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MODULE 1: LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

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At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:

 explain the cognitive and metacognitive, motivational and affective,

developmental and social, and individual difference factors of teaching and
learning
 summarize learning using graphic organizers
 cite classroom situations that manifest applications of the principles

In the early 1990s, the American Psychological Association (APA) appointed a group, a
Task Force on Psychology in Education, to conduct further studies in both psychology and
education. The purpose of this group was to conduct studies that could enhance the current
understanding of educators of the nature of learners about teaching and learning process. The
end goal was to improve the existing school practices so that learning becomes meaningful to
all kinds of learners.

Psychological principles deal with the learners and how they learn. These principles
depict the learners as they actively engage in seeking knowledge by: (1) reinterpreting
information and experience from themselves, (2) being self-motivated by the quest for
knowledge (rather than being motivated by grades or other rewards), (3) working with others
to socially construct meaning, and (4) being aware of their own learning strategies and capable
of applying them to new problems or circumstances (Slavin 2006).

The Learner-Centered Principles were put together by the APA. The following 14
psychological principles pertain to the learner and the learning process. They have the
following aspects:
1. They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to and under the
control of the learner rather then conditioned habits or physiological factors. However,
the principles also attempt to acknowledge external environment or contextual factors
that interact with these internal factors.
2. The principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of real-
world learning situations. Thus, they are best understood as an organized set of
principles; no principle should be viewed in isolation.
3. The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1) cognitive and metacognitive,
(2) motivational and affective, (3) developmental and social, and (4) individual
difference factors influencing learners and learning.
4. Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners - from children, to teachers,
to administrators, to parents, and to community members involved in our educational
system.

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COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS

Cognitive factors refer to the mental processes the learners undergo as they process an
information while metacognitive factors are concerned with the way learners think as they
engage in mental tasks.

1. Nature of the learning process

The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an

intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience.

• There are different types of learning processes, for example, habit formation in
motor learning,and learning that involves the generation of knowledge, or cognitive
skills and learning strategies.
• Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that students can use
to construct meaning from information, experiences, and their own thoughts and
beliefs.
• Successful learners are active, goal-oriented, self-regulating, and assume personal
responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
• Teachers play a significant role in guiding learners to become active, goal-
directed and self-regulating and to assume responsibility for their learning. The
learning activities and opportunities are very important situations for learners
can integrate knowledge and concepts to their experiences. An intentional learning
environment fosters activity and feedback, and creates a culture that promotes
metacognition (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1989).

2. Goals of the learning process

The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance,
can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.

• The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal-directed.

• To construct useful representations of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and
learning strategies necessary for continued learning success across the life span,
students must generate and pursue personally relevant goals. Initially, students’ short-
term goals and learning may be sketchy in an area, but over time their understanding
can be refined by filling gaps, resolving inconsistencies, and deepening their
understanding of the subject matter so that they can reach longer-term goals.
• Educators must assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals that are
consistent with both personal and educational aspirations and interests.
• Meaningful learning takes place when what is presented to learners is very much
related to their needs and interests. Indeed, it is challenging to motivate learners to
succeed.

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 3. Construction of knowledge

The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in
meaningful ways.

• Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new
information and experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature of these
links can take a variety of forms, such as adding to, modifying, or recognizing existing
knowledge or skills. How these links are made or develop may vary in different subject
areas, and among students with varying talents, interests, and abilities. However,
unless new knowledge becomes integrated with the learner’s prior knowledge and
understanding, this new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively
in new tasks, and does not transfer readily to new situations.
• Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge by a number of
strategies that have been shown to be effective with learners of varying abilities, such
as concept mapping and thematic organization or categorizing.
• The integration of prior experiences to a new concept to be learned is a way of
making connections between what is new and what is already known. The new
knowledge created from old knowledge is the very heart of constructivism.
• Teachers should initiate more opportunities for learners to share ideas, experiences,
observations and readings as the need arises.

4. Strategic thinking

The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning
strategies to achieve complex learning goals.

• Strategic learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning,

problem solving, and concept learning.
• They understand and can use a variety of strategies to help them reach learning and
performance goals, and to apply their knowledge in novel situations.
• They also continue to expand their repertoire of strategies by reflecting on the
methods they use to see which work well for them, by receiving guided instruction and
feedback, and by observing or interacting with appropriate models.
• Learning outcomes can be enhanced if educators assist learners in developing,
applying, and assessing their strategic learning skills.
• Strategic thinking is the person’s ability to use knowledge in different ways to
solve problems, address concerns and issues, decrease difficulties in certain situations
and make sound decisions and judgments in varied conditions. Strategic thinkers do
not give up easily in difficult situations, are more challenged to find ways to solve a
problem in spite of failures, and are not afraid to commit mistakes as these are
perceived as meaningful learning experiences. Creative strategies may include concept
mapping and use of other graphic organizers, group activities and other collaborative
techniques.

