ASTRA'S HYBRID
EDUCATION LEARNING
PROGRAM
MODULE 3
Facilitating
Learning
Haggai Training and Development Services
PATERNO D. AGUILA
Maureen M. Manimtim
Leonora A. Atanacio
REVISED EDITION
January 2023
Module 3 │Facilitating Learning
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FACILITATING LEARNING
Course Specification and Syllabus
I.
Course Description
This course prepares prospective educational leaders to administer various school programs
for diverse student populations. Programs addressed include special education, gifted
education, bilingual education/English Language Learners, early childhood, school safety,
career and technology education, counselling and alternative education. The course emphasizes
the leadership that will ensure all students receive quality, flexible instructional services that
meet individual student needs.
Teachers will begin or expand their training as a skilled professional-technical educator in
this introduction to vocational teaching at the community college level. Sometimes described as
a “survival course,” this course will help new or nearly new instructor-learners to establish
themselves as effective instructional leaders, communicators and facilitators in the professionaltechnical classroom or laboratory setting. Instructor-learners will learn about “successful
beginnings,” being a positive role model for their students, and developing effective lessons
based on identified student learning outcomes and competencies. New instructor learners will
practice implementing a variety of instructional strategies and student assessments and begin to
learn ways to evaluate the progress of diverse learners to meet course objectives. Focus is on
four primary modes of instruction: lecture, discussion, demonstration, and small group work
and ways in which instructors act as facilitators of learning in their classrooms. Instructorlearners will actively practice their teaching skills to begin to implement learner-centered
instructional activities and lessons that they have devised.
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOs)
II.
General Objectives of the Course
The purpose of this course is to inform students about the diverse needs of all individuals
within the school community and to prepare them to administer programs for diverse special
pupil populations. Emphasis will be given to basic concepts, issues, regulations, problems and
procedures in the management of special and compensatory education as well as NCLB, gifted
and talented, Title I, migrant education, bilingual/ESL programs, early childhood education,
counselling programs, vocational-technical and career education, and alternative, JAEP schools
and the identification and implementation of multi-culturally, sensitive school leadership
practices. Also included will be state and federal legislation and court decisions pertaining to
special pupil populations and career and technology education.
Student Learning Outcomes
The instructor-learner will:
• Develop and write an instruction
al activity or lesson plan that facilitates learning with active learner involvement and aligns
with stated student learning outcomes.
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• Demonstrate teaching or facilitating a lesson incorporating group and/or individual
instruction that effectively engages students and models current workplace requirements and
industry standards.
• Produce a course syllabus that utilizes a variety of instructional strategies that meet the
learning needs of diverse learners and provides opportunities for students adequately to
practice, perform, and receive feedback on required skills, knowledge and abilities.
The student will be able to:
• Respond appropriately to the diverse needs of all individuals within the school community,
inclusive of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion or religious creed,
disability or handicap, sex or gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation,
genetic information, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local
law; (Comp. 002; Standard IV- Learner-Centered Communications and Community Relations;
Principal Standards 2&3 -Section 149.2001)
• Implement special programs to ensure that all students’ individual needs are met through
quality, flexible instructional programs and services; (Comp. 002; Standard IV- LearnerCentered Communications and Community Relations)
• Demonstrate knowledge of the components and legal requirements of the various special
programs available in public schools; (Comp. 002; Standard IV- Learner-Centered
Communications and Community Relations; Principal Standard 3 -Section 149.2001)
• Demonstrate knowledge of the assessment, referral and legal guidelines that direct the
delivery of special programs; and (Comp. 002; Standard IV- Learner-Centered Communications
and Community Relations; Principal Standard 3 -Section 149.2001) 5. Provide effective and
culturally sensitive leadership for staff and parents in the administration of special programs.
(Comp. 002; Standard IV- Learner-Centered Communications and Community Relations;
Principal Standards 2&3 -Section 149.2001)
• Implement and maintain the appropriate school safety policies and procedures necessary, to
ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
• Student is able to facilitate learning in a student-centered way and ethically sound manner.
• Students are able to utilize the possibilities of new technology in a pedagogically meaningful
way. Students are able to realistically assess their own skills as a facilitator of learning in
cooperation with others.
III.
COURSE OUTCOMES
• Students are effectively oriented to the learning task, including outcomes, assessments,
syllabus, and prior and related skills and abilities.
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• Learning is facilitated with clear presentations, demonstrations, class discussions and active
learner involvement.
• Learning activities and lessons are directed toward program and student outcomes and
competencies and industry standards.
• Lesson plans are organized to provide regular opportunities for students to actively practice,
perform, and received feedback on all required skills.
• Instruction promotes the application, transfer, and retention of learning.
• Group and individual instruction accurately and effectively model and teach industry
standards and workplace requirements.
• Student questions and discussions are effectively acknowledged, guided and integrated into
the learning process in a positive way.
• Course syllabus contains essential information for student understanding of course policies,
course content, and student assessments.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
The beginning instructor-learner will:
• Promote a positive learning environment from the first day of class.
• Explain the role of the instructor as that of leader, facilitator, and role model.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the learning process and of student-centered learning.
• Explain and present basic ideas and information and concepts in well-organized speech.
• Engage students with the learning through at least four primary modes: lecture,
demonstration, discussion and small groups.
• Listen attentively, pose critical questions, and confirm and clarify communication.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter and competency in the field. • Write course
objectives, competencies and/or specific student learning outcomes.
• Write a course syllabus containing essential information.
• Begin to develop, implement and demonstrate effective lesson planning.
• Begin to assess peer and own instructional effectiveness.
• Begin to develop effective learning strategies for diverse learners.
IV.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Evaluation Methods and Guidelines for Assignments
Reflections (20%; 200 Course points) (Comp. 002; Standard IV- Learner-Centered
Communications and Community Relations; Principal Standards 2&3 -Section 149.2001)
You will be provided with reflection questions to answer by specified due date. Reflection
responses should be written in essay format (please avoid outlines and simple listings). Utilize
the resource/reading list that complements each reflection assignment, completely answer
questions and write responses in your own words (refer to student handbook regarding
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plagiarism). Please submit your reflection assignment through our college course drop box
feature. You will see a www.turnitin.com percentage when you submit a reflection assignment
through the drop box. While you want a low Turnitin percentage figure (below 35%), you do
not need to worry about your Turnitin percentage, unless I notify you via the drop box.
Participation, Attendance, Professionalism
Student participation (e.g. discussion forums) is a critical element of the course structure.
Students are expected to engage in the scholarly discourse of the scheduled subject matter.
Students are expected to respect (not necessarily agree with) opinions of classmates.
Any academic dishonesty and/or plagiarism will result in an “F” in the course. If, you are
unsure about academic dishonesty and/or plagiarism, consult the professor immediately.
V.
TEACHING APPROACHES/STRATEGIES
The facilitating-instructor may use the following activities/ assignments with instructorlearners:
• Students pair off and describe the best teacher they’ve ever had and then conduct a
brainstorm session of characteristics of effective teachers.
• Instructor-learners prepare their philosophy of teaching and learning at the beginning of the
course and compare it with their later understandings.
Basic learning premises
• Student empowerment, ownership, discovery for facilitating learning
• Intellectual courage, honesty and humility
• Critical thinking and self-assessment
• (See a Learning Facilitators’ Workbook.)
VI.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EVALUATION SYSTEM
Examination (Prelim, Midterm and End Term) ---------------------------------------------------30%
Quizzes
30%
Participation
10%
Attendance
10%
Outputs/Report Presentation
20%
Total
100%
VII.
References
Commission on Higher Education
http:// www.ched.gov. ph
Online Journals and Related Sites:
FACILITATING%20LEARNING/81831.
VIII.
Content Coverage for Modular Students
CONTENTS
• planning, implementing and evaluating a series of teaching
• expertise with one’s own professional field and its variation
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• pedagogical approaches
• practices supporting individual-learning offered by educational organizations, such as an IEP,
• personalization, accessibility
• self-assessment of skills and knowledge
Teaching and Facilitating Learning
CURRICULUM GUIDE: TEACHING & FACILITATING LEARNING
LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
The facilitating-instructor may use the following activities/ assignments with instructorlearners:
• Students pair off and describe the best teacher they’ve ever had and then conduct a
brainstorm session of characteristics of effective teachers.
• Instructor-learners prepare their philosophy of teaching and learning at the beginning of the
course and compare it with their later understandings.
FACILITATING LEARNING
Essential Content
Discussion Topics and Key Points
Basic learning premises
• Student empowerment, ownership, discovery for facilitating learning
• Intellectual courage, honesty and humility
• Critical thinking and self-assessment
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Required skills
Knowledge
and
understanding
about
working
life
and
entrepreneurship and contextual
skills
You are aware of the competence required in your own
field, including entrepreneurial skills, and able to
conceptualise it for the purpose of planning and
implementing teaching-learning process
You are familiar with the curriculum and the criteria of
qualifications in your own subject and can plan your own
teaching in line with the objectives in those documents.
Knowledge
and
understanding
about learning, Knowledge and
understanding about learners, and
Teaching and facilitating learning
and assessment skills,
You plan and facilitate learning processes based on the
theoretical knowledge about learning and the features of
professional growth
In teaching and facilitating learning situations, you take into
consideration learners’ different circumstances, abilities and
needs for learning.
You facilitate learning in such a way that it encourages
activities that are focused on the learning aims, and are
student-centred.
You evaluate learning according to the principles of
constructive assessment and you enable students’ selfassessment.
You give feedback in a supportive way.
Interaction skills
You act ethically and create the conditions for a positive
atmosphere and cooperation in facilitating learning
situations
New technology skills
You are able to use online resources in a meaningful and
appropriate way in your own pedagogical practices.
You participate actively in online collaboration creating
possibilities for positive interaction.
Reflection skills
You realistically assess your practices as a facilitator of
learning and as a collaboration partner and set new
objectives for the development of your expertise.
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INTRODUCTION
One of the first on-the-job realizations new Extension educators have is that how you deliver
information to your audiences is as important as the content of that information. Extension
educators often focus too much on the content of the information they provide and too little on
the processes through which adults can be engaged and motivated to adopt new practices or
make changes in behaviour (Wise & Ezell, 2003). As well, audiences may be motivated to put
into practice recommendations received during a learning activity partially because they felt
individually respected and valued by the instructor. As new educators soon learn, generating a
change in behaviour, practice, or belief requires a much more sophisticated science and art than
simply selecting the correct information to deliver (Wise & Ezell, 2003).
