make the learners learn. Instead of
providing answers to learners need to learn, teachers should provide opportunities for the learners
need to learn. The role of teacher is changing in smart and active learning methodologies. Teaching
and learning are being modified due to innovations in education. Teachers should know the concept
of teaching and know how to perform teaching.
Ambady K. G. 146
Skilful Teaching
The possession of skills is an essential feature of any profession. Skills provide a means for
professionals to put theoretical knowledge into practice. Effective teachers should possess skills and
competence that set them apart not only from non-professionals i.e., non-teachers but also from
ineffective teachers. Effective teachers can not only do things in the classroom that others cannot,
but they can also understand the relationship between their actions and the effects of those
actions on the students. These days our aim is to provide mass education. The teachers we need
can be made available through appropriate education and training. The skills required by them can
be taught, practised, evaluated, predicted and controlled. In short, these skills can be acquired
through education and training.
The teaching skill is a set of strictly overt behaviours of the teacher (verbal and non-verbal)
that can be observed, measured and modified. Teaching skills have essentially three components
(Singh & Joshi, 1990). They are:
 Perception: Teaching skills have a perceptual component for observing and receiving feedback.
The teacher observes and selects appropriate skills to be acquired by him.
 Cognition: Cognition refers to the behaviour or experience of knowing in which there is some
degree of awareness, as in thinking and problem solving. Skills are thus cognitive strategies
that allow the teachers to complete their assigned tasks i.e., teaching-learning activities
which they learn through education and training. The knowledge thus acquired develops in
teachers the ability to make interpretations, and form judgements and decisions about
various teaching-learning activities.
 Action: Teaching skills demand every teacher to actually practise higher perceived and
acquired knowledge in an effective manner in the classroom. This is so because teaching
skills are a set of strictly overt and observable behaviours.
Teaching skills are essential for effective teaching. The effective teachers must not only
possess a good repertoire of skills, but also understand when and why to use certain skills. An
effective (skillful) teacher understands that different educational objectives require different teaching
skills and behaviours. For example, productive drill and practice produce better leaning in
mathematics while this approach may not be appropriate in literature. Understanding when and
where different teaching skills are appropriate is an important dimension of effective teaching.
The following sub-sections deal with the various teaching skills commonly used by teachers.
Researchers who have worked on classroom interaction and advocated speaking listening model of
teaching have divided teaching skills into two main categories:
 Responsive skills: These skills emphasise that the teacher should be conscious of his
learners, their needs and aspirations. The teacher should understand and appreciate the
Ambady K. G. 147
feeling of the students. He has to create a non-threatening climate in classroom. He is
required to motivate the students to actively participate in teaching learning activities.
 Initiation skills: These skills are concerned with presentation and sharing of information. The
teacher may transact information through various strategies of instruction. He can use
questioning as a tool to lead the students to the desired level of learning. He is, therefore,
required to master and use almost effortlessly the skills of explaining & directing, etc.
Some researchers have divided teaching skills on the basis of the purposes they serve, while
others have tried to classify them on the basis of the teacher tasks or roles to be played by the
teacher. The classification of skills according to the teacher tasks is as follows (Lalitha, 1975).
 Pre-instructional skills: A set of decisions have to be made before instruction takes place.
The tasks performed by the teacher before he starts teaching fall under this category. The
teacher has to plan teaching activities and prepare students for learning. The tasks involved
in getting the students ready for learning are called pre-instructional skills. The skills for
deciding appropriate content and its organisation, pacing of delivery, grouping the students,
identifying appropriate activities, etc., belong to this category.
 Instructional skills: You should understand that usually the students look up to the teacher
for guiding their learning. Classroom learning therefore starts only after the teacher has
arrived and started teaching. The tasks related to setting the climate of classroom such as
presenting content, organising discussion, maintaining the motivation of the students, using
audio-visual materials, using a blackboard, managing the classroom, etc., belong to this
category. All pedagogic tasks performed by the teacher during the course of actual teaching
are collectively called instructional skills.
 Post-instructional skills: As the title indicates, the tasks involved in summarising what is
taught, providing feedback, giving homework assignments, testing and grading, etc., are called
post-instructional skills. These skills are used only after the actual teaching active, delivery of
content is over.
From the point of view of teacher education and training, we classify teaching skills into three
broad categories. These are:
 Core teaching skills;
 Specific teaching skills; and
 Target group specific skills
Core Teaching Skills

Some of the teaching skills such as questioning, explaining, reinforcing, directing the
students, etc., are extensively used by all teachers. These skills, usually known as core teaching
skills, are an important concern of teacher educators. There is a long list of core skills and sub-
skills in teaching. We shall confine our discussion to six broad core skills.
Ambady K. G. 148
Skill of
questioning
Skill of Skill of
stimulus Response
variation Core Management
Teaching
Skills
Skill of Skill of
Illustrating reinforcement
Skill of
explaining
 Skill of Questioning
As you know, questioning is a tool to make the teaching-learning process more lively and
participatory. Questions can stimulate thinking among students. However this is possible only when
the questions are of good quality. In fact construction of good questions is not an easy task.
What do we mean by a good in the context of the teaching-learning process? A good question is
not one which can be answered in 'yes' or 'no'. A quality question forces the students to think
for themselves and apply the knowledge they have acquired to solve the problems. The question
provides the student a lead to proceed further in his learning. A good question should help the
students understand and retain knowledge being presented by the teacher; it should help them
achieve the pre-determined objectives. Depending upon the level of thinking we want to develop
in the students, we can classify classroom questions into three levels (Jangira, et al, 1982).
 Lower order questions stimulate memory level of thinking which, of course, forms the basis
for higher level learning. Lower order questions include recognition and recall types of
questions. Through such questions, the student is asked to recall or recognise information,
facts, concepts, etc., presented in classroom.
 Middle order questions are more suitable for stimulating higher level of thinking among
students. The questions at this level involve interpretation (comparing two concepts,
explaining the relationships between ideas, concepts, etc.) and generalisation and application
of knowledge already gained. The emphasis of middle order questions is to help students
transfer knowledge and skills from one situation to another.
 Higher order questions promote highest critical thinking. These questions are aimed at
developing creative and reasoning abilities in the students. The student, for example, may be
Ambady K. G. 149
asked to analyse ideas, concepts, etc., into their components in order to study their mutual
relationships. High level thinking can be achieved through inductive and deductive methods.
The level of questions put to students depends on the objectives of the lesson and the
mental ability of the students being taught. A higher order question for eighth grade students
may be a lower order question for tenth grade students. The difficulty level of the questions
should be increased gradually i.e. in the beginning lower order questions should be asked. Once
the students have attained the minimum level of understanding middle or higher order questions
can be asked.
 Skill of Response Management

The questions asked by the teacher are answered by the students. The teacher uses the
answer given by the student as a tool to impart knowledge and skills to them. The teacher uses
different techniques to get correct answers from the students and thus leads them to higher level
learning. As you know, correct responses on the part of the students reinforce their learning. The
skill of obtaining correct answers from the students is known as the skill of response
management.
There are five major components of the skill of managing responses (Singh & Sharma,
1987).
 Prompting: In case the question is difficult, it may be simplified or modified by breaking it
up into smaller questions. The teacher can give clues, hints, a partial answer, etc. to the
students. The clues to the correct responses are known as prompts.
 Seeking further information: This technique may be used when the student gives incomplete
or partially correct answer. The teacher tries to help the student clarify his response.
Additional information related to the question or answer can be asked for in order to judge
whether or not the student has properly understood the concepts and whether he has
developed mastery over the lesson being taught.
 Refocusing: This technique is used when the student's answer is correct. The student can be
asked to relate the knowledge gained in the similar or new situations. It will provide the
student an opportunity to think about the application(s) of the acquired knowledge or skills.
 Redirection: This technique involves directing the same question to a number of the
students. This technique is applied when no answer or incorrect answer is provided by the
students. Through redirection, we can ensure greater participation of, and brainstorming
discussion by the students.
 Increasing critical awareness: This technique is used when the student gives the correct
answer. In such a situation, the teacher puts higher order questions in order to increase
critical thinking among students. Critical thinking will help the students achieve higher level
objectives.
Ambady K. G. 150
 Skill of Reinforcement
Reinforcement is not only used to promote learning, but also to secure attention and
provide greater motivation to the students. For this the academic activities should be meaningful
and worthwhile so that the students can get the intended benefits from them. If their i.e. the
students' behaviour is approved by the class teacher, they feel motivated to participate with
enthusiasm and initiative in instructional activities. There are four broad components of the skill of
reinforcement. These are:
 Positive verbal reinforcement: It involves the use of verbal or linguistic expressions’ which
reinforce learning. Just, saying 'Good', 'Yes', 'Well done' after the student has answered can
reinforce him. Teacher's utterances like 'aha', 'humm', etc., can encourage the student to
continue with his answer. The important point(s) made by the student can be re-emphasised
or highlighted by the teacher.
 Positive non-verbal reinforcement: It involves the use of teacher's gestures in order to
reinforce the student's behaviour. Nodding, smiling, moving towards the student, giving him
an encouraging look, etc., are examples of positive non-verbal reinforcers.
 Negative verbal reinforcement: The use of certain undesirable reinforcers can strengthen the
occurrence of a particular behaviour. Expressions like wrong, no, incorrect, no true, etc., are
examples of negative verbal reinforcers.
 Negative non-verbal reinforcement: The teacher uses this type of reinforcers in order to make
the students aware of certain undesirable behaviours. Frowning, nodding the head
disapprovingly, moving away from the student, etc., are examples of negative verbal
reinforcers.
 Skill of Explaining
The skill of explaining helps the student understand concepts, principles or phenomena.
Explanation involves various logical steps to arrive at inferences. A good explanation is one which
is understood by the student. The following are the major components of the skill of explaining:
 Use of introductory statements
 Statement of the learning outcomes
 Use of simple and relevant examples
 Use of appropriate media for illustrations
 Use of the concluding statements
 Use of the explaining links
 Use of the audio-visual aids
 Glossary of the key terms
The explanation should be interesting and the examples should be taken from real life
situations. The explanation should not confuse the students by citing irrelevant examples or
presenting non-essential content. Irrelevant statements can make the concepts more confusing for
students.
Ambady K. G. 151
 Skill of Illustrating
Some concepts are so abstract that explanation does not help the students understand the
concepts. In such a situation the skillful teacher uses some examples to illustrate the idea,
concept or principle. The teacher uses various principles of teaching such as simple to complex,
concrete to abstract, etc., to help the students understand the concepts. A good illustrative
example should engage the student's attention and it should be within the student's level of
understanding. Only then can it significantly affect their understanding.
We can use various media for presenting examples and explaining abstract or difficult
concepts. The examples can be presented through the visual medium (eg. models, charts,
diagrams, etc.) and audio medium (telling stories, describing events, etc.). Many concepts can be
illustrated through the use of actual objects e.g. buds, reptiles, fieldtrips, excursion. Examples can
be presented with or without words.
 Skill of Stimulus Variation

Children perceive the objects in their environment or in a situation (known as stimulus)
and select the relevant information depending on the intensity, contrast and the movement of the
objects. The children's attention is drawn I through attractive objects, the contrast between the
two objects tends to attract their attention. Again, a variety of audio-visual aids are used to
attract and hold their attention. In other words, for optimum learning in the students the teacher
uses a variety of stimuli in the chosen instructional tasks.
Components of the skills: There is a long list of stimuli which the teacher can use to attract and
hold students' attention and to lead them to achieve the curricular objectives. The teacher's
characteristics and behaviour provide asset of strong stimuli and have a direct impact on the
student's learning. Some of the characteristics are as follows:
 The teacher's physical movement during teaching in the classroom serves a pedagogic
purpose. Purposeful movement of the teacher keeps the students attentive to what is being
discussed.
 The teacher's gestures in the class can motivate or demotivate the students in their learning.
The teacher's actions and expression can have a direct bearing on his students' learning. The
care-taking gesture of the teacher can be a very favourable stimulus for the students.
 The change in speech pattern, volume and speed of utterances, emotional expression, etc.,
not only attract the attention of the students, but also make the teaching livelier.
 The use of audio and visual stimuli, as you already know, has a great impact on learning.
The teacher should use, besides speech, other means of communication to affect students'
learning. Various means of communication can be combined according to the chosen
objectives of the lesson. The use of audio-visual media will provide multi-sensory stimuli to
the students.
Ambady K. G. 152
 The teacher should encourage and ensure active participation of the students. They should be
given the opportunity to actually handle the apparatus, set-up and conduct experiments, write
on the blackboard, etc. By doing so, we,= teachers, can sustain their (students') interest
even for higher level learning.
Specific Teaching Skills

