Southern

Luzon State University

LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

PED05A FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED: THE LEARNER-

CENTERED APPROACHES WITH EMPHASIS ON TRAINER’S
METHODOLOGY 1

MODULE 1
Title of the Module LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES (LCP)

Overview The learners are the center of instruction. The world of instruction involves
around them. This module focused on the fourteen (14) principles that will
help learners to acquire knowledge, skills and attitude in variety of ways.

Learning Outcome/s After successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

1. Explain the 14 principles

2. Advocate the use of 14 principles in the teaching learning process.

Discussion LEARNER - CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles were put together by the
American Psychological Association. The 14 psychological principles pertain
to the learner and the learning process. The 14 principles have the following
aspects:

• They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to and

under the control of the learner rather than conditioned habits or
physiological factors. However, the principles also attempt to
acknowledge external environment or contextual factors that
interact with these internal factors.
• The principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in the
context of real-world learning situations. Thus, they are best
understood as an organized set of principles; no principle should be
viewed in isolation.
• The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1) cognitive and
metacognitive, (2) motivational and affective, (3) developmental and
societal, and (4) individual differences factors influencing learners
and learning.
• Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners -from
children, to teachers, to administrators, to parents, and to
community members involved in the educational system.

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Figure 1. Division of the 14 Learner – Centered Principles

COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS

1. Nature of the learning process

The learning of the complex subject matter is most effective when it is
an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and
experience.

• There are different types of learning processes, for example, habit

formation in motor learning and learning that involves the generation
of knowledge or cognitive skills and learning strategies.
• Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that
students can use to construct meaning from information, experiences
and their own thoughts and beliefs.
• Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating and
assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning.

2. Goals of the learning process

The successful learner over time and with support and instructional
guidance, can create meaningful, coherent representations of
knowledge.

• The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal directed.

• To construct useful representations of knowledge and to acquire the
thinking and learning strategies necessary for continued learning
success across the life span, students must generate and pursue
personally-relevant goals. Initially, students’ short-term goals and
learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their understanding

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LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

can be refined by filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies and deepening

their understanding of the subject matter so that they can reach
longer-term goals.
• Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals
that are consistent with both personal and educational aspirations
and interests.

3. Construction of Knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing
knowledge in meaningful ways.

• Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links

between new information and experience and their existing
knowledge-base. The nature of these links can take a variety of forms
such as adding to, modifying, or recognizing existing knowledge or
skills. How these links are made or developed may vary in different
subject areas, and among students with varying talents, interests and
abilities. However, unless new knowledge becomes integrated with
the learner’s prior knowledge and understanding, this new knowledge
remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively in new tasks, and
does not transfer readily to new situations.
• Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge
by a number of strategies that have been shown to be effective with
learners of varying abilities, such as concept mapping and thematic
organization or categorizing.

4. Strategic Thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and
reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.

• Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to

learning, reasoning, problem solving and concept learning.
• They understand and can use a variety of strategies to help them
reach learning and performance goals, and to apply their knowledge
in novel situations.
• They also continue to expand their repertoire of strategies by
reflecting on the methods they use to see which work well for them,
by receiving guided instruction and feedback, and by observing or
interacting with appropriate models.
• Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in
developing, applying and assessing their strategic learning skills.

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LUCENA CAMPUS
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5. Thinking about thinking

Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental
operations facilitate creative and critical thinking.

• Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set
reasonable learning or performance goals, select potentially
appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor their
progress toward these goals.
• In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs
or if they are not making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal.
They can generate alternative methods to reach their goal (or
reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal).
• Instructional methods that focus on helping learners develop these
higher order (metacognitive)strategies can enhance student learning
and personal responsibility for learning.

6. Context of Learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture,
technology and instructional practices.

• Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers play a major

interactive role with both learner and the learning environment.
• Cultural or group influences on students can impact many
educationally relevant variables such as motivation, orientation
toward learning and ways of thinking.
• Technologies and instructional practices must be appropriate for
learner’s level of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities and their
learning and thinking strategies.
• The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which it is
nurturing or not, can also have significant impacts on student
learning.