Comparison of Teaching and Facilitating
Context
Teaching
Facilitating
Focus
Teacher focuses on lesson content
Facilitator focuses on learning process
Recognition of
expertise
Teacher's expertise is more valuable
than students'
Participants' expertise is just as valuable as
teacher's
Teacher assumes major responsibility
for learning that takes place in
classroom
Teacher determines what students
need to know
Major responsibility for learning is placed
on participants
Teacher
has
responsibility
for
obtaining information and delivering
it to students
Activities reinforce remembering or
applying information teacher has
provided
Teacher or others are vested with
power
to
evaluate
participant
performance
Facilitator gives guidance to participants in
seeking out their own information
Real-life problems are addressed
Expected outcomes
Hypothetical
problems
addressed
Focus is on solutions
Place of interaction
Interaction occurs in classroom
Interaction occurs beyond classroom
Instructor position
Teacher stands at front of room
Facilitator sits with participants
Expertise of teacher is critical in
instruction
Facilitator identifies and draws on expertise
of participants
Authority
Teacher knows answers
Everyone helps figure out alternatives
Relativity
Answers are either right or wrong
Different
alternatives
consequences
Responsibility
learning
for
Determination
of
educational content
Obtaining
information
Role
of
activities
of
in-class
Evaluation
Problem focus
Contribution
learning
to
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are
Participants
work with facilitator to
determine what information and skills they
need to obtain
Activities provide practice in obtaining
information and using it for making real-life
decisions
Performance is self-evaluated in terms of
how well important issues in participants'
lives have been addressed by training
activities
Focus is on alternatives
yield
different
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Eventually, most successful and experienced Extension educators develop a portfolio of
methodologies that they can customize to the characteristics of their audiences and educational
scenarios. That these methodological skills are critical to their success as an educator is often
recognized by both educators and their supervisors. However, even though these skills may
distinguish successful educators from their less successful peers, the skill sets are more
commonly developed through individual trial and effort than through systematic professional
development across the organization. One such skill set includes facilitating learning (as
opposed to simply delivering information), distinguishing facilitation from more traditional
teaching, and knowing when to use each methodology. Most degreed professionals are
comfortable and familiar with the teaching methodologies most often used in high school and
college classes—lecture, lecture-demonstration, and out-of-class assignments. Fewer come to
their Extension careers with the facilitation skills needed to effectively engage adult learners.
Over the last decade, certain authors have pointed out the need for facilitation skills in
Extension work. Cyr (2008) demonstrated that in-depth facilitation training and practice can
effectively prepare Extension staff to help groups achieve positive change. Rilla, Paterson,
Manton, and Day (2006) described how facilitative strategies emphasizing process, relationships,
and results made a difference in meeting effectiveness and benefited community efforts. Haskell
and Prichard (2004) reported changing meetings from inefficient to productive and enjoyable
through a replicable facilitative focus on process and preparation. Each of these discussions
focused on the efficacy of facilitation to group process.
Extension professionals also have noted the need for facilitation skills in resolving conflict.
Cooley (1994) pointed out that Extension educators across the country were being asked at the
time to address conflict-laden public issues with minimal encouragement and incentive. He
argued for performance evaluation guidelines that would encourage and reward the use of nontraditional teaching paradigms such as facilitation and conflict resolution. Later, Corp and
Darnell (2002) argued that Extension faculty should play a role in developing community
capacity to resolve conflicts, noting that facilitation is a role Extension is uniquely suited to fill
and recommending that Extension staff be trained in facilitation. In addition to its use in group
process and conflict resolution, facilitation has a role in individual learning. As distinguished
from traditional teaching, facilitated learning has certain advantages. It engages the learner in
his or her own learning and places responsibility for successful educational outcomes largely on
the learner. It focuses on real-life issues and practical solutions. It identifies alternatives and
connects choices to consequences and outcomes. It essentially elevates the status of the learner
relative to the teacher or trainer and synergizes the contribution of learners to the educational
process. If educators use facilitative learning techniques effectively, they can meaningfully
affect the lives of learners, not only by imparting information on a specific topic but also by
empowering learners to use that information to improve their well-being overall.
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Questions for Determining Whether Teaching or Facilitation Is Better Method
Question
What is
session?
your
objective
for
the
How is your space configured?
Answer
Method
To deliver information
Teach
To solve a problem
Facilitate
To discuss a common issue
Facilitate
To come to a mutual conclusion
Facilitate
To persuade participants
something
To generate ideas
Teach
to do
Facilitate
Space is formally arranged with
seats facing the front and cannot be
easily reconfigured
Teach
Space is informally arranged in a
circle or u-shape or can be
reconfigured easily
Facilitate
How much time do you have with
participants?
A short amount of time
Teach
A long time or several relatively
lengthy sessions in a series
Facilitate
How well do participants know and
trust one another?
Participants are strangers to one
another and have not established
trust
Participants know one another well
or can quickly establish trust
Teach
Topic is controversial or politically
charged
Teach
Topic is not controversial
politically charged
Facilitate
Is the information you are delivering
likely to be controversial or politically
charged?
Do you need to keep tight control of
the group?
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or
Facilitate
Group needs to be tightly controlled
to remain orderly and on track
Teach
Group does not need to be tightly
controlled to remain orderly and on
track
Facilitate
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Distinguishing Between Teaching and Facilitating
Although teaching and facilitating are not mutually exclusive processes, each method has a set
of characteristics that distinguishes it from the other. The paired dichotomies in Table 1 can help
newcomers to educational methodology make a general distinction between traditional
teaching and facilitating.
Which to Use—Teaching or Facilitation?
In spite of the advantages of facilitative learning, it is not the best method for every educational
scenario. For example, if the purpose of a session is to provide instructions about how to
accomplish a work task or use a piece of farm or lab equipment, it is more straightforward to
simply use instruction. If the purpose is to persuade participants to take a certain action or
adopt a practice, prearranged testimony about that action might be more effective than two-way
discussion.
Facilitation is best done with an informal seating arrangement, so if the only space available is
set up in a formal arrangement, with all the seating facing the front, the instructor may not have
the option of using facilitative techniques. The amount of time scheduled for the session also
may dictate whether the instructor chooses teaching or facilitation. If there is only a short
amount of time—say 45 min or less—to deliver information, it may be better delivered quickly
and efficiently through teaching.
In most cases, a certain amount of trust is required for the individual members of a group to feel
comfortable sharing information or expressing opinions. If group participants are strangers and
the time available is inadequate for establishing trust through group activities or discussion, it
may be preferable to deliver information using teaching techniques.
Although articles cited herein mention the use of facilitative techniques for resolving conflict,
facilitative conflict resolution requires a precise set of skills and a negotiation process that can
take some time. There are times, however, when agents may need to deliver information about
politically charged or controversial topics. (Examples are universal health care, animal rights,
climate change, and genetically modified organisms.) In cases in which opening up the topic to
discussion may lead to polarization of opinions or outright conflict, or when the instructor
knows that one or two participants may dominate discussion, the preferred technique may be to
deliver information quickly and efficiently through teaching. Table 2 can provide guidance as to
which method is preferable under different educational scenarios.
Both teaching and facilitation are effective instructional techniques, but each is appropriate for
particular educational objectives and scenarios. Instructors who are able to apply both methods
strategically and effectively can realize greater success in delivering information and
empowering Extension audiences with insight and confidence in its use.
What is facilitated learning?
Facilitated learning is where the students are encouraged to take more control of their learning
process. The trainer's role becomes that of a facilitator and organizer providing resources and
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support to learners. In turn the participants learn with and from each other as they identify and
implement solutions to challenges, problems or other developmental issues. They might also set
their own objectives and be responsible for learning assessment.
The technique is used most frequently in university education and more formal study. It is
probably not a methodology that trainers in the archive field will be able to use exclusively, but
it offers some techniques and approaches that can be incorporated into training courses that run
over several days. For example having participants work independently to develop an action
plan, related to the course content but tailored to their needs.
In contrast to individual learning where the trainer becomes very involved and responsive to
each participant's individual needs, with facilitated learning the trainer supports and facilitates
the participants who develop and shape their own learning goals and achievements.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Facilitated Learning
Facilitated learning is based on the premise that the more responsibility a student takes for
his/her own learning, the more effective the training or education will be.
There are some advantages:
▪ Learners use skills like synthesis and analysis
▪ The learner is actively involved
▪ Learners interact with and learn from each other
▪ There is no need for large amounts of learning materials
▪ Learners can work in an environment similar to that of the real world
▪ A variety of learning methods are used
▪ Facilitating learning carries many advantages for both the teacher and the students. For
the teacher, facilitating learning means a more engaged classroom, where the students
demonstrate that the teacher has made progress in the teaching objectives. This is very
rewarding to the career teacher. Further, the teacher learns from facilitating learning;
teachers learn how to adapt their teaching strategies, how to discard coursework and
methods that are not working, learning to quickly adapt to the various learning styles of
students. For students, there are even more advantages of facilitating learning:
▪ Students learn how to become proactive in self-development. By involving students in
the learning process, students learn more about how they learn as well as why they
learn. This can aid them far into the future as they pursue their individual career goals.
▪ Students learn how to think critically and question the information and their
environment making them less vulnerable to fake online information. When teachers
and educational leaders facilitate learning, they create students who learn how to
rationally question things around them. This makes them into more intelligent,
critically-thinking adults who will go on to make positive adjustments and changes
wherever life leads them.
▪ Students learn soft skills as they interact with each other and the facilitator in the
learning process. Soft skills are very important in the workplace and in interpersonal
relationships. With a facilitated learning approach, students learn to interact with peers
and mentors in a healthy manner, which will enrich their business and personal lives for
years to come.
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There are some disadvantages:
▪ Facilitated learning can be — or be seen to be — more expensive
▪ The pace of instruction is based on the group rather than the individual learner
▪ The teacher’s role is not clearly defined
▪ There is a need for extra facilities to allow for group work etc.,
▪ The learning is relatively time consuming in proportion to the amount of material
covered
▪ Facilitated learning is not appropriate in some cultural contexts
Delivery of Facilitated Learning
As already noted, the teacher’s role in facilitated learning is to create and manage collaborative
learning experiences, or group learning in which exchanges between instructors and learners
and among learners occur over a period of time.
