Conditions of Learning?
Learning depends upon a number of factors or conditions. The more important one’s discussed below:
´
Motivation
§
Motivation is one of the
basic conditions of learning. Motivation, in simple language, means interest.
Learning is directly related to our interest is learning.
§ Therefore, a teacher's fast and foremost action is to create interest in the students in learning. The
students must be brought in the proper frame of mind before they can learn
anything successfully. The teacher to motivate the students to acquire the
new knowledge can use a number of devices. This includes questioning and the
use of audiovisual aids. Successful motivation means successful learning.
§
Clarity of Presentation
§
The subject matter must be presented clearly before the students so that they understand it properly. This is a very important condition of
learning. Therefore, the presentation of the subject matter should be as clear
as possible to make learning effective and successful.
§
Providing Direct Experiences
§ Wherever possible, the students
should be taught by the method of personal observation and experience. For
example, no amount of verbal explanation will give us a clear picture of the
Tarbela Dam; the best way to know and appreciate it is, to see it personally.
Let the students observe and experience; rest assured, true and effective learning will automatically occur.
§
Level of Intelligence
§ Learning, to a considerable extent,
depends upon the learners' intelligence level. Though the teacher
cannot do much in this regard because the level of one’s intelligence is
determined by genetics, the knowledge of the level of intelligence of the
learner can greatly help the teacher plan teaching methods suited to the
learner’s level of intelligence. For example, a student with high IQ can easily
learn through verbal explanations of the teacher; but a student with a comparatively low IQ needs the help of audio-visual aids and other devices for
teaching in learning. Therefore, the teaching methods have to be adapted to the learners' intelligence level.
§
Academic Atmosphere
§ A very important and significant
condition of learning is the provision of an academic and intellectual type of
atmosphere for the learners. The academic type of atmosphere prevailing at home
and school is a continuous inspiration for children to learn more and
more. The reason is that the children absorb an intellectual type of frame of
mind from the academic atmosphere and that type of atmosphere can be created by
providing a separate room for study, providing books and journals and having
intellectual talks and discussions. A good school library and a reading room
can go a long way in creating academic-type of atmosphere in the school.
§
Effective Methods of Teaching
§ Better and effective methods of
teaching are essential for learning. Mostly, poor learning is the result of
faulty methods of teaching. Instead of the old and traditional teaching methods, modern and psychological methods should be used. The best methods of learning will result in best type of learning.
§
Reinforcement
§ Reinforcement is a procedure of
associating pleasant or unpleasant experiences, objects or events with the
responses made by the learner. The basic idea of reinforcing a response is
either to strengthen response or to weaken it. Appreciation and rewards
help in the strengthening of certain behaviour in the child punishment and
reproof help in the elimination of undesirable behaviours in children. Thus,
reinforcement can be positive such as appreciation and rewards, and negative
such as reproof and punishment. Reinforcement plays a significant part in
learning; therefore, the teacher should use this technique in the
learning process.
§ Practice
There is great truth in the saying that ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. We learn things by doing them over and over again. A long experience makes a person skilled and proficient; practice, therefore, is one of the most important conditions of learning. The importance of practice is rightly emphasized in learning. Practice implies the repetition of a particular response in the presence of the stimulus. It is not possible for the child to learn the response correctly just by performing the activity only once. He has to repeat the performance over and over again to fix and learn it properly and completely. This is also essential for longer retention. The learner will be able to perform the activity easily, properly, correctly and gracefully only through long and constant practice.