MOTIVATIONAL AND AFFECTIVE FACTORS

7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning

What and how much is learned is influenced by the learners’
motivation. Motivation to learn, in turn, is influenced by the
individual’s emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits
of thinking.
• The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals and expectations for
success or failure can enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality
of thinking and information processing.

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LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

• Students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of

learning have a marked influence on motivation. Motivational and
emotional factors also influence both the quality of thinking and
information processing as well as an individual’s motivation to learn.
• Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation
and facilitate learning and performance. Mild anxiety can also
enhance learning and performance by focusing the learner’s attention
on a particular task. However, intense negative emotions (example,
anxiety, panic, rage, insecurity) and related thoughts (example,
worrying about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing
punishment, ridicule or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from
motivation, interfere with learning and contribute to low
performance.

8. Intrinsic motivation to learn

The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking and natural curiosity all
contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by
tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests,
and providing for personal choice and control.

• Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking and creativity are major

indicators of learners’ intrinsic motivation to learn, which is in large
part a function of meeting basic needs to be competent and to
exercise personal control.
• Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that learners perceive as
interesting and personally relevant and meaningful, appropriate in
complexity and difficulty to the learners’ abilities, and on which they
believe they can succeed.
• Educators can encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and
motivation to learn by attending to individual differences in learners’
perceptions of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevance, and personal
choice and control.

9. Effects of motivation on effort

Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner
effort and guided practice. Without learners’ motivation to learn, the
willingness to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.

• Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. The

acquisition of complex knowledge and skills demands the investment
of considerable learner energy and strategic effort, along with
persistence over time.

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• Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by

practices that enhance positive emotions and intrinsic motivation to
learn, and methods that increase learners’ perceptions that a task is
interesting and personally relevant.

DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS

10. Developmental influences on Learning

As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and
constraints for learning. Learning is most effective when differential
development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional and
social domains is taken into account.

• Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their

developmental level ad is presented in an enjoyable and interesting
way.
• Because individual development varies across intellectual, social,
emotional and physical domains may also vary.
• The cognitive, emotional and social development of individual
learners and how they interpret life experiences are affected by prior
schooling, home, culture and community factors.
• Early and continuing parental involvement in schooling, and the
quality of language interactions and two-way communications
between adults and children can influence these developmental
areas.

11. Social influences on learning

Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations
and communication with others.

• Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportunity to

interact and to collaborate with others on instructional tasks.
• Learning settings that allow for social interactions and that respect
diversity encourage flexible thinking and social competence.
• Quality personal relationships that provide stability, trust and caring
can increase learners’ sense of belonging, self-respect and self-
acceptance and provide a positive climate for learning.
• Positive learning climates can also help to establish the context for
healthier levels of thinking, feeling and behaving. Such contexts help
leaners feel safe to share ideas, actively participate in the learning
process and create a learning community.

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LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES FACTORS

12. Individual differences in learning

Learners have different strategies, approaches and capabilities for
learning that are a function of prior experience and heredity.

• Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and
talents.
• In addition, through learning and social acculturation, they have
acquired their own preferences for how they like to l earn and the
pace at which they learn. However, these preferences are not always
useful in helping learners reach their learning goals.
• Educators need to be sensitive to individual differences, in general.
They also need to attend to learner perceptions of the degree to
which these differences are accepted and adapted to by varying
instructional methods and materials.

13. Learning and diversity

Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic,
cultural and social backgrounds are taken into account.

• The same basic principles of learning, motivation and effective

instruction apply to all learners. However, language, ethnicity, race,
beliefs and socioeconomic status can influence learning. Careful
attention to these factors in the instructional setting enhances the
possibilities for designing and implementing appropriate learning
environments.
• When learners perceive that their individual differences in abilities,
backgrounds, cultures and experiences are valued, respected and
accommodated in learning tasks and contexts, levels of motivation
and achievement are enhanced.

