Study Guide in Prof.Ed.

103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

Module No. 3

Unit 3- Focus on Learning

MODULE OVERVIEW

Because focus is the key to all aspects of thinking, including perception, memory, learning,
reasoning, problem solving, and decision making, it is critical. All areas of your ability to think
will suffer if you don’t have good attention. Here’s the truth: if you can’t focus properly, you won’t
be able to think effectively. The ones that are more boring, challenging, or simply less pleasurable
are the ones that cause learners to lose concentration. This ability to focus and maintain attention
on a variety of tasks is critical because it allows students to learn and progress, which leads to
increased self-confidence and self-esteem.
Teachers devote time and effort to design lessons, based on standards and guided by curriculum
and instructional resources, only to be faced with resistance and apathy. We attempt to keep up
with changes in education; but the pieces often remain disjointed and unconnected. Maybe it’s only
a matter of shifting our emphasis. Have we thought about how our lessons would appear from the
other side of the desk?
Time is the constant in a traditional classroom paradigm, while learning is the variable. That is,
every student receives the same training for a similar amount of time. The results are, predictably,
a bell curve. Some pupils comprehend the material thoroughly, while the majority have a moderate
level of comprehension, and a few do not. Learning has been the desired constant since the
introduction of standards, yet one of the most fundamental variables, time, has never been altered.
Of all these programs, this is one in which any member in the community can help?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the focus of learning through a behaviorist perspective.

2. Elucidate the meaning of learning through a cognitive perspective.
3. Identify the Cognitive Processes.

LEARNING CONTENTS

A. Behaviorist Perspective
Behaviorism is a branch of psychology concerned with watching and evaluating the effects
of controlled environmental changes on human behavior. The purpose of behavioristic teaching
methods is to influence a subject’s observable behavior by manipulating the subject’s surroundings
– whether it’s a person or an animal. Learning is defined wholly by this change in the subject’s
observable behavior, according to behaviorists. In the learning process, the subject’s role is to be
acted upon by the environment; the subject makes associations between stimuli and modifies
behavior depending on those relationships. The teacher’s job is to control the environment in order
to induce desirable behavioral changes.
1. Behaviorism: Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner

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Study Guide in Prof.Ed.103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

Pavlov’s work on conditional reflexes had a significant impact on behaviorism. Three

major tenets of behaviorism are demonstrated in his experiments: The environment teaches us how
to behave. The dogs learned to salivate when they heard a tone when their surroundings repeatedly
presented the tone with food; behavior must be visible. Because he observed the dogs salivating in
reaction to the sound of a tone, Pavlov reasoned that learning was taking place; and All behaviors
are a product of the stimulus-response formula. The dogs did not respond to the sound of a tone
until it was associated with the presentation of food, at which point they naturally increased saliva
production. These beliefs laid the groundwork for behaviorism, which would be built upon by
subsequent scientists.
Thorndike’s work in pioneering the law of effect is a second key contribution to the field.
This law argues that conduct that produces favorable results is likely to be repeated, while behavior
that produces negative effects is likely to fade away with time. Thorndike’s puzzle box tests
backed up this theory: animals were conditioned to complete tasks that resulted in rewards on a
regular basis.
Skinner was a psychologist who had a lasting impact on the evolution of behaviorism.
When examining behavior, Skinner argued that internal processes such as thoughts and emotions
should be taken into account. Radical behaviorism combines thoughts and acts with behaviors.
Internal processes, such as observable behavior, he felt, could be influenced by environmental
influences and thus studied scientifically. Applied behavior analysis is the application of radical
behaviorism’s principles.
2. Neo-Behaviorism: Tolman and Bandura
Neo Behaviorism – Transitional group, bridging the gap between behaviorism and
cognitive theories of learning.
Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism is also known as Sign Learning Theory and is frequently
used to bridge the gap between behaviorism and cognitive theory. Tolman considered learning to
be a cognitive process. Learning entails forming beliefs and acquiring knowledge about the
environment, which is subsequently shown through deliberate and goal-directed action. Bandura’s
Social Learning Theory focuses on learning that takes place in a social setting. People learn from
one another in a variety of ways, including observational learning, imitation, and modeling.
B. Cognitive Perspective
1. Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt is a German word that roughly translates to “configuration,” or the process of
putting elements together to produce a whole object. Holism, or the idea that the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts, is a key Gestalt psychology belief. Gestalt psychology is a school of
thought that takes a holistic approach to the human mind and behavior. Gestalt psychology says
that we do not merely focus on every minute component while trying to make sense of the world
around us. Our minds, on the other hand, tend to see objects as parts of a larger total and as
components of more sophisticated systems.
2. Information Processing
Information Processing Theory is a cognitive theory that examines how data is stored in our
memories. The theory explains how our brains filter information from what we’re paying attention
to right now to what gets stored in our short-term or working memory, and then into long-term
memory. The premise of Information Processing Theory is that long-term memory is formed in
stages: first, we perceive something through our sensory memory, which includes everything we
can see, hear, feel, or taste in a given moment; then, we use our short-term memory to remember
things for very short periods of time, such as a phone number; and finally, long-term memory is
permanently stored in our brain.
3. Gagne’s Condition of Learning
According to this notion, there are various types or levels of learning. The importance of
these classifications is that they require distinct sorts of education for each category. Verbal