You know that certain specific skills are required to teach particular topics or subjects.
Similarly, the teacher needs special skills to teach students studying at different levels of education
- sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or tenth grades. Depending on the subjects and the students to be
taught, there maybe two types of specific teaching skills. Subject-based i.e. teaching skills those are
common to various subjects. Grade-based i.e. teaching skills those are common to teaching at a
particular grade.
 Subject-based teaching skills: With core teaching skills as the base, you need some specific skills
to teach your subject(s) e.g. language, maths, social science or sciences. Every discipline
demands specific skills to teach it effectively. The skills required for teaching Hindi as a language
may not be appropriate for teaching science or even social science. Sometimes, different topics
demand specific skills on the part of the teacher. For example, the teacher needs specific
teaching skills to teach map reading in geography, how to do experiments in a Chemistry
laboratory or how to prepare special dishes in Home Science. Such examples can easily be
multiplied.
 Grader based teaching skills: The teacher who teaches both the lower and the upper grades
students has to demonstrate and use different teaching skills. At the elementary school level, a
teacher teaches all or almost all the subjects to a group of students. The teacher and the
students are in the classroom for the entire day. At the secondary and the senior secondary
levels, the students study subjects that are taught by the teachers who specialise in them. The
teachers share and use the classroom during scheduled class periods. The teachers of lower or
upper primary classes need special skills for giving dictation, developing handwriting, narration,
storytelling, recitation, etc., to teach languages, social studies or science.
Target Group Specific Skills

It has now been proved beyond doubt that the students differ widely in their rates of
learning. But unfortunately this remains even today the most neglected aspect of learning in
classroom. We tend to overlook individual differences in learning. Many teachers at times wish that
the students who are unwilling or unable to learn at the rate set by the teacher should be dropped
from school without seriously considering their problem. We want to bring home the idea that we
should understand the individual in education. After all education is a process through which every
student is helped develop higher potential and abilities to the greatest degree, with due regard for
higher strengths and limitations.
Ambady K. G. 153
You may often have to manage students with some learning disability. The expression
learning disability refers to an inability to perform a task that is normally within the capability
range of learners of a particular age-group or grade. Learning disability often involves some gap(s)
in essential learning processes related to perception, integration and verbal / non-verbal expression.
Now let us consider the specific cases of student disability vis-a-vis teaching skills. Take the
example of handicapped students. Those students who have one or more of the following
handicaps are included in this group: learning disabled, speech impaired, mentally retarded,
emotionally disturbed, hearing impaired, orthopedically handicapped, visually handicapped, and those
with other health impairments. As you know, the handicapped students often do not receive the
kind of education that effectively meets their needs. With special teaching strategies and personal
we, they can make significant progress and learn through integrated or mainstream classes. Besides
knowledge of various handicaps and the teaching methods and materials appropriate for dealing
with different types of handicaps, an effective teacher must have / positive attitudes towards
special students. Such a teacher believes in these students and their ability to learn and acquire
skills. He makes all students feel that they are important members of the class. The teacher should
help the students whatever their disability to function independently and as normally as possible.
The concept of superiority or inferiority should be removed from students' minds and this should be
reflected in their classroom behaviour.
Let us consider another example of the students for whom you will need special teaching
methods and materials. These are the gifted and talented students. You will find that such students
are quicker, more eager learners, often capable of mastering the subject with an ease that other
students (and even some teachers) may resent. They are intellectually curious and can be especially
critical of the teachers who fail to stimulate and challenge them. The gifted students need
innovative and fast paced teaching. They may also need a
 Various kinds of enriched educational tasks. To meet their educational needs, the teachers
have to plan high level teaching-learning activities.
 Self-directed or independent study. The teachers should encourage such students to study
without constant supervision of the teachers, without the threat or reward of grade. The
instructional tasks should be planned in a way that develop the skill of autonomous learning
and satisfy their needs.
 Special educational plan. Special assignments and activities should be planned for the gifted
students.
The teachers are granted a special status because they have knowledge and skills not
normally held by the general public. The (professional) teacher is dedicated to continuous link -
both about the teaching-learning process and about the subject he/she teaches. You are, therefore,
we are expected to possess specific teaching skills and competence so that you can have a distinct
place in society.
Ambady K. G. 154
Reflective Practices in Teaching RIEM-NCERT
Reflective Practices in Teaching: Profession and Professionalism
Ambady K. G.*
*Assistant Professor(C), Department of Education, RIE-NCERT, Mysuru
Abstract
This article argues that the most powerful, durable and effective agents of educational change
are not the policy makers, the curriculum developers or even the education authorities themselves; they
are the teachers. In order for teachers to be effective in the Information Age, they need to recognize
more than just their students’ background and learning preferences. They need to be able to take
effective, positive action in the classroom context to improve the educational outcomes for their
students. In order to do this they must have the willingness and cognitive capacities to recognize
ethical dilemmas and examine their own perspectives on the issues they face critically and analytically.
This requires regular, authentic reflection. The importance of reflection in teaching and learning lies in
encouraging one to view problems from different perspectives. This article mainly focuses on the
different aspects of reflection such as cognitive processes involved in reflective practice, different types
of reflection, characteristics of a reflective teacher, components related to reflective practice, important
traits of a reflective practitioner, levels of reflection and methods of reflection. Incorporating the
concept of reflection into teacher enrichment programs, prepares teachers for a lifetime of reflecting on
best practices that impact student achievement.
1. Introduction
Teaching has recently been designated as a profession and teachers now have the same
responsibilities as others engaged in professional work. They have increased levels of individual
responsibility, accountability and liability. One result of this is that there now is a legal commitment to
supporting scholarly success for all students, despite the cognitive complexity that is required being
elevated in terms of educational expectations and societal demands (Ministerial Council on Education
Employment Training and Youth Affairs, 2008). This situation compels teachers to describe, to analyze
and evaluate and to use the resulting insights to improve practice; in other words, to develop skills in
reflective practice. Whilst the notion of practitioner reflectivity is not new, it is argued that teachers in
contemporary classrooms now need to undertake their reflections from an increasingly informed personal
understanding (Akerson, Abd-El-Khalick, & Lederman, 2000; Boud, 2001, 1993; Boud, Keogh, & Walker,
1985). The purpose of all the various types of reflection in professional contexts appears to two be
fold; to engender change in order to improve the practice (Calderhead, 1989; Gay & Kirkland, 2003;
Kemmis, 2011; Rolfe, Freshwater, & Jasper, 2001; Scanlan & Chernomas, 1997; Schon, 1991; Schuck,
Gordon, & Buchanan, 2008; Wildman & Niles, 1987) and to develop further self knowledge and
understanding (Abell, Bryan, & Anderson, 1998; Akbari, 2007; Boud, et al., 1985; Gay & Kirkland,
2003). It is therefore suggested that teachers need to purposely develop, examine, re examine and
Ambady K. G. 155
check both their self knowledge and their capacity to use this knowledge in order to improve their
professional practice.
The evolution of reflection in teaching and teacher education can be traced back to John Dewey
who used the idea of the scientific method to scaffold how people think and learn. Dewey made a
tremendous impact on education and how teachers use reflection in order to increase their personal
and professional experiences. He defined reflection as “turning a subject over in the mind and giving it
serious and consecutive consideration, thereby enabling us to act in a deliberate and intentional
fashion. Reflection involves active, persistent and careful consideration” (Dewey as cited in Sweigard,
2007). The teacher reflection has been considered a dominant activity for developing practical
knowledge and linking it with educational theories in teacher training programs (Korthagen, 2001, 2004;
Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005; Korthagen & Wubbels, 1991, 2000).
2. Reflection and Teacher

Reflection can generally be defined as a cognitive process carried out in order to learn from
experiences through individual inquiry and collaboration with others (Benammar, 2004; Dewey, 1933;
Mezirow, 1991; Moon, 2004; Schön, 1983). Regarding teacher preperaction, reflection is commonly
reported as a process of self-examination and self-evaluation that teachers should engage in regularly
in order to interpret and improve their professional practices (Husu, Toom, & Patrikainen, 2008). To
engage in reflection on experiences, an individual’s active participation is required (e.g. Moon, 2004;
Procee, 2006; Schön, 1983). Dewey (1933) stated that reflection requires attitudes that value one’s own
and others’ personal and intellectual growth. Moreover, several authors agree that in addition to the
requirements of active involvement, reflection needs to happen in community in interaction with others
(e.g. Benammar, 2004; Dewey, 1933; Leijen, Valtna, Leijen, & Pedaste, 2012; Procee, 2006). This
enables individuals to share and learn from experiences and ideas from others’ perspectives,
(re)interpreting and developing their own perspectives further. The potential methods for developing
action-oriented knowledge have been found to be the guided reflection procedure (Husu et al, 2008;
Leijen, Lam, Wildschut, Simons, & Admiraal, 2009; Sööt & Leijen, 2012) and the stimulated recall
procedure (Meijer, Zanting, & Verloop, 2002).
Reflection can be defined as a cognitive process carried out to learn from experience. Reflection
allows the creation of knowledge about one’s own cognition and regulation of that cognition (see e.g.
Leijen, 2008; Leijen, Valtna, Leijen & Pedaste, 2012). Following the above, reflection is facilitated in
teacher enrichment programmes to allow teachers to become conscious of and thoughtful about their
actions, as opposed to using trial and error to deal with confusing and problematic situations. According
to Rodgers (2002), reflection is a systematic and disciplined way of thinking that comprises the
following phases: spontaneous interpretation of an experience, naming the problems and questions that
arise out of the experience, generating possible explanations for the problems posed, developing and
testing the explanations, and efforts to sort out, or live with, the problems posed.
Ambady K. G. 156
According to expert opinion we do not learn from experience without reflection. Slavík (1997)
defines the purpose of reflection as “gaining insight into the phenomena within our responsibility
which have a significant influence on us or our surroundings and therefore require evaluative discussion
and control”.
Reflection is a process consisting in “repeated presentation of the phenomenon in question
(through recollection, video recording), description of the phenomenon and identification of its key
features (conditioning the development and changes of the phenomenon), assessment and explanation
(in dependence on the aims and context of our actions).” (Hošpesová, Tichá,2007).
There are many reflective models currently in use. These are frameworks connecting two
important aspects – the content (what is reflected on) and quality (how the reflection proceeds).
Svojanovský (2014) distinguishes between three types of content of pedagogical reflective practice –
the teacher’s personality (self-reflection), situational aspects in teaching and school context and the
aspects of the wider context of education, including social, ethical and political conditions of the
teacher’s work. He further defines three levels of the quality of reflection: description, justification and
assessment and critical reflection.
3. Cognitive Aspects of Reflection