Facilitated courses and learning experiences usually take place over a series of weeks and may
include:
▪ On-demand tutorials, presentations, and keynote addresses
▪ Online or face-to-face group discussions and exchanges
▪ Hand-outs, readings, and links to relevant Websites
▪ File and link sharing
▪ Surveys and polls
▪ Virtual real-time or physical classroom sessions, lectures, seminars
▪ Brainstorming sessions (virtual or face-to-face)
▪ Group activities such as role play and games
▪ Field trips
▪ Projects and case studies
Facilitated learning in its purist form is likely to occur in a well-resourced environment with
participants who are highly motivated and pro-active. Most training environments are unlikely
to be able to offer the necessary conditions. However, elements of facilitated learning can be
combined effectively with other styles of training to provide many of the benefits inherent in
the methodology.
Throughout this course you will work both individually and cooperatively within a learning
circle. At the beginning you need to familiarize yourself with the course objectives, content and
evaluation criteria. On the basis of that you need to identify your own skills and competences,
and define your own aims to further develop your skills as a learning facilitator.
This module includes practice periods that require you to plan, implement, and assess a series
of teaching activities. You can complete this individually or in combination with members of
your learning circle. If you are a beginner as a teacher, your aims could focus on the principles
of planning and implementing learning processes as a facilitator of learning. If you already are
working as a teacher and facilitation of learning is familiar to you, you should set yourself
broader aims e.g. how to facilitate learning in new and different contexts (get out of your
“comfort zone”).
The implementation of the series of teaching can be planned and implemented either
individually
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Each trainee teacher needs to observe others’ teaching and participate in feedback discussions.
It is important that all have an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences. You will get
feedback from your supporting teacher, colleagues, peers, and your teacher educator.
Throughout the course, you should write your reflection diary and collect material for your
portfolio.
Understanding how to facilitate learning can have a major impact on creating successful
learning outcomes for your students.
There are countless ways for an instructor to facilitate learning among their students, even in
a virtual classroom environment. But the term "facilitated learning" has taken on a philosophy
all its own.
Facilitated student learning is not only a set of tools and strategies. It is also a way that teachers
are encouraging students to learn and absorb information in a way that is meaningful and
relevant to them.
Facilitated learning replaces rote memorization with critical thinking, comprehensive
understanding, imaginative learning, and the appreciation for subtlety.
Facilitated learning is predicated on the idea that students will perform better in a learning
environment when they are empowered to make their own decisions, respected as individuals,
and trusted with personal responsibility.
Five Strategies Teachers Use to Facilitate Learning
CHOICE - Not every student is the same kind of learner, so try giving them multiple options
when assigning projects. This shows that you respect their unique learning style. It also shows
that you're more interested in facilitating their learning than exercising your authority.
VARIATION - Vary class activities to give students the ability to try out different learning
styles, and to give each student their moment to shine. It also will help them to choose their
approach to assigned projects.
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CONNECTION - Give context for each lesson, and show how it relates to other things your
students might be learning or experiencing. Tie the material in to other lessons, classes, subjects,
current events, or real-life examples. Tell them why the lesson is relevant to their lives and why
it should matter to them.
CONVERSATION - Learning how to problem-solve is just as important as knowing the
answer, so give students time to talk through a problem in small groups or as a class.
Conversation also promotes communication skills, socialization, and cooperation.
RESOURCES - Today's students have access to a lot more information than the students of
previous generations. The real challenge is teaching them how to assess the quality and validity
of the information they find. Provide students with resources they can trust, and tools for
gauging trustworthiness.
10 Tools Used to Facilitate Learning Strategies
1. Facilitate class, group, and one-on-one discussions and debates.
2. Allow students to call on one another for answers, rather than the instructor.
3. Ask questions that don't have one single answer. Leave it open-ended.
4. Role play different scenarios or play games to illustrate lessons.
5. Create multimedia presentations, utilizing technology your students use at home.
6. Record and post lessons and resources online for students to reference later.
7. Use guest teachers and speakers to show a different perspective.
8. Supplement lessons with virtual field trips or projects that involve field research.
9. Collaborate with other teachers to teach related lessons in different subjects.
10. Have students explain what they learned to someone who doesn't know the material.
When teachers facilitate learning, they also facilitate career success. Creative, imaginative, and
problem-solving skills are becoming increasingly valuable, as well as the ability to think
critically and analyze information. Supporting and encouraging students to learn for they is
providing them with tools they'll benefit from for the rest of their lives.
Teachers can facilitate learning by making the educational process easier for students. This does
not mean watering down the curriculum or lowering standards. Rather, facilitating learning
involves teaching students to think critically and understand how the learning process works.
Students need to learn how to go beyond the basic facts—who, what, where, and when—and
question the world around them.
Methods of Instruction
A number of instructional methods can help a teacher move away from standard lesson
delivery and toward facilitating a true learning experience. Teachers can vary methods to
respond to different learning styles. Lessons can be designed around tactile learners one day
and visual learners the next. Teachers can also give students a chance to work both
independently and in groups to meet the many needs of the children in their class. Some
students prefer to work alone, while others excel when working cooperatively, also known
as peer-to-peer learning.
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If you want students to take a greater interest in the topics you are teaching, give them different
choices to access classroom lessons. Some children may seize the chance to write creatively
about a story they read in class, while others may want to debate the story's themes with their
classmates. Increasing the amount of talk in the classroom can appeal to verbal and aural
learners.
It's also important to make your lessons relevant to the real world. If students have just learned
about a scientific concept, ask them if they've witnessed it play out in nature or tell them when
they're likely to observe the scientific principle unfold, be it condensation or a certain moon
phase.
Make thematic connections, so students don't learn information in isolation. If you're going over
vocabulary words, give students examples of when that word is likely to be used in real life.
Review a literary passage or listen to an audio clip in which the new vocabulary is used in
context. This increases the likelihood that students will absorb the information.
Varying Instruction
Varying instruction means using different methods to deliver lessons to students. Each way of
facilitating learning has its merits and helps immerse students in the learning process by
tapping into their interests and abilities.
Lecturing might seem boring, as it's the most traditional way that teachers disseminate
information to students. But for some students this method has benefits. It can tap into
students' linguistic intelligence.
You can lecture for a bit and then open up the conversation to the whole class or have students
break up into groups. Getting students to interact with each other helps them access
their interpersonal intelligence, a social skill that will be important well beyond the classroom.
Incorporating Role-Play
For kinesthetic learners, role-playing might be the key to help them connect with the lesson.
Some students enjoy acting out important events in history, for instance. But children can also
role-play characters in a novel or short story to help them better grasp the material. Students
who don't feel comfortable playacting in front of their peers can write from the perspective of a
historical figure or book character.
Simulations are another engaging way to help students better understand lessons. Consider
permitting them to participate in immersive experiences, like creating a model legislature or
classroom government. And for visual learners, consider multimedia presentations that can tap
into their spatial intelligence.
For students who just don't understand why a particular subject applies to the real world,
outside speakers can help. Bring in a mathematician who can explain the importance of algebra
or a journalist to discuss how writing well is a key life skill. It's always a great idea to expose
students to role models who can give them different perspectives on various issues.
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Providing Choice
When students feel empowered in their learning, they are more likely to accept ownership of it.
If a teacher simply delivers the material to the students through lectures, they may feel no
attachment to it. You can provide students with the ability to make choices by giving them
multiple writing prompts. Similarly, let student’s complete research on a topic of their choosing
and then report back to the class.
You might also consider providing them with a selection of books for book reports and reading
assignments. Allow students to choose their own partners for a class project. Even class-wide
assignments can leave room for student choice. Have the class work on a historical newspaper
and allow the children to pick which section of the paper they'll cover.
Facilitating Critical Thinking
Teaching students to think critically takes practice. Rather than focusing on facts and figures,
students should be able to make observations in all disciplines. After those observations, they
need to be able to analyze materials and evaluate information. In practicing critical thinking,
students recognize different contexts and points of view. Finally, they interpret information,
draw conclusions, and then develop an explanation.
Teachers can offer students problems to solve and opportunities to make decisions to practice
their critical thinking skills. Once students offer solutions and make decisions, they should have
a chance to reflect on what made them successful or not. Establishing a regular routine of
observation, analysis, interpretation, conclusion, and reflection in each academic discipline
improves students' critical thinking skills, which they will need in the real world.
Real-World and Thematic Connections
Making learning relevant to the real world helps students form important connections. For
example, if you are teaching about supply and demand from a textbook, students may learn the
information for the moment. However, if you provide them with examples that relate to
purchases, they make all of the time, the information becomes applicable to their own lives.
Similarly, thematic connections help students see that learning does not happen in isolation. For
example, an American history teacher and a chemistry instructor might collaborate on a lesson
about the development of the atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
at the end of World War II. This lesson could be extended into English by including a creative
writing assignment on the topic and also into environmental science to look at the effects on the
two cities after the bombs were dropped.
What is the Importance of Facilitating Learning?
The importance of facilitating learning cannot be overstated. When educational leaders and
teachers implement facilitating learning, they are effectively helping to build a capable
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workforce that can power society for generations to come. On a more individual level,
facilitating learning is important because:
Technological trends can be damaging. Accurate knowledge and critical thinking skills are
essential as a supplement to the technological era that we all live in. Information is accessible
online, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. However, there is an onslaught of fake news and
wrong information that can sideline the truth. Facilitating learning creates individuals who are
well able to discern between misinformation and facts.
Lifelong learning is essential as jobs evolve. Studies show that many of the jobs available as
early as 2030 have not yet even been invented. Through facilitating learning, educators create
agile learners who can quickly adapt to new challenges in the workplace and develop a selflearning mindset that will serve them well into the future.
Teachers as Facilitators: What is needed?
High quality teachers can dramatically improve the learning outcome. Teachers can act as
facilitators by adhering to the following guidelines:
Changed Teachers’ Mindset
Move away from the stand-by mindset that dictates, “the teacher says and the student must
follow.” It’s important to understand the students’ role in the learning process. True
comprehension is enhanced when students become part of the learning process, instead of
being forced into a stagnant “follow along” role. Student engagement studies have
demonstrated that students of all ages learn faster when they are engaged and involved in the
instruction.
