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LEARNING TO LEARN

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LEARNING:

Learning as a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the
potential for improved performance and future learning (adapted from Mayer, 2002).

COMPONENTS OF LEARNING:

1. Learning is a process, not a product. Learning can be inferred.

2. Learning involves change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviours, or attitudes. It impacts how
learner thinks and acts
3. Learning is not something done to learner, but rather something learners themselves do. It is
the direct result of how learner interpret and respond to their experiences — conscious and
unconscious, past and present.

FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING:

1. Learning is a developmental process that intersects with other developmental processes.

2. Learning is influenced not only by the skills, knowledge, and abilities of the learner but also
with social and emotional experiences that influence what they value, how they perceive
themselves and others, and how they will engage in the learning process.

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING:

A. Learners’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.

B. How learners organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.
C. Learners’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.
D. Learners must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply
what they have learned for gaining the mastery.
E. Goal - directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of learners
‘learning.
F. Learners’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual
climate of the course to impact learning.
G. To become self - directed learners, they must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to
learning.
PRINCIPLE 1:

LEARNERS’ PRIOR KNOWLEDGE CAN HELP OR HINDER LEARNING.

Learners’ connect what they learn to what they already know, interpreting incoming information, and
even sensory perception, through the lens of their existing knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions
(Vygotsky, 1978; National Research Council, 2000).

Understanding what learners know or think they know helps in designing instruction more
appropriately.

Learners’ Prior Knowledge can be

1. Inactive — it may not facilitate the integration of new knowledge.

2. Insufficient for a task or learning situation - it may fail to support new knowledge.
3. Inappropriate or inaccurate - it may actively distort or impede new learning.

Activating Prior Knowledge

a. When learners can connect what they are learning to accurate and relevant prior
knowledge, they learn and retain more
b. Asking learners questions specifically designed to trigger recall can help them use
prior knowledge to aid the integration and retention of new information (Woloshyn,
Paivio, & Pressley, 1994)
c. Learners learn readily when they connect with what they are learning to what they
already know.
d. Instructors should not assume that learners will immediately or naturally draw on
relevant prior knowledge. Instead, they should deliberately activate learners’ prior
knowledge to help them form links to new knowledge.
Accurate but Insufficient Prior Knowledge
a. At times learners’ prior knowledge is accurate and activated but may not be sufficient
to support subsequent learning or a desired level of performance. Knowing WHAT is
a different kind of knowledge than knowing HOW or knowing WHEN.

There are many different types of knowledge.

a. Declarative knowledge, or the knowledge of facts and concepts that can be
stated or declared. Declarative knowledge can be thought of as “KNOWING
WHAT.”
b. Procedural knowledge or the knowledge that involves knowing how and knowing
when to apply various procedures, methods, theories, styles, or approaches.
Procedural knowledge can be thought of as “KNOWING HOW and WHEN.”

It is common for learners to know facts and concepts but not to know how or when
to apply them and vice versa.

INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Identify the Prior Knowledge Expected from Learners to Have.

b. Remediate Insufficient Essential Knowledge by highlighting conditions of
Applicability

Inappropriate Prior Knowledge

a. When learning new material, learners may draw on knowledge (from everyday
contexts, from incomplete comparisons, from other disciplinary contexts, and from
their own cultural or linguistic backgrounds) that is inappropriate for the context, and
which can distort their interpretation of new material or obstruct new learning.

INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Clearly explain the conditions and contexts of applicability
b. Teach abstract principles but also provide multiple examples and contexts
c. Point out differences, as well as similarities, when employing analogies
d. Deliberately activate relevant prior knowledge to strengthen appropriate
associations.

Inaccurate Prior Knowledge

a. Inaccurate prior knowledge (in other words, flawed ideas, beliefs, models, or theories)
can distort new knowledge by predisposing learners to ignore, discount, or resist
evidence that conflicts with what they believe to be true (Dunbar, Fugelsang, & Stein,
2007).

Inaccurate prior knowledge can be corrected easily if it consists of relatively isolated

ideas or beliefs that are not embedded in larger conceptual models.

Misconceptions models or theories are remarkably resistant to correction if they are

deeply embedded in learners’ thinking.
 INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Address inaccurate prior knowledge.

b. Exposing learners to accurate information and evidence that conflicts with flawed
beliefs and models.

TAKE AWAY FORM THE PRINCIPLE:

If learners’ prior knowledge has gaps and insufficiencies it may not adequately support new
knowledge. Also, if prior knowledge is applied in the wrong context, it may lead learners to make faulty
assumptions or draw inappropriate parallels.

1. Instructor should help and activate learner’s relevant prior knowledge

2. Instructor should address gaps in learner’s prior knowledge
3. Instructor should help learners avoid applying prior knowledge in the wrong contexts
4. Instructor should help learners revise and rethink inaccurate knowledge.
PRINCIPLE 2:

HOW LEARNERS ORGANIZE KNOWLEDGE INFLUENCES HOW THEY LEARN AND APPLY WHAT THEY
KNOW?

How does the way learners organize knowledge affect their learning?

We unconsciously create and maintain a complex network that connects the important facts,
concepts, procedures, and other elements. We organize our knowledge around meaningful features
and abstract principles. How we organize our knowledge has profound impact on our learning.

Knowledge organizations refers not only to particular pieces of knowledge, but rather how those
pieces are arranged and connected in our mind. This organization of knowledge either do or do not
facilitate learning, performance, and retention.

Knowledge Organization: Form Fits Function

People naturally make associations based on patterns they experience in the world.