The professional development of teachers can be undertaken by the utilizing the notion of the
intrapersonal intelligence domain introduced by Gardner (1993) as one aspect of his Multiple Intelligence
Theory. This theory not only brings together and meaningfully links the purposes of reflective practice,
but facilitates personally meaningful ways of planning to improve practice by utilizing relative strengths.
The notion of intrapersonal intelligence as foundation for reflection has been explored
extensively by Lazear (1999a; 1999) who identifies intrapersonal intelligence as the ‘introspective
intelligence’ (1999a) and explores a number of mindfulness exercises aimed at improving self awareness
and promoting effective reflection. Gardner (1993) presents the dual nature of intrapersonal intelligence
as (i) self knowledge and (ii) executive function (Moran & Gardner, 2007). Self knowledge in this case
is how an individual understands themselves both as teacher and learner. It allows individuals to
acknowledge various self expressions such as ‘I need, I want, this is a good way for me’. It also
facilitates an understanding of the ways in which others may know an individual and how these may
differ from an individual’s own knowledge of himself or herself. This knowledge of self representations
can be expressed as ‘I know myself in ways that others may not know me, I know that others may
perceive me differently to the ways in which I know myself’. Both aspects of this self knowledge are
created, maintained and challenged by personal insights and socially mediated perceptions and feedback.
The second aspect of intrapersonal intelligence and the least explored is executive function. Self
understanding in this aspect focuses around what Moran and Gardner (2007) name as the ‘Hill, the
Will and the Skill’. It is this aspect of intrapersonal intelligence that has the capacity, once developed,
to impact most profoundly on an individual’s reflective practice, most specifically on the final stage of
Ambady K. G. 157
the reflective cycle, the plan for improvement, although it does influence the quality of reflection in the
stages of the cycle.
The Hill refers to the plan of action or the goals that are set for improving teaching and the
skills that are embedded in this decision making process: the capacity to identify personally relevant
strategies and procedures, to make decisions based on personal needs and desires and to plan actions
when faced with difficult or unfamiliar situations. The Will, as expected, is related to how motivated an
individual is to initiate and implement their plans. The Skill refers to the self monitoring aspects of
implementation, namely; an aptitude for flexible thinking and the effective use of the working memory,
the capacity to monitor and change behaviours in order to achieve goals and to monitor inappropriate
responses, the discipline and interest to sustain attention and concentrate on goal appropriate activities
and the compulsion to persevere when faced with goal- related difficulties. Working with this theory of
self knowledge, teachers have the opportunities to develop accurate knowledge of self and to recognise
more readily their personal relative strengths and limitations. Engaging in the skills associated with the
‘Hill, the Will, and the Skill’ not only facilitates strengths based planning for professional improvement,
but provides a framework for authentic, lasting, professional change. Despite this teacher openly
welcoming the proposed changes in which he was to be involved with his class, difficulties were
encountered. It was by engaging in a reflective process in which he considered not only how best to
teach the curriculum content or how best motivate his students by identifying and planning for their
individual learning preferences but also what he knew about himself. In order to become a reflective
transformative practitioner, one must first understand what a reflective practitioner is and what
transformation means. A transformative leader engages in reflection and action. Therefore in order for
an educator to become a transformative leader, they must first learn the important skill of reflection.
4. Different Types of Reflection

In general, reflection uses the past to inform our judgment, reflect on our experiences and face
new encounters with a broader repertoire of information, skills and techniques (Killion, Joellen, Todnem,
& Guy, 1991). When you reflect on what has occurred and consequently change your actions you will
hopefully experience a different outcome. There are numerous theorists who address how reflection is
used in education. One theorist, Donald Schon, describes two different types of reflection: Reflection-
on-Action and Reflection-in-Action. Reflection-on-Action occurs when a teacher reflects on their daily
lessons and classroom actions and uses the information gathered to adjust their lessons/teaching
(Killion, Joellen, Todnem, & Guy, 1991). The goal of this form of reflection is for educators to become
more effective and conscientious teachers. This type of reflection is reflecting back on lessons that
have been taught and is a skill that teachers need to acquire in their early teaching experiences.
The second type of reflection that Schon describes is Reflection-in-Action. This type of
reflection occurs during teaching and involves acting immediately to improve or better your teaching.
Paulson and Kenneth describe the difference between these two types of reflection; if a teacher thinks
reflectively about an episode of teaching after class, he or she engages in reflecting-on-action. In
Ambady K. G. 158
contrast, if they think about the episode while in the midst of teaching, then reflection-in-action takes
place (Paulson & Kenneth as cited in Sweigard, 2007). Schon’s reflection theory has been used as a
foundation for several researchers. Killion, Joellen, Todnem, and Guy (1991) used Schon’s two types of
reflection (reflection- on-action and reflection-in-action) and added a third type (reflection-for-action).
Reflection-for-action is stated as the desired outcome of Schon’s reflection-in-action and reflection-on-
action. This type of reflection looks at what has occurred in the past and how this can help change
our teaching process in the future. Consequently this will provide students with an enriched learning
environment. An example of reflection- for-action in the classroom is when a teacher critiques events
from the past and makes a conclusion or judgment that that will impact future teachings/lessons.
Valli (1997) states that there are six components of a teacher’s knowledge that guide how they
teach: behavioral, technical, reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, deliberative, personalistic, and
critical. All of these (except behavioural) involve the concept of reflection. The behavioural approach
involves skills acquisition and assessment by education faculty and cooperating teachers. The
assessment will indicate what behaviours the student needs to address. The five other ways incorporate
the concept of reflection which is an expansion of Schon’s original concepts. The first, technical
reflection involves the teacher candidate’s reflection of their own performance and exhibits internal
motivation to better them. Reflection-inaction and reflection-on-action are the second ways that Valli
identifies and they have previously been described. The third type of reflection, deliberative reflection,
involves the consolidation of several sources of information from a variety of perceived experts as the
teacher makes decisions about practice (Killion, Joellen, Todnem, & Guy, 1991). Personalistic reflection
requires the teacher to draw links between their professional and personal life. In essence, how does
being a teacher fulfill their personal life goals (Killion, Joellen, Todnem, & Guy, 1991). The final type of
reflection is critical reflection and it goes beyond the person and looks at the institution and political
aspects of education and social injustices.
5. Characteristics of the Reflective Practitioner

Eby and Kujawa (1998) describe six characteristics of the reflective practitioner:
 Reflective practitioners are active—they search energetically for information and solutions to
problems that arise in the classroom.
 Reflective practitioners are persistent—they are committed to thinking through difficult issues in
depth and continuing to consider matters even though it may be difficult or tiring.
 Reflective practitioners are careful—they are concerned for self and other, respecting students
as human beings and trying to create a positive, nurturing classroom.
 Reflective practitioners are skeptical—they realize that there are few absolutes and maintain a
healthy skepticism about educational theories and practices.
 Reflective practitioners are rational—they demand evidence and apply criteria in formulating
judgments rather than blindly following trends or acting on impulse.
 Reflective practitioners are proactive—they are able to translate reflective thinking into positive
action.
Ambady K. G. 159
Ebby and Kujawa (1998) also came up with six important traits that a reflective practitioner
should practice:
 Understand the process of reflection-on-action;
 Go beyond mere description of lessons (the what?);
 Learn about reflection through interaction with teacher educators, cooperating teachers and fellow
preservice educators (through journal buddy reading);
 Learn to reflect on learners and the learning processes as well as the content;
 Learn to integrate ideas from others and experiences to improve teaching; and
 Understand that reflective practitioners are active, persistent, careful, skeptical, rational and
proactive.
One way these six traits can be accomplished or developed is through the process of reflective
journal writing. The literature clearly states that reflective journal writing for teachers/student teachers
undertaking their field work experience is a key component to becoming a skillful reflective practitioner.
Journal writing needs to go beyond just describing a room setup or talking about the different
students in the room. Davis (2006) describes the difference between productive and unproductive
reflection. Unproductive reflection is mainly descriptive without very much analysis, usually listing ideas
rather than connecting ideas. Productive reflection is likely to promote effective learning and involves
questioning assumptions and seeing things in a variety of different ways. A reflective journal needs to
address the daily lesson and activities; what happened, what changes could be made, how you could
improve the lesson, any questions or issues that occurred in the classroom and how you addressed
them or how you could have addressed them.
In essence, one must go beyond just describing the lesson and include an analysis of what
could have been done differently, making connections with other experiences and understanding how to
interpret a teaching idea. Sweigard (2007) states that teachers gain information about their teaching
from their own observations of themselves coupled with their reflections. Therefore a reflective journal
is a logical first step in assisting a teacher in progressing into an exemplary future teacher.
6. Levels of Reflection
Teacher reflection has become increasingly important for both trainees and established classroom
practitioners (Pollard, 2008). Teachers in their reflections are encouraged to identify and examine, in
context, those things that impact upon their thoughts and actions. The context in which learning takes
place can be a very powerful factor. Reflection, in context enables the practitioner to gain a better
understanding of their situation and as a consequence explore viable alternatives with the potential to
produce positive change. “Reflection is generally assumed to promote understanding and insight and to
have transformation or empowerment as its purpose or effect” (Ottesen, 2007).
Increasingly reflective practice is viewed as the hallmark of professional competence for teaching.
Indeed there is a general acceptance of the need to prepare professionals to be reflective practitioners
(Larrivee, 2008). Teacher reflection means that individuals will view their own work through the critical
lens of another with the anticipated aim of developing their own personal and professional skills (Husu,
Ambady K. G. 160
2009). According to Shoffner (2008) reflection is worthwhile because it enables classroom practitioners
to identify, analyse and manage complex classroom issues. Furthermore practitioners are forced to
question their practice and consequently gain a better understanding of their own beliefs. As a result
those same practitioners will begin to contemplate more fully the relationship between theory and
practice and to question those things normally understood to be accepted knowledge. Larrivee (2008)
identifies four distinct levels of reflection represented diagrammatically as:
 Level 1 – Pre-reflection: at this level of reflection things are taken for granted and accepted without
question. Teachers respond to situations which they believe to be beyond their control; reflections
are superficial. Represents the ‘zero’ level of reflection in which teachers react to students and
classroom situations automatically, without conscious consideration of alternatives.
 Level 2 – Surface Reflection: at this level reflections focus on how to achieve specific objectives and
standards. Reflections are supported by evidence with an increasing awareness of the need to
accommodate different learners.
 Level 3 – Pedagogical Reflection: at this level the teacher evaluates what they do in the classroom
and consider show that impacts upon pupil learning.
 Level 4 – Critical Reflection: at this level on-going reflection and critical inquiry into teaching actions
and thinking processes are central and significantly important. Teachers reflect on moral and ethical
implications and consequences of their classroom practice on students.
At level 1 reflection tends to be rather shallow in nature whereas as at Level 4 it is much more
intrusive and searching. At Level 1 reflection is considered to be an obligation that has to be
performed or a task to be met but at Level 4 it is central and fundamental to the way in which the
practitioner learns. The aim of this unique project was to move the student teacher to Level 4 and
encourage them to embrace the full process of ‘critical reflection’. The theoretical framework for this
study is based on an adoption of Larrivee’s model. Level 1 reflection tends to be limited in both
breadth and depth; reflection at this level is largely inconsequential and insignificant. However, as the
practitioner traverses the levels of reflection from Level 1 toLevel 4 their engagement with the reflective
process increases and their depth of reflection becomes complex; reflections at this level are profound,
Ambady K. G. 161
sincere and insightful. Level 1 reflection tends to be relatively safe and does not present too much risk
to the practitioner whereas Level 4 reflection is more unsafe and there are potentially higher risks
attached. All four levels of reflection in this theoretical framework sit along a continuum where low
level reflection is at one end, where there is limited or superficial evaluation, and where at the other
end there is a high level of reflective practice which is profound and insightful. At one end it focuses
on teaching functions, actions and skills, generally considering single teaching episodes or isolated
events right through to, at the other end, higher order reflection where the teacher examines the
ethical, social and political consequences of their teaching and grapples with the purposes of schooling.
7. Conclusion
The teaching profession is, like any population, comprised of individuals. Each has unique
experiences that have, in turn, been interpreted in time and context in their particular manner. Each
also has personally constructed understandings of what it is to be professional, to be a teacher and to
be reflective. An individual’s capacity to be totally objective may be a hotly contended topic in
philosophical debates (Burgh, et al., 2005) but it is generally accepted that it is almost impossible. The
implications for reflection on professional practice are obvious: individuals describe, analyze and plan a
way to improve in their own ways. This writing has presented an argument for the implementation of
Gardner’s (1993; Moran & Gardner, 2007) notion of intrapersonal intelligence as a supportive framework
for authentic teacher reflection as it requires authentic personal response, facilitates planning to improve
using strengths based strategies that allow for individual approaches to the changes needed to improve
professional practice. This approach fosters ongoing, genuine enrichment of individual personal practice
irrespective of the level of initial engagement. This is simply because it permits teachers to start from
their own individual experiences and perspectives; consider these in their contextual variations and
draw upon the theoretical, professional strategies that they have encountered or plan to explore. It
validates the time and efforts spent on reflection as it allows the planning of actions to improve to
draw on all three aspects of the holy trinity for teachers; pedagogical and content knowledge, students
and community preferences and differences and an understanding of self and the personal potential
that each has to improve their professional practice and to initiate and sustain change. As a way of
drawing together some of the points I have made in this paper, there are six key principles that ought
to underpin reflective practice and that might be useful to dwell upon. While each of these might be
extracted from the more positive aspects of our encounters with reflective approaches up to this point,
we need to be especially mindful of them if we are to avoid the situation in which reflection can
mean anything we want it to mean:
 Reflection should not to be restricted to examining only technical skills; it should equally
be concerned with the ethical, social, and political context within which teaching occurs;
 Reflection should not be restricted to teachers reflecting individually upon their teaching;
there needs to be a collective and collaborative dimension to it as well;
Ambady K. G. 162
 Reflection is a process that is centrally concerned with challenging the dominant myths,,
assumptions and hidden message systems, implicit in the way teaching and education are
currently organised;
 Reflection is also fundamentally about creating improvements in educational practice, and
the social relationships that underlie those practices;
 Reflection is founded on the belief that knowledge about teaching is in a tentative and
incomplete state, and as such, is continually being modified as a consequence of
practice;
 Reflection occurs best when it begins with tile experiences of practitioners as they are
assisted in the process of describing, informing, confronting and re-constructing their
theories of practice (Smyth, 1993).
To put a final word it is essential to incorporate the concept of reflection into teacher
enrichment programs, prepares teachers for a lifetime of reflecting on best practices that impact student
achievement.
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Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
The twelve identifiable personal and professional characteristics of effective teachers are:
 Characteristic 1: Prepared
The most effective teachers come to class each day ready to teach.
 It is easy to learn in their classes because they are ready for the day.
 They don’t waste instructional time. They start class on time. They teach for the entire class
period.
 Time flies in their classes because students are engaged in learning— i.e., not bored, less
likely to fall asleep.
 Characteristic 2: Positive
The most effective teachers have optimistic attitudes about teaching and about students. They
 See the glass as half full (look on the positive side of every situation)
 Make themselves available to students
 Communicate with students about their progress
 Give praise and recognition
 Have strategies to help students act positively toward one another
 Characteristic 3: Hold High Expectations