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 5. Thinking about thinking

Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations

facilitate creative and critical thinking.

• Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or
performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and
monitor their progress toward these goals.
• In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not
making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative
methods to reach their goal (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal).
• Instructional methods that focus on helping learners develop these higher order
(metacognitive) strategies can enhance student learning and personal responsibility for
learning.
• One of the most challenging roles of teachers is to develop among learners
the higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Aside from mastering information,
discovery, problem-solving, creation and evaluation should be integrated to
learners’ experiences. Students can make inferences, sound judgments and
relevant conclusions and use their learned knowledge to varied situations.
Assessment tools should be authentic.

6. Context of learning

Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology,

and instructional practices.

• Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers play a major interactive role with
both the learner and the learning environment.
• Cultural or group influences on students impact many educationally relevant variables,
such as motivation, orientation toward learning, and ways of thinking.
• Technologies and instructional practices must be appropriate for learners’ level of
prior knowledge, cognitive abilities, and their learning and thinking strategies.
• The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which it is nurturing or not,
can also have significant impacts on student learning.
• Learning does not only take place in the classroom. Much of what learners learn here
with teachers can only have meaning once they see these concretely in their everyday
life. Examples given in the classroom should be a reflection of their life experiences.

MOTIVATIONAL AND AFFECTIVE FACTORS

How the learners push themselves to learn and how they value learning are the
concerns of motivational factors while affective factors relate to the attitude, feelings and
emotions that learners put into the learning task.

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 7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning

What and how much is learned is influenced by the learner’s motivation.

Motivation to learn, in turn, is influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs,
interests and goals, and habits of thinking.

• The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals, and expectations for success or
failure can enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality of thinking and information
processing.
• Students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of learning have a
marked influence on motivation. Motivational and emotional factors also influence
both the quality of thinking and information processing as well as an individual’s
motivation to learn.
• Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally influence motivation and facilitate
learning and performance. Mild anxiety can also enhance learning and performance by
focusing the learner’s attention on a particular task. However, intense negative
emotions (e.g. anxiety, panic, rage, insecurity) and related thoughts (e.g. worrying
about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing punishment, ridicule, or
stigmatizing labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere with learning, and
contribute to low performance.
• Motivation plays a very important role in learning. No matter how new, challenging
or technical a topic is, if the level of motivation is high, students would always find the
interest to participate and get themselves engaged. However, if there no efforts to
motivate learners, there would also be no engagement to learning. Teachers and
parents can encourage, praise or reward learners to boost their confidence. They can
also establish positive emotional states and good habits of thinking so that learners feel
that mistakes and errors are normal parts of learning. Teachers should also use
materials and strategies that would remove learners’ anxiety, panic or insecurities.

8. Intrinsic motivation to learn

The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all
contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of
optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to personal interests, and providing for
personal choice and control.

• Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking, and creativity are major indicators of the
learners’ intrinsic motivation to learn, which is in large part a function of meeting basic
needs to be competent and to exercise personal control.
• Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that learners perceive as interesting and
personally relevant and meaningful, appropriate in complexity and difficulty to the
learners’ abilities, and on which they believe they can succeed.
• Intrinsic motivation is also facilitated on tasks that are comparable to real-world
situations and meet needs for choice and control.
• Educators can encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and motivation to
learn by attending to individual differences in learners’ perceptions of optimal novelty
and difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and control.

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 • There are two kinds of motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic
motivation is manifested when an individual engages in an activity or task that is
personally gratifying. It is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant
to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control. Extrinsic
motivation is shown when an individual engages in a task or activity to earn external
rewards or to avoid punishments in some situations. The most important way to
motivate students to learn is to present the value of that knowledge or concept in life.
Learning is not only about getting good grades or complying with requirements but
more of knowing why there is a need to learn such knowledge, attitude or skill and how
these can be used in everyday life.

9. Effects of motivation on effort

Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort

and guided practice. Without learner’s motivation to learn, the willingness to exert
this effort is unlikely without coercion.

• Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition of complex

knowledge and skills demands the investment of considerable learner energy and
strategic effort, along with persistence over time.
• Educators need to be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that
enhance learner effort and commitment and understanding.
• Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by practices that
enhance positive emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and methods that increase
learners’ perceptions that a task is interesting and personally relevant.
• The learners’ motivation to learn is also partnered by their extended efforts. It is
through teachers’ encouragement that they will have to do tasks with quality and not
just for compliance’s sake.

DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS

Development and social factors as well as individual differences are considered critical
factors in the capacity of learners to engage in learning.

10. Developmental influences on learning

As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for

learning. Learning is most effective when differential development within and across
physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domain is taken into account.

