FACILITATING LEARNER CENTERED TEACHING The teacher empowers students by giving them

ED203 the opportunity to choose and make decisions

like selecting among lesson topics, choose
MODULE 1 learning activities, determine pace of learning,
Introduction to Learner-Centred Teaching and select an assessment task to demonstrate
one’s mastery of targeted learning
Learner Centered Teaching (LCT) has become a popular competencies.
phrase among educators nowadays. It has been named
in several ways such as student-centred approach or FUNCTION OF CONTENT
learner-centered pedagogy in many textbooks and • Current research evidence from educational
journal articles. Looking at the research literature psychology calls for a change in the function of
surrounding learner-centred teaching in the past 20 curriculum content which should be less on
years, a book published in 2002 by Maryllen Weimer covering it and more on using content to develop
stands as one of the earlier attempts to comprehensively a learner’s individual way of understanding or
discuss and define what is LCT about. In Weimer’s book sense-making. Teachers need to allow learners to
titled, ‘Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to raise their own questions, generate their own
Practice’, five key changes were significantly taking place answers or solutions.
in schools. • From a constructivist perspective, knowledge
5 Features cannot simply be given to students: Students
must construct their own meanings” (Stage,
1. Balance Power Muller, Kinzie, and Simmons, 1998, p. 35). In
2. Function of Content other words, learners are capable of constructing
3. Role of the Teacher and reconstructing their knowledge through
4. Responsibility for Learning active personal effort. This view debunks the
5. Evaluation Purpose and Process current belief about students’ learning from
BALANCE POWER passively receiving information transmitted from
teachers via lectures.
• In a traditional classroom, the power to decide • In order to facilitate learning that changes how
what lessons to discuss, what learning activities students think and understand, teachers must
students must engage in, and what assessment begin by finding out students’ prior knowledge
tasks to give mainly belongs to the teacher with or conceptions and then design learning
little input from students. On the other hand, in activities that will change these pre-instructional
a student-centered classroom, a teacher shares concepts.
that power by consulting learners prior to • Learner-centered teaching also regards content
making final decisions. as more of competency-based learning in which
• The traditional exercise of power in the students master targeted skills and content
classroom often benefits the teacher more than before progressing to another lesson. The more
it promotes student learning. The uniform important practice here is to accommodate
instructional approach or ‘one-size-fits-all’ students’ differing pace of learning. For instance,
concept certainly is more convenient on the part some students may be able to demonstrate they
of the teacher who has worked hard in planning, know how to use a microscope in 1 hour while
implementing, and assessing outcomes of others need 2 hours of practice to demonstrate
learning. However, this uniform approach has proficiency in manipulating it.
been criticized by scholars by being unresponsive • With patient guidance and ongoing support
to the diversity of needs, interests, and readiness from teachers, competency-based learning
among students. would ensure that students advance to new
• In order to balance power in the classroom, material when they are ready, at their own pace,
learners are frequently consulted and given whether they can move quickly or whether they
immediate and ongoing feedback by the teacher. need more time.
 ROLE OF THE TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
• Constructivism theory brings the role of the • In recent years, work on self-regulated learning
teacher as that of a facilitator of learning, not as has advanced, and the goal of 21st century
the fountain of learning. He/she instead education ought to be the creation of
encourages students to explore multiple independent, autonomous learners who assume
knowledge sources, make sense of it, and responsibility for their own learning.
personally organize the information taken from • Adults are known to be capable of self-directed
different sources. learning and that continuous learning occurs
• As generally observed, less knowledgeable and across their career span and lifetime.
experienced learners will interact with content in • Each student may require different ways of
less intellectually robust ways, but the goal is to learning, researching and analysing the
involve students in the process of acquiring and information available.
retaining information. • It establishes that students can and should be
• This shifting view on the role of the teacher made responsible for their own learning.
deemphasizes the focus on teaching techniques • Learning skills of autonomous self-regulating
and methods if they are considered separate learners can be learned and must be taught even