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Study Guide in Prof.Ed.103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, physical skills, and attitudes are the five major
areas of learning identified by Gagne. Each type of learning necessitates different internal and
external variables. For instance, in order to learn cognitive methods, the learner must have the
opportunity to practice creating new problem-solving strategies; in order to acquire attitudes, the
student must be exposed to a credible role model or convincing arguments.
4. Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning/ Subsumption Theory
The learner absorbs new knowledge by connecting it to previously learned concepts and
ideas. Rather than creating an altogether new cognitive structure, they can connect it to information
already stored in their minds. When an idea is forgotten, it’s simply because the exact specifics and
accompanying thoughts get lost in the shuffle and can’t be distinguished from other bits of data.
Meaningful learning, according to this theory, can only occur until the submerged cognitive
structures have fully matured.
5. Bruner’s Constructivist Theory
Bruner’s constructivism theory incorporates the idea of learning as an active process in
which individuals studying are able to generate new ideas based on both their present and previous
knowledge. A cognitive structure is described as the mental processes that allow a learner to
organize and extract meaning from their experiences. These cognitive structures enable the learner
to build new concepts beyond the knowledge provided. The learner, who is frequently a youngster,
will organize bits and pieces of their previous knowledge and experiences to make sense of what
they know, then build new concepts and solve new issues based on a combination of what they’ve
already processed and what they think should be processed next.
C. Cognitive Processes
1. Constructivism: Knowledge Construction/Concept Learning
A theory on how individuals learn based on observation and scientific research. People
develop their own understanding and knowledge of the world by experiencing things and reflecting
on those experiences.
2. Transfer of Learning
The influence of learning in one context on learning in another context is commonly
referred to as being cross-contextual. It’s focused with how a given school topic (e.g., English)
effects learning in another subject (e.g., science).
3. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Revised).
Revised Bloom’s taxonomy uses improved terminology to emphasize students’ learning
outcomes. The emphasis on two learning domains that make up educational objectives is referred
to as revised Bloom’s taxonomy: cognitive (knowledge) and emotional (feelings) (attitude).
Remember, comprehend, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create are the six levels of the new
taxonomy. These verbs refer to the cognitive processes that learners go through as well as the
knowledge they use.
4. Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model
WICS is for Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized, and it is the general model
for liberal education. The basic idea is that citizens of the world require creativity to form a vision
of where they want to go and to cope with environmental change, analytical intelligence to
determine whether their creative ideas are good, practical intelligence to put their ideas into action
and persuade others of their value, and wisdom to ensure that the ideas will help achieve some
ethnic goal.
5. Problem Solving and Creativity
When we view problem-solving as a skill, we must consider how we arrive at solutions.
Are our learners capable of identifying solutions that aren’t immediately apparent, or are they
locked in a cycle of simplistic, linear thinking? Here’s when your imagination comes into play.
One of the most prevalent complaints educators hear from kids is that they “simply aren’t creative
that way!” When students think about creativity, they frequently think of the arts. They imagine