• Individuals learn best when the material is appropriate to their

developmental level and is presented in an enjoyable and interesting way.
• Because individual development varies across intellectual, social, emotional,
and physical domains, achievement in different instructional domains may also
vary.

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 • Overemphasis on one type of developmental readiness - such as reading
readiness, for example - may preclude learners from demonstrating that they
are more capable in other areas of performance.
• The cognitive, emotional, and social development of individual learners and
how they interpret life experiences are affected by prior schooling, home,
culture, and community factors.
• Early and continuing parental involvement in schooling, and the quality of
language interactions and two-way communications between adults and
children can influence these developmental areas.
• Awareness and understanding of developmental differences among children
with and without emotional, physical, or intellectual disabilities, can facilitate
the creation of optimal learning contexts.
• Knowledge on these domains is an excellent springboard for planning learning
activities, materials and assessment. Often, some are not learning well because there is
a mismatch between the learning activity and the developmental stage.
• Teachers should be knowledgeable of the various developmental milestones
of the learners. They should always collaborate with the school administrators,
guidance counselors, parents, guardians and even family in instructional
planning. Teachers should always look into the readiness of learners through keen
observations, diagnostic tools, authentic assessments and the like.

11. Social influences on learning

Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations and

communication with others.

• Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportunity to interact and to
collaborate with others on instructional tasks.
• Learning settings that allow for social interactions, and that respect diversity,
encourage flexible thinking and social competence.
• In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts, individuals have an opportunity
for perspective taking and reflective thinking that may lead to higher levels of cognitive,
social, and moral development, as well as self-esteem.
• Quality personal relationships that provide stability, trust, and caring can increase
learners’ sense of belonging, self-respect and self-acceptance, and provide a positive
climate for learning.
• Family influences, positive interpersonal support and instruction in self-motivation
strategies can offset factors that interfere with optimal learning such as negative beliefs
about competence in a particular subject, high levels of test anxiety, negative sex role
expectations, and undue pressure to perform well.
• Positive learning climates can also help to establish the context for healthier levels of
thinking, feeling, and behaving. Such contexts help learners feel safe to share ideas,
actively participate in the learning process, and create a learning community.
• Collaboration is a 21st century skill that will prepare learners for the real world
where they are expected to interact effectively to a community of diverse
people. This ability encompasses social interactions, personal relations and
communication. Learning activities such as group work, group dynamics, group
tasks are examples of situations which this skill can be developed. When learners work

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 with their peers and classmates, they learn to appreciate diversity. They practice their
listening skills and consider each other’s perspectives and contributions on the task to
be completed. When adequately facilitated by the teacher, this skill contributes to a
positive and healthy learning such as respect for each other’s opinions, give and take
responsibility and taking responsibility for assigned tasks.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES FACTORS

12. Individual differences in learning

Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning

that are a function of prior experience and heredity.

• Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents.
• In addition, through learning and social acculturation, they have acquired their own
preferences for how they like to learn and the pace at which they learn. However,
these preferences are not always useful in helping learners reach their learning goals.
• Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and expand or
modify them, if necessary.
• The interaction between learner differences and curricular and environmental
conditions is another key factor affecting learning outcomes.
• Educators need to be sensitive to individual differences, in general. They also need to
attend to learner perceptions of the degree to which these differences are accepted
and adapted to by varying instructional methods and materials.
• Diversity is a natural part of life. The learning environment is the best example
where this is manifested between and among learners. Each has his or her learning
style, intelligence, potential, skills, talents, preferences or cognitive abilities which are
the effects of both experience and heredity.
• Current trends in teaching encourage teachers to apply concepts on multicultural
teaching, differentiated instruction (DI) and the Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
All these principles support the premise that teachers should be creative, innovative
and supportive of the individual differences of their learners. These trends in teaching
offer various ideas, options and ways by which diversity can best be used for
meaningful teaching and learning.

13. Learning and diversity

Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural and

social backgrounds are taken into account.

• The same basic principles of learning, motivation, and effective instruction apply to all
learners. However, language, ethnicity, race, beliefs, and socioeconomic status all can
influence learning. Careful attention to these factors in the instructional setting
enhances the possibilities for designing and implementing appropriate learning
environments.

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 • When learners perceive that their individual differences in abilities, backgrounds,
cultures, and experiences are valued, respected, and accommodated in learning tasks
and contexts, levels of motivation and achievement are enhanced.
• Multicultural teaching encourages teachers to consider their learners’ linguistic,
cultural and social backgrounds. Language can be a barrier in learning when learners
cannot express themselves properly and when the learning material is not also related
to their social context. Cases and situations should be contextualized and localized so
that they can appreciate learning.
• Culture makes one person distinct from other people. Students manifest
differences in language, values, belief systems and way of life. An inclusive classroom
welcomes and respects these differences which are incorporated in their learning
activities. Students do not feel discriminated and ridiculed because of their uniqueness
as individuals. When they feel valued, accepted and appreciated for who they are, this
contributes to a positive learning environment.