The most effective teachers set no limits on students and believe everyone can be successful. They
 Hold the highest standards
 Consistently challenge their students to do their best
 Build students’ confidence and teach them to believe in themselves
 Characteristic 4: Creative
The most effective teachers are resourceful and inventive in how they teach their classes. They
 Kiss a pig if the class reaches its academic goals
 Wear a clown suit
 Agree to participate in the school talent show
 Use technology effectively in the classroom
Ambady K. G. 166
 Characteristic 5: Fair
The most effective teachers handle students and grading fairly. They
 Allow all students equal opportunities and privileges
 Provide clear requirements for the class
 Recognize that “fair” doesn’t necessarily mean treating everyone the same but means giving
every student an opportunity to succeed
 Understand that not all students learn in the same way and at the same rate
 Characteristic 6: Display a Personal Touch

The most effective teachers are approachable. They
 Connect with students personally
 Share personal experiences with their classes
 Take personal interest in students and find out as much as possible about them
 Visit the students’ world (sit with them in the cafeteria; attend sporting events, plays, and
other events outside normal school hours)
 Characteristic 7: Cultivate a Sense of Belonging

The most effective teachers have a way of making students feel welcome and comfortable in their
classrooms.
 Students repeatedly mentioned that they felt as though they belonged in classrooms taught
by effective teachers.
 The students knew they had a good teacher who loved teaching and preferred it to other
occupations.
 Characteristic 8: Compassionate
The most effective teachers are concerned about students’ personal problems and can relate
to them and their problems. Numerous stories established how the sensitivity and compassion of
caring teachers affected them in profound and lasting ways.
 Characteristic 9: Have a Sense of Humour

The most effective teachers do not take everything seriously and make learning fun. They
 Use humour to break the ice in difficult situations
 Bring humour into the everyday classroom
 Laugh with the class (but not at the expense of any particular student)
Ambady K. G. 167
 Characteristic 10: Respect Students
The most effective teachers do not deliberately embarrass students. Teachers, who give the highest
respect, get the highest respect. They
 Respect students’ privacy when returning test papers
 Speak to students in private concerning grades or conduct
 Show sensitivity to feelings and consistently avoid situations that unnecessarily embarrass
students
 Characteristic 11: Forgiving

The most effective teachers do not hold grudges. They
 Forgive students for inappropriate behaviour
 Habitually start each day with a clean slate
 Understand that a forgiving attitude is essential to reaching difficult students
 Understand that disruptive or antisocial behaviour can quickly turn a teacher against a
student, but that refusing to give up on difficult students can produce success
 Characteristic 12: Admit Mistakes

