Cognitive Development And Classroom Teaching

Superior Essays
Learning is a process where a person acquires knowledge through behavioural change that occurs due to experiences or practices. It leads to ascertaining ideas and concepts as well as obtaining skills and values. Learning occurs in all humans regardless of age, including the foetuses says Janet, 1998.
People learn through cognitive development, behaviourism and constructivism. Behaviourism in learning is through the conditioning process in which the response is demonstrated with an environmental stimulus (classical conditioning) or through reward or punishment system (operant conditioning).
The classical conditioning was originated by Ivan Pavlov in 1902 and his study was further extended by John. B. Watson by introducing the operant conditioning. Jean Piaget was the contributor of the cognitive development in children (Learning theories, 2014). Constructivism learning happens when a person uses his or her current and past experiences or knowledge to encounter new information and concepts.
Kolb introduced the experiential learning theory which is the base for all learning processes. It is a cycle that begins with concrete experience or existing knowledge, followed by reflective observation to review the prior knowledge, abstract conceptualisation to generate new ideas from the existing ones and ends with active experimentation or the application of the knowledge (Saul, 2010) So, learning is a continuous process of enhancing the ability or knowledge that a person already has with the newly acquired wisdom. People learn through experiences and by amending their mistakes. There are many contributing factors for effective learning to take place.
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One of the important factor will be the teaching method. Classroom teaching can either take a teacher-centred or a student- centred approach. Student-centred learning specifically inquiry based learning is a motivating element which focuses on students’ investigation and hands-on learning, where the teacher plays the role as a facilitator, personal model and a delegator. I have come across students’ who have halted me from giving the answers because they do not want to give up, looking for the solutions. This is evidence to show that students’ were engaged and productive when their voices were acknowledged. So, to me group work is effective as it also allows the teacher to plan suitable indoor or outdoor activities for an effective learning. “Learning is not a spectator sport. Students are not learning much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, related it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.” (Chickering & Gamson, 1986). This quote supports the student-centred learning where the learners play major roles in attaining the knowledge. The objectives of the lesson must be SMART and explained clearly. S.M.A.R.T is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-related elements. This mnemonic was first introduced by Doran, T. in 1981. S.M.A.R.T objectives will give a clear understanding on what the students are going to learn and achieve at the end of the lesson. This will eventually reassure the students and sustain their focus and show interest by generating relevant questions. A conducive learning environment, enable the students to work individually or collaborate in groups under the teacher’s supervision. Opportunities should be provided for students to generate essential questions to enhance understanding. Learners learn best when working with and learning from their peers. This is when

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