14. Standards and assessment

Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the

learner as well as learning progress - including diagnostic, process, and outcome
assessment – are integral parts of the learning process.

• Assessment provides important information to both the learner and teacher at all
stages of the learning process.
• Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work towards
appropriately high goals; therefore, appraisal of the learner’s cognitive strengths and
weaknesses, as well as current knowledge and skills, is important for the selection of
instructional materials of an optimal degree of difficulty.
• Ongoing assessment of the learner’s understanding of the curricular material can
provide valuable feedback to both learners and teachers about progress toward the
learning goals.
• Standardized assessment of learner progress and outcomes assessment provides one
type of information about achievement levels both within and across individuals that
can inform various types of programmatic decisions.
• Performance assessments can provide other sources of information about the
attainment of learning outcomes.
• Self-assessments of learning progress can also improve students self-appraisal skills
and enhance motivation and self-directed learning.
• Assessment and evaluation are essential parts of the teaching-learning process.
The results are used to gauge the learners’ strengths and weaknesses, limitations and
areas of difficulties. Teachers can determine the kind of support and scaffold the
learners need and which instructional material would best assist a learner for better
school performance.
• Assessment, whether formative or summative should be an ongoing process and
used as means of improving teachers’ strategies and techniques. Low results may not

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 always be attributed to students’ negligence and difficulties but may also be because of
ineffective teaching strategies. Assessment is for both the teacher and the learner.

LEARNER-CENTERED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

PRINCIPLES CHARACTERISTICS
Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
1. Nature of the learning process - Construction of meaning
- Connectedness to their experiences
2. Goals of the learning process - Creation of meaningful and coherent
knowledge representation
3. Construction of knowledge - Meaningful connectedness
4. Strategic thinking - Development of strategies for thinking and
reasoning
5. Thinking about thinking - Higher-order thinking strategies for
selecting and organizing information
6. Context of learning - The environment influences (culture,
technology, and/or instructional practices)
affect learning
Motivational and Affective Factors
7. Motivational and emotional - Motivation is of two types: intrinsic and
influences on learning extrinsic
8. Intrinsic motivation to learn - Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of
optimal novelty and difficulty ad nrelated to
personal worth
9. Effects of motivation on effort - Learners’ effort
- Instructional scaffolds or guided practice
Developmental and Social Factors
10. Developmental influences on - Developmental influences (intellectual,
learning emotional, and social factors) also affect
learning
11. Social influences on learning - Social interactions, interpersonal relations,
and communication with others are
important in learning
Individual Difference Factors
12. Individual differences in - Experiences and heredity come into play in
learning the development of strategic learning
13. Learning and diversity - Linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds
form part of learner differences
14. Standards and assessment - Diagnostic, process, and outcome
assessment are integral part of the learning
process

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 Alexander and Murphy distilled the 14 principles into five areas:

1. The knowledge base. One’s existing knowledge serves as the foundation of all future
learning. The learner’s previous knowledge will influence new learning specifically on how he
represents new information, make associations and filters new experience.
2. Strategic processing and control. Learners can develop skills to reflect and regulate their
thoughts and behaviors in order to learn more effectively (metacognition).
3. Motivation and affect. Factors such as intrinsic motivation (from within), reasons for
wanting to learn, personal goals and enjoyment of learning tasks all have a crucial role in the
learning process.
4. Development and Individual Differences. Learning is a unique journey for each person
because each learner has his own unique combination of genetic and environmental factors
that influence him.
5. Situation or context. Learning happens in the context of a society as well as within an
individual.

Learners acquire knowledge and skills from the experiences that they actively engage in.
Initially, teachers’ awareness of students’ background or characteristics is vital input in
instructional design. Cognition is triggered by varied types of motivation and strategies used by
the teacher to build a more positive affect among the learners.
The teachers should consider all the major elements of the cognitive and metacognitive
factors of learning: nature of the learning process, goals of the learning process, construction
of knowledge, strategic thinking, thinking about thinking and context of learning.
Teachers have best practices in motivating and stimulating their learners depending on
their age and grade levels. Sometimes, extrinsic motivation works effectively among those in
the lower grades like giving tokens, stars or any tangible reward. As they progress from one
grade level to the other, teachers can modify motivation from being extrinsic to intrinsic
because they are now becoming matured learners.
Teaching is a complex process. It can be observed that there are teachers who enter
their classroom without much preparation on how they could make learning more interesting
and engaging in varied kinds of learners. It is the very reason why institutions preparing
preservice teachers at present have continuously introduced innovations on their teacher
education programs to prepare them for this complex task.
A classroom is a place where diversity is appreciated, respected and celebrated. It is
never a place where learners are discriminated upon or ridiculed because of their unique way
of life, social background, beliefs, value systems and traditions.

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