The most effective teachers are quick to admit being wrong. They
 Apologize to mistakenly accused students
 Make adjustments when students point out errors in grading or test material that has not
been assigned
Ambady K. G. 168
Maxims of Teaching
Every teacher wants to make maximum involvement and participation of the learners in the
learning process. He sets the classroom in such a way so that it becomes attractive for them. He
uses different methods, rules, principles etc in order to make his lesson effective and purposeful.
He uses general rule or formula and applies it to particular example in order to make teaching –
learning process easy and up to the understandable level of students.
These settled principles, tenets, working rules or general truths through which teaching
becomes interesting, easy and effective are called the maxims of teaching. They have universal
significance. Every person who is expected to enter into the teaching profession has to familiarize
himself with the maxims of teaching. Their knowledge helps him to proceed systematically.
Maxims of Teaching are the universally facts found out by the teacher on the basis of
experience. They are of universal significance and are trustworthy. The knowledge of different
maxims helps the teacher to proceed systematically. It also helps to find out his way of teaching,
especially at the early stages of teaching.
The different maxims of teaching are briefly explained below.
 Known to Unknown:
This maxim is based on the assumption that the student knows something. We are to
increase his knowledge and widen his outlook. We have to interpret all new knowledge’ in terms
of the old. It is said that old knowledge serves as a hook on which the new one can be hung.
Known is trustworthy and unknown cannot be trusted. So while teaching we should proceed from
known and go towards unknown. For example, while teaching any lesson, the teacher can link
the previous experiences of the child with the new lesson that is to be taught.
 Simple to Complex:
Class-room teaching is formal where the teacher tries to teach and the students try to
learn things. In this process of teaching-learning, the teacher should see that simple things are
presented first to the students. That way they will start taking interest. Once they become
interested, thou gradually complex type of things can also be learnt by them. By learning simple
things, they feel encouraged and they also gain confidence. On this basis, they become further
receptive to the complex matter. On the other hand, if complex types of things are presented to
the learner first, he become, upset, feels bored and finds himself in a challenging situation lot
which he is not yet ready being immature and unripe.
Gradually more difficult items of learning may be presented to the students. It will
smoothen teaching being done by the teacher and make learning convenient and interesting for
Ambady K. G. 169
the students. For example, while teaching sentences of English simple sentences should be
taught first and complex type of sentences may be taken afterwards.
 Concrete to Abstract:
Concrete things are solid things and they can be touched with five senses. But abstract
things can only be imagined. So it is rather difficult to teach the children about abstract things.
The students are likely to forget them soon. On the other hand, if we teach the students with
the help of concrete objects, they will never forget the subject matter.
For example when we teach counting to the students we should first examine concrete
nouns like, laptop, book, Pen etc. and then proceed to digits and numbers. The stars, the moon,
the sun etc. being taught first whereas the abstract thing:, like planet, satellites etc. should be
taught afterwards.
 Analysis to Synthesis:
Analysis means breaking a problem into its convenient parts while synthesis means
grouping of these separated parts into one complete whole. A complex problem can be made
simple and easy by dividing into different parts.
“Analysis is the approach for understanding and synthesis is for fixation.” Analysis of a
sentence’ is taught to a student, which helps the students to understand the different parts of a
sentence. Later on, synthesis of sentences should be taught.
 Particular to General:
While teaching, the teacher should first of all take particular statements and then on the
basis of those particular cases, generalization should be made. Suppose the teacher is teaching
Present Continuous Tense while Teaching English, he should first of all give a few examples and
then on the basis of those make them generalize is that this tense is used to denote an action
that is going on at the time of speaking.
 Empirical to Rational:
Empirical knowledge is based on observation and firsthand experience. It is particular,
concrete and simple. We can see, feel and experience it on the other hand; rational is based on
our arguments, and explanation. The stage of arguments is the last whereas seeing things or
feeling them is the first stage. Empirical is less general statements whereas rational is more
general statements. So the safe approach in teaching is that we should proceed from empirical
to rational. It is a journey from less mental maturity to more mental maturity.
Ambady K. G. 170
 Induction to Deduction:
Induction means drawing a conclusion from a set of examples whereas deduction is its
opposite. The teacher should proceed from induction to deduction. For example, in English while
teaching conversion of active voice into passive voice, the teacher should first convert a few
sentences of active into the passive voice and on the basis of those conclude the general rule
for conversation of active voice into passive voice.
 Psychological to Logical:
While teaching, the teacher should first keep in mind the interest, aptitudes, capacities,
development level etc. of the children during selection of subject matter and then on to its
logical arrangement.
In teaching English, the structures are selected as per needs and requirements of the
students and then arranged in a logical way. The psychological appeal of the thing is more
important at the early stages. Then the’ logic behind it should be seen.
 Actual to Representative:
For teaching excellently, actual objects should be, shown to the children as far as
possible. It gives them concrete learning which is more desirable. The learners are able to retain
it in their minds for quite a long time. Especially in the lower classes first hand information to
the students impresses them a good deal. Representative things in the form of pictures, models;
etc. should be used for the grownups or the seniors who are already familiar with the actual
objects.
For example, the teacher should show the elephant, the camel, the horse, the railway
station, the post office etc. and thereby he should make them understand about these things.
The representative of these things in the form of pictures or models may be used at later
stages.
 Near to Afar
Every child is able to learn well in the surroundings to which he belongs. So the child
should be acquainted fully with his immediate environment. Gradually he may be taught about
those things which are far from his immediate environment. This principle, if kept in view, will
smoothen the leaching-learning process considerably.
Thus the child should be taught the home, followed by the street, the bazaar, the school
and then the distant environment of the city to which he belongs. In the same way,
acquaintance with the city should lead to acquaintance with the Tehsil, the District, the Division,
the Stale and then the Country as a whole. This type of teaching will be incremental and will be
Ambady K. G. 171
step by step learning. The text book writer who writes books for the small children should also
place the different chapters in his book keeping in view this principle. Then only his book will
stand better chances of approval by all concerned.
 Whole to Part:
In teaching, the teacher should try to acquaint the child with the whole lesson first and
then the different portions of it may be analyzed and studied intensively. This principle holds
good while teaching a thing to the small children. At the early stages, the child loves to speak
full sentences because in daily life situations, full sentences are used. The child should be given
a full sentence. Then he may have full familiarity with the different words contained in that
sentence. Later he may have the knowledge of words. Then he will have the knowledge of
different letters forming the words.
Suppose a poem is to he taught to the students. They should be acquainted with the full
poem first. Gradually they may be asked to grasp the poem stanza by stanza In the case of
average students, their first attempt may be on full stanza, taking it as a whole and then to the
different lines in the stanza as parts. It will help the teacher to teach better and the learners to
learn things conveniently.
 Definite to Indefinite
In teaching, definite things should be taught first because the learner can easily have faith
in them. Then afterwards he should give the knowledge of indefinite things. Definite things,
definite rules of grammar help the learner to have good knowledge. Gradually he can be taught
about indefinite things.
The above given maxims are only hints and guidelines for the teacher, especially
at the initial stages. He may use them if he finds some of them useful in his teaching
situations. In some situations of class-room teaching, he may not use them if he feels
so. The teacher should keep the maxims in his hand and he should remain their
master. Then only the different maxims will remain tools and yield better result.
Ambady K. G. 172
APPROACHES OF TEACHING
Teaching is viewed as a comprehensive process, and there has been a tremendous change in
the way of understanding teaching and a teacher’s roles. Teaching is conceptualized as an active
interactive process that goes on between the consciously designed environment and the student
with a define purpose. It includes all the activities organized by a teacher to bring about learning,
be it inside or outside a classroom, with or without the presence of the teacher.
Teaching can be considered as the art of assisting another to learn by providing the
information and appropriate situations, conditions or activities. It is an intimate contact between a
more mature personality one which is designed to further the education of later. It is the process
by which one person helps other in the achievement of knowledge, skill and aptitudes.
NATURE OF TEACHING
Teaching is a process that facilitates learning. Teaching is the specialized application of
knowledge, skills and attributes designed to provide unique service to meet the educational needs
of the individual and of the society. The choice of teaching activities varies depends upon the
goals of education and the responsibility of the teachers in the teaching profession. In addition to
providing students with learning opportunities to meet curriculum outcomes, teaching emphasizes the
development of values and guides the learners in their social relationships. Teachers employ
practices that develop positive self- concept in students. As teaching takes place in a classroom
setting, the direct interaction between the teacher and the learner is the most important element in
teaching.
Teaching is a comprehensive process which involves systematic approach to accomplish the goals
and aims of education. It is a goal driven process where the teacher plays an eminent role in the
process. It is more than telling, but achieving behavioural changes. Teachers should be effective in
their profession.
PHASES AND LEVELS OF TEACHING
Teaching is a complex task which needs a systematic panning. Teaching is to be considered
in terms of various steps and different steps constituting the process are called the phases of
teaching. The teaching can be divided into three phases as follows
 Pre - active phase of teaching
 Interactive phase teaching
 Post active phase of teaching
 Pre - active phase of teaching - In the pre-active phase of teaching, the planning of teaching is
carried over. This phase includes a those activities which a teacher perform before classroom.
This phase includes planning a classroom, strategies and methods to be adopted, sequencing the
selected content, use of teaching aids and so on.
Ambady K. G. 173
 Interactive phase of teaching - The second phase includes the execution of the plan, where
earning experiences are provided to students through suitable modes such as classroom,
laboratory, outdoors or library. All those activities which are performed by a teacher after
entering in cases are combined together under interactive phase of teaching. Generally these
activities are concerned with the presentation and delivery of the content in a class. The teacher
provide learners, verbal stimulation of various kinds, make explanation, ask questions, listen to
the student’s response and provide guidance. This phase includes activities like sizing up of the
ass, knowing about the previous knowledge, interest, attitude etc, about the earners by probing
questions and diagnosing, section, and presentation of thee stimuli, feedback and reinforcement.
It is the stage for actual teaching.
 Post active phase of teaching - Post teaching phase, is the phase that involves teacher’s
activities such an analysing the result to determine learners especially their problem in
understanding specific areas, to reflect on the teaching by self, and to decide on the necessary
changes to be brought in the system in the next instructional period. In this phase as the
teaching task sums up, the teacher asks the questions from the learners, verbally in the written
form, to measure the behaviour’s of the pupils so that their achievements may be evaluated
correctly.
VARIOUS METHODS IN TEACHING
The term teaching method refers to the general principle. Pedagogy and management are the
strategies used for class room instructions. The teacher’s choice of teaching method depends on
what fits the learner to educational philosophy, classroom demographic, subject areas and
educational goals. Teaching theories- primarily fall into two categories or ‘approaches’ teacher -
centred and student - centred.
 Teacher - centred approach: Teachers are the main authority figure in this model students are
viewed as ‘empty vessels’ whose primary role is to passively receive information (via lectures
and direct information) with an end goal of testing and assessment. It is the primary role of
teachers to pass knowledge and information on to their students. In this model teaching and
assessment are viewed as two separate entitles. Student learning is measured through scored
test assessment.
 Student - centred approach: While teachers are an authority figure in this model, teachers and
students play an equally active role in the learning process. The teachers primary role is to
coach facilitate learning and overall comprehension of material. Student learning is measured
through both formal and informal of assessment are connected; student learning is continuously
measured during teacher instruction.
VARIOUS APPROACHES TO TEACHING
Furthermore, based on the above two approaches in the teaching – learning process, various
approaches to teaching were put forward by scholars, psychologists and educationists in the field of
philosophy and education. Some of them are as follows.
Ambady K. G. 174
Behaviourist
Behaviourist approach to learning is based upon the idea that learners respond to stimuli in
their environment. The behaviour approach to learning is to specify clear behavioural objectives in
the beginning and then supply learning opportunities that ensure that the objectives are met. In
this approach, role of the facilitator is to provide relevant and useful stimuli so that the learner
respond and gain the required knowledge or experience. Learning occurs could be conditional or
unconditional.
The behaviourist approach to learning emphasis the belief that appropriate behaviour can be
taught through constant repetition of a task combined with feedback. Positive feedback encourages
and reinforces sues while negative feedback and immediate correction discourages the repetition of
a mistake or undesirable behaviour.
In 1927 Ivan Pavlov conducted a famous experiment with dogs. Pavlov taught the animal to
salivate on hearing a ringing bell by linking the time of their feeing of to their bell being rung.
Later he stopped feeding them in this way, but the dogs continued to salivates when they heard
the bell, in other words the learned behaviour was a result of a sequence of events experienced,
rather than the conscious thought process.
The association between stimuli – response can be made more effective by reinforcement.
Reinforcement can work in both positive and negative ways. A positive reinforcement is anything
that strengthens the desired response. In teaching were aim is earning for example, this might be
stimulated by verbal praise, a good mark, or a feeling of achievement. On the other hand if verbal
praise with drawn this will have a negative effect and motivation to learn will decrease. Hence the
teacher needs to give external reinforcement to motivate and encourage earners to reach the stated
objectives.
Cognitivist
Cognitive approach is concerned with the role of active mind in grasping the knowledge from
the process of learning from opportunities. Focus on process by which student build knowledge
rather than receive it. This approach emphasises the learners to continuously check new information
against our mental rules in order to internalize and act on information.
Here, the teacher and the learner are engaged with gaining knowledge; the role of the
teacher is choosing the best method to convey understanding. Dewey (1938) believes learning
involves “learning to think”. He says the process of learning is more than doing a task or activity;
it also requires reflection and learning from this. To Dewey, the purpose of thought is attaining a
state equilibrium, enabling an individual to solve problems and to prepare them for further inquiry.
His approach is associated with “progressive education he said that learning only occurs if
the student plays an active role in the processes”. For learning individual should critically reflect on
Ambady K. G. 175
information presented; they have to be able to ‘experience’ the information and the way to
facilitate this is to draw on past experience.
Teachers employing Dewey’s approach to teaching pay a key role in learner’s development.
But in a more indirect way, than that implies in the behaviourist model. For example, planning
sessions that encourage interaction with the material presented and reflective thinking as well as
creating a climate where learner can structure their own learning.
Constructivist
Constructivist teaching approaches are based on constructivist learning theory. Along with
John Dewey, Jean Piaget researched childhood development and education and suggested that we
learn by expanding our knowledge by experiences which are generated through play from infancy to
adulthood which are necessary for learning. Their theories are now encompassed in the broader
movement of progressive education.
According to the theory, students learn by building on their previous knowledge and
experiences and by actively engaging in the learning process, instead of receiving knowledge
passively though lectures and memorization. Constructivist teaching uses guided discovery,
discussions on thoughts and ideas as well as activities to help students learn.
Constructivist learning theory says that all knowledge is constructed from a base of prior
knowledge. Children are not a blank slate and knowledge cannot be imparted without the child
making sense of it according to his or her current conceptions. Therefore, children learn best when
they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting
on those experiences.
Constructivist teaching fosters critical thinking, and creates motivated and independent
learners. This theoretical framework holds that learning always builds upon knowledge that a student
already knows this prior knowledge is called a schema. Because all learning is filtered through pre-
existing schemata, constructivists suggest that learning is more effective when a student is actively
engaged in the learning process rather than attempting to receive knowledge passively. A wide
variety of methods claim to be based on constructivist learning theory. Most of these methods rely
on some form of guided discovery where the teacher avoids most direct instruction and attempts to
lead the student through questions and activities to discover, discuss, appreciate, and verbalize the
new knowledge.
Advantages
 This method of teaching is effective for students who learn better in a hands-on
environment and helps students to better relate the information learned in the classroom to
their lives.
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 The constructivism curriculum also caters to the students prior knowledge encourages teachers
to spend more time on the student’s favourite topics and allows teachers to focus on
important and relevant information.
 In a constructivism classroom, students often work in groups. This helps students learn social
skills, support each other’s learning process and value each other’s opinion and input.
Disadvantages
 The training necessary for constructive teaching is extensive and often requires costly long-
term professional development.
 With an average number of students in one classroom, teachers are unable to customize the
curriculum to each student, as their prior knowledge will vary.
 The constructivism curriculum also eliminates standardized testing in evaluation.
Connectionism
Connectionism is a set of approaches in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive
psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience and philosophy of mind that models mental or
behavioural phenomena as the emergent process of interconnected networks of simple units. The
term was introduced by Donald Hebb in 1940’s.There central connectionist principle is that mental
phenomena can be described by interconnected networks of simple and often uniform units. The
form of the connections and the units can vary from model to model. For example, units in the
network could represent neurons and the connections could represent synapses.
The weights in a neural network are adjusted according to some learning rule or algorithm,
such as Hebbian learning. Thus, connectionists have created many sophisticated learning procedures
for neural networks. Learning always involves modifying the connection weights. In general, these
involve mathematical formulas to determine the change in weights when given sets of data
consisting of activation vectors for some subset of the neural units.
By formalizing learning in such a way, connectionists have many tools. A very common
strategy in connectionist learning methods is to incorporate gradient descent over an error surface
in a space defined by the weight matrix. All gradient descent learning in connectionist models
involves changing each weight by the partial derivative of the error surface with respect to the
weight. Back propagation (BP), first made popular in the 1980’s, is probably the most commonly
known connectionist gradient descent algorithm today.
Advantages
 The network a correctly predict if the data given is incomplete or incorrect and provide right
learning algorithm.
 It is a clear traditional nation of cognitive presentations.
 The presentations adapts to the need of the real world from natural language.
Ambady K. G. 177
Disadvantages
 The symbol structures could not be capable of learning. Hence the algorithmic symbol
systems in written from cannot be solved.
 These neural networks are not explanatory.
Anticipatory
In today’s classrooms one of the most important aspects of teaching children gains their
attention from the outset. This approach focuses on the activity or event at the beginning of the
lesson that effectively engages student, attention and efforts their thought on learning objective.
Gaining the students attention is important activities that provoke curiosity, questioning and the
recall newly leaned information. The anticipatory emphasises to have direct relevance to the
instructional object whether that objective is implied or started in the objectives of the teaching
learning process. It include review of significant or related information to establish continuity with
previous lessons, allusion to familiar frames of reference, or demonstrations to ground the lesson in
concrete operations. This provides with student a label for the lesson, vocabulary, name, title,
overall direction or context for the objective of the lesson.
Methods: Questions, demonstration (especially one with a result the students do not expect);
story or anecdote; shock; humour; pertinent news item; role-playing; modelling/ visualization; quiz.
Be creative in planning your anticipatory test.
Student’s attention gained through anticipatory activities, which should be tied to instruction
of the next lesson, not just an activity that takes up the first five minute of classroom. There are
several anticipatory activities available to teachers, which include:
 Demonstration
 Discrepant events
 Anticipation guides
 Visual displays
 Thought-provoking questions
These types of anticipatory strategies can enhance the learning and retention of student
knowledge, and can help to motivate and stimulate student curiosity in participating in the in the
learning process.
Advantages
 It ensures effectiveness of learning.
 It allows student to demonstrate their successful engagement of the lesson.
 It develops retention and transfer of learning.
Ambady K. G. 178
Disadvantages
 Time management skill is required.
 Inter-personal relationship between the teachers and the learners should be a constraint
when teaching involves a heterogeneous group.
Cooperative
With inclusion on the rise, teachers are sharing classroom more than ever and becoming an
effective co-teaching partner is a teaching essential, with the onset of a new school year right
around the corner, meanwhile, it’s imperative to begin devising and building positive co- teaching
strategies.
A co-teaching term typically includes general and a special education who teaches the
general education curriculum to all students as well as implement individual education programme
(IEPS) for students with disabilities. Both educators on the co-teaching term are responsible for
differentiating the instructional planning and delivery, assessment of student achievement and
classroom management.
Several collaborative teaching approaches have proven to be successful to guide educators
who work together in co –teaching partnership to differentiate instruction. The approaches include;
 Supportive co-teaching: where the one member of the team takes the lead role and other
member rotates among students to provide support.
 Parallel co-teaching: where support personnel and the classroom teacher instruct different
heterogeneous groups of students.
 Complementary co-teaching: where a member of the co-teaching team does something to
supplement or complement the instruction provide by other member of the team (e.g. models
note taking on transparency, paraphrases the other co-teacher’s statements).
 Team teaching: where the members of the team co-teach alongside one another and share
responsibility for planning, teaching and assessing the progress of all the students in the class.
Advantages
 It shows a positive effect on student learning when compared to individual teaching.
 Learners get the opportunity of interacting with more teachers to widen their subject knowledge.
 Interactive skills and interpersonal skills of the teachers as well as the learners develop
 The learners could develop in depth knowledge in the specific subject taught by cooperative
teaching from the various methods and techniques used by the teachers.
 Collaboration skills can be learned by the teachers in a co-operative teaching activity.
Ambady K. G. 179
Disadvantages
 The learners may sometimes get bored by the same topic if taught repeatedly in this approach
 Teachers need to be alert in planning, teaching, assessing as there may arise overlapping of
responsibilities.
 Sometimes conflict resolution for conflict resolution skills may be required
Personalized and Holistic