•
Deeper Questioning Skills
Learn how to ask questions; how to phrase questions in order to instigate thinking from more
than one perspective. Understand the impact of a question; how will a particular question
facilitate or hinder the learning process. Ask questions that require students to delve into the
“why” of the answer, rather than simply the answer itself.
•
• Enhance Listening Skills
Learn how to listen. Be attentive to what students say, but also what they didn’t say. Instead of
thinking about what you are going to say after the student is finished speaking, be in the
moment. Be present for the answer. Be thoughtful and try to discern why a student answered in
a particular way.
Work on Course Redesign
Learn how to structure a course to facilitate both linear and non-linear learning. Work toward a
balance between providing information and pulling information. Think of courses as a
continual work in progress, where you are constantly making adjustments according to new
knowledge about how students are learning and progressing. Create coursework that involves
students in the learning process.
•
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• Better Cultural Awareness
Adapt facilitation to culture of students. For example, Chinese students are very shy. Consider
how to create a learning environment where Chinese students feel more comfortable interacting
with other students. Promote cultural sensitivity in the environment from other students, too.
• Redesign Classrooms and Schools
Classrooms and campus should be redesigned to facilitate socialization and interactions, rather
than isolation. Start with the desks. Consider adapting to the Harkness method, where students
and teachers gather around an oblong table and engage in lively discussions where each
student has an equal voice, instead of teacher lectures from a desk or lectern.
As you can see, learning how to facilitate learning is something that every teacher and
education leader can learn. However, it’s essential that educational leaders understand what the
importance of facilitating learning is so that everyone concerned can be on board with the
needed changes and adjustments. Once those changes are implemented, the advantages of
facilitating learning will be self-evident, paving the way for an easier transition to this improved
way of looking at the educational process.
There are many different instructional design techniques available today, and as such it is can
be difficult to determine which one is best for the content you are presenting.
No matter the context for your content there are a handful of techniques you can use to
maximize its effectiveness. Below are 26 techniques, as originally detailed by Mia MacMeekin.
You can leverage these to enhance your content.
26 Techniques for Guiding Learning
1. Connect – Help your learners connect the dots between the objectives and content.
2. Begin – Start with basic information in your courses.
3. Build – Build upon the basic information with more complex details.
4. Provide – Give the students with the tools to connect the dots.
5. Establish – Establish context for the material.
6. Scaffold – Ask questions so students can think about the material differently.
7. Group – Group the students to better monitor the learning.
8. Display – Present the steps to solving the problem and let learners add or subtract steps.
9. Time – Give learns ample time to understand the material and ask questions.
10. Demonstrate – Ask each learner to frequently demonstrate their understanding.
11. Interview – Have the students interview each other and explain all the details.
12. Draw – Have students draw out what they know from the material.
13. Prove it – Encourage students to validate their hypotheses and idea.
14. Communicate – Discus the material in a variety of ways.
15. Guide – Guide the student towards an acceptable answer.
16. Don’t Skip – Be thorough in guidance and make sure the learner progresses naturally.
17. Allow – Allow for different depths of understanding between students.
18. Watch – Monitor the learners carefully. Watch them work and provide guidance.
19. Give – Give plenty of time to struggle and understand. Don’t just give the answer.
20. Connect – Ask complex questions to connect the various main points.
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21. Throw – Throw in a problem to solve and see if learners know how to solve it.
22. Free – Implement a free-thinking board and let learners add questions or ideas.
23. Sticky – Ask students to add sticky notes to a board regarding the material.
24. Invite – At the end of the lesson, invite someone into the class and have the students
explain the concept to them.
25. Hint – Give hints to the material.
26. Red Light – Use red and green paper for students to wave to slow down training if it is a
live training session.
EFFECTIVE TEACHING
What is Effective Teaching?
• Role of the classroom instructor from the student’s point of view.
• What are the attributes of a good teacher?
• Understanding the difference between being a technician and being a teacher.
• Facilitating student learning–not just direct instruction.
• Assessment: understanding what the learners understand.
• Helping students assess their own learning.
Principles for Effective Teaching
• Vary instructional methods.
• Actively involve students.
• Empower students.
• Work toward achievable learning outcomes.
• Provide adequate resources and motivation.
• Focus on student learning rather than content.
• Self–assess and assess student progress frequently.
• Evaluate students based on learning outcomes.
• Maintain flexibility.
Effective Instructor Traits
• Demonstrates concern for learners.
• Demonstrates knowledge of subject and of teaching skill.
• Demonstrates positive, approachable personality.
• Shows professional attitude.
• Remains a role model for students.
• Core Value: commitment to student learning.
• Is available for students as coach and mentor.
• Uses examples.
• Works toward meeting industry-specific skill standards.
• Uses feedback as a method to improve the teaching and learning process.
• Demonstrates active listening skills.
Instructor Conduct
• Is responsive and helpful to students.
• Avoids bluffing, sarcasm or ridicule.
• Demonstrates patience.
• Avoids profanity.
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• Gestures, standing, sitting, circulating around room.
• Smiling, speaking louder and softer.
• Actively seeks out student input and questions.
• Consistently assesses student learning.
Role of the Instructor
• Orient and instruct new students.
• Assess effectiveness of instruction for students.
• Modify and adapt learning approaches to accommodate student learning.
• Evaluate student learning and administer tests.
• Diagnose academic difficulties.
• Review materials and select optimal resources.
• Prepare for technical excellence.
• Demonstrate dedication and support for all students.
• Act as guide or facilitator, not “sage on stage.”
• Role model for workplace expectations.
• Co-learner with students.
Learning Assignments
The Facilitating Learning course includes the following three assignments:
1. Personal plan for implementing the Facilitating Learning course (2 ECTS)
2. Facilitating Learning in Practice (9 ECTS)
3. Self-assessment of the course (1 ECTS)
1. Personal plan for implementing the Facilitating Learning course (2 ECTS)
Your first task is to recognize of and write about your own knowledge and skills in relation to
the aims and the assessment criteria of this course. Then you need to set your own goals for this
course: what are the skills and the knowledge you need to strengthen in order to achieve these
aims. And, how are you going to do it during the Facilitating Learning course?
2. Facilitating Learning in Practice; plans, implementation and assessment (9 ECTS)
You will need to prepare the plan (frame plan) for your teaching, which you will implement as
part of your studies. This implementation can also be achieved through teaching in cooperation
with your learning circle peers. Your plan should detail the starting point of the series of
teaching, its aims and its development focus. Additionally, it should show your pedagogical
principles.
Your series of teaching and facilitating learning should correspond to that of 3-5 ECTS. For
example, it can be a module or a separate course, which may include group teaching, individual
counselling, work-based instruction, web-based counselling, etc.
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Creating your implementation plan (frame plan) for facilitating learning is tutored during
seminar days. Your final plans (the frame plan and plans for single teaching sessions) should be
submitted to your teacher educator and your peer-tutors using the Optima
learning environment and to the supporting teacher at least one week before the agreed time of
the planned series of teaching. You will be required to fulfil the role of peer-tutor to 2-4 of your
fellow teacher trainees.
Those involved:
• Student/learning circle
• Peer-tutor = another student studying in the teacher education programme
• Teacher educator = your own tutor
• Colleague = teaching colleague from the same organization (for those in teaching positions)
• Supporting teacher = a teacher within the organization where you will conduct teaching
practice (for those NOT in teaching positions)
• Documents relating to planning, implementation and assessment of teaching.
3. Self-assessment of the course (1 cr)
Your self-assessment focuses on your planning and implementation of the Teaching and
Facilitating Learning course. You should reflect on the materials you have produced in relation
to the aims you had set for yourself. What has been meaningful? Also, you should reflect on
your skills and knowledge in relation to the assessment criteria: in which way and on what
grounds did your process and your results reflect the criteria.
Every academic year begins with hopes, expectations, optimism and high energy both for the
teachers as well as the students. Capitalizing on these highs would go a long way in
determining learning output, streamlining the curriculum to achieve the learning objectives,
and sustaining the pace of learning throughout the academic session.
Orientation for New Academic Session
A good orientation sets the tone and conveys expectations needed to ensure meaningful
engagement with the course of study and translate classroom interactions into fruitful learning
experiences. If not done properly and subtly, there is always the possibility of instruction going
haywire for want of clarity in communicating the desired learning outcomes and expectations
from students.
Another fallout of not undertaking this exercise at the beginning of the academic term is that
students tend to be lax and complacency sets in as they lose the sense of purpose and direction
without clear cut standards of learning benchmarked for them. An overview of course
curriculum with brief introduction about the nature of study, its scope and application in real
life helps provide the stimulus required to launch into independent investigation of subject
matter.
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Another benefit of reviewing the curriculum objectives and intended learning outcomes is to
help learners see the relevance of what they are learning and how the knowledge and skills
acquired would be of any use to them in the real world.
I usually begin my new academic session by getting my students in senior school spell out
clearly what their expectations from their English class are and what they would want to learn
specifically and how. Believe it or not every time I carry out this exercise I am astounded by the
students’ perception of their academic needs, their clearly enumerated requirements and useful
suggestions to meet their expectations in an interesting and engaging manner.
Taking cues from the student feedback, my observations and curriculum framers’ intent and
purpose, the next logical step is to customize the curriculum content to fulfil learner
requirements and satisfy their needs.
Expecting the Unexpected
Now comes the biggest challenge – implementing the devised plan of action! Armed with the
knowledge of students’ expectations, understanding the curriculum requirements, having the
course objectives in mind, gauging the students’ readiness, the teacher may well be on the path
to effective teaching and fruitful learning. But more often than not, in spite of all the
preparations made and precautions taken, things don’t work out as planned – causing
dissatisfaction and even frustration to creep in. A quick reflection would help understand why
even the best curriculum design may deliver below average results in terms of learning
outcomes in students. Most often when teachers make lesson plans, they confine themselves to
the immediate learning context, making textual content isolated learning experiences and not a
progressive and unified one. The second reason for teaching plans going awry is teachers
planning lessons in an ideal setting where every student is attentive, positively engaged and
responsive – which is seldom the case! Not taking the disruptive elements into lesson planning
causes unintentional digressions from the intended course of lesson transaction and not being
able to deliver the desirable results. Therefore, the mental preparedness to expect the
unexpected in terms of student behavior or response to the course of study stands the teacher in
good stead. Determination and perseverance in carrying out a customized curriculum plan
keeping the needs of the target student group in mind are required to make innovative
approaches work and deliver the results.
