In-puts on Facilitating Learning

I   Learning

• it is viewed as an experiential process resulting in a relatively permanent change in behavior
• UNESCO report on education considers learning as the "heartbeat of society"
• human's capacity to learn made him/her as the foundation of civilization

II   Elements of Learning

• Change - a person who learn something undergo a process of change in the way he/she view things and in the manner he/she reacts to things.
• Behavior - there is also a remarkable change in the way he.she behave and it can be shown on his actions.
• Previous Experience - all new ideas,concepts and information will undergo a cognitive process of the person which is usually based on his/her previous experience. It is therefore imperative that at times in order to accommodate new learning, a person should unlearn some if not all from his/her previous experience.

III  Difference between "Schooled" and "Educated" Persons

      A schooled person is the one who happens to be a graduate of any school for that matter but never acquire the needed knowledge, skills and attitude desired for him/her to be productive citizen of the country. Meaning there is no change in behavior that fits him/her to the community. 

        On the other hand, an educated person is the one that learns as shown by the change of the way he think, feel and act that is conventionally desirable for the society. 

IV   Learning in the context of Education

        The equation of the Education Students should run this way:

                         ET  =  PCK   +    EK

                  where:

  

                               ET       = effective teacher

                               PCK   = pedagogical content knowledge

                               EK      = expert knowledge

       To become an effective teacher is commitment to all education students. It is a direction of a path that not everybody have chosen to thrive. This is a challenge and that everybody can achieve because of individual's capacity to learn. Every person's capacity to learn cannot be overemphasized but anybody should not underestimate the capacity to learn.

      The PCK is the knowledge everyone gets to now on how to effectively teach a certain subject/discipline. Based on the course offering at HCDC, these subjects are the Professional Subjects (all Education Subjects). A way to gauge your PCK, a teacher should be able to:

•   create cognitive road maps
•   assess the progress of students while lesson is going on
•   ask questions and generate answers within the level of students and given topic

       The EK is the excellent knowledge on the area of specialization/major/discipline. These are the knowledge one learned from the major subjects like Science, Math, English, Social Studies, PEHM, and etc. It is there everyone's obligation to know and master in the area of discipline. A way to gauge your EK, a teacher should be able to:

• detecting features and meaningful patterns of information
• accumulating more content knowledge
• retrieving important aspect of knowledge
• adapting an approach to new situations
• using effective strategies

V   Indicators of occurence of learning.

      As teachers aspire to effect learning on students, these two factors should be considered:

• The readiness to learn of students. This should always be thought of by matching the material/information to the level of maturity and preparedness of students.
• Students construct their own learning. Teachers shall provide an opportunity to students in order to cognitively process their own understanding and that in-depth learning is assured.

VI  Ways to promote learning

• giving productive feedbacks
• providing concreteness, activity, and familiarity of topics and lessons
• explaining examples
• guiding cognitive processing 
• fostering learning strategies
• fostering problem-solving strategies
• creating cognitive apprenticeship
• priming students' motivation to learn