The term personalized teaching, or personalization, refers to a diverse variety of educational
programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic- support strategies that are
indented to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspiration, or cultural backgrounds of
individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so called “one size
fits all” approach to schooling in which teachers may, for example, provide all students in a given
course with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with
little variation or modification from student to student.
Personalized learning may also be called student centred learning, sine the general goal is to
make individual learning needs the primary consideration in important educational and instructional
decisions, rather then what might be preferred, more convenient, or logistically easier for teachers
and schools.
Personalized learning is indented to facilitate the academic success of each student by first
determining the learning needs, interests and aspirations of individual students and then providing
learning experiences that are customized – to a greater or lesser extent –for each student.
Advantages
 Relies more heavily on student’s personal interests and innate curiosity.
 Responses to students’ needs and interest teach them to manage their own learning.
 Flexible scheduling and pacing.
 Emphasis on learner centred instruction.
Disadvantages
 Dual role of the teacher as subject-matter coach and facilitator may make them feel tough.
 Flexible schedule may take more time to accomplish the goals taken.
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TEACHING AS ART AND SCIENCE
Education is the process of acquitting and being able to apply knowledge. Education also
refers to the delivery or process of learning. Teaching is one of the most significant factors
influencing successful learning. Teaching is a set of events, outside the learner which are design to
support internal process of learning. Teaching is outside the learner. Learning is internal to learners,
Concept of the teaching shape the framework and atmosphere in which all educational activities the
teaching-learning process are considered and decided.
‘Teaching is an art’ infers not only a different understanding of teaching, but requires
considering a different framework of knowledge as well. In the arts there are clearly ways of
knowing and doing that cannot be represented within the measurable, objective domains of
traditional science and education. For example, the musician’s refined senility to nuances of tone,
the actor’s to voice and gestures, the clowns to the possibilities of improvisation, all represent
dynamic form of knowledge and expression which inherently resist fixation and standardization. The
highly emergent qualities of artistry do not lend themselves easily to scientific research or discourse
and thus do not reflect that type of knowledge which most educational theory has propagated as
essential. At the same times such form of knowledge undeniably evidence precise ways of knowing
and acting. The concept of teaching as an art is the view capabilities and skills which excellent
teaching demands are far loser to those required of artists. Elliot Eisner a prominent educationist, in
a chapter called “On the art of teaching” in his book the educational imagination (1985) explains
the four reasons which lead him to define teaching as an art.
 It is an art in the sense that teaching can be performed with such skill and grace that, for
the student as for the teacher, the experience can be justifiably characterized as aesthetic.
 Teaching is an art in the sense that teacher’s, like painters, composers, actress and dancers,
make judgment based on qualities that unfold during the course of action.
 Teaching is an art in the sense that the teacher’s activity is not dominated by prescriptions or
routines but is influenced by qualities and contingencies that are unpredicted.
 Teaching is an art in the sense that the ends it achieves are often related in process.
It is in these four senses- teaching as a source of aesthetic experience, as dependent on
the participation and control of qualities, as seeking emergent ends-which teaching can be regarded
as an art. Through realizing qualities such as openness, sensitivity, flexibility, creativity and
experiences are most essential, the teacher as an artist in the classroom is seen as exhibiting
comparable forms of skill and grace as a musician, dancer, or actor. This is a perspective with
potentially far-ranging consequences affecting all aspect of teacher education and teaching. This art
perspective of teaching presents us with profoundly different possibilities and responsibilities then
those prevalent in most concepts of teaching today. It is a view that also implies an understanding
of teacher education which recognizes that realizing our potentials as teachers require developing
Ambady K. G. 181
and refining artistic capabilities deeply rooted in sensory and affective experience, not in theoretical
knowledge. Thus we can justify ‘teaching as an art’.
The concept of ‘teaching as a science’ that is widely prevalent today became an increasingly
accepted view in the course of the 20 century. Its origins can be found in educational thinking in
the second half of the 19 century, largely due to widespread Johann Fried Rich Herbart’s writing
and the ensuing Herbartismus. From this point on, the practices of teaching and teacher education
came to seen as legitimate fields of scientific inquiry and knowledge, offering the underlying basis
for ensuing educational theory and practice. The scientific perspective in the training of teachers,
shape the entire approach to pre-service and in-service training. From a perspective based on
attaining the best possible result in the most efficient manner, schools have increasingly been
viewed as a form of service institution in which teachers are to be held accountable for
productivity, often measured on the basis of their pupils standardized test scores.
TEACHING AS JOB, OCCUPATION AND PROFESSION

The concept of teaching as a job needs to teacher to be an organized individual that is
good with time management, planning, and multi-tasking. A teacher needs to be creative, energetic
and sensitive, specialized with the subject knowledge and teaching skills and competence. The
proper time management skill, planning skill, and multi-tasking skill provides the nature of teaching
as a job.
The concept of teaching as a profession, involves highly complex sets of skill, intellectual
functioning and knowledge that are not easily acquired and not widely held. For this reason,
profession is often referred to as “knowledge based” occupations. A profession is a vocation
founded upon specialized educational training. But even if people acquire these complex sets of skill
and knowledge rarely would they able to practice as professionals. Entry into professions requires
creational there is needed to get into the professional of teacher by getting into a regularized
course of certification. In addition to initial formal training and professional work typically require
ongoing in-service technical development and growth on the part of practitioners this throughout
their career. This assumption is that achieving a professional level of mastery of complex skill and
knowledge is a prolonged and continuous process and more ever, that professionals must
continually update their skill as the body of technology, skill and knowledge advances’. It is
participate in the closet of occupation for which to be paid perform certain duties. As it is related
to contractual and the teachers are supposed to go every day and perform according the
management requirement it fulfils the concept of an occupation.
Ambady K. G. 182
HUMANE AND PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS
A Humane Teacher is anyone who teaches and promotes humane attitudes toward people.
The responsibility of a teacher does not take a finishing end in the management of classroom and
teaching process alone but apart from that, the profession of a teacher gives multifaceted
responsibilities to teachers, for the nurturing of the students development and achievement inside
the class room and outside the classroom. The role of teacher as counsellor, psychologist, social
worker, makes the teaching as a humane profession.
The teaching profession could be made more humane by adopting the three following
criterions. First thing is the careful selection of persons with academic excellence with personality
structure and social skills. Secondly, the instructional procedures implemented by the teachers should
reflect humanness in their approach. Thirdly, the meaningful experiences of the teachers from sound
reality bases such as microteaching, simulations etc., along with field experiences carried out in
actual school and other situations like youth camp, tutoring and playground etc enhances the
person involving in teaching in more humane approach.
 Teacher as a Counsellor:
In the perspective of a school, the teacher is a counsellor and the students either
approached the teacher when she/he has a problem, which cannot solved by self or the teacher
senses the problem and offers help to die student to solve the problem properly. The teacher
addresses not only problems related to the school but also those related to friends, family, health
etc.
In a school set up, students seldom approaches teachers with their problems to get any help
as they are apprehensive about disclosing the intimate nature of their problems. Having understood
the nature of the problem the role of the teacher is to help a student realize his/her potential to
solve it. Counselling works on the principle that every individual if guided properly can realize the
strength of self to solve problem of self. To be an effective counsellor a teacher must be aware of
being a keen observant, objective, sensitive and empathetic person.
 Teacher as an Educational Psychologist:
Teacher as an Educational Psychologist applies theories of Human development to understand
individual learning styles and inform the instructional process. While interaction and Students in
school settings is an important part of their work, it isn’t the only facet of the job. People don’t
only learn at school, they learn at work in social situation and even doing simple tasks like
household chores or running errands. Teachers as Educational Psychologists examine how the
Students learn in a variety of settings to identify approaches and strategies to make learning more
effective. They study the Social, emotional, and cognitive processes involved in learning and apply
their findings to improve the learning process. Some specialization in the educational development
Ambady K. G. 183
of a specific group of people such as children, adolescents, or adults, while others focus on
specific learning challenges as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia.
 Teacher as a Social Worker:
Society has drastically changed in a short few years and teachers are expected to concern
with the effects of the changes and serve for the profession of humane culture. Teacher as a
social worker works with people on an individual or group basis to assist them in learning skills
that will promote their health or ability to support them economically. Some teachers along with
other social workers in the same settings, often in collaboration with one another, child Social
Workers, for example, may work in school settings. Teachers might work with Children of preschool
age or with adults in Post-Graduate settings, as well as children and adolescents of varying ages.
Thus here the Teachers act not only as a Social Worker but a Third Parent. They help their Student
to cope with personal issues and solve problems in their everyday lives.
 Teacher as a Sociologist:
Teacher as a Sociologist help improve people lives, but in a much more abstract way than
social workers. Sociologists study all aspects of human behaviour to political systems to cultural
changes, and everything in between. As the importance of Sociological data becomes more and
more apparent, their research is incorporated into a wider and wider array of fields, and helps
everyone, lawmakers to administrators and even product designers to make more informed, efficient
decisions in the field of education.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCE OF A TEACHER