Corrective Measures
Mid-course corrections wherever deemed necessary should be made to keep the course content
dynamic and its transaction engaging. A critical approach to teaching and evaluating its
effectiveness is indispensable when it comes to consolidating techniques and approaches that
work and do away with pedagogical styles that are ineffective in realizing the course objectives.
Content that has limited learning value should be glossed over and emphasis on courseware
that lends itself to myriad learning possibilities and which accommodates different learning
styles should always take precedence over anything else. Such decisions have to be taken midway through curriculum transaction, when the teacher realizes that a particular approach or
lesson planning is not yielding the desired results. When faced with such a situation where
learners are unable to see the relevance of what is being taught and thus lose interest and stop
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actively participating, then the teacher should immediately change her approach taking cues
from the learners themselves and steer the learning process away from conventional teaching to
a novel and fun filled yet effective learning experience.
“Learning how to teach takes time and much practice. The biggest concept new instructors need
to grasp is that their course and program depends on the learners. Lesson plans and classroom
activities need not focus on whatever the teacher knows, but rather on what learners need to
know to be successful. This is the paradigm shift of a decade ago. Focus on the learning and on
learners is what teaching is all about. A smart instructor learns quickly that course content can
be shaped for learners and can be “chunked” for easier learning. Trying different studentfocused strategies helps the new instructor to become a learner of his/her new trade-teaching
and learning.”
“New instructors should receive significant support to sustain themselves and their students
during their first full year of teaching. Basically, new professional-technical teachers want their
learners to think as they do when on the job for which the teaching and learning are centered.”
-Norma W. Goldstein
Icebreakers can be useful for building a sense of a community of learners in the classroom and
can set the tone for the rest of the class and the course. They should be short, fun, interesting,
and get students to think, to work together to come up with solutions, and offer a quick way for
diverse students to get to know one another. The best icebreakers are ones that involve all
learners and offer skills and knowledge that can be directly applied to the learning at hand.
Creative nametags:
Students select words to describe themselves using the letters of their first name on post-it notes.
Student use these notes as nametags and introduce themselves explaining why they chose
specific words.
Find someone who…There are various versions of this identifying game. This particular one is
a list of activities to relate to members of the class and which may or may not be applicable.
Each student is given a list of assorted activities and attributes and must find different people in
the class for whom the activity is relevant or applicable. For example, find someone who owns a
red car. The purpose of the activity is to have students experience a fun, quick and active way of
learning about each other. [Takes 5 minutes. The person who matches up the most names
“wins.” I usually give a prize of post-it notes or fancy pencils, etc.]
Introduce your new friend…to the class: This is a community builder that uses silent writing
and questioning skills to learn about other members of the class. Students are paired and share
one sheet of paper on which they are directed to have a written dialogue, the end of which will
be an oral introduction to the class of the new friend that the student has just made. I also use
this exercise to ask students to determine if they are a better “talker” or listener. [This is a silent
dialogue until introductions start.] This can also be done verbally whereby students interview
each other and then introduce their classmate.
Scenarios:
Other ice breakers include theatre games in which students are given a scenario and act it out
without talking, much like a game of charades. I like to use scenarios that touch students’ lives
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such as explaining lost homework, not understanding an assignment, arguing with a teacher
over a grade, performing a lab, getting an A, etc.
Sample questions for small groups to discuss: [I usually put these in a cup in the middle of the
table and student group members select their question to discuss with their small group.
Questions are designed to solicit information about the learner to increase understanding
among learners of their classmates and about their own learning.]
• Describe a deeply profound moment for you in a classroom.
• Who is your favorite teacher and why?
• What was the worst experience you ever had in a classroom?
What is the best single moment of learning that you have experienced?
• Tell us something important that happened to you in elementary school.
• What is the best book you have ever read?
• What is the best group activity you have ever participated in?
• What is your best academic accomplishment?
• What part of your education and learning do you use the most in your day to day home life?
• What part of your education and learning do you use the most in your day to day work life?
A whole class version of this activity: Have students devise questions they would like to ask
their classmates or have students devise questions they would like to ask their instructors.
Students put these in a bowl and select one to answer to the class.
Qualities we all look for in Teachers
The following list includes the qualities we all look for in teachers. It is a good reminder of the
things that are important to students.
• My instructor demonstrates a clear understanding of course content.
• My instructor presents material effectively.
• My instructor simplifies complex materials.
• My instructor is well-prepared for class.
• My instructor cares about me.
• My instructor is reasonable about assignments and the work load.
• My instructor explains difficult material clearly.
• My instructor readily maintains rapport with my class.
• My instructor motivates me to do my best work
• My instructor allows me and other students to ask questions in class.
• My instructor answers students’ questions.
• My instructor conducts himself in a professional manner.
• My instructor is actively helpful when students have problems.
• My instructor is interesting and holds the attention of the class.
• My instructor makes good use of examples and illustrations.
• My instructor has clearly stated learning objectives.
• My instructor gives assignments that are interesting and stimulating.
• My instructor gives assignments that relate to the goals of this course.
• My instructor is among the best teachers I have known.
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Learning and Communication
• Feeling: You probably learn best by becoming emotionally involved, and by being able to
draw on previous experiences.
• Observing: You probably learn best by watching someone else, and by having examples to
follow.
• Thinking: You probably learn best by having access to good information, and by being able
to “think things over.”
• Performing: You probably learn best when you are actively involved, and when you have a
chance to try things out.
• Abstract-Random: You probably learn best by interacting and sharing with others, and by
using fantasy and imagination.
• Abstract-Sequential: You probably learn best through intellectual activity, and when you can
get lost in your thoughts.
• Concrete-Random: You probably learn best when you can test and challenge convention and
when you can be different from others.
• Concrete-Sequential: You probably learn best when things are predictable, and when you
can work things out “step by step.”
• Sensing: You probably learn best when you are receiving information through the senses,
and when you are on “solid ground.”
• Intuition: You probably learn best when you can envision possibilities, and when ideas come
to you spontaneously.
• Visual: You probably learn best when you can see or visualize something.
• Auditory: You probably learn best when you can hear something.
• Kinesthetic: You probably learn best when you can be physically or emotionally active.
Everyone wants to feel competent, confident and connected. By understanding how others
view their world, and responding accordingly, we can help increase these “three Cs”
immeasurably.
How to help Students Listen in Class?
Listening is the ability to identify, define, paraphrase and respond accurately and appropriately
[to the ideas and] feelings expressed by another.
– Edgar Hargrow, Activating Your Listening Skills.
In order to listen to a speaker, we begin by hearing and selecting oral messages and
accompanying nonverbal signals. Statements such as the following may prove helpful:
• “This information is important…”
• “Please wait before you comment. I want you to hear this.”
• “What did you hear me say? Please paraphrase.”
• “Are you following me?”
It also helps to use the listener’s name. “Jim, have I answered all your questions about the
assignment?” “Jane, what is the most important concept we have
Covered today?”
Assess your own speaking and listening skills:
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As a SPEAKER:
Are students listening to you?
Do you give students enough time to respond to a question?
Do you vary your pitch and pace?
Are you interesting to listen to?
Are you conscious of your timing?
As a LISTENER:
Are you interested in students’ thoughts and opinions?
Do you listen primarily for facts, rather than ideas when someone is speaking?
How often do you ask students follow-up questions about their comments?
Do you address student comments and questions fully?
Are you easily distracted by unrelated sights and sounds when listening to a student?
Do certain words, phrases or ideas prejudice you against a student so that you cannot listen
objectively to what is being said?
Do you indicate to a student the quality of their question or comment?
Do you try to answer a student’s question or comment yourself or do you ask other students in
the class to address or comment?
Do you indicate you will “find out”?
Pedagogy versus Andragogy
All our interactions with other people are based primarily upon a set of preconceived
assumptions we make about their motives, needs, beliefs, desires—their human nature. As
teacher trainers, we carry these assumptions into our instructional setting, and they play a
major role in how we instruct and what we teach. One way to examine these assumptions is in
terms of the pedagogy/andragogy model which reflects a set of assumptions about teaching
youth (pedagogy) and teaching adults (andragogy).
PEDAGOGY
The pedagogical position is based upon the idea that there is a specific, well-defined body of
knowledge and skills that should be transmitted to learners. This teacher is assumed to possess
all the knowledge and skills to be transferred to the learners, while the learner is viewed as a
container for simply receiving, without question, all that the teacher transmits.
ANDRAGOGY
The andragogical position is based upon the premise that the knowledge and skills that serve a
learner well today will not be the same in ten years. The body of knowledge is seen as a
dynamic, living and evolving concept over time. Knowledge and skills, plus the application of
them, is seen as constantly changing, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. This instructor
is primarily responsible for providing assistance to learners. The learners decide what is
important to learn, as well as when and how they will learn it.
One key to effective instruction is to make sure that we are operating from assumptions
appropriate to specific learners and the learning situations.
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Pedagogy vs. Andragogy
• Learners as receivers or learners as active participants
• Instructors as information givers or as facilitators of learning
Student-centered learning
• Consistent emphasis on outcomes
• Adapting instructional methods based on student learning
• Student self-assessment
Correct and incorrect
• Student passivity, transferability of knowledge, stimuli and assumptions about learning
response, right answers, and contextualized learning
• (See Five Incorrect Assumptions attached.)
Cone of learning and retention rate
• Remembering what we say and do
• Being active and passive learners
• See Cone of Learning graphic attached.
Retaining learning
• Lecture-based classrooms = 40% of student attention
• Attention span averages 12-15 minutes maximum.
Motivating adults to learn
• Use active learning formats.
• Establish safe environment.
• Build fun into learning.
• Use variety in teaching.
• Provide plenty of social interaction.
• Ensure early success.
• Facilitate expertise sharing.
• Provide sufficient practice.