The way people organize their knowledge varies in relation to their experience, the nature of their
knowledge, and the role that that knowledge plays in their lives.

People organize knowledge to support the tasks being performed. From learners perspective it is good
to reflect on what activities and experiences learners are engaging in to understand what knowledge
organizations they are likely to develop.

Knowledge organizations are most effective when they are well matched to the way that knowledge
needs to be accessed and used, we should consider the tasks learners will be asked to perform in a
given in order to identify what knowledge organizations would best support those tasks. By doing so
we can foster the ways of organizing knowledge that will promote learners’ learning and performance
Knowledge Organization: The Density of Connections
Experts’ Versus Novices’ Knowledge

Knowledge organizations of Experts’ and Novices’ knowledge differs in the number or density of
connections among the concepts, facts, and skills they know.

Knowledge organizations in Quadrant A and B are that of beginners with few connections among
nodes. The sparseness of links among components in quadrant A indicates that the learners have not
yet developed the ability to recognize relationships among pieces of knowledge. In this kind of
organization learners absorb the knowledge from different sources without connecting the
information or recognizing themes that cut across as a whole. Such relatively disconnected knowledge
organizations can obstruct learning. If learners lacks a strongly connected network their knowledge
will be slower and more difficult to retrieve (Bradshaw & Anderson, 1982)

Quadrant B also has relatively sparse connections, but the connections are arranged in the form of a
chain of associations. This organization helps in sequential access of information but can lead to
difficulties if one link in the chain is broken, or if some deviation from the specified sequence is
required (Catrambone, 1995, 1998).

Quadrant C and D knowledge organizations are typical that of experts. Quadrant C knowledge
organization is hierarchically, indicating an understanding of how various pieces of information fits
within a complex structure.

Quadrant D knowledge organization is highly connected with additional links that indicate cross –
referencing. Experts tend to automatically process information in coherent chunks based on their
prior knowledge and then use these chunks to build larger, more interconnected knowledge
structures.

Professionals have developed highly connected knowledge organizations that helps in retrieving and
using information effectively. But learners are not expected to have organized their knowledge in
professional ways. It is important to recognize the difference between expert and novice knowledge
structures and provide structures that highlights and informs learners as to how we organize
corrective knowledge and draw on it to perform particular tasks.
Experts’ have the ability of classifying information in more meaningful ways than beginner learners.
Developing meaningfully connected knowledge organizations takes time and experience. Most of the
learners are far from attaining that level of expertise, however novice learners learn and remember
more when they connect information in meaningful ways.

Instructors should realize that, as domain experts they may organize knowledge in a way that is quite
different from how learners organize theirs, and that knowledge organization plays a significant role
in performance.

Learners are likely to come up with knowledge organizations that are superficial so Instructor needs
to provide them with appropriate organizing schemes or teach them how to abstract the relevant
principles from what they are learning which means monitoring how learner are processing what they
are learning for ensuring that it is getting organized in meaningful ways.

INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Provide Learner with the Organizational Structure of the Learning Course.

Provide a view of the “big picture” that presents the key concepts or topics
highlighting their interrelationships thereby helping learner to see how the
pieces fit together. Communicate organizational structure through syllabus
using a flow chart or diagram.
b. Share the Organization of each Lecture, Lab, or Discussion as learner’
knowledge organization guides their retrieval and use of information, and it
is especially beneficial to help learner create a useful organization as they are
learning. Provide an outline, agenda, or visual representation of each lecture,
lab, or discussion session that can give learner a framework for organizing the
information they are about to learn.
c. Explicitly Highlight Deep Features In order to help learner develop more
meaningful and less superficial knowledge organizations. Highlight the deep
features of problems, designs, theories, and examples of problems that share
deep features but differ superficially, or examples of problems that are
superficially similar but operate on different structural principles. The use of
such comparisons can help learner become more skilful at identifying
underlying features and principles enabling them to organize their knowledge
more meaningfully.
d. Use a Sorting Task to Expose Learner’ Knowledge Organizations is another
way to expose learner’ knowledge organizations by asking them to sort
different problems, concepts, or situations into categories. This method
shows how learner organize their knowledge without requiring them to
identify their sorting criteria explicitly. Present learner with a set of problems
that have some superficial and some deep features in common, and ask them
to group the problems according to similarities

TAKE AWAY FORM THE PRINCIPLE:

Knowledge organizations include more interconnections based on deep and meaningful features that
are effective in supporting learning and performance. Rich and meaningful knowledge organizations
are very helpful.
PRINCIPLE 3:
LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION GENERATES, DIRECTS, AND SUSTAINS WHAT THEY DO TO LEARN
What factors motivate learners to learn?

Important concepts that are central to understanding motivation are:

1. The subjective value of a goal and
2. The expectations for successful attainment of that goal.
Expectations and values interact to influence the level of motivation to engage in goal (directed
behaviour)

GOALS:
Goals provide the context in which values and expectancies derive meaning and influence motivation.
Goals serve as the basic organizing feature of motivated behaviour (Ryan, 1970; Mitchell, 1982; Elliot
& Fryer, 2008).

Learners’ goals for may differ from Instructors goals for them.
Performance goals involve protecting a desired self - image and projecting a positive reputation. When
guided by performance goals, learner try to do what is necessary to demonstrate competence in order
to appear intelligent, gain status, and acquire recognition and praise.
Performance goals can be of two types:
a. Performance - approach goals and
b. Performance - avoidant goals.
Learner with performance – approach goals focus on attaining competence by meeting standards.
Learner with performance - avoidance goals focus on avoiding incompetence by meeting standards.