Being a teacher at any level requires a significant amount of knowledge and skills. Paying
attention to the core competencies for educators helps to ensure that all teachers and others who
work in education are prepared to make learning a positive experience for students. The skills of a
teacher are as follows.
 Interacting with Students- Educators must be able to positively interact with all students.
This includes difficult students, students who work below grade-level and students whose
personalities just grate on a teacher. Teachers must put aside their prejudices and feelings in
order to treat all students with respect, provide them with equal opportunities for learning
and make them feel confident.
 Create a Learning Environment-Creating a safe learning environment that is conducive to
learning is essential. Educators must set high expectations for student performance and
behaviour. All rules must be enforced consistently and fairly. Students should not have to
worry about being bullied in the classroom and should feel comfortable when speaking up.
 Good at Lesson Plan design-All teachers must be capable of designing lesson plans to meet
student needs and cover the standards. This requires knowing how to choose and create
Ambady K. G. 184
instructional materials to accommodate students at different levels. It also requires creating a
scope and sequence that provides students with enough time to master the standards.
 Ability to employ varied teaching strategies -Best practices and other appropriate teaching
strategies allow competent educators to effectively teach the curriculum. Competent educators
may lecture, but they also incorporate a variety of strategies, including non- traditional
teaching strategies, to help students with multiple learning styles learn and stay engaged.
Educators also attend regular professional development sessions to learn new strategies and
the latest best practices.
 Use appropriate assessments practice: Teachers must design or select and administer effective
assessments. An assessment must accurately measure what has been taught and what
students have learned. Competent teachers combine informal and formal assessment
techniques to monitor student performance. They also incorporate technology, portfolios and
other creative methods to assess students.
 Ability to identify student needs- Being able to identify and address student needs is a
crucial component of an educator's job. This is done by partly using formal and informal
assessments to help guide instruction. However, it also involves getting to know students
beyond an instructional level, learning about their interests, recognizing changes in mood and
making sure students are mentally and emotionally focused on learning.
 Good at communication-Communicating effectively with parents and other stakeholders in a
child's education is a key component of an educator's job. A quality educator provides
regular updates on a child's progress and immediately addresses any concerns that may arise.
The teacher also knows how to calmly discuss issues with difficult parents and how to come
to decisions that have the best interests of the child in mind.
 Ability to collaborate -Teachers must be able to collaborate with other teachers and school
staff. Teachers can learn from one another and grow into better teachers through
collaboration. They can also collaborate to make the school a safe, effective learning
environment for all students and to improve the overall image of the school and the
instruction that takes place there.
 Maintaining a Professional Appearance-Being a teacher requires maintaining a professional
appearance at all times. This includes dressing appropriately and acting professionally.
Teachers often serve as role models for students. Actions such as using foul language,
gossiping about teachers and students or dressing inappropriately can cause students to lose
respect for an educator.
 Demonstrating a commitment to the profession-Teachers must make a commitment to
education and professional development. Subject matter knowledge fades, teaching strategies
change and new research is always modifying the way students learn and teachers’ teach. By
furthering their education and taking part in professional development sessions, teachers can
continue to improve the quality of the education they provide.
Ambady K. G. 185
Core Competence of Teachers
 Knowledge: Teachers should be able to formulate curriculum, develop subject-content and
suitable approaches of content transaction and conduct continuous comprehensive evaluation
of children profile. They should be able to establish links between techno- pedagogy and
learning theories. They should be competent to integrate academic knowledge and
professional learning into a meaningful whole. They should build conceptual knowledge based
on experience, observations and theoretical engagement. They should engage with theory
based on experiences to help students to view knowledge not as external, but, as something
that is actively constructed during learning.
 Skill : Teachers should possess skills of creating bulletin boards using relevant collection of
stories in terms of variety in context to social and cultural diversity and sensitivity, with
adequate reference to sources and acknowledgements, classification and retrieval system for
the use of stories in classrooms and outside, evaluating learner’s skill, problem solving skill,
handling laboratory and audio-visual equipments, designing teaching-learning materials, use of
library, organizing field visits, seminars and group discussions and exhibitions. They should
be able to address diversity in the classroom adequately.
 Attitude: Teachers should be able to sense their own limitations and strengths, integrate
thought and action, develop self-confidence and open mind, question over-confidence, listen
with empathy, take initiative, and develop positive attitudes. They should be ever ready to
build child knowledge, potentiality and talent and co-construct knowledge. They should create
opportunities for children to discover, learn and develop in contextual learning. They should
foster learning through activity, discovery, and observation and have understanding of
children’s psycho-social needs.
 Value: Teachers should be able to re-conceptualize citizenship education in terms of human
rights and approaches of critical pedagogy; emphasize environment and its protection, live in
harmony within oneself and with natural and social environment; promote peace, democratic
way of life, constitutional values of equality, justice, liberty, fraternity and secularism, and
caring values.
STATUS OF TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
Teachers are often considered the backbone of schools; without them there would be no
school. Thus, understanding teachers’ role is very important in the educational system. Professionals
have a high degree of control over their work environments, high prestige, and relatively high
compensation compared to non professionals. Teaching offers the chance to change other people's
lives permanently for the better. As a teacher you can help to develop somebody's subject
knowledge and maybe even their mind and personality. Teaching is an incredibly rewarding thing to
do and good teachers are needed everywhere: in schools and college classrooms to educate the
young, as well as in the workplace and other settings to teach adults and colleagues.
Ambady K. G. 186
 Autonomy: Professions tent to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of
control of their own affairs: “Professionals are autonomous insofar as they make independent
judgments about their work”. This usually means “the freedom to exercise their Professional
Judgment”. However, it also has other meanings. “Professional Autonomy is often described
as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests….this professional
autonomy can only be maintained if members of the profession subject their activities and
decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of profession. The concept of Autonomy
can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgment but also self-interest and a continuous
process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within the profession itself.
 Status and Prestige: Profession as Teachers enjoy high social status, regard and esteem
conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social
function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society as a whole and thus of having
a special and valuable nature. All profession involves technical, specialised and highly skilled
work often referred to as “Professional Expertise”. Training for this work involves obtaining
Degrees and Professional qualifications without which entry to the profession is barred.
Updating skills through continuing education is required through training.
 Power: Teachers as Professionals have power. This Power is used to control its own
members and also its area of expertise and interests. A Profession tend to dominate and
protect its area of expertise and the conduct of its members, and exercises a dominating
influence over its entire field which means that professions can act monopolist, rebuffing
competition from ancillary trades and occupations, as well as subordinating and controlling
lesser but related trades. A Profession is characterised by the power and high prestige it has
in society as a whole. It is the power, prestige and value that society confers upon a
profession that more clearly defines it and reduce bureaucratic inertia and increase problem
solving and adaptability capacities.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is the process of passing information from one person to another. The
exchange of information or passing of information, ideas or thought from one person to the other
or from one end to other is communication. Communication is “a process of meaningful interaction
among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which meanings” Mc Farland.
Communication is “an exchange of fats, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons
“Newman and summer. The purpose of communication is to understand information. Information is
the most vital aspect for communication. It is the information which is transmitted, studied analyzed
and interpreted and stored. Whatever one wants to say to someone should be clearly understood
by the listener or else the very purpose of communication would be defeated. Communication
facilitates the flow of information and understanding between different people through verbal and
non verbal (social media) ways. The flows information is vital for effectiveness in achieving goals
and decision making purposes. It helps understand people better removing misunderstanding and
creating clarity of thoughts and expression. It also educates people. The communication may be
Ambady K. G. 187
written, oral, formal, informal and upward, downward, horizontal, diagonal, interpersonal,
interdepartmental, and intra-organizational. The communication is an important management function
loosely associated with all other material functions. It bridges the gap between individuals and
groups through flow of information and understanding between them.
Principles
The principles of clarity of effective communication are to be followed:
 Clarity: The principles of clarity means the communicator should use such as a language
which is easy to understand. The message must be understood by the receiver. The words
used should be simple and ambiguous. The language should not create any confusion or
misunderstanding. Language is the medium of communication; hence it should be clear and
understandable.
 Adequately and consistency: The communicator must carefully take into that the information
to be communicated should be complete and adequate in all respect. Inadequate and
incomplete message create confusion and delays the action to be taken. The adequate
information must be consistent with the organizational objectives, plans, policies and
procedures .the message which is inconsistent may play havoc and distort the corporate
interest.
 Integration: The principles of integration portray that through communication the efforts of
human resources of the organization should be integrated towards achievement of corporate
objectives. The very aim of communication is to achieve the set target. The communication
should aim at coordinating the activity of the people at work to attain the corporate goals.
 Economy: The unnecessary use of communication system will add to cost. The system of
communication must be used efficiently, timely i.e. at the appropriate time when necessary.
The economy in use of communication system can be achieved in this way.
 Feedback: The purpose of communication will be defeated if feedback is not taken from the
receiver. The confirmation of the receipt of the message in its right perspective from its
receiver fulfils the object of communication. The feedback is essential only in case of written
communication and messages sent through messengers. In case of oral type of
communication the feedback is immediately known.
 Need for communication network: The route through which the communication passes from
sender or communicator to its receiver or communicate refers to communication network. For
effective communication this network is essential.
 Attention: The message communicated must draw the attention of the receiver staff and
ensure action from him in the right perspective. Basic communication model:
Ambady K. G. 188
Basic Models of Communication
According to Adler and Townie (1978), all that ever has been accomplished by human and
all that ever will accomplish involves communication with others. Psychologist Abraham Maslow
(1970) suggests that the capability to satisfy personal needs arises mainly from the ability to
communicate. Intrapersonal problems could be arising from unsatisfactory relationship brought about
by inadequate communication between people. Success on and off the job often stems from one’s
ability to transfer information and express ideas to others. Effective communication frequently
results in friendships that are more meaningful, smoother and more rewarding relationship with
people on and off the job, and increased ability to meet personal needs.
Alder and Towne describe communication as a process between at least two people that beings
when one person wants to communicate with others.
 Sender: The person who wants to communicate is called sender. To transfer an image to
another person, the sender first must transpose or translate the images into symbols that
receivers can understand. Symbols often are words but can be pictures, sounds, or sense
information (touch or smell).
 Messages: Messages are the mental images within a person who desires to convey those
images to which they want to convey (receiver).mental images can include ideas, thoughts,
pictures and emotions.
 Encoding: Only through symbols, the mental image of a sender could be given meaning for
others. The process of translating images into symbols is called encoding.
 Medium: The encoded messages are transmitted to the receiver through different means like
during face to face verbal interaction, over the telephone, through printed material ex:
television, possible communication channels used to transmit messages between senders and
receivers. Other transmission channels include touch, gestures, clothing and physical distance
between sender and receiver.
Ambady K. G. 189
 Receiver: In the communication model, a message has been coded, the next level in the
communication process is to transmit or communicate the message to a receiver.
 Decoding: When a message is received by another person, a coding process occurs.
Interpretation of the encoded message from the sender through the medium is called
decoding. Just a sender must encode messages in preparation for transmissions through
communication channels, receivers must sense interpret the symbol and then decode the
information back into images, emotions and thoughts that make sense to them.
Factors Facilitating Communication