from the subject matter and learning structures at an early age. This is even more important
of the discipline. when entering higher education.
• Teachers no longer function as exclusive content • The learning skills acquired in basic education
expert or authoritarian classroom managers and and higher education will be used throughout
no long work to improve teaching by developing the course of their professional and personal
sophisticated presentation skills. lives.
• Greater involvement with students by the • Learning is cooperative, collaborative, and
teacher is central to student motivation. community-oriented.
Diekelmann et al (2004) show how a nursing • Students are encouraged to direct their own
teacher increasingly included students in learning and to work with other students on
‘cocreating compelling courses’ and was research projects and assignments that are both
surprised ‘by the insights students shared culturally and socially relevant to them.
regarding how to create compelling courses and • Class often starts with a mini-lesson, which then
their willingness to collaborate with …[her] to flows into students making choices about what
improve teaching and learning experiences’ they need to do next to meet specific learning
(Diekelmann et al, 2004, p.247). targets aligned to the standards.
• Maclellan finds that ‘the teacher is involved in
clarifying the subject matter, offering examples, EVALUATION PURPOSE AND PROCESS
or suggesting arguments for or against a point of • The literature on self-directed learning also
view may minimize the students’ need to think’ underscores the importance of assessment, only
while, equally, ‘little engagement by the tutor, in this case it is the ability of students to self-
leaving students to determine both what and assess accurately. Sophisticated learners know
how to learn without any criteria to judge their when they do or do not understand something.
process, is unsatisfactory, inefficient and makes a • They can review a performance and identify
nonsense of formal, higher education as a what needs improvement.
planned and designed system (Maclellan, 2008, • They have mechanisms for its collections and
p.418). methods for evaluating it and acting on it.
• Teachers must become comfortable with
changing their leadership style from directive to
consultative-- from "Do as I say" to "Based on
your needs, let's co-develop and implement a
plan of action.
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF STUDENT-CENTERED • talking to each other in small and large groups
APPROACH • making public their personal knowledge and
beliefs
Learning is Personalized- Students engage in
• constructing and testing their knowledge with
different ways and in different places.
peers and teachers.
Learning is competency based- Students move
Cooperative Learning Approach (CLA)
ahead when they have demonstrated mastery of
content, not when they’ve reached a certain birthday The Cooperative learning Approach (CLA) started
or endured the required hours in a classroom. becoming popular in the 1990’s in an attempt to
move away from traditional pedagogical approach
Learning happens anytime, anywhere- Learning
that relied heavily on uniform instruction for a large-
takes place beyond the traditional school day, and
sized classroom. The CLA used the social
even the school year. Learning is also not restricted
interdependence theory, which proposes that the
to the classroom.
behavioral outcomes of a person are affected by their
Students take ownership of their learning- Students own and others' actions. Said theory became the
are engaged in their own success, as well as framework for designing teaching-learning activities
incorporate their interests and skills into the learning in peer group settings.
process.
Johnson and Johnson (1994) described five factors
Top 20 Principles for PreK–12 Teaching and Learning that influence the effectiveness of cooperation in
The American Psychological Association (APA) classrooms.
published in 2015 its top 20 principles for teaching
Five Factors for an Effective Cooperative Learning
and learning for basic education teachers. These
Approach
principles were based on decades of research on
human learning and can well serve as lampposts for Positive Interdependence.
today’s teachers on how to facilitate learner-
centered teaching. • Students commit to personal success as well as
the success of every member of the group. If
Prior Knowledge Self-Regulation Formative students are having difficulties, their group
Assessment Learner’s Belief on Intelligence mates are there to support them.
Mastery Goals Summative Assessment Creativity • Positive interdependence can also promote
Interpersonal Relationships Measuring with motivation to learn, because students are
Standards Teacher Relationships Social Interaction learning not just for themselves but also for the
Fair Interpretation Long Term Knowledge Emotional benefit of their groups.
Wellbeing Feedback Contextual Learning Positive • Working in groups involved sharing information
Relationships Student Support Student Support helping each other in doing the group task so
Practice that they progress together.