• Encourage positive measurement of progress and self-assessment.
Ways we learn and retain learning:
• According to William Glasser, we learn and remember:
• 18% of what we read
• 20 % of what we hear
• 30% of what we see
• 50% of what we both see and hear
• 70% of what is discussed with others
• 80% of what we experience personally
• 95% of what we teach to someone else.
• The top five are more passive and the bottom three more active learning.
Ways to Promote Interaction of Linguistic Minority Students
Create opportunities for real verbal interactions:
1. Ask more questions (often and equally); not directives
2. Ask higher order questions to engage the learner cognitively.
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3. Ask open-ended questions (often and equally).
4. Create opportunities for real verbal interactions.
5. Create comprehension check opportunities.
6. Use graphic organizers and activities to measure the learner’s understanding.
7. Enhance opportunities for various participant structures.
8. Provide [English as a Second Language] students with more written information.
9. Allow for longer wait time for ESL student responses.
10. Create opportunities for ESL students to produce extended discourse.
11. Engage the learner one-on-one, and then move to classroom interactions.
Five Incorrect Assumptions about Learning
Assumption # 1: People predictably transfer learning to new situations. Accepting this
assumption requires us to acknowledge the “knowledge transfer problem.” Knowledge transfer
means the appropriate use in a new situation of concepts, skills, knowledge, and strategies
acquired in another. Extensive research, spanning decades, shows that individuals do not
predictably transfer knowledge in any of three situations where transfer should occur. They do
not predictably transfer school knowledge to everyday practice. They do not predictably
transfer sound everyday practice to school endeavours, even when the former seem clearly
relevant to the latter. They do not predictably transfer their learning across school subjects.
Assumption #2: Learners are best seen as passive vessels into which knowledge is poured.
Many people think of schooling as transmitting an authoritative, structured body of knowledge,
rules, and principles. From this perspective, education means conveying what experts know to
be true, rather than encouraging inquiry, discovery and wonder. The student receives the word
and the teacher controls the process.
The assumption that the teacher is the pourer and the student the receptacle has unfortunate
consequences.
1) It reduces or removes opportunities for exploration, discovery and invention. Students need
experiences to help them engage in choice, judgment, control processes, and problem
formulation. They also need chances to make mistakes.
2) It places control over learning in the teacher’s, rather than the learner’s hands. Passive
learning creates learner’s dependent on teachers for guidance and feedback. This undercuts
their ability to develop confidence in their own initiative, cognitive skills, and sense-making
abilities.
Assumption #3: Learning is the strengthening of bonds between stimuli and correct responses.
American education reflects a behaviorists view, in which learning is described as the
strengthening of bonds between stimuli and the learner’s responses to those stimuli. This
psychological theory has 1) led to the breakdown of complex tasks and ideas into components,
subtasks, and items that could be studied and examined separately; 2) encouraged rote and
routine learning and repetitive training; and 3) led to a focus on the “right answer” and the
counting of correct responses. The result is that students have been asked to learn disconnected
subroutines, items, and sub skills without an understanding of the larger context which gives
Module 3 │Facilitating Learning
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them meaning. This type of instruction maximizes inattention, forgetting, and passivity.
Current information indicates that learners of all ages seem to learn better in complex and
meaningful environments.
Assumption #4: What matters is getting the right answer. Focusing on the right answer
discourages instruction in problem solving. Facts are important, but by themselves constitute an
impoverished understanding of a domain; a “single right answer” focus limits students’
abilities to think about the domain in different ways. When the focus is on the right answer,
students resort to surface level thinking. Their concern is about what the teacher wants, or what
will be on the test, rather than on how they can improve their learning. Also, while students
who get the right answers appear to be learning, teachers often fail to check behind these
answers to insure that students actually grasp the principles they are expected to learn. Finally,
when the most important thing is the right answer, teachers and students view wrong answers
as failures, rather than as learning opportunities.
Assumption #5: To ensure their transfer to new situations, skills and knowledge should be
acquired independently of their contexts of use. Context is critical for understanding and thus
for learning. This means the learning must be coherent and interpretable, and must come out of
the experiences of those doing the interpreting, i.e., the students. Part of good teaching is to
present information in a context that generates meaning for students.
Using the Text to Teach: When is it too much? List of Teaching Strategies Using the Textbook
by -Norma W. Goldstein, Ph.D., Renton Technical College
Using the textbook needs to be part of your lesson planning; however, it must not be the only
lecture strategy used. There are many effective ways for students to learn from the textbook—if
the instructor uses it wisely and well. The guiding principle is that in order to get the most
from the text, students need to “process” or think about or do something with the material for
them to retain the information.
1) SELECTIONS: Only read SELECTED portions of the book for emphasis.
2) FOCUSED READING: Tell students PRIOR to reading assignment what specifically to look
for, so the reading assignment has some meaning and purpose and their minds are actively
reading.
3) PARAPHRASE: Ask students to read PORTIONS of the text. (This is simply to wake them
up and to add a different voice to the room.) THEN ask them to paraphrase what it said. This
latter part is the key: LET THEM SAY IT IN THEIR OWN WORDS!!!!
4) PROVIDE OUTLINE: When you assign a reading, hand students an outline to complete so
that they are able to work with the information in the format you have established.
5) STUDENTS OUTLINE: Ask students to prepare an outline of the reading. This way they
learn organization skills as well as the data itself. They share this with the group.
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6) SYNOPSIS: The paraphrase is verbal; the synopsis is both written and verbal. Have
students do the reading and then in class have them write a one paragraph synopsis of what
they read. Have them read these orally. It is of great interest to hear the different versions and
understandings.
7) SMALL GROUP WORK:
• Have students work together to PRESENT the information in the text.
• Have the group draw a picture of what’s in the textbook material.
• Have the group draw a flow chart of a process.
• Have students create a collage of the content of the text.
8) ROLEPLAY: Have student’s role-play different aspects of the text chapter.
9) BRAINSTORM: Students do the reading prior to the lecture. In class, brainstorm what’s in
the text and then circle key points and ask questions to flesh out the important concepts.
10) QUIZ: Give students a quiz on the reading and then use the quiz as a means for discussion
and going over the material. Yes, this is different from a lecture or reading it out flat...Graded
or not.
11) STUDENTS CREATE QUIZ: Let students (in groups or individually) come up with quiz
questions to ask the class the next day (also a good example of #2 – focused reading.) Give the
quiz. These can be graded or ungraded.
12) CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT or ABSTRACT to CONCRETE: Start out with the specific
details in the text and lead to the general and more abstract or vice versa. OR focus on some
concrete details in the material and then use that as a SYMBOLIC EXAMPLE of the rest of the
material.
13) SET CONTEXT: No matter how you use the text, it is your role to put the material into
context for your students. Relate the information to what you are covering now and then to
whole unit. This is probably the most important thing you have to do with new text material.
Student-Centered
Teaching
Activities
BRAINSTORMING - on the whiteboard or on flip chart.
GROUP WORK/PROJECT WORK - for example, on what’s involved in an investigation for a
legal issue? Or, develop a calendar and promotional materials (business course).
GROUP BRAINSTORM TIMED COMPETITION - for example on chronic diseases and
terminal diseases (health occupation).
INTERACTIVE LECTURE - Asking questions, getting students to pair up temporarily, having
students pause and write, etc. - engaging learners throughout the lecture.
ACRONYMS - Ex.: You would write CHRONIC vertically and students would identify
characteristics from those letters.
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STUDENT-LED MINI-LECTURES/REPORTS present/lecture on a small segment of the learning.
After
assigned
reading,
students
USE OF OVERHEADS - by instructor and/or student.
ROLE PLAY - For example, pass out cards identifying the roles: doctor, technician, dentist,
patient, student, employer, etc. and a situation.
WORKING IN PAIRS - This is a perfect way to have students review the reading homework
and to review sections on the outline.
WRITING - Ask students to write and explain a section of the chapter or of the outline and then
present to the class.
STUDENT-MADE QUESTIONS - Have them individually or in groups make up test questions
or quiz questions based on the reading.
• The idea is not to use all of these methods at the same time, but to use them at different times
to vary lectures. It does mean planning differently.
Small Group and Cooperative Learning Activities:
In small group activities, students work together to achieve a common goal. A great deal of
research has been conducted in this area in the past decade, and several models have been
created that show significant results in student achievement and improved attitudes towards
school and the subject, as well as promoting cross-ethnic relationships. Several of the models
are broadly referred to as cooperative learning. In cooperative learning, students are generally
grouped heterogeneously, with group size ranging from 2 or 3 to as large as 5 or 6. Students are
then given very specific directions on how they are to conduct their group activity. The focus is
on sharing information, individual accountability, and group leadership activities. One
important point is that the skills and roles which are required are specifically taught to the
students before an activity starts.
• Jigsaw learning: This approach provides each student within a group a part of the
information required (such as parts of an article to read). The class period can be broken into
three parts. First, students read the information and prepare a short presentation. Second,
students meet in their groups, presenting the information, and preparing a complete summary
of the material (or answers to study questions). Then, the activity is concluded with a full class
discussion.
• Informal groups: At any point in a lecture or discussion activity, students can be organized
into informal groups of 2 or 3 to stimulate learning and discussion. Students can be asked to
review a critical point to check their understanding, or discuss the application of procedures or
methods being presented. This method can also be used for peer teaching as a preliminary
check of the approach a student is developing for teaching an entire unit. This approach can
provide students with direct feedback on their skills, often generates discussion points for the
class as a whole, and provides the teacher with feedback on points that need to be elaborated.
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• Study teams: Students can be placed in study groups prior to an assessment activity, with
each student being responsible for a certain set of study questions. These can then be presented
and discussed by the group as a whole.
• Group Projects: One of the most common uses of group activities, students form long-term
topic teams to research an issue or to create some product. It is important to provide a method
of individual as well as group reporting and assessment. Students engage in discussion,
planning, sharing of information, editing, and peer-evaluating.
• Brainstorming— The process of generating a WIDE variety of ideas, suggestions, and
possibilities. All ideas are initially accepted and written down, to be distilled and refined later.
• Role playing— Two or more learners act out a real or hypothetical situation, usually taking
roles not associated with that person.
• Case incidents— Participants assume different positions when analyzing a real life situation
or case incident to develop the pros and cons surrounding it.
