IDENTIFYING THE LEARNING GAP AMONG STUDENTS

What factors about a learner and educator can influence effective teaching and learning?

Learner factors/ Internal:

These are characteristics about the learner that may help or harm their learning. They include:

Motivation

The learner’s motive to learn and acquire new knowledge and the value attached to this new knowledge determines the effort exerted towards the learning activity. This effort has a direct influence on the amount of learning that will occur. Motivation can be:

Intrinsic: where the individual has an innate drive to learn because they like it or it satisfies them. Extrinsic: where the learner is driven by an external force e.g. Reward or punishment from a higher authority to learn. Intrinsically motivated learning is often found to be more efficient than extrinsically motivated learning.

 Intelligence:  

American Psychological Association (APA): ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought.”

Effective and efficient learning depends on ability to encode, recall and utilize information/skill to solve problems. This is a function of intelligence. The learner’s intelligence level is therefore a key influence on how much and how well they are able to learn.

Maturation

Like intelligence, maturation has been defined differently

Boring, Longfeld & Weld (undated): Maturation means growth and development that is necessary either before any unlearned behaviour can occur or before the learning of any particular behaviour can take place.

In simple terms, Maturation refers to the ways in which we grow and develop throughout the lifespan. Before learning occurs, the learner should have attained the physical and cognitive i. e. Psychological maturity necessary to understand the content to be learnt. E.g. A child has to develop legs before it can learn to walk and a learner’s brain needs to be fully developed before it can process complex information

Maturation is a change and improvement in structure and function that occurs in an organism not as a result of biological processes not learning.

Physical condition of the learner.

The learner’s physical condition can impact their ability to learn in many ways

 E.g. Sensory defects of the eyes, ears etc. as well as fatigue and ill health can inhibit or hinder the learner’s ability to receive and process information, or practice a skill to acquire knowledge about it.

Mental Health of the learner

Psychological and educational studies show that the mental state or state of mind of the learner can affect attention, concentration etc. necessary for learning to take place

 E.g. Extreme anxiety, depression, worries, fears, emotional disturbances etc. have negative impacts on learning. 

Learner’s previous knowledge and experience

The learner’s previous experiences may also affect their ability to learn new things. 

E. g. Previously negative experience may affect a learner’s ability to learn new skills or behavior especially if they are similar to the previous experience

Active practice and repetition:

The degree or extent of the learner’s active participation, repetition and rehearsals of the skill or content in the teaching –learning interaction determines the extent of encoding and recall which further reflect how much learning occurs.

Other Factors/ External Factors

Aside from characteristics of the learner, other factors external to the individual may influence learning:

The physical learning environment/conditions:

This include the physical structures/ utilities/ infrastructure etc. that necessary to create a conducive environment where effective learning can occur. 

E. g. In classroom situation, the class size, lighting, ventilation, design of the classroom, location, distractions etc. make up the learning environment and these may affect learning.

 Distributed Learning

Learning schedules that are spaced out with enough breaks and rests allow for more effective learning. This is called distributed learning. This is necessary because learning capacity decreases with time and fatigue. After some continuous periods of learning, one has to take a walk or chat for a while before continuing again.

Teaching methods and aids:

The methods adopted by the educator/teacher and the aids adopted for the teaching - learning interaction influences the amount of learning that occurs. Learner-centered approaches with audio-visual aids and practical or participatory sessions have been found to be more effective for learning compared to teacher-centered approaches.

The content

The content refers to the material to be learnt. In order for effective learning to occur, the content being taught must be relevant to the leaner and elicit their interest. The content must also be designed according to the maturity levels of the learner and must be structured to fit their understanding. 

Timing of the teaching and learning

Learning has been found to be more effective when the teaching is scheduled at times that are convenient to the learner and at which the leaner is relaxed and ready. Some studies (e.g. Monguno et al, 2017) have found that learning is more effective at certain times of the day when the temperature is cooler. E. g. mornings and evenings).

The teaching could also be planned at time when the learner actually needs to learn that content.

The educator or teacher

Characteristic of the teacher can also affect the effectiveness of learner.

Studies have found that: 

Teacher or educator’s communication skills e. g. Voice modulation, body language can affect the learner’s encoding and recall or attention to the content. Depth of the teacher and educator’s own knowledge of the content influences their ability to explain which then influences the learner’s understanding. Physical characteristics of the teacher or educator could influence the learner’s concentration/attention etc.

The teacher or educator’s attitude towards learners could encourage or discourage them. 

E. g. unnecessary scolding, criticism, punishments etc. could reduce the learner’s motivation and interest in the material to be learnt.

Feedback and Results communication

The provision of feedback on results after assessment of learning helps learners reflect and re-strategize to improve their learning. For feedback to be effective, it must be timely and constructive to encourage the learner to put in more effort or stay on course. 

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOMED 

Solomon Atobrah (B'ed & BSc)

P. O Box ML 5

McCarthy – Hill, Accra

WATCHOUT FOR THE FOLLOWING

TESTING A TOOL IN BOOSTING LEARNING 

MEMORY DEVELOPMENT 

DISCIPLINE

References

American Psychological Association (2017). Improving the learning of learners. USA. 

Darkwah, E. (2017), Psychology for Everyday Living. University of Ghana. University Press: Legon 

Friedman, H. (2008), Humanistic and positive psychology: The methodological and epistemological divide. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36, 113–126.

Macdonald, C. (2013). Health psychology center presents: What is health psychology? http://healthpsychology.org/what-is-health-psychology/ Madigan, S. & O'Hara, R. (1992). Short-term memory at the turn of the century: Mary Whiton Calkins's memory research. American Psychologist, 47, 170–174.