Individual and group accountability.

Learner-Centered Teaching Approaches • The group is accountable for achieving its goals,
Learner Centered Pedagogical Approaches According and each member must be accountable for
to this image of teaching and learning, the ideal contributing a fair share of the work toward the
classroom for the 21st century learners will no longer group goal.
be one in which 30-50 students are always listening Interpersonal and small group skills.
to the teacher or silently working on their own.
Although contemporary teaching practices still • Group members learn how to how to apply
involve lecture, drill, and practice, students need to teamwork skills that has collaborative
be trained to work in alternative arrangements such leadership, making fair decisions,
as:
• Students also develop friendship by building • Teachers may differentiate several learning tasks
trust, communicating freely, and resolving or pathways within the same lesson that match
conflict. the needs of specific students or student groups.
• Teachers should hold all students to the same
Promotive Interaction
expectations and goals related to mastery of
• Students promote each other's success by essential content but may utilize different
sharing resources or information that will help techniques and modified activities to help each
every member. • Peers take time to encourage, student meet outlined objectives (Bondie,
and praise each other's efforts to learn. Dahnke & Zusho, 2019)

Group Processing Differentiating Process

• Group members need to feel free to • Teachers utilize whole-class, small-group, and
communicate openly with each other to express individual explorations. Students are allowed to
concerns as well as to celebrate work with peers who show similar academic
accomplishments. needs at a given time.
• Learners take time to monitor and discuss how • Students of mixed readiness are also allowed to
well they are achieving their goals and work together so that they may draw upon the
maintaining effective working relationships. strengths of others.
• Students frequently reflect and discuss on how • Students may also choose to work with
well they are achieving their goals and work to classmates who have similar interests or learning
maintain effective working relationships. styles or even collaborate with those who have
different interests or learning style profile.
Differentiated Instructional Approach (DIA)
• Students themselves sometimes decide on their
The pedagogical concept of differentiation as work groups and arrangements, and sometimes
opposed to uniform instruction was first popularized teachers also decide.
by Carol Ann Tomlinson with her book How to • Teachers may also use technology to create
Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, blended learning classrooms that allow for
published in 1995. In Tomlinson’s 2nd edition in multiple leveled activities and centers.
2014, she described teachers in differentiated classes
Differentiating Product
as using time flexibly, applying a range of
instructional strategies, and becoming partners with • Flexibility in the work products and
their students so that both what is learned and the performances that students complete to
learning environment are shaped to authentically demonstrate newly acquired knowledge or skills
support the learning process of the student. supports accurate evaluation of students'
capabilities while also allowing students to
Differentiating 3 Aspects of Pedagogy
leverage their strengths to achieve the same
Differentiating Content standards as their peers.
• Assessments can be implemented before,
• The most important part is to diagnose the during, and after instruction to monitor student
learners’ prior knowledge so as to determine progress relative to differentiated instruction.
his/her readiness to learn new content. In fact,
• Create and implement assessments that
diagnostic assessments form the foundation for
accurately measure competencies, analyze
designing differentiated teaching-learning
assessment results to identify students who are
activities to better construct or build upon
below mastery level
students’ prior knowledge.
• Students are provided with alternative ways to
• Via differentiation, teachers respond proactively
act skillfully and demonstrate what they know
to differences in students' knowledge, skills,
learning styles, interests, and cognitive needs in
order to create multiple access points to content.
Personalized Learning Approach (PLA) envision the assessment, and create a personal
learning plan.
In personalized Learning systems, instead of counting
• Ownership within the context of personalized
the number of hours students are in their seats, students
learning also requires students to set, monitor,
move through coursework and graduate based on their
and reflect on their personal progress towards
ability to show they have mastered the material
their set learning goals. This is a way to empower
Design Elements of Personalized Learning Approach them with ownership over their own work and
progress.
Flexible Pathways

• Learning activities must be meaningful and relevant to

learners, driven by their interests, and often are self-
initiated. • Students are provided the opportunity to
choose in-school and out-of-school learning modalities
that are attuned to their socioeconomic capability,
interests and needs.

Personalized Learning Plans

• Learning plans are co-crafted by students with

their parents and teachers which best suit their
needs, interests, and abilities. This plan creates a
customized approach that uniquely responds to
the ability and interest profile of the learner.
• Students are encouraged to identify their own LEARNING THEORIES
interests, passions, and strengths and integrate
these, in partnership with educators, into BEHAVIORISM
meaningful learning experiences with clear
This particular learning theory assumes that the
goals.
learner is essentially passive, simply responding to
Competency-Based Graduation Requirements their environmental stimuli. Behavioral theorists
therefore believe that a learner basically begins as a
• Competency standards are made clear to
clean slate, and their behavior is shaped by
students at the beginning of the course as well as
positive/negative reinforcement.
and how these are to be assessed at the end.
• Teachers must continuously assess student Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiological is well known for
learning against clearly defined standards and his work in classical conditioning or stimulus
goals and students’ input into the assessment substitution. Pavlov’s most renowned experiment
process is essential. involved meat, a dog and a bell. Initially, Pavlov was
• Students must also have access to real-time measuring the dog’s salivation in order to study
feedback and performance data for self- digestion. This is when he stumbled upon classical
monitoring. conditioning.