• Committee— Participants form committees to decide policy, study, or formulate ideas on a
specified topic.
• Sensitivity group— Members of the group interact in a variety of sensitivity exercises for the
purpose of bringing out feelings and sharing experiences with one another in a different way.
• Task force— Each group participates in a specific mission or component necessary to the
accomplishment of a given task.
• Panel— Learners are selected to engage in a discussion in front of the rest of the class. One
person usually serves as moderator.
• Debate— Learner teams of two to four each present and argue the pros and cons of opposite
viewpoints.
• Interview— A guest speaker is invited to attend class, and members prepare specific
questions for the speaker to answer.
• Listening team— The large group is divided into groups of three— a speaker, a listener, and
an observer. Speaker relates his/her ideas on topic with the listening person questioning,
repeating, and restating key phrases. The observer watches the whole thing for a predetermined length of time, and then relays what he/she heard and observed to the other two
members.
• Network group— Class participants meet together, formally or informally, to talk and share.
• Reaction panel— Small number of learners react to a talk, film, or other presentation with
their observations.
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This list is by no means exhaustive. There are many ways in which these techniques can be
effectively applied. All of these techniques, however, require careful planning in the
development of student materials, in establishing procedures for grouping students, how to
initiate (and terminate) activities, how to ensure that the process continues, ensuring that all
students participate equally, that students are taught how to perform the roles they are asked to
perform, and that discussions of the activities by the class as a whole are conducted at the
conclusion of the activity.
Individualized Instruction:
The term individualized instruction is used to describe a wide variety of strategies and
approaches for delivering instruction. What is common to these approaches is that the student
is provided with materials that can be gone through at his or her own pace, and that there are
frequent provisions for providing feedback. Common forms of individualized instruction
include programmed instruction manuals, computer assisted instruction, as well as reading
assignments accompanied with study guides. Research has shown that properly developed
individualized instruction can be very effective; there is a strong relationship between
achievement and student opportunities to learn, active student participation, performance
monitoring, and feedback. Developing these materials, however, is often very time consuming.
Effective individualized instruction generally includes the following: well-structured subjects,
information that is presented in small steps, the incorporation of student practice after each step,
guidance for students during initial practice, adaptive strategies that branch students to
appropriate content and feedback, learner control, and the opportunity for students.
Presentations Strategy
The essence of a good presentation is not so much what you say, but HOW you say it!!! When
designing a presentation, think of it in terms of a conversation—one that is fresh every time, has
plenty of interaction, and focuses as much on the listener as on what is being said. The second
most important principle to remember when designing a presentation is to keep it short and
sweet-end on time!
Three important aspects in your presentation development are:
• Content— Determine what is relevant and important and concentrate on that. Another point
to consider regarding content is the audience’s degree of familiarity with the topic.
• Preparation— There should be three parts to your presentation: the introduction, where you
outline what you will be talking about; the main body of the presentation; and the ending,
including a summary of the important concepts covered. Suggestion: Try to repeat the most
significant ideas several times, in a different way each time, throughout the presentation.
• Delivery— Be sure to speak clearly, project your voice, and use your words wisely. Work to
reduce the “uhs” and “ers” or any pet words or phrases that could become distracting and
repetitious to listeners. Practice, practice, practice!!!
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Presentation Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t...
• Begin without an introduction.
• Have a lack of contact with your audience.
• Use a monotonous voice.
• Use repeated hesitations.
• Get into private quarrels with other authorities.
Do…
• Fit the material into the time allotted.
• Use interesting, relevant examples.
• Stimulate the audience’s interest.
• Improvise when necessary.
• Provide for breathing spaces and time for questions.
• Provide for closure, but also provide transition to next lesson.
• Develop a range in voice, gestures and physical movement.
• Listen to yourself.
Cooperative Learning Groups
• Positive interdependence
• Individual accountability
• Heterogeneous
• Shared leadership
• Shared responsibility for each other
• Task and maintenance emphasized
• Social skills directly taught
• Educator observes and intervenes
• Groups process their effectiveness
Traditional Learning Groups
• No interdependence
• No individual accountability
• Homogeneous
• One appointed leader
• Responsibility only for self
• Only task emphasized
• Social skills assumed and/or ignored
• Educator may ignore group functioning process
• No group processing of effectiveness
Some Quick Cooperative Starters
Here are some ideas to get you started for cooperative learning groups.
• Turn to Your Neighbour. 3-5 minutes. Ask the students to turn to a neighbor and ask
something about the lesson: to explain a concept you’ve just taught; to explain the assignment;
to summarize the three most important points.
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• Reading Groups. Students read material together and answer the questions. One person is
the Reader, another the Recorder, and the third the Checker (who checks to make certain
everyone understands and agrees with the answers). They must come up with three possible
answers to each question and circle their favourite one.
• Jigsaw. Each person reads and studies part of a selection, then teaches what h/she has
learned to the other members of the group. Each then quizzes the group members until satisfied
that everyone knows his/her part thoroughly.
• Focus Trios. Before a film, lecture, or reading, have students summarize together what they
already know about the subject and come up with questions they have about it. After, groups
answer questions, discuss new information, and formulate new questions.
• Drill Partners. Have students drill each other on the facts they need to know until they are
certain both partners know and can remember them all.
• Reading Buddies. Students tell about their reading assignments to each other.
• Worksheet Checkmates. Have two students, each with different jobs, do one worksheet. The
Reader reads, then suggests an answer; the Writer either agrees or comes up with another
answer. When they both agree on an answer, the Writer can write it.
• Homework Checkers. Have students compare homework answers, discuss any they have not
answered similarly, then correct their papers and add the reason they changed an answer. They
make certain everyone’s answers agree, then staple the papers together. You grade one paper
from each group and give group members that grade.
• Test Reviewers. Have students prepare each other for a test. They get bonus points if every
group member scores above a preset level.
• Composition Pairs. Student A explains what h/she plans to write to Student B while Student
B takes notes or makes an outline. Together they plan the opening or thesis statement. Then
Student B explains while Student A writes. They exchange outlines and use them in writing
their papers.
• Board Workers. Students go together to the chalkboard. One can be the Answer Suggested,
one the Checker to see if everyone agrees, and one the Writer.
• Problem Solvers. Give groups problems to solve. Each student must contribute to the
solution. Groups can decide who does what, but they must show where all members
contributed.
Group Discussion Strategy
Group discussion is a good educational strategy for adult learners. It can set a positive
instructional climate, and foster warmth, rapport, and interest within the group. It also
produces interaction among learners, and serves as a motivational tool encouraging learners to
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springboard further into the subject matter. It can also serve as a form of feedback on learner’s
progress with the new information.
Here are some suggestions in designing and facilitating a good discussion:
• Arrange group in circle.
• All participants (you too!) should be seated.
• Don’t make any speeches, nor allow any.
• Allow a good 15 minutes for the discussion to take off.
• Set a clearly defined question before the group, perhaps set in personal terms. (e.g. “Are you a
good employee?”)
• Keep discussion on course. This is your job as the facilitator!
• Every once in a while, summarize what has been said.
• Provide participants with a sense of progress or satisfaction regarding the discussion. Add
some shape or form to ideas that were verbalized so participants can see what occurred, and
end on a positive note.
• Close discussion with an overall summary and compliments for a job well done!
Lesson Planning, Basic Considerations
• Keep presentation short (15-20 minutes).
• Beyond that, break it up with… practice sessions, questions, other participatory interactions.
• Determine level of learners.
• Involve students as much as possible.
• Use a variety of techniques (3-5 each session).
• Use frequent, relevant examples.
• When appropriate, use visual aids e.g. flip charts, chalk/white board, video, slides,
transparencies (view foils) models, etc.
• Provide frequent opportunities for success.
• Model skills you are teaching.
• Provide for maximum time on task.
• Prepare thoroughly.
Preparing Lesson Plans: Using the Appropriate Techniques
Techniques for lessons depend on the types of students, their previous knowledge, the physical
teaching environment and the available equipment and resources, and the desired student
learning outcomes.
To convey information, use:
• Lecture
• discussion group
• Selected reading
• demonstration by an expert
• interviewing an expert
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To provide balanced presentation of a controversial subject, use:
• discussion group
• various selected readings with differing points of view
• debate
• panel discussion
• simulation
• research assignments
To involve people, use:
• discussion
• field trips
• role playing
• guided experience
• written work
• case studies
• group work
To teach a skill, use:
• demonstration by an expert
• labs
• practice with feedback (coaching)
• shop work
• guided experience
• written work (to outline each step)
To pool thoughts and ideas, use:
• discussion
• brainstorming
• group work
To reinforce memory, use:
• drill
• memory aids
• practice with feedback (coaching)
• written work
Reflective Teaching
In order to make the teaching-learning process truly functional and deliver the results, the
teacher must continuously conduct an audit of her teaching practices to
know what approach works best and which pedagogy does not
produce the intended outcomes in a given learning scenario. The next
step is to consolidate techniques that are effective in the context of
learning and refine approaches that have been relatively nonproductive in the past but could yield results when given an
innovative element. A word of caution though! Not all successful
teaching techniques guarantee the same level of success with every
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batch of students and all classes. So, the teacher must use her discretion and perception to
gauge the level of readiness of the pupils and the suitability of the approach to a particular
group of students and then determine the required course of action in terms of pedagogy. Since
teaching is also a dynamic process, constant reflection and up gradation is a necessity in order
to remain current and relevant.
P AJITHA, being born into a family of educationists, teaching as a career choice would have been thought
of as the logical progression after studies but happened accidentally. The foundation for noble profession
perhaps was laid during schooling at Sainik School, Imphal. Having the advantage of seeing and
experiencing the myriad hues of Indian culture through travel and stay in different parts of the country,
has helped develop an appreciation of Indian ethos and values which has also been instrumental in
shaping the vision for teaching. The first teaching assignment was at an International Residential School
in Gujarat. Had experience in teaching Soft Skills to MBA students before joining Delhi Public School,
Vijayawada in the year of its inception in 2007 as a teacher in English.
Select
topic
and
determine the goal of
the lesson.
Determine
prior
learning and skills.
Decide
on
student
learning outcomes and
indicators of students'
progress.
Select and
resources.
organize
Determine a sequence
for the development of
knowledge and skills.
