Characteristics of learning & learning principals

By Mr. Tariq Saleem Ghayyur, Department of Education

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING
As a good teacher you need a good understanding of the general characteristics of learning in order to
apply them in a learning situation. If learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience, then
instruction must include a careful and systematic creation of those experiences that promote learning.
This process can be quite complex because, among other things, an individual’s background strongly
influences the way that person learns. To be effective, the learning situation also should be purposeful,
based on experience, multifaceted, and involve an active process.
LEARNING IS PURPOSEFUL
Each student sees a learning situation from a different viewpoint. Each student is a unique
individual whose past experiences affect readiness to learn and under- standing of the requirements
involved. One student may learn quickly and be able to competently present the assigned material.
Most people have fairly definite ideas about what they want to do and achieve. Their goals
sometimes are short term, involving a matter of days or weeks. On the other hand, their goals may be
carefully planned for a career or a lifetime. Each student has specific intentions and goals. Some
may be shared by other students. Students learn from any activity that tends to further their goals.
Their individual needs and attitudes may determine what they learn as much as what the teacher is
trying to get them to learn. In the process of learning, the student’s goals are of paramount
significance.
LEARNING IS A RESULT OF EXPERIENCE

Since learning is an individual process, the teacher cannot do it for the student. The student can learn
only from p er s o na l e xp er ie nc es ; t he re fo re , l ea rn in g an d knowledge cannot exist apart from a
person. A person’s knowledge is a result of experience, and no two people have had identical
experiences. Even when observing the same event, two people react differently; they learn different
things from it, according to the manner in which t he s it ua ti on a ff ec ts th ei r i nd iv id u a l
n ee d s . Previous experience conditions a person to respond to some things and to ignore others.
All learning is by experience, but learning takes place in different forms and in varying degrees of
richness and depth.
LEARNING IS MULTIFACETED

Students may learn much more than expected if they fully exercise their minds and feelings. The fact that

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these items were not included in the teacher’s plan does not prevent them from influencing the learning
situation.
Psychologists sometimes classify learning by types, such as verbal, conceptual, perceptual, motor,
problem solving, and emotional. Other classifications refer to intellectual skills, cognitive strategies,
and attitudinal changes, along with descriptive terms like surface or deep learning.
Each student approaches the task with preconceived ideas and feelings, and for many students, these
ideas change as a result of experience. Therefore, the learning process may include verbal elements,
conceptual elements, perceptual elements, emotional elements, and problem solving elements all
taking place at once. This aspect of learning will become more evident later in this hand- book when
lesson planning is discussed.
Learning is multifaceted in still another way. While learning the subject at hand, students may be
learning other things as well. They may be developing attitudes about Mathematics or Science—good
or bad—depending on what they experience. Under a skillful teacher, they may learn self-reliance.
The list is seemingly endless. This type of learning is sometimes referred to as incidental, but it may
have a great impact on the total development of the student.
LEARNING IS AN ACTIVE PROCESS

Students do not soak up knowledge like a sponge absorbs water. The teacher cannot assume that
students remember something just because they were in the classroom, shop, or airplane when the
teacher presented t h e m a t e r i a l . Neither ca n t he te ac he r assume that the students can apply
what they know because they can quote the correct answer verbatim. For students to learn, they need
to react and respond, perhaps outwardly, perhaps only inwardly, emotionally, or intellectually. But if
learning is a process of changing behavior, clearly that process must be an active one.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
READINESS
Individuals learn best when they are ready to learn, and they do not learn well if they see no reason
for learning. Getting students ready to learn is usually the teacher’s responsibility. If students have
a strong purpose, a clear objective, and a definite reason for learning something, they make more
progress than if they lack motivation. Readiness implies a degree of single-mindedness and
eagerness. When students are ready to learn, they meet the teacher at least halfway, and this simplifies
the teacher’s job.

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EXERCISE
The principle of exercise states that those things most often repeated are best remembered. It is the
basis of drill and practice. The human memory is fallible. The mind can rarely retain, evaluate, and
apply new concepts or practices after a single exposure.
EFFECT

The principle of effect is based on the emotional reaction of the student. It states that learning is
strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling, and that learning is weakened
when associated with an unpleasant feeling. Experiences that produce feelings of defeat, frustration ,
ang er, co nf us ion, or futility are unpleasant for the student. If, for example, a teacher attempts to
teach landings during the first flight, the student is likely to feel inferior and be frustrated.
Whatever the learning situation, it should contain elements that affect the students positively and give
them a feeling of satisfaction.
PRIMACY
Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable, impression. For the
teacher, this means that what is taught must be right the first time. For the student, it means that
learning must be right. Unteaching is more difficult than teaching.

Every student should be started right. The first experience should be positive, functional, and lay
the foundation for all that is to follow.
INTENSITY
A vivid, d r amatic , or exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring
experience. A student is likely to gain greater understanding of slow flight and stalls by performing
them rather than merely reading about them. The principle of intensity implies that a student will
learn more from the real thing than from a substitute.
RECENCY
The p r i n c i p l e o f r e c e n c y states t h a t t h i n g s m o s t recently learned are best remembered.
Conversely, the further a student is removed time-wise from a new fact or understanding, the more
difficult it is to remember.