14. Standards and assessment

Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing
the learner as well as learning progress – including diagnostic process
and outcome assessment – are integral parts of the learning process.
• Assessment provided important information to both the learner and
teacher at all stages of the learning process.
• Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work
towards appropriately high goals; therefore, appraisal of the learner’s
cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well as current knowledge and
skills, is important for the selection of instructional materials of an
optimal degree of difficulty.

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LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

• Ongoing assessment of the learner’s understanding of the curricular

materials can provide valuable feedback to both learners and
teachers about progress toward the learning goals.

SUMMARY OF THE LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

Alexander and Murphy gave summary of the 14 principles and distilled

them into five areas:

1. The Knowledge Base. One’s existing knowledge serves as the

foundation of all future learning. The learner’s previous knowledge
will influence new learning specifically on how he represents new
information, makes associations and filters new experiences.
2. Strategic Processing and Control. Learners can develop skills to
reflect and regulate their thoughts and behaviors in order to learn
more effectively (metacognition).
3. Motivation and Affect. Factors such as intrinsic motivation (from
within), reasons for wanting to learn, personal goals and enjoyment
of learning tasks all have a crucial role in the learning process.
4. Development and Individual Differences. Learning is a unique
journey for each person because each learner has his own unique
combination of genetic and environmental factors that influence him.
5. Situation or Context. Learning happens in the context of a society as
well as within an individual.

Exercises/Activities Examine the title “Learner-Centered Psychological Principles”, jot down at

least 10 words that come to your mind and write phrases about why you
think the word can be associated with LCP.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Assessment 1. Describe what you can do to advocate the use of the 14 Learner-
Centered Psychological Principles.

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 Southern Luzon State University
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2. Advocate the use of the 14 learning principles by means of a 3-

minute speech. (Write your piece on the space provided.)

Reference/s Lucas, M.R.D. and Corpuz, B.B. (2014). Facilitating Learning: A metacognitive
process. 4th edition. Lorimar Publishing, Inc.

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 Southern Luzon State University
LUCENA CAMPUS
Lucena City

SCORING RUBRIC FOR ESSAY

Category/Grade 5 4 3 2 1
Audience Influences or affects Supports reader Shows awareness Contains Symbols,
the reader through understanding, as of basic audience some written drawings or
precise language internally structure content non-attempt
and use of narrative consistent story
devices
Text Structure Coherent, Contains an Orientation, A recount of No evidence of
controlled and orientation, complication and events or structural
complete narrative complication and weak resolution orientation components of
resolution only a narrative
Character and Effective Characterization Suggestions of Only names No evidence or
Setting characterization. and setting characterization characters or insufficient
Maintains a sense of emerges through through brief gives their evidence
setting throughout descriptions, descriptions or very roles, only
actions and speech brief and name setting
superficial
description of
settings
Vocabulary A range of precise Sustained and Precise words or Mostly simple Very short
and effective words. consistent use of word groups verbs, script or non-
Language choice is precise words that (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, attempt
well-matched to the enhance the adverbs or nouns) adjectives or
genre. meaning or mood nouns. May
contain 2 or 3
precise words
Sentence Structure All sentences are Sentences correct , Most simple and Some Drawings,
correct. With 2 errors. Meaning is compound meaning can symbols and
Variety. clear and sentences sentences correct. be construed list of words,
Consistently enhances the Experiments with in general, text fragments
effective meaning complexity but control is
with limited very limited
success
Spelling Correct spelling of Correct spelling of Correct spelling of Correct Few examples
all single words, at simple words, most most simple words spelling of of conventional
least 10 difficult common words and and most common most simple spelling or non-
words and some some difficult words words and attempt
challenging words words some
common
words
Punctuation Writing contains All sentence Some correct Some correct No evidence of
accurate use of all punctuation correct punctuation across use of correct
applicable and mostly correct categories. No capitals to punctuation
punctuation use of other stray capitals and start
punctuation nothing else used sentences
and full steps
to end them
Kristina Smith. teachersmarketplace.com.au

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