Select
appropriate
teaching strategies and
assessment tasks.
Reflect on and evaluate
the lesson
What are the key concepts, ideas and theories? Why are
these important?
What understanding do the students already have? What
are their (and your) preconceptions and misconceptions?
What will students know, and be able to do, by the end of
the session? What indicators will you use to determine if
students have achieved these outcomes? One useful
approach is to write lesson outcomes, expressed using verbs to
indicate what the students will achieve.
What resources are available to design and use as part of
the session? Some resources you might find helpful are text
books, colleagues' notes, online resources and applicable
teaching articles.
What is the optimal ordering of the material to consolidate
and extend students' knowledge? At what stage should
background material and notation be introduced? How
will the current theory be linked with previous work?
What
experiences
will
consolidate
students'
understanding and allow them to demonstrate their
achievement of the lesson outcomes?
How can you use feedback from students to respond to
the experience and characteristics of your student cohort?
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When it comes to learning facilitation methodologies, teachers and educational leaders have a
deep and abiding responsibility to students. The teacher as a facilitator is a concept that many
be recent but has been needed for a long time. Facilitating learning and assessment in practice
isn’t something that all teachers are innately equipped for. This guide to learning how to
facilitate learning in the classroom should be invaluable in the pursuit of facilitating the
learning environment and learning process.
It is excellent practice to plan for your classes. The following table outlines what is important in
planning. The column on the right gives examples of questions you can ask yourself when
undertaking this planning. You might like to write yourself a planning template that you can
use for each class – this might be electronic or hard copy. This is useful to refer to in your class –
to keep note of timing – and to annotate with any changes or suggestions for future sessions.
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Name
Date
1. What’s the most effective learning time for students in a lecture classroom? Circle the
correct answer
A. the first 5 minutes
B. the first 15 minutes
C. the last 5 minutes
2. Learning is a process by which is modified or changed through experience or t raining.
A. True
B. False
3. Behavioristics learning theory focuses on the study of overt behavior.
A. True
B. False
4. Cognitive learning involves muscular coordination and physical skills.
A. True
B. (false) expert system
5. The computer programs that are derived from branch of computer science research is
called link system.
A. True
B. False
6. Metacognition is the knowledge already knows by somebody when confronted with new
information.
A. True
B. False
7. Transfer of learning is a set of conjectures and hypotheses which explain the process of
learning on how learning takes place.
A. True
B. False
8. Cognitive learning strategies are goal directed, intentionally invoked, effortful, and are not
universally applicable but situation specific.
A. True
B. False
9. Motivation is the process of arousing and sustaining interest in an activity in order to
achieve a goal.
A. True
B. False
10. They need to developed relationships involving reciprocal affection is safety needs.
A. True
B. False
11. Extrinsic motivation is more beneficial than intrinsic motivation.
A. True
B. False
12. The learner is a “receptacle” for knowledge.
A. True
B. False
13. The learner creates his or her own learning actively.
A. True
B. False
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14. Each person is a unique learner, i.e. constructs meaning in his or her own way.
A. True
B. False
15. Individual brains establish new patterns of synaptic connection to established ideas.
A. True
B. False
16. Every student learns all the time, both in and out of the classroom.
A. True
B. False
17. Learning occurs best in the context of a compelling problem.
A. True
B. False
18. Direct hands-on experience fosters better learning.
A. True
B. False
19. Building lasting cognitive connections requires considerable periods of reflection.
A. True
B. False
20. Learning occurs best when in an enjoyable context.
A. True
B. False
21. Effective learning is social and interactive.
A. True
B. False
22. It is not helpful or important to quiz students often.
A. True
B. False
23. Mind mapping means linking established concepts to new situations. Instructors should
let students make the connections themselves.
A. True
B. False
24. Which theory operates on the "stimulus-response principle", which means all behaviors
are caused by external stimuli?
A. Contextual theory
B. Cognitive theory
C. Behaviorists theory
D. Constructivist theory
25. Ms. Erika in her Biology class accompanies her discussion with interesting visual aids.
She strongly believes that students learn better when lessons are presented with images, real
or imagined aside from mere lecture method. Which learning theory does she upholds?
A. Dual-Coding Theory
B. Information Processing Theory
C. Meaningful Reception Learning Theory D. Social Cognitive Theory
26. Miss Rita is an excellent Physical Education teacher. She started teaching volleyball to her
Grade 2 class. Despite all her efforts, her class does not seem to learn how to play the
game. What law of learning was disregarded?
A. Law of Disuse
B. Law of Exercise
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C. Law of Effect
D. Law of Readiness
27. Teacher jay, a physical education teacher, demonstrates the new skill to be learned so
that his students can watch him and later reproduce the skill. What learning theory
is associated with the situation?
A. Dual-Coding Learning Theory
B. Information Processing
C. Schema Learning Theory
D. Social Learning
28. Patrice is always fearful of freely roaming dogs but does not mind dogs in a pen or on
a leash. What feature of classical conditioning is exhibited?
A. Discrimination
B. Generalization
C. Extinction
D. Practice
29. A music teacher is careful in planning activities for each lesson. He praises liberally and
rewards correct answers. What view of learning is exhibited?
A. Classical conditioning
B. Operant conditioning
C. Meaningful learning
D. Social learning
30. Which of the theories of learning presents or states that learning skills are
hierarchically arranged?
A. Cumulative Learning
B. Social Cognitive Learning
C. Meaningful Learning
D. Theory of Instruction8.
31. Which of the following best describes what meaningful learning is?
A. When what is to be learned is new and easy for the students
B. Materials presented are difficult and challenging to the students
C. When the materials to be learned is related to what students already know
D. Students find the lessons easy and relevant to what was assigned to
32. Rita easily remember dates and events in history. What component of LTM does Rita
have?
A. Creative thinking
B. Reflective thinking
C. Critical thinking
D. Logical thinking
33. An Earth Science has just completed a unit on the sun. As she recognizes her next unit on
other stars, she uses the sun as a frame of reference. What view of learning was used?
A. Discovery learning
B. Meaningful learning
C. Informative learning
D. Transfer learning
34. Which is an application of cognitive approach to motivation?
A. Explain the reasons for studying the topic
B. Create a supportive classroom climate for students
C. Provide clear and prompt feedback on assignments
D. Begin lessons with challenging questions and conflicting events
35. The first people power was held in February 25, 1986. What kind of knowledge is
presented?
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A. Conditional Knowledge
C. Cognitive Knowledge
B. Domain-Specific Knowledge
D. Procedural Knowledge
36. The students of Mrs. Reyes were not able to learn the concepts that she presented
yesterday so she taught the same concepts again but this time using a different teaching
method. What principle of learning was applied?
A. Concepts should be presented in varied and different ways
B. Effort was put forth when tasks are challenging
C. Learning by doing is more effective than just by sitting and listening
D. Learning is aided by formulating and asking questions
37. Alvin is a transferee and feels uneasy with his new school. His teacher is very
accommodating, warm and caring. Alvin felt comfortable with the teacher display of genuine
warmth. The teacher is consistent in his manner and Alvin began to associate school with the
teacher's warmth. Which theory is being illustrated?
A. Meaningful learning
B. Classical conditioning
C. Operant conditioning
D. Observational learning
38. After just being introduced to another guest in the party, Tom cannot remember the name
of the guest he was introduced to. In what memory stage was the information stored in?
A. Episodic memory
B. Sensory memory
C. Semantic memory
D. Working memory1
39. Vygotsky claimed that social interaction is important for learning. What does this imply?
A. Children are independent problem solvers
B. Children learn from adults and other children
C. Children learn by passive presentation of information
D. Children in the crib has no learning yet, since they are not capable of interaction
40. How would you help a student who is intelligent but is underachieving in class?
A. Provide challenging activities which he/she can accomplish
B. Recognize his talents by asking him/her to help other students with their work
C. Identify the immediate causes of difficulties that cause his/her being an under achiever
D. Allow him/her to work with the slow learner group to cope with the academic needs of the
lesson.
41. Mrs. Corpuz always makes sure that her pre-school classroom is well organized and clean.
She puts up interesting and colorful visuals on the bulletin boards. What principle
of motivation was applied?
A. Incentives motivate learning
B. Internal motivation is longer lasting and more self-directive than is external motivation
C. Motivation is enhanced by the way in which instructional material is organized
D. The environment can be used to focus the student's attention on what needs to be learned
42. For every correct answer, the teacher would give a star to her students. What schedule of
reinforcement was used?
A. Fixed interval
B. Variable interval
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C. Fixed ratio
D. Variable ratio
43. Marga, a six year old, always asked her playmates to sit in front of her small black board
and she plays teacher. Her mother is a teacher. What theory explains Marga's behaviour?
A. Classical Conditioning
B. Social Learning
C. Operant Conditioning
D. Information Processing
44. What should the teacher do to help students learn psychomotor skills?
A. Teacher uses verbal explanation and description of the movements in addition to
live demonstration of the movements
B. Teacher provides feedback to the learner about his/her progress
C. Teacher encourages the learner to practice, in order to maintain his/her sharpness of the
movements
D. All of the above
45. The teacher presented a new lesson where in the students were asked to work on a new
project which was somewhat complicated. The students showed interest while working on
the project. What principle applies to the situation?
A. Effort was put forth when tasks are challenging
B. Lessons should be presented in varied and different ways
C. Meaningful materials are readily learned than nonsense materials
D. Teachers should provide opportunities for meaningful and appropriate practice
46. Maturation should precede certain types of learning. How is this applied in the
classroom?
A. Concepts should be taught from simple to complex
B. Consider the age level of students in assigning tasks
C. Follow the interest of students in assigning tasks
D. Give the same task to all students in a particular grade level
47. Luz easily learns a lesson when she is working with laboratory equipment but hardly
remembers a lesson the teacher lectured on. What type of learner is Luz?
A. Auditory Learner
B. Tactile Learner
C. Kinaesthetic Learner
D. Visual Learner
48. Learn how to structure a course to facilitate both linear and non-linear learning?
A. Work on Course Redesign
B. Better Cultural Awareness
C. Redesign Classrooms and Schools
D. Enhance Listening Skills
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49-50. Name at least 2 teaching methods that you can use to make your lectures more
interactive?
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