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Study Guide in Prof.Ed.103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

Michelangelo creating a masterpiece, J.K. Rowlings penning a Harry Potter novel, or John Lennon
penning a timeless hit song. Most people define creativity as coming up with novel, interesting,
distinctive, or out-of-the-box ideas. While this is a common understanding of creativity, there is
more to the concept than that. Creativity is a skill for coming up with fresh or original ideas, and
when we combine it with problem-solving, we have a very effective educational system for
preparing children for success.

LEARNING POINTS

Participants who concentrate on learning will be able to improve their abilities to:
· Create and maintain a welcoming learning environment that encourages and engages a varied
range of students.
· Plan and supervise learning activities that contribute to the accomplishment of learning outcomes
and optimize the potential for success of all learners using a variety of tactics and technologies.
· Create lesson plans that are aligned with course outlines and lead to desired learning goals.
· Students’ achievement of learning outcomes can be assessed using a range of evaluation
techniques and strategies.
· Contribute to a learning environment that values lifelong learning, taking risks, reflective
practice, and peer support.
· Create a personal professional development plan to help you improve your teaching and learning
practice.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Write TRUE if the statement corresponds to the correct meaning. Write FALSE if the

statement is incorrect and underline the word/s or phrase/s that makes the statement false.
1. Behaviorism is a branch of psychology concerned with watching and evaluating the effects of
controlled environmental changes on human behavior.
2. Pavlov’s work on conditional reflexes had a significant impact on behaviorism.
3. Skinner argued that internal processes such as thoughts and emotions should be taken into
account.
4. Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism is also known as Sign Learning Theory and is frequently
used to bridge the gap between behaviorism and cognitive theory.
5. Gestalt psychology says that we do not merely focus on every minute component while trying
to make sense of the world around us.
6. The information processing theory explains how our brains filter information from what
we’re paying attention to right now to what gets stored in our short-term or working memory,
and then into long-term memory.
7. Meaningful learning, according to Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning/ Subsumption theory, can
only occur until the submerged cognitive structures have fully matured.
8. Bruner’s constructivism theory incorporates the idea of learning as an active process in which
individuals studying can generate new ideas based on both their present and previous
knowledge.
9. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy uses improved terminology to emphasize students’ learning

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Study Guide in Prof.Ed.103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

outcomes. 
10. WICS is for Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized

REFERENCES

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D. (2020, August 3). Neo Behaviorism - PHDessay.com. Free Essays - PhDessay.Com.

https://phdessay.com/neo-behaviorism/

Cherry, K. (2021, August 5). What Is the Gestalt Approach In Psychology?

Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-gestalt-psychology-2795808

Lawless, C. (2021, September 3). What is Information Processing Theory?: Using it

in Your Corporat Training. LearnUpon. https://www.learnupon.com/blog/what-
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Gagne’s Conditions of Learning (1985) | ELN Blog. (2021, January 1). ELN Blog.
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Pappas, C. (2019, May 14). Applying Ausubel’s Subsumption Theory In eLearning.

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PsychOpen. (2016, August 19). Positive Contributions of Constructivism to

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construction-concept-learning-tea ching

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Study Guide in Prof.Ed.103-Facilitating Learner Centered-Teaching Module 1: Unit 3-- Focus on Laerning

Transfer of learning. (2016, May 23). International Bureau of Education.

http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/glossary-curriculum-terminology/t/transfer-learning

Top Hat. (2019, September 16). Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Definition and Meaning.
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Sternberg, R. J. (2005). The WICS Model of Giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E.

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Mangubat, L. (2017, March 13). On Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence Theory. Online

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successful-intelligence-theory/amp/?
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Cummins, K. (2020, December 4). Creative problem solving tools and skills for students
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%2Fcreative-problem-solving-tools-and-skill s-for-students-and-teachers

Prepared by : DR. GLORIA M. CAPANANG

Faculty, Professional Education Dept.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 6