Understanding Pedagogy & Learning Theories (CST 413 )

Understanding learner characteristics & Learning   styles

“Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.”

Henri Frederic Amiel

Each individual is a physically, mentally, psychologically and socially different character. According to Psychologist, Robert Sternberg , intelligence   is defined as the  "mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life." It is defined as the intellectual potential,something with which we’re born with.

General Intelligence: The capability      to think about ideas, examine and evaluate situations, and solve problems.

Gifted: Gifted  or talented students normally  are talented in one  or two areas.

Multiple   Intelligence: Howard Gardener says that people do have  intellectual capacity  with many different intelligences

Howard Gardener’s nine   types of intelligence 

1. Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart) 

2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)

3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

4. Existential Intelligence

 5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”) 

6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)

7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”)

9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)

Learning styles

 Different students learning styles are different from one another.It is the teachers responsibility  to include  varieties of activities catering to the different learning styles of students  to make learning more meaningful to them.

Reference:

Cherry,K (2013).Theories of intelligence.Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/p/intelligence.htm

Understanding Pedagogy & Learning Theories (CST 413 )

MOTIVATION

Motivation refers   to   the driving force that makes a person to do something. For example; a man works   in two   jobs   to earn more money, a   boy learns his lessons    to play computer games, a student   writes neatly to get a badge. Motivation is what makes us to act, whether it is to eat something   to reduce hunger   or   read a story to complete a book review form. These motives involve biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate   certain behaviors.

Motivation is of two types; intrinsic motivation & extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation refers to the motivation when the learner does   something   to get an external reward, whereas intrinsic motivation   motivates   the   learner   to experience   a rewarding result.

Student motivation   is important because students need motivation for them to do effective learning. Without any motivation the students sitting   in a classroom won’t achieve anything.

Theories of motivation

·       Behavioral view –   Completing   a   task in order to get a reward only.

·      Social cognitive view

·     Humanistic view - Motivation influenced by fulfilling different levels of need ( Roza,2013)

Factors that influence motivation

·         Values and beliefs of one’s culture

·         Emotions

·         Degree of competency

·         Prior knowledge

·         Perceptions

Students can be motivated   using external rewards at the beginning. And later the reward could be removed, once the students are intrinsically motivated.

Reference

Yunus,K.R.M., Razali,M & Jantan,R.(2011).HBEF2013: Educational Psychology. Open University Malaysia: Pearson

 Roza,I.(2013,April).Motivation. Unpublished lecture notes, The Maldives National University, Maldives.