Learning
involves both cognitive and social processes. It is cognitive because it
involves attention, perception, reasoning, analyzing, making interpretations,
and eventually giving meaning to the observed phenomena.
Learning is a social process because we are
exposed to feelings and experiences of the world that influence our ideas,
concepts, and understanding of the world.
We
have different capacities and interests in learning. Each person in our home
has a unique ability. One child may be good at academics, but another may be
good at sports and win gold medals. We are good at some tasks and bad at
others.
Learning
is influenced by two categories of factors. Both personal and environmental.
Personal factors include motivation, ability, and interests. Environmental factors include societal,
economic, and cultural. The common system has two factors that operate. The
environment gives context to both personal and environmental factors.
Let us understand the factors in detail.
· Intelligence
Intelligence is not a universally
accepted definition. Intelligence is
defined in operations terms. It is the ability to problem-solving, think,
reason, relate to others, develop interests, sense of right and wrong, and
living in consonance with our environment.
Intelligence is the capacity to solve
problems and to create products that are valued in society. The idea of a
single intelligence is faulty because humans have several different bits of
intelligence that operate from different areas of the brain. He said that
different people have different combinations of intelligence. The seven
different bits of intelligence are Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Musical,
Spatial, Bodily-kinesthetic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal Intelligence.
·
Goal
Setting goals will give us direction. Our motivation is
influenced by the type of goals we set. If we set immediate goals like passing
the exam, then our learning is temporary, and we forget everything after the
exam. If a student sets long-term goals like becoming a doctor or an officer,
then it helps to reach newer heights and contribute positively to life. Improvement
in learning and performance are directly proportional to goals. It helps to
direct our attention to the learning on hand, it increases our persistence at
the learning on hand, and it helps us to adopt new strategies when old
strategies fail. The future vision that the
student constructs motivates him to learn and maintain the persistence to
achieve that goal.
·
Aptitude:
A person can do a task. Some children are good at mathematics
naturally while others need a lot of hard work to perform well in mathematics. Some children are good at drawing and painting
while others are good at sports and games. An aptitude test can be used to find out a
person's ability to do a job. A child's ability to perform in number crunching,
verbal reasoning, and spatial skills can be found by taking an aptitude test.
If a child has a high score in spatial ability, then he/she may be suitable for
a career in architecture or civil engineering.
·
Interests:
The need structure of an
individual leads to interest. Everyone has a different need structure. A
teenager with a need for play may learn a lot through the play approach. A
teenager needs to face challenges, and mathematics may be the subject that will
help him overcome them.
· Motivation
The internal state of motivation arouses and
maintains behavior. Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation are two types of
motivation. It's important to encourage a teenager to use his/her inner
resources, sense of competence, and self-esteem.
· Readiness to learn and maturation
Every person should be able to learn a
specific skill at an appropriate time. When the physical and intellectual
aspects of development have advanced enough to allow one to see the problem and
solve it, is the appropriate time.
Example: The neural aspects of
development have not advanced enough to allow a teenager to understand project
management skills.
Maturation is a
relatively permanent change in an individual, be it cognitive, emotional, or
physical.
Example: The attempt to teach a child
decision-making skills at the age of 10 is futile if the child does not have an
adequate level of readiness. Some children who do not score well in exams are
not ready to learn.
· · Self-concept.
There is a self-concept. Self-esteem, self-image, and
self-efficacy are included. A person's subjective evaluation of his worth is
called Self Esteem. A person places value on himself. What one's strengths and
capabilities are and what one's weaknesses and limitations are what this refers
to.
Example: I am terrible at geography
and good at mathematics. A person makes a judgment about himself after engaging
with the subject.
·
Learning Styles.
Every individual learns differently. Learning preferences are also called learning
styles. The way an individual processes information is called learning style. Some students take a deep processing approach,
which is to understand the deeper meaning, while others take a surface
processing approach, which is focused on memorizing. Field dependence is a
pattern of learning.
Field dependence learners can't
separate the detail from the information surrounding it, whereas field-independent
learners can.
Field
independent learners don't depend on teachers for support.
·
Level of aspiration
There is a level of aspiration. A Level
of aspiration is where individuals set their goals and targets. Our past
failures and success determine it. For
example, Success will lead to a high level of aspiration and learning if it is
attributed to internal factors. The low level of aspiration and learning will
be set by failure. If an individual
feels that he has control over his learning, then he will be said to have a
high level of aspiration, choosing to do more difficult tasks and put in more
effort.
·
Locus of control.
Locus
of control is the belief that the cause of good or bad results in a person's
life. Example: A student with high internal control believes that their grades
are determined by their efforts and abilities. Students change their study
strategies when they find out they have deficiencies. A student believes that
fate or chance determines the results of their exams.
·
Attitudes
You may think that rural India is
where you find traditional dressing and behavior. This is a preconceived idea that we have. Out
of socializing, attitudes are born. Our
attitudes can be positive or negative. Example: When students have a positive
attitude towards a subject, it means that they like the subject and try to do
well in that subject and to be liked by teachers. A stereotype is a mindset
that is ready to react in a particular way to a stimulus.
· Socio-Cultural factors.
The
social-cultural environment in which a child grows has an impact on their
learning. For easy understanding, we divide the socio-cultural factors into
family, neighborhood, class, caste, religion, and ethnicity. The first and most
important influence on the individual is their family. It is the family that a child learns from. It is within the family that the individual
learns behavior patterns for survival, social skills, attitudes, interpersonal
skills, social norms, the do’s, and don'ts of his culture, and acquires value
orientation. Neighborhood and community.
Many attitudes, beliefs, perceptions,
habits, and social roles are shaped by our experiences with people in our
neighborhood.