When guided by learning goals as against performance goals, learner try to gain competence and truly
learn what an activity or task can teach them.

Learning and Performance goals are functionally opposite. Learner to gain the deep understanding
that comes from exploration and intellectual risk - taking must follow learning goal but they follow
performance goal by doing only what is necessary to get a good grade. This conflicting interest may
not produce the kinds of learning behaviours and outcomes that we desire.
An activity satisfying more than one goal is likely to have higher motivation to pursue that activity.
Affective goals and social goals can play an important role in the classroom (Ford, 1992). For instance,
Learners who hold multiple types of goals are more successful than those with just one type of goal
(Valleet al., 2003).

VALUE:
Subjective value of the Goal is the key factor influencing the motivation to pursue it. The 3 important
determinants of subjective value for achievement - related activities and goals are:
1. Attainment value
The satisfaction that one gains from mastery and accomplishment of a goal or task.
2. Intrinsic value
The satisfaction that one gains from doing the task rather than from a particular outcome of
the task.
3. Instrumental value
The degree to which an activity or goal helps in accomplishing other important goals (Extrinsic
rewards - Praise, public recognition, money)

EXPECTANCIES:
Value alone is insufficient to motivate behaviour. Learners are motivated to pursue goals and
outcomes that they believe they can successfully achieve. Motivational theorists refer to these
expectations as expectancies.

Types of Expectancies influencing motivating behaviour:

1. Outcome Expectancies
These reflects the belief that specific actions will bring about a desired outcome.
2. Efficacy Expectancies
These reflects the belief that one is capable of identifying, organizing, initiating, and executing
a course of action that will bring about a desired outcome.

Perceptions of the Environment affect the Interaction of Value and Expectancies:

If learners perceive the environment to be supportive (for example - The instructor is approachable
and other learners seem willing to help then the motivation is likely to be enhanced).

If learners perceive the environment as unsupportive (for example - This instructor seems hostile then
it can threaten expectations for success and erode motivation.

If a goal is valued and expectancies for success are positive and the environment is perceived to be
supportive, motivation will be highest. If there is little value associated with a goal or efficacy
expectancies for success are negative or the environment is not perceived to be supportive,
motivation is likely to be lower.

Important levers of Motivation:

1. Value
2. Efficacy expectancies
3. Supportive nature of the environment

When learners care less about a goal and have less confidence in their abilities to successfully achieve
that goal, they tend to behave in a rejecting manner and are prone to disengage from learning
situations and may experience apathy, general passivity, alienation, or even a sense of anger if, in the
case of a supportive environment, support is perceived as coercive or pressuring.
When learners, in both supportive and unsupportive environments, see little value in a goal but are
confident in their abilities to successfully achieve it, they may act in an evading manner. They see the
task as doable but unimportant, learners often have difficulty paying attention and are distracted.

Learners who see value in a goal but lack confidence in their ability (Low Efficacy) manifests two forms
of behaviour. Those that perceive little or no support from the environment tend to be HOPELESS.
They have no expectation of success and demonstrate very low levels of motivation. Those who do
perceive a supportive environment tend to be FRAGILE because they value the task and believe the
environment offers support but are doubtful about their own abilities (Low Efficacy) and may try to
protect their sense of self - esteem by pretending understanding, avoiding situations that require
performance.

Learners who see value in a goal and have confidence in their abilities (High Efficacy) manifest two
forms of behaviour. Those that perceive little or no support from the environment may be DEFIANT
because the task is important and they are confident of their own abilities. Those who perceive the
environment to be supportive demonstrate the most MOTIVATED behaviour.

VALUE, EXPECTANCY, and ENVIRONMENT interact to produce a range of distinctive learner

behaviours. No single variable is universally deterministic with regard to motivating learners. Changes
in any one dimension can change learners’ levels of motivation and thus alter their behaviours.

INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Connect the Material to Learners’ Interests.
b. Assign problems and tasks that allow learners to see the relevance and value
of abstract concepts and theories. E.g. using case study of economic instability
for illustrating market forces.
c. Show Relevance to learners’ current academic lives. Learners should see value
in relation to their current learning experience.
d. Demonstrate the Relevance of Higher - Level Skills to learners’ future
professional lives. Learners often focus on specific course content without
recognizing how the skills and abilities they develop across courses will
benefit them in their professional lives.
e. Identify and Reward What You Value in the learning process. It is important
to explicitly identify for learner what you value.
f. Ensure Alignment of Objectives, Assessments, and Instructional Strategies
When these are aligned then learner know the goals, and are given
opportunities to practice and get feedback, and are able to show their level
of understanding i.e. learning is supported.
g. Create Assignments That Provide the Appropriate Level of Challenge
h. Provide Early Success Opportunities. Expectations for future performance are
influenced by past experiences and early success can build a sense of efficacy.
i. Specify your course goals clearly to learner so that they know what the
desired outcomes are. Make it clear to learner what you expect them to do.
This will help make the connection between a course of action and a desired
outcome more tangibly, thereby creating a more positive outcome
expectancy.
j. Provide Rubrics. These are a way of explicitly representing performance
expectations and help in directing learner’ behaviours toward intended goals.
k. Provide Timely and Targeted Constructive Feedback
l. Describe Effective Study Strategies
m. Give Learner an Opportunity to Reflect
PRINCIPLE 4:
TO DEVELOP MASTERY, LEARNERS MUST ACQUIRE COMPONENT SKILLS, PRACTICE INTEGRATING
THEM, AND KNOW WHEN TO APPLY WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED.
How Do Learners Develop Mastery?

