Notes in Learner- Centered Psychological Principles (LCP)

For teaching and learning process to be effective, it must be anchored on certain

principles. Researchers today agree that learner-centered psychological principles focus
on 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. .

The 14 principles are divided into four categories, referring to cognitive and
metacognitive, motivational and affective, developmental and social, and
individual difference factors.

Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

1. Nature of the learning process (Components of metacognitive knowledge)

The learning of 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 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 in te
rests.

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 experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature
of these links can take a variety of forms, such as adding to, modifying, or
reorganizing existing knowledge or skills. How these links are made or develop
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 r
epertoire 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.

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 the 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 learners' 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 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 the learner's quality of thinking and
information processing. 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 (e.g., anxiety, panic, rage, insecurity) and related thoughts (e.g.,
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 the 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. Intrinsic
motivation is also facilitated on tasks that are comparable to real-world situations
and meet needs for choice and control. 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. Educators need to
be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance learner effort
and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of comprehension
and understanding. 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 and is presented in an enjoyable and interesting way. Because individual
development varies across intellectual, social, emotional, and physical domains,
achievement in different instructional domains may also vary. Overemphasis on
one type of developmental readiness--such as reading readiness, for example--
may preclude learners from demonstrating that they are more capable in other
areas of performance. 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. Awareness and understanding of developmental differences among
children with and without emotional, physical, or intellectual disabilities, can
facilitate the creation of optimal learning contexts.

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 allow for
social interactions, and respect for diversity encourage flexible thinking and social
competence. In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts, individuals
have an opportunity for perspective taking and reflective thinking that may lead
to higher levels of cognitive, social, and moral development, as well as self-
esteem. 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. Family influences, positive interpersonal
support and instruction in self-motivation strategies can offset factors that
interfere with optimal learning such as negative beliefs about competence in a
particular subject, high levels of test anxiety, negative sex role expectations, and
undue pressure to perform well. Positive learning climates can also help to
establish the context for healthier levels of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Such
contexts help learners feel safe to share ideas, actively participate in the learning
process, and create a learning community.

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 learn and the pace at which they learn. However,
these preferences are not always useful in helping learners reach their learning
goals. Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and
expand or modify them, if necessary. The interaction between learner differences
and curricular and environmental conditions is another key factor affecting
learning outcomes. 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 all 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 provides 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. Ongoing assessment of the learner's understanding of the
curricular material can provide valuable feedback to both learners and teachers
about progress toward the learning goals. Standardized assessment of learner
progress and outcomes assessment provides one type of information about
achievement levels both within and across individuals that can inform various
types of programmatic decisions. can provide other sources of information about
the attainment of learning outcomes. Self-assessments of learning progress can
also improve students self appraisal skills and enhance motivation and self-
directed learning. * The development of each principle involved thorough
discussions of the research supporting that principle.

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