Student Ownership and Agency PAVLOV ALSO HAD THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS:
Stimulus Generalization. Once the dog has learned
• Teacher refrains from imposing or fully to salivate at the sound of the bell, it well salivate at
controlling the pathways of learning. Instead, the other similar sounds
student and teacher collaborates in designing
learning activities that will help them meet the Extinction. If you stop pairing the bell with the food,
competency based-graduation requirements. salivation will eventually cease in response to the
• Students will work with the teacher to develop a bell.
challenge, problem, or idea clarify learning goals,
 Spontaneous Recovery . Extinguished responses can depends on developing associations between events,
be “recovered” after an elapsed time, but will soon operant conditioning involves learning from the
extinguish again if the dog is not presented with consequences of our behavior.
food.
Edward Thorndike put forward a “Law of effect”
Discrimination. The dog could learn to discriminate which stated that any behavior that is followed by
between similar bells (stimuli) and discern which bell pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and
would result in the presentation of food and which any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences
would not. is likely to be stopped.

Higher-Order Conditioning . Once the dog has been THORDIKE’S THEORY ON CONNECTIONISM stated
conditioned to associate the bell with food, another that learning has taken place when a strong
unconditioned stimulus, such as a light may be connection or bond between stimulus and response
flashed at the same time that the bell is rung. is formed. He came up with three primary laws:
Eventually the dog will salivate at the flash of the light
Law of Effect.
without the sound of the bell.
The Law of Effect stated that a connection between a
CONNECTIONISM
stimulus and response is strengthened when the
Connectionism is a learning theory developed by consequence is positive (reward) and the connection
George Siemens and Steven Downs. It stresses the between the stimulus and the response is weakened
connections and combinatorial creativity. All the when the consequence is negative. Thorndike later
knowledge is out there – it’s a matter of making the on, revised this “law” when he found that negative
connections. Siemens (2004) states, “A community is reward, seemingly pleasurable consequences do not
the clustering of similar areas of interest that allows necessarily motivate performance.
for interaction, sharing, dialoguing, and thinking
Law of Exercise.
together.
Tell us that the more an S-R (stimulus response) bond
Edward Lee Thorndike 1904-1990 Edward
in practice the stronger it will become. “Practice
Thorndike’s Connectionism theory gave us the
makes perfect” seem to be associated with this.
original S-R framework of behavioral psychology.
However, like the law of effect, the law of exercise
More than a hundred years ago he wrote a text book
also had to revise when Thorndike found that
entitled, Educational Psychology. He was the first one
practice without feedback does not necessarily
to use this term. He explained that learning is the
enhance performance.
result of associations forming between stimuli and
responses. Such associations or “habits” become Law of Readiness.
strengthened or weakened by the nature and
frequency of the S-R pairings. The model for S-R This states that, the more readiness the learner has
theory was trial and error learning in which certain to respond to the stimulus, the stronger will be the
responses came to be repeated than others because bond between them. When a person is ready to a
of rewards. The main principle of connectionism (like stimulus and is not made to respond, it becomes
all behavioral theory) was that learning could be annoying to the person
adequately explained without considering any Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism:
unobservable internal states. Thorndike’s theory on 1. Learning requires both practice and reward (laws
connectionism stated that learning has taken place of effect/exercise)
when a strong connection or bond between stimulus
and response is formed. He came up with three 2. A series of S-R connections can be chained
primary laws. Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in together if they belong to the same action (law of
psychology for his work on learning theory that lead readiness)
to the development of operant conditioning within 3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously
Behaviorism. Whereas classical conditioning encountered situations.
 4. Intelligence is a function of the number of The component processes underlying observational
connections learned. learning are:

Behaviorism: Tolman & Bandura 1. Attention - includes modeled events

(distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity,
Generalization: Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism
prevalence, functional value) and observer
Usually, people who worked on a maze activity,
characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level,
which you just did, would say they found the second
perceptual set, past reinforcement).
maze easier. This is because they say that the two
2. Retention - includes symbolic coding, cognitive
mazes were identical, except that the entrance and
organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor
exit points had been reversed. Their experience in
rehearsal)
Maze A was much easier for them to answer Maze B.
3. Motor Reproduction - includes physical
People are building mind maps of events that they
capabilities, self-observation of reproduction,
perceived. These mental maps help them to respond
accuracy of feedback.
to other things or tasks later, particularly if they see
4. Motivation, including external, vicarious and
the similarity. You may start responding with trial and
self-reinforcement.
error (behavioral), but later on your response
becomes more internally driven (cognitive GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
perspective). This is what neo-behaviorism is all
1. People can learn by observing the behavior of
about. It has behavioral aspects, but it also has a
the others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
cognitive perspective. There are two neo-
2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
behaviorism-reflecting theories that stand out.
3. Cognition plays a role in learning.
Edward Tolman's purposive behaviorism and Albert
4. Social learning can be considered a bridge or a
Bandura's theory of social learning. Both theories are
transition between behaviorist learning theories
influenced by behaviorism (focused on internal
and cognitive learning theories
elements and learning).
HOW ENVIRONMENT AND PUNISHES MODEL
Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism
People are often to reinforced for modeling the
Purpose behaviorism has also been referred to as sign
behavior of others. Bandura suggested that the
learning theory and is often seen as a link between
environment also reinforces modeling. This is several
behaviorism and cognitive theory. Tolman 's theory was
possible ways;
based on the psychological views of the Gestalt
Psychologist and the behaviorist John Watson. 1. The observer is reinforced by the model
2. The observer reinforce by a third person
Tolman’s Key Concepts
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing
This is a learning theory that was in response to consequences
behaviorism. Psychologist who promoted this idea 4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect
claimed that behaviorism failed to explain cognition. In the observer’s behavior vicariously.
this theory, mind is an information processor. It
CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL LEARNING PERSPECTIVE OF
emphasizes understanding the concept as a whole
REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT
instead of just the piece.
1. Contemporary theory proposes that both
Social Learning Theory:
reinforcement and punishment have indirect
Albert Bandura The social learning theory of Bandura effects on learning.
emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling 2. Reinforcement ad punishment influence the
the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior
others. Bandura (1977) states: “Learning would be that has been learned
exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if 3. The expectation of reinforcement process that
people had to rely solely on the effects of their own promote learning.
actions to inform them what to do.
 COGNITIVE FACTORS IN SOCIAL LEARNING PHILIPPINE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
The 7 Domains of teacher practice comprise of 37 strands
1. Learning without performance. (through
that refer to more specific dimensions of teacher
observation and actual imitation)
practice.
2. Cognitive processing during learning (attention)
3. Expectations (consequences) Domain 1 Content Knowledge &Pedagogy (7 strands)
4. Reciprocal causation (person, behavior and
1. Content knowledge and its application within and
environment)
across curriculum areas
5. Modeling (live models, and symbolic models)
2. Research-based knowledge and principles of
FOUR ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING teaching and learning
3. Positive use of ICT
1. Attention – mental focus or concentration,
4. Strategies for promoting literacy and numeracy
willingness of the child to observe and mimic the
5. Strategies for developing critical and creative
behavior of a model.
thinking, as well as other higher-order thinking skills
2. Retention – To encode the behavior in the
6. Mother Tongue, Filipino and English in teaching and
memory, ability to store information.
learning
3. Motor Production – To actually perform the
7. Classroom communication strategies.
behavior observe
4. Motivation/Reinforcement – Force that drives Domain 2 Environment (6 stands)
one to act.
1. Learner safety and security
COGNITIVISM 2. Fair learning environment
3. Management of classroom structure and activities
Cognitivism revived the psychological study of thinking,
4. Support for learner participation
developing scientifically rigorous ways of studying
5. Promotion of purposive learning
unobservable mental activity. In this module you will
6. Management of learner behavior Domain 3
encounter different questions on how cognitivism brings
on the development of learning, and you will find Diversity of Learners (5 strands)
answers or solution to these questions.
1. Learners’ gender, needs, strengths, interests and
Examples of Cognitive Games in the Classroom experiences
2. Learners’ linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic &
Cognitive games are designed to help stimulate various
religious backgrounds
regions of the brain. These games are used to improve
3. Learners with disabilities, giftedness and talents
reflexes, help people learn, promote critical thinking, and
4. Learners in difficult circumstances
help people learn different patterns of association.
5. Learners from indigenous groups Domain
• Educational Websites and Computer Games
Curriculum and Planning (5 strands)
• Sorting Games
• Flash Cards 1. Planning and management of teaching and learning
• Board Games process
• Puzzles 2. Learning outcomes aligned with learning
competencies
CONSTRUCTIVISM 3. Relevance and responsiveness of learning
In this unit you will be introduce to many of the issues programs
understanding and applying constructivism and 4. Professional collaboration to enrich teaching
constructivist principles for instructional design practice
purposes. 5. Teaching and learning resources including ICT

Domain 5 Assessment and Reporting (5 strands)

1. Design, selection, organization and utilization

of assessment strategies
 2. Monitoring and evaluation of learner progress stimuli separately, they are linked to each other and
and achievement hence makes retrieval easier. Both, words or images
3. Feedback to improve learning stimulate the retrieval of the other.
4. Communication of learner needs, progress and
‘A memory is simply a pattern of information in the brain
achievement to key stakeholders
that is stored and retrieved.’ She added that oftentimes
5. Use of assessment data to enhance teaching
long-term memory is described as either declarative or
and learning practices and programs
non-declarative. Declarative memory consists