Successful teamwork requires not only content skills and knowledge, but also an additional and
qualitatively different set of process skills, such as the ability to delegate tasks, coordinate efforts,
resolve conflicts, and synthesize the contributions of group members.
When learners possess the process skills necessary to manage the particular challenges of teamwork,
the quality of work they produce in teams may indeed surpass the quality of the work they do
individually. Tasks that seem simple and straightforward to instructors often involve a complex
combination of skills.

Mastery refers to the attainment of a high degree of competence within a particular area. For leaners
to achieve mastery within a domain they need to develop a set of key component skills, practice them
to the point where they can be combined fluently and used with a fair degree of automaticity, and
know when and where to apply them appropriately.

Sprague and Stuart (2000) describes mastery as a four - stage developmental trajectory from novice
to expert focused on dimensions of:
1. Competence and
2. Consciousness

Unconscious Incompetence: Do not know what they do not know.

Not yet developed skill in a particular domain, nor having sufficient
knowledge to recognize what they need to learn.

Conscious Incompetence: Know what they do not know.

Aware of what they do not know and accordingly of what they need
to learn.
Conscious Competence Having considerable competence still think and act deliberately and
consciously.

Unconscious Competence Exercising the skills and knowledge automatically and instinctively
and no longer consciously aware of what they know or do.

Expert instructors are blind to the learning needs of novice learners, it is known as expert blind spot.
E.g. Master Chef instructing novice cooks to “sauté the vegetables until they are done,” or “cook until
the sauce is a good consistency. Unconscious competence of the expert meeting the unconscious
incompetence of the novice. Instructors are susceptible to expert blind spot.

Avoiding Instructors susceptibility to expert blind spot by becoming consciously aware of three
elements of mastery that learners must develop:
1. The acquisition of key component skills (Component Skill)
2. Practice in integrating them effectively (Integration)
3. Knowledge of when to apply what they have learned (Application)

Component Skill
Component skills for analysing a case study are:
a. Capacity to identify the central question (Theme)
b. Articulate the perspectives of key actors and protagonist
c. Enumerate constraints
d. Describe possible courses of action
e. Recommend and justify a solution.
Component skills for problem solving are:
a. Problem representation
b. Determining an appropriate solution strategy
c. Doing the calculations necessary to execute that strategy
d. Evaluating the result.

If learners lack critical component skills or if their command of those skills is weak, their performance
on the overall task is affected. If instructors identify and reinforce weak component skills through
targeted practice, learners’ performance on the overall task improved significantly. Small amount of
focused practice on key component skills had a profound effect on overall performance.

Should learner practice component skills in isolation or in the context of the whole task?
The advantage to practicing the whole task allows learners to see how the parts fit into the whole.

In order to build new skills systematically and to diagnose weak or missing skills, instructors should
break complex tasks into their component.

Integration:
Mastering complex tasks requires not only the temporary decomposition of subs kills and the
opportunity to practice them separately, but also their eventual re-composition and the opportunity
to practice them in combination. Integrating component skills can be difficult and demanding.

Studies have shown that people’s performance tends to degrade when they are asked to do more
than one task at a time. This deprivation occurs because performing multiple tasks simultaneously
requires attention and processing of a great deal of information, and people have a limit to how much
they can attend to and process at once (Exceeding Cognitive Load)
Cognitive Load is the total information processing demands imposed by a given task or set of tasks.
Experts do not suffer cognitive load as much as novices when performing complex tasks or combining
multiple tasks as they have extensive practice within a confined domain and the key component skills
in their domain is highly practiced and more automated. Each of these highly practiced skills demands
relatively few cognitive resources and that effectively lowers the total cognitive load that experts
experience. Hence experts can perform complex tasks and combine multiple tasks relatively easily.

Experts have high level of fluency in performing key skills, they can do more with what they have.

Learners have yet to achieve the same degree of fluency and automaticity in each of the component
skills, and so they struggle to combine skills that experts combine with relative ease and efficiency.

Instructors, as experts, do not experience the same cognitive load as learners, and they may have
performance expectations for learners that are unrealistically high.

Helping learners manage cognitive load as they learn to perform complex tasks by allowing them to
focus on one skill at a time and giving them the opportunity to develop fluency before they are
required to integrate multiple skills. Reductions in cognitive load effectively promote learning requires
identifying which of the demanding aspects of a task are related to the skills learners need to learn
and which may be distracting from learning goals.

Performing complex tasks can be cognitively demanding for learners, especially when they have not
developed fluency or automaticity in all the component skills.

Application:
Mastery requires component skills and the ability to integrate them successfully. It also requires that
learners know when and where to use what they have learned. The application of skills (or knowledge,
strategies, approaches, or habits) learned in one context to a new context is referred to as TRANSFER.
Transfer is said to be near if the learning context and transfer context are similar, and far when the
learning contexts and transfer context are dissimilar.

Far transfer is the goal of education. Learners should be able to apply what they learned in real life
situations. Research has found that
a. Transfer occurs neither often nor automatically
b. The more dissimilar the learning and transfer contexts, the less likely successful transfer will
occur. In other words learners do not successfully apply relevant skills or knowledge in
unfamiliar contexts

Why transfer fails?

a. Learner associate knowledge too closely with the context in which they originally learned it
and do not know how to apply it outside that context (Over-specificity or Context
dependence).
b. Learners fail to transfer relevant skills, knowledge, or practices when they do not have a robust
understanding of underlying principles i.e. they understand what to do but not why to do?

Transfer does not happen easily or automatically.

