My Own book/Roles of a Teacher

 =Note= Learners are advised to go through the activities, carry them out, discuss your thoughts. Do take the test under the title 'Evaluation'. Entries under 'Extra Learning' is for deeper learning. 

= Learning =

Meaning of Learning


You have discussed an experience with your friend. Now read through this Case Study.

Did you notice some change in this experience related above? Was this change permanent? Did this change come about just like that or was there some process behind it? Well this process is called as learning.

Learning has some special characteristics: Characteristics of learning: 1.Learning is relatively permanent 2.Learning is goal directed or purposeful 3.Learning modifies our behaviour 4.Learning involves adjustment and adaptation 5.Learning is universal and continuous 6.Learning is closely related to maturation 7.Learning covers many aspects of the human personality. Its scope touches formation of habits, development of interests, values as well as thinking, reasoning, acquisition of skills and knowledge. 8.It is a process and not a product.

Learning, in psychology, is the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behavior occurs as a result of practice or experience. Learning is distinguished from behavioral changes arising from such processes as maturation and illness, but does apply to motor skills, such as driving a car, to intellectual skills, such as reading, and to attitudes and values, such as prejudice. There is evidence that neurotic symptoms and patterns of mental illness are also learned behavior. Learning occurs throughout life in animals, and learned behavior accounts for a large proportion of all behavior in the higher animals, especially in humans.

Process of learning
 In any type of learning,one would come across the following steps 1.Goal: All learning is goal directed. A specific aim facilitates learning 2.Motivation: All learning involves some motive- Some motives are extrinsic eg we learn a subject to pass an exam. Some are intrinsic eg we learn a musical instrument because we want to do so. 3.Exploration: One explores different possibilities that will help to learn in the best possible way. 4.Perception: Learning depends upon one’s perception of the learning environment 5.Response: all learning involves some sort of response to a stimulus which may be provided by the learning environment 6.Reinforcement: Timely and proper reinforcement assists learning. Reinforcement may be a reward or a punishment. 7.Integration: Learning involves integration of right responses This is represented by a figure

Learning curve


Did you notice any specific stages in the above case? Generally a typical learning curve has: 1-Period of slow progress: Initial period where the task is new involves slow progress. High enthusiasm and motivation can accelerate the period. Teacher must make use of previous knowledge, motivate the student. Use maxims like known to unknown and easy to difficult at this stage. 2-Period of rapid progress: Occurs when the learner gets accustomed to the task. Practice helps to reach this stage. Motivation is high. More learning can be done in such a stage. 3-Plateau: It is a period of no apparent progress in the learning task. Progress seems to stagnate. Possible causes are lack of motivation, fatigue, imbibing of poor habits that interfere, difficulty level of task may be more, lack of interest, satisfaction with the level achieved,. Teacher’s role is to motivate. Give rest to overcome fatigue. Remove interfering habits. Have change of task or methodology if necessary. Some plateaus are when skills are being integrated for higher learning. Such plateaus should not be interfered with. A plateau is always followed by a period of rapid progress. 4-Spurt in learning: A period of rapid progress that follows a plateau. 5-Levelling off: The last stage in a learning curve. Beyond this stage learning does not normally occur. This is due to our human limitations. This is just below the physiological limit of the learner.

Role of the teacher: Providing encouragement in case of slow progress or plateau. Eliminating wrong habits and assisting learning. If a student’s learning curve is much below an average learning curve perhaps the student is a slow learner and may need intervention. Maximise learning in the period of rapid progress. Do not expect much beyond the physiological limits. Learning curve will differ from individual to individual. So accept such differences. Use a learning curve to understand, guide and motivate the learner. In case of mature learners, a learning curve can be used for self motivation.

Evaluation
 '''Try this small quiz to test what you have learned. Good luck!!!'''

Reflection


Deeper Learning
 Read about learning at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning Read about learning development cycle at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.458.5652&rep=rep1&type=pdf Read about the learning process at http://www.dynamicflight.com/avcfibook/learning_process/

Humour in Learning

Well.. since you have been such a good student and learned so much about learning, I think you need to smile. Go on to http://www.benitaepstein.com/higher%20education%20cartoons/higher-education.html And Keep smiling.

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