The factors that influences the process of communication are as follows
 Ability of individual to send & receive messages: Nature of communication skills and
language skills may differ from a person to person. Ex: Infants rely on non – verbal
communication, young children may use pictures and adults prefer verbal or visual or non –
verbal communication. The sender needs to condensed down the essential messages and put
into a form that the receiver can understand in order for an effective communication. It is
the ability of the sender to put forth what he wants to convey in understandable way. It is
the receiver’s ability to interpret the received message as given by the sender.
Misinterpretation may cause the communication effective.
 Perceptions of sender & receiver: The interpretation of the messages differs from male to
female and according to individual differences in the perceptions of messages. Ex: male use
communication for independence and negotiation where female use communication for
confirmation, reinforce intimacy etc.
 Personal space/ Proxemics: Personal space plays an important role in an oral communication
situation. It can act as an aid promoting good communication. Experts classify an oral
communication situation on the basis of the distance maintained between sender and receiver
as intimate (family relationships), personal (friends and peer group), official (official) and
public (pubic situation).The personal space choose by us in intimate, personal, social and
public interactions may vary according to our personality trait and socio – cultural norms.
 Territoriality: Individual consideration and preferences of their own space and things
influences communication. Ex: Our interaction in a well known place may differ from our
interaction in an unknown place.
 Roles and Relationships: Roles and relationships between the sender and the receiver
influence the content and the responses in the communication process. Ex: Choice of words,
sentence structure, message content and channel, body language and tone of voice etc vary
noticeably from role to role.
 Time and Environment: Time has an important role in a communication process. The
processing time of the communication needs to be fast and reliable which could be attained
by the use of appropriate modern communication channels. Convenient time, comfortable
environment like temperature extremes, noise etc influences communication.
Ambady K. G. 190
 Attitudes: Attitude of a person towards others conveys their belief, thoughts and feelings
about other people and events. Ex: attitude such as caring, warmth, respect and acceptance
facilitate communication.
 Medium: Effective communication is done through the right mediums. If it is a short and
quick message, then a written medium such as memo or email would be sufficient. Topics
that require longer and more detailed discussion should be done in person or over the
phone. Choosing the wrong medium can cause problems with message retention. Selecting
the right communication has an influence on the effectiveness of a communication.
Completeness of messages: For an effective communication, the messages need to be
complete. It is important to make message concise, covering all pertinent information needed
to be include each time we communicate.
Healthy Classroom Management
Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skill and techniques and that teachers
use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task and academically productive
during a class. When classroom management strategies are excited effectively, teachers minimize the
behaviours that impede learning for both individual students and group of students while minimizing
the behaviours that facilitate or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective teachers tend to
display strong classroom-management skills. The interest and the attention of the learners to make
them actively participate in all the activities related to classroom activities could be gained only by
healthy classroom management. It extends to everything that teachers may do to facilitate or
improve student learning, which would include factors such as;
 Behaviour - A positive attitude, happy facial expressions, encouraging statements the
respectful and fair treatment of students etc.
 Environment - A welcoming ventilated well-lit classroom filled with intellectually stimulating
learning materials that’s organized to support specific learning activities.
 Expectations- the quality of work that teacher expect students to produce, the ways that
teacher expect student to behave to word other students, the agreements that teachers make
its students.
 Materials- the type of texts, equipments etc.
 Learning resources or activities-the kinds of learning experiences that teacher design to
engage student interest, passions and intellectual curiosity.
We should note that poorly designed lessons, uninteresting learning materials or unclear
expectations could contribute to greater student disinterest, increased behavioural problems, or unruly
and disorganized classes. Healthy classroom cannot be easily separated from all the other decisions
that teachers make. Some of the techniques could be adopted by the teachers for maintaining
healthy classroom management are as follows,
Ambady K. G. 191
 Entry Routine
 Do now written activity
 Tight transitions
 Seat signals
 Applaud up
 Nonverbal Interventions
 Positive group correction
 Public Correction
 Entry Routine: It is a technique in which the teacher establish a consistent, daily routine that
begins as soon as students entre the classroom like preparing learning materials, making seating
arrangements, passing in homework or doing a brief physical warm up activity. This activity can
avoid the disorder and squandered time that can characterize the beginning of a class period.
 Do now written activity: Do now written activity – it is a written activity that students are given
as soon as they arrive in the classroom. This technique is intended to get students settled,
focused, productive, and prepared for instruction as quick as possible.
 Tight transitions: It is a technique in which teachers establish transitions routines that students
learn and can execute quickly and repeatedly without much direction from a teacher. This
technique helps to maximise instructional time by reducing the delay that might accompany
transitions between activities.
 Seat signals: it is a technique in which students use nonverbal signals while seated to indicate
that they need something such as help with a problem or a restroom break etc.
 Applaud up: It is an act of publicly recognizing and praising students who have done something
good such as answering a difficult question or helping a peer etc.
 Nonverbal Interventions: Is when teachers establish eye contact or make gestures that let
students know that they are not paying attention or misbehaving.
 Positive group correction: It is a quick, affirming verbal reminder that lets a group of students
knows what they should be doing.
 Public correction: It is a quick, positive reminder that tells on individual student what do to
instead of what not to do. This is intended to establish a group culture in which learning
accomplishments and positive actions are socially valued and rewarded. Healthy classroom
management has received an increasing amount of attention from education leaders, reformers,
and researchers who have begun to investigate, analyse and document the effective strategies
used by successful teachers. The growing emphasis on classroom management and that strong
management skill are foundations of strong teaching.
Ambady K. G. 192
Principles of Classroom Management
 Building a Good Relationship between Teacher & Students
o Address every students with name
o Show care & concern
o Use humour
o Involve class in some decision making
o Work hand-in-hand with students
 Setting Rules, Routines & Procedures
o Rules – general expectations that are usually written on the paper
 Managing Self
o Being fair
o Being firm/strict
o Being friendly
o Being optimistic & determined
o Maintain a professional image
 Maintaining appropriate student behaviour
o Actively in monitoring student behaviour
 Develop “active eyes”
 Walking among students
o Preventing is better than controlling
 Enforce classroom rules promptly and consistently, from the very first day of
school
 Make clear to students the consequences of misbehaviour
o Reduce classroom disruption
 Creating a conducive learning environment by removing distracting material
 Techniques of Motivating
o Demonstrate good, active listening when students are speaking
o Using positive comments about students' abilities
o Be aware of and note improvement, not just perfection
o Provides extensive, frequent and specific feedback
o Provide reinforcement (verbal, non-verbal, consumable)
Classroom Ambience
Classroom ambience creates a positive learning environment. Classrooms should be a
dynamic and engaging place to be for the learners and also for the teachers to engage in teaching-
learning activities. It includes the physical set up and the environment of the classroom. Classroom
ambience speaks to the conditions in the classroom. The features of classroom ambience includes
the allowance of number of students according to the space provided in for a classroom,
arrangements of furniture like sitting and writing desk of the students, position of the tables of the
teachers, cupboards, lighting, good ventilation, sound effect, noise control, and the way the space is
Ambady K. G. 193
separated from the “outside” by walls or windows. The ambience is everything about the classroom,
and it that light, it can profound effect on the ability of students to learn.
An effective classroom ambience would make the learners feel involved and responsible for
their own learning as well as being comfortable enough to actively participate in individual and
group activities. A safe and conducive classroom is very essential for the teaching-learning process.
It would make the learners comfortable to make learning adventures. Classroom ambience promotes
a favourable mood or atmosphere in a classroom to ensure an effective teaching learning process to
takes place. It is the responsibility of both the management of the schools and the teachers in
planning the curriculum, organizing procedures and resources, arranging the environment to maximize
efficiency, monitoring student progress and anticipating potential problems.
Leadership Qualities Every Teacher Possesses

Teachers have various levels of school leadership qualities. Some are learned and some are
part of their personality. Great teachers possess a combination of leadership qualities that are
respected by the students, parents, peers and the community. They can accomplish important tasks
because of this connection they have with their profession and the people they touch through it.
 Commitment to the students and educators

When one talks about a person’s commitment to teaching, they are speaking of a deep
connection with many people throughout the organization. They are dedicated to providing each
student the best possible environment and tools for learning. They work with the parents to
understand what challenges the students may have to learning and what approaches might work
best with them individually. They engage their co-workers for input on how to structure their lesson
plans and teaching style to be the best educator. Great teachers are also highly involved with the
institution to create the highest quality educational opportunities for the students attending.
A few areas in which a teacher can get involved outside of the classroom include:
 Committees to determine the optimum amount of time students should spend in different
subjects
 Student teacher mentoring programs to orient and coach new teachers
 Projects to review and recommend new approaches to homework
 Passionate about teaching and learning

As a leader, teachers are always practicing their art and learning how to improve their
techniques. They listen in class for opportunities to teach. One student’s question can drive an
entire lesson plan from which all students will benefit. Teachers are not looking for short answers.
They look for explanations that present several concepts and perspectives to the students.
Ambady K. G. 194
These teachers watch their peers and learn from their teaching styles. They ask to be
observed and for feedback on how to reach the students in their classroom. They are open to
suggestions and to trying new things. They know how to quickly adjust their style.
They will be involved in activities that improve teaching within the organization:
 Lead a group to review and comment on the adopted approaches to teaching various topics
 Deliver presentations to student teachers on best practices within the classroom
 Research alternative classroom assessment methods and present to the administration
 Collaboration with others
Teachers know that the best way to be successful is to work with others to create a quality
teaching environment. They will look for those with similar passions and solicit support from people
at all levels within the school system. They maintain the respect from others for their high quality
of teaching standards, and they give recognition to others for their approaches. They know that
they can’t do it all by themselves so the teacher looks for others with the right skills to help and
support. They also don’t take all of the credit for success. They share it throughout the team with
which they work. They may choose to work on a number of projects with others in the school
system:
 Gather information about the best professional development opportunities for teachers
 Create an in-service program to team teach alternative classroom techniques
 Review current school recognition policies and make recommendations on additional ways to
reward teachers
 Communication and rapport
Great teachers are great communicators. They know the best ways to interact with students,
parents, faculty and co-workers. They are skilled at listening and respect the opinions and ideas of
others. Teachers know how to communicate their own ideas so others will understand. They look
for different ways to communicate knowing that people are receptive to various techniques:
 Create a classroom or department newsletter
 Research approaches to holding parent/teacher conferences
 Present different speaking styles to teachers to try in the classroom
 Embracing change
Throughout every teacher’s career a number of changes will occur. The class profile can be
different from year to year. The materials used in the classroom changes. Administration and
policies change. A great teacher knows this and anticipates change. They are courageous about
trying new things and aren’t hesitant to make adjustments until they are as effective as they can
be.
Change gives teachers the opportunity to perform their roles even better. So rather than
waiting until they are directed, they seek out ways to improve. They know this not only benefits
Ambady K. G. 195
themselves, but also the students and faculty with which they work. Some proactive approaches to
change they might use include:
 Personal and professional development classes
 Substitute teaching in other types of school settings
 Observing the changes made by other teachers and facilities
In 2007, Educational Leadership included an article describing 10 roles usually occupied by
teacher leaders.
1. A resource provider assists colleagues by sharing instructional resources with their colleagues
2. An instructional specialist helps colleagues to implement effective teaching strategies.
3. A curriculum specialist shares information about content, standards, and their relationship to
implementation within specific areas.
4. A classroom supporter works in classrooms next to teachers helping by demonstrating, or
observing and offering feedback.
5. A learning facilitator offers professional development opportunities to colleagues, keeping
learning relevant and focused on what is important in their classrooms.
6. A mentor, usually for novice teachers, models and acclimates new teachers to the school
culture, while offering guidance about instruction, curriculum, procedure, practices, and politics.
7. A school leader sits on committees, acts as a chair, represents the school in the community.
8. A data coach facilitates groups of teachers and guides them through the use of data to
inform decisions.
9. Catalysts for change have a strong commitment to continual improvement, hold the vision for
improvement, and tend to ask questions that generate thought and movement forward.
10. A learner models the continual improvement and learning and how it applies to work with
students.
An effective and successful teacher leader can become a teacher leader without an
appointment, simply through earned recognition. A wise building leader will recognize the potential
that is budding in his or her faculty and provide encouragement and development for those who
have demonstrated potential. There are also teacher leaders who may exist beyond the leader's
view. These teachers may be those who can see what is not going well or what possibility is at
hand but has not yet raised a voice to speak up. To identify those individuals, leaders need to
study their faculty. Keen observation and purposeful listening will reveal where the hidden leaders
are. It may be they are waiting to be seen, to be invited from the one on one conversation into
the larger, building-wide one, from the sidelines to centre stage. The rewards are many for the
leader who can identify and encourage this talent pool.
Schools are dynamic systems that demand change and accountability simultaneously and at a
breakneck speed. Schools need an empowered workforce with leaders at every level and, really, in
every classroom. Allowing teacher expertise to be acknowledged and become a component of the
resources offered to all is an emerging skill for building leaders and for building leadership capacity
at a time when it is desperately needed.
Ambady K. G. 196

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REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

Compiled and Edited

Factors Associated with Learning

II. Factors Related to Learning Process:

Maxims / Principles of Learning and their Educational Implications

A representative experiment in classical conditioning is that of Little Albert. It took place in

iii) Punishment (weakens behaviour)

Associative learning: Characteristics

Associative learning: Applications

Associative learning bias

Associative learning- Operant Conditioning

Using Observational Learning for Good

Laws of Habit-Formation of Habit

Characteristics of Habitual Learning

Habits as basic principle in education

Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Habit Formation

Theories of Information processing approach

1. The stage theory

Robert Gagne and Information Processing model

Factors Influencing Insight

Criterion or Essentials of Learning by Insight

Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs

Historical Background of Constructivism

Role of Mentor and Learner in Constructivist Classroom

PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

 It results in Change in Behaviour: It is a change of behaviour influenced by previous

 Concrete - recall of essential/critical attributes

Comparing and contrasting to analyze and evaluate concepts promotes deeper

3. Using examples and non-examples

5. Invention – When prehistoric people who lacked tools use

7. Concept trees or concept map is a representation of an idea as it relates to other ideas. A

8. Prototype matching: In this, individuals decide whether an item is a member of a category by

9. Rule example strategy

It involves four steps:

11. Make concept as clear as possible and give concrete examples.

Skill Learning: Meaning and Definitions

To understand more about skill learning let’s focus on teaching skills

NATURE OF SKILL LEARNING

Stages of Skill Learning

Steps in Skill Learning

 Presentation: It involves two types-verbal explanation and actual demonstration

Principles of Skill Learning

1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.

3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.

4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating

5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of

APPROACHES OR STRATEGIES OF SKILL LEARNING

3) MEMORY AS PROBLEM- SOLVING TOOL: problem solving requires an active memory. To

6) INTRODUCTION OF SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS IN LEARNING: Science faithfully represents the

8) LEARN TO COMMUNICATE: Developing communication skills is essential for learners, because

PRINCIPLES OF VERBAL LEARNING

 Develop Awareness of Printed Language:

 Learn the Alphabet:

 Understand the Relation of Letters and Words:

 Understand That Language is Made of Words, Syllables, and Phonemes:

Given a comfortable familiarity with letters and an awareness of the sounds of

 Sound Out New Words:

As children learn specific letter-sound correspondences, they should be challenged to use