It is important to “teach for transfer” by employing instructional strategies that reinforce a robust
understanding of underlying principles, and provide diverse contexts for applying these principles,
which helps learners in making appropriate connections between the knowledge and skills they
possess and new contexts in which those skills can be applied.
Instructors in such circumstances should
a. Decompose complex tasks so as to build learner’ skills more systematically
and to diagnose areas of their weakness.
b. Help learners combine and integrate skills to develop greater automaticity
and fluency.
c. Help learners learn when to apply what they have learned.
d. Avoid the phenomenon of expert blind spot and become conscious aware of
all the component skills and knowledge required for complex tasks.
To determine and identify all the component skills relevant for a particular
task, ask yourself: “What would learner have to know or know how to do in
order to achieve what I am asking of them?” Keep asking this question as you
decompose the task until you have identified all the key component skills.
e. Instructors should avoid the state of “unconscious competence” that makes
it difficult to see the component skills and knowledge that learner must
acquire to perform complex tasks.
f. Learn to decompose complex tasks, such as research papers, oral
presentations, or design projects.
g. Refer journals on teaching in related discipline.
h. Focus Learner’ Attention on Key Aspects of the Task. Communicate learning
goals and priorities for particular assignments by telling learner where to put
their energies and also where not to.
i. Identify Weak or Missing Component Skills. To assess learners’ competence
component skills and knowledge give a diagnostic exam or assignment early
in the semester. If a small number of learner lack key skills then alert them to
this fact and direct them to resources and additional readings to help them
develop these skills on their own.
j. Provide Isolated Practice of Weak or Missing Skills by creating opportunities
such as homework assignments for learners to practice those skills in relative
isolation.
k. Give Learners Practice to Increase Fluency.
l. Temporarily Constrain the Scope of the Task. Minimize cognitive load
temporarily while learners develop greater fluency with component skills or
learn to integrate them. Reduce the size or complexity of the task.
m. Explicitly Include Integration in Performance Criteria.
n. Discuss Conditions of Applicability. Do not assume that learners will
automatically know where or when to apply it. It is important to clearly and
explicitly explain the contexts in which particular skills are or are not
applicable.
o. Give Learners Opportunities to Apply Skills or Knowledge in Diverse Contexts.
Learners practicing application of skills across diverse contexts overcome
context – dependence and are better prepared to transfer that skill to new
contexts.
p. Specify Context and Ask Learners to Identify Relevant Skills or Knowledge
Help learner make connections between problems and the skills and
knowledge they possess by giving them a context a problem, case, or scenario
and asking them to generate knowledge and skills (for instance, rules,
procedures, techniques, approaches, theories, or styles) that are appropriate
to that context by asking “what if” questions.
 q. Specify Skills or Knowledge and Ask Learners to Identify Contexts in Which
They Apply. Help learners in making connections between skills and
knowledge they possess and the applications by specify a particular skill (for
instance, a technique, formula, or procedure) or piece of knowledge (for
example, a theory or rule) and ask learners to generate contexts in which that
skill or knowledge would apply.

To develop mastery learners must acquire a set of component skills, practice combining and
integrating these components to develop greater fluency and automaticity, and then understand the
conditions and contexts in which they can apply what they have learned.

Deliberately regain awareness of these elements of mastery is essential for the instructors so they can
teach their learners more effectively.
PRINCIPLE 5:

GOAL - DIRECTED PRACTICE COUPLED WITH TARGETED FEEDBACK ARE CRITICAL TO LEARNING.
What Kinds of Practice and Feedback Enhance Learning?

Practice is any activity in which learner engage their knowledge or skills

Feedback is information given to learner about their performance that guides future behaviour.

When practice and feedback when focused on the same aspects of performance allows learners to
practice and refine a consistent body of new knowledge and skill.

Practice produces observed performance that facilitate targeted feedback, and the feedback guides
further practice.

Research shows that learning and performance are nurtured when learners engage in practice that:

a. Focuses on a specific goal or criterion for performance

b. Targets an appropriate level of challenge relative to learners current performance, and
c. Is of sufficient quantity and frequency to meet the performance criteria.

The amount of time someone spends in deliberate practice is what predicts continued learning in a
given field, rather than time spent in more generic practice (Ericsson, Krampe, Tescher - Romer,
2003).

Key features of deliberate practice involves working toward specific goals. Goals provide learners with
a focus for their learning, which leads to more time and energy going to that area of focus.

A key challenge in goal - directed practice is that instructors often think they are conveying specific
goals to learners when, in fact, they are not. This is natural because instructors as experts see things
very differently from learners.
Explicitly communication of goals for learner’s performance should ensure that those goals support
learners in what they need to do and learn.

The benefits of practice accrue gradually and the knowledge or skill gained by a given amount of
additional practice often depends on where the student is in his or her learning process. The early and
late phases of learning tend to show relatively little effect of practice relative to the middle phase.

Unequal Effects of Practice on Performance

For achieving the most effective learning, learners need practice on a specific goal or set of goals at
an appropriate level of challenge.

Goal - directed practice must be coordinated with targeted feedback in order to promote the greatest
learning gains. The purpose of feedback is to help learners achieve a desired level of performance.
Like a map provides key information about a traveller’s current position helping him or her find an
efficient route to a destination, effective feedback provides information about a learner’s current
state of knowledge and performance that guides him or her in working toward the learning goal. In
other words, effective feedback can tell learners what they are or are not understanding, and where
their performance is going well or poorly, and how they should direct their subsequent efforts.

Timing and content of the feedback can make the learnings different. Feedback should communicate
to learners where they are comparative to the stated goals and what they need to do to improve.

Feedback is more effective when it identifies particular aspects of learner’ performance they need to
improve rather than providing a generic evaluation of performance. The targeted feedback gives
learner prioritized information about how their performance does or does not meet the criteria so
they can understand how to improve their future performance.

The feedback must:

a. Focus learner on the key knowledge and skills that they are expected to learn
b. Be provided at a time and frequency when learner will be most likely to use it
c. Be linked to additional practice opportunities for learner.
INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:
a. Conduct a prior knowledge assessment for gauging learners’ strengths and weaknesses
for better targeting their practice at the right level (based on where they are, not where
you wish they were).
b. Articulate learning goals clearly (in course syllabus and with each specific assignment), so
learners know the expectations and can use them to guide their practice.
c. Create Multiple Opportunities for Practice as learning accumulates gradually with
practice. Give multiple assignments of shorter length or smaller scope as they tend to
result in more learning than a single assignment of great length or large scope.
d. Set Expectations about practice. Provide learner with guidelines for the amount, type, and
level of practice required to master the knowledge or skills.
e. Show Learner What You Do Not want them to do.
f. For giving targeted feedback, look for Patterns of Errors in learners work.
g. In your feedback balance Strengths and Weaknesses. Learner are often unaware of the
progress they are making, so communicating them the areas where they are doing well or
have improved is just as important as communicating to them the areas where they lack
understanding or need further improvement.
h. Design Frequent Opportunities to Give Feedback
PRINCIPLE 6:
SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND INTELLECTUAL CLIMATE IMPACTS LEARNING
Why Do Learner Development and Course Climate Matter for Learning?

Unanticipated social and emotional dynamics complicates the learning experience.

As educators we are primarily concerned with fostering intellectual and creative skills in our learners,
but we must recognize that learners are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and
that these dimensions interact within the learning environment influencing learning and performance.

Interactive Effect of Development and Course Climate on Learning

A negative climate may impede learning and performance, but a positive climate can energize learner’
learning (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991).

Student - centred teaching requires teaching learner, not content.

It is important to recognize the complex set of social, emotional, and intellectual challenges that
college learner face. Recognition of these challenges helps in considering the implications of student
development for teaching and learning by creating more productive learning environments.

Various aspects of course climate - the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical environments also
influence student learning. Course Climate can be either good (inclusive, productive & conducive) or
bad (unproductive, marginalizing).

Course climate is also about how the instructor communicates with learner, the level of
hospitableness that learner perceive, and the more general range of inclusion and comfort that
learner experience.

Learning happens in course and classroom context where intellectual pursuits interface with socio-
emotional issues.
INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:
a. Resist a Single Right Answer by asking learners to articulate their perspective before.
b. Use assignments with multiple correct solutions.
c. Examine and question assumptions about learner as assumptions influence interaction
with learner, which impacts their learning.
d. Avoid using Low - Ability Cues (I’ll be happy to help you with this because I know girls have
trouble with math).
e. Do Not Ask Individuals to Speak for an Entire Group
f. Creating an effective learning climate includes making learner feel recognized as
individuals by the instructors. Learn learner’ names and address them respectfully.
g. Model Inclusive Language, Behaviour, and Attitudes.
h. Use Multiple and Diverse Relatable Examples.
i. Establish and Reinforce Rules for Interaction to assure that learners are being inclusive
and respectful and learn to create an effective learning climate that promotes learner’
development.
j. Use the well laid out syllabus in the beginning of Class to Establish the Course Climate.
k. Anticipate and Prepare for Potentially Sensitive Issues
l. Turn Discord and Tension into a Learning Opportunity. Learners need to learn that debate,
tension, discord, and cognitive dissonance are all opportunities to expanding perspective,
for better understanding opposing views, and however these can often overshadow
rational thinking. Work to continually shape classroom climate. Do not foreclose a
discussion rather, funnel those emotions into useful dialogue.
m. Facilitate Active Listening
PRINCIPLE 7:
TO BECOME SELF - DIRECTED LEARNERS, LEARNER MUST LEARN TO ASSESS THE DEMANDS OF THE
TASK, EVALUATE THEIR OWN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS, PLAN THEIR APPROACH, MONITOR THEIR
PROGRESS, AND ADJUST THEIR STRATEGIES AS NEEDED
How Do Learner Become Self – Directed Learners?

Learners often have their difficulties in accurately assessing their own learning and performance, and
fail to adapt their approaches to the current situation. As a result their learning and performance
suffer.
In other words learners are weak in applying metacognitive skills to direct their own learnings
(Shortcomings in meta-cognition). Metacognition refers to the process of reflecting on and directing
ones’ own thinking (National Research Council, 2001, p. 78).

Meta-cognitive skills are critical to being an effective self - directed (also called self - regulated or
lifelong) learner. Meta-cognitive skills become more and more important at higher levels of education
and in professional life. Unfortunately meta-cognitive skills falls outside the content of most courses,
and are neglected in instruction. Helping learner to improve their metacognitive skills can hold
enormous benefits.

Cycle of basic metacognitive overlapping processes in which learners:

a. ASSESS the task taking into consideration the task’s goals and constraints
b. EVALUATE their own knowledge and skills, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
c. PLAN their approach for the situation
d. APPLY strategies to enact their plan, monitoring their progress along the way.
e. REFLECT on the extent to which their current approach is working so that they can adjust
and restart the cycle as needed.
Assessing the task is not always a natural or easy one for learner. Mostly Learner inappropriately
assess the task despite the instructor’s efforts toward giving clear directions
When learner submit work that misses the point of an assignment, faculty often ask themselves in
bewilderment: Did they even read the assignment? In fact, your learner may not have or, if they did, they may
have failed to accurately assess what they were supposed to do, perhaps making assumptions about the task
based on their previous educational experiences.

Learner generally have the difficulty in recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, and appear
to be poor judges of their own knowledge and skills. Research suggests that the learner with weaker
knowledge and skills are less able to assess their abilities than learner with stronger skills.

Difficulties in assessing the task and the abilities compromises the capacity to plan effectively. Lack of
planning waste much time because of the false start by taking steps that did not lead to a correct
solution.

Applying Strategies and Monitoring Performance means learners need to ask themselves, Is the
strategy working or would another one be more productive? Without effectively monitoring progress,
learners may continue to apply an ineffective strategy and consequently waste time and achieve poor
outcomes.

Self-Monitoring and Self - Explanation activities are essential for greater learning gains.
Learners who monitor their progress and try to explain to themselves what they are learning generally
show greater learning gains.

Research shows a positive relationship between natural self - monitoring and learning effectiveness.

Whether teaching learner to self - monitor actually improves learner’ learning.

Research indicates that Learner who were taught or prompted to monitor their own understanding or
to explain to themselves what they were learning had greater learning gains relative to learner who
were not given any monitoring instruction (Bielaczyc, Pirolli, & Brown, 1995).

Research shows that good problem solvers try new strategies if their current strategy is not working,
whereas poor problem solvers continues to use a strategy even after it has failed. This happens if the
perceived cost of switching to a new approach is too high. Such costs include the time and effort it
takes to change habits, So, busy or procrastination - prone learner may be unwilling to put in an up -
front investment in making a change. Learner will tend not to adopt newly learned strategies unless
the perceived benefits clearly outweigh the perceived costs, especially the costs of effort and time.

Learner tend not to apply metacognitive skills as often as they should. This implies that learner will
often need our support in learning, refining, and effectively applying basic metacognitive skills.

Learner need significant practice at task assessment and planning and application of those skills.

INSTRUCTORS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD:

a. Be More Explicit Than You May Think Necessary.
b. Tell Learner What You Do Not Want
c. Check Learner’ Understanding of the Task
d. Provide Performance Criteria (the criteria that will be used to evaluate learner’ work) with
the Assignment.
e. Provide Learner Opportunities for Self – Assessment
f. Provide learner with time line for deliverables that reflects the way that you would plan
the stages of work. (A model for effective planning).
g. Have Learner Do Guided Self – Assessments (assessing their own work against a set of
criteria provided)
h. Use Peer Review/Reader Response Have learner analyse their classmates’ work and
provide feedback.
i. Provide Activities That Require Learner to Reflect on Their Performances. They may
answer questions such as:
a. What did they learnt from doing this project?
b. What skills do they need to work on?
c. How have their skills evolved across the assignments?
Self -reflective step gives learner an opportunity to assess their own strengths and
weaknesses and to build their metacognitive skills
j. Allow Learner to Analyse the Effectiveness of Their Study Skills
When learner learn to reflect on the effectiveness of their own approach, they are able to
identify problems and make the necessary adjustments.
Example of a self – reflective activity is an EXAM WRAPPER
Exam wrappers are typically short hand-outs that learner complete after every exam.
Exam wrappers guide learner through a brief analysis of their own performance on an
exam by asking learner to relate their performance to various features such as:
a. What types of errors they made (Mathematical/Conceptual)
b. How they studied (Looked over/ Worked multiple problems)
c. What they will do differently in preparation for the next exam
When learner complete and submit exam wrappers after one exam, their responses can
be returned to them before the next exam so they have a ready reminder of what they
learned from their prior exam experience that can help them study more effectively.
k. Create Assignments That Focus on Strategizing rather Than Implementation by asking to
assess the applicability of different formulas, methodologies for a given problem or task.

l. Model Your Metacognitive Processes by show how you yourself would approach an
assignment and walk them through the various phases of your metacognitive process.
Describe the way you would assess the task (I like to begin by asking what the central
problem is and considering the audience) and assess your own strengths and weaknesses
in relation to the task (I have a pretty good handle on the basic concepts, but I don’t yet
know what recent research has been done on the subject). Then lay out your plan of action
explicitly, articulating the various steps that you would undertake to complete the
assignment (I would start by browsing the relevant journals online, then create a set of
exploratory sketches, then … ).
Include in your modelling some discussion of how you evaluate and monitor your progress
by asking these kinds of questions to ensure that you are on the right path (Could I be
solving this problem more efficiently? or Am I making correct assumptions). It is especially
helpful for learner to see that how you reassess and adjust.

Lastly show them how you would evaluate the finished product (I would revisit the original
goal of the project and ask myself whether I satisfied it or I would ask a friend of mine
with some knowledge of the subject matter to read my essay and point out logical
inconsistencies).
m. Scaffold Learner in Their Metacognitive Processes
Scaffolding refers to the process by which instructors provide learner with cognitive
supports early in their learning, and then gradually remove them as learner develop
greater mastery and sophistication.
CONCLUSION:
APPLYING THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES TO OURSELVES

These interconnected principles helps in predicting a wide range of learning behaviours and
accordingly assist in the design of courses and classroom pedagogy.

Many of the problems learner encounter when learning arise from the interaction and interplay of
intellectual, social, and emotional factors. Hence it is advised to consider a pedagogical design that
addresses all these aspects.

These principles of learning equally apply to instructors as well because, when it comes to teaching,
most of us are still learning have not received formal training in pedagogy. Teaching should constantly
adapt to changing parameters. Learning is a process of progressive refinement.

The Cognitive Load - Multidimensional task of teaching involves:

a. The ability to facilitate productive and engaging discussions
b. The ability to pose appropriate questions
c. The ability to listen empathetically
d. The ability of maintaining the flow
e. The ability of respectfully correcting the misconceptions
f. The ability of managing time effectively and many more.

Developing mastery in teaching is a learning process, and requires the connection of PRACTICE and
FEEDBACK. As discussed Practice to be effective should be focused on clear goals. Setting appropriate
goals for teaching is guided by timely and frequent feedback to know what aspects of courses are and
are not working.

End Semester feedback is not effective. The best feedback is FORMATIVE FEEDBACK throughout the
semester. It helps in determining what learner have learned and what is unclear, so instructors can
focus the class more effectively to meet the learning needs of the learner. Formative feedback
increases student motivation and self-directed learning and help them to become self-directed
learners. Formative feedback techniques include many interactive classroom activities, homework
and surveys.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Learning objectives communicate the knowledge and skills that learner should be able to acquire by
the end of the course or after completing a particular assignment.

Learning objectives communicate instructors’ intentions to learner by giving learner information to

better direct their learning efforts and monitor their own progress.

Learning objectives provide a framework for selecting and organizing course content, and guide
appropriate assessment and evaluation methods.

Learning Objective provide a framework for selecting appropriate teaching and learning activities

Elements of Learning Objectives:

1. Should be Student centred
Should be stated as Learner should be able to….
2. Should break the task and focus on specific cognitive processes.
Should involve synthesis of Component skills such WRITING as a skill has component skills like
Identifying argument, Enlisting appropriate evidence, Organizing paragraphs.
3. Should use action verbs
Should focus on concrete actions and behaviours that can make student learning explicit, and
communicate to learner the kind of intellectual effort they need to put in.
Refer to Benjamin Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives (1956) representing six levels of
Intellectual behaviour: (Remember – Understand – Apply – Analyse – Evaluate - Create)
4. Should be measurable
Should be able to check the level of mastery of skill

ACTION VERBS FOR BLOOM'S TAXANOMY

REMEMBER UNDERSTAND APPLY ANALYSE EVALUATE CREATE

Break
Arrange Associate Calculate down Appraise Assemble
Define Classify Construct Combine Argue Build
Describe Compare Demonstrate Compare Assess Compose
Duplicate Contrast Develop Contrast Check Construct
Identify Describe Employ Debate Conclude Design
Label Differentiate Estimate Diagram Critique Formulate
List Discuss Examine Examine Detect Generate
Locate Exemplify Execute Experiment Judge Integrate
Name Explain Formulate Extrapolate Justify Produce
Recall Infer Implement Formulate Monitor Propose
Recite Interpret Modify Illustrate Rank Rearrange
Recognize Paraphrase Sketch Organize Rate Set up
Reproduce Restate Solve Predict Recommend Transform
Select Summarize Use Question Select
State Translate Test
GROUND RULES:
Ground rules help to maintain a productive classroom environment by clearly defining set of expected
behaviours for classroom conduct. Ground rules can be set by the instructor or created by the learner
themselves. Ground rules should reflect the objectives of the course.

Ground Rules for DISCUSSIONS

1. Listen actively and attentively.
2. Ask for clarification if you are confused
3. Do not interrupt one another.
4. Challenge one another, but do so respectfully.
5. Criticize ideas, not people.
6. Do not offer opinions without supporting evidence.
7. Avoid put - downs (even humorous ones).
8. Take responsibility for the quality of the discussion.
9. Build on one another’s comments (Shared understanding).
10. Always have your book or readings in front of you.
11. Speak from your own experience, without generalizing.
12. If you are offended by anything said during discussion, acknowledge it immediately.
13. Use laptops only for legitimate class activities (note - taking, assigned tasks).
14. Do not leave class early
15. Ask questions if you are confused.
16. Try not to distract or annoy your classmates.
17. Arrive on time.
18. Turn your cell phone off.

EXAM WRAPPER:
Exam wrappers direct learner to review and analyse their performance (and the instructor’s feedback)
for better adapting their future learning when they get back their graded exams. This encourages
learner to think why they earned the score they did (what kinds of errors they made, how their
performance might relate to their approach to studying) and how they might do better next time.

Exam wrappers are returned to learner for structured discussion. Learner are asked to reread their
own exam wrapper responses from the previous exam and reflect on how they might implement their
own advice or the instructor’s advice for trying a better approach to studying for the upcoming exam.

Exam Wrappers are designed to give learner a chance to reflect on their exam performance and, on
the effectiveness of their exam preparation
 RUBRICS AND THEIR APPLICATION:
Rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly represents the performance expectations for an assignment or
piece of work. A rubric divides the assigned work into component parts and provides clear descriptions
of different levels of quality associated with each component.

Rubrics can be used as scoring or grading guides, and to provide formative feedback to support and
guide ongoing learning efforts.

Grading according to an explicit and descriptive set of criteria (designed to reflect the weighted
importance of the objectives of the assignment) helps ensure that the grading standards remain
consistent across a given assignment.

SAMPLE:
1. R1: CLASS PARTICIPATION
Frequency & Quality

A (Exemplary) Attends class regularly and always

contributes to the discussion by raising
thoughtful questions, analysing relevant
issues, building on others ’ ideas,
synthesizing across readings and discussions,
expanding the class’ perspective, and
appropriately challenging assumptions and
perspectives.

B (Competent) Attends class regularly and sometimes

contributes to the discussion in the
aforementioned ways.

C (Developing) Attends class regularly but rarely contributes

to the discussion in the aforementioned
ways

D/R Attends class regularly but never contributes

to the discussion in the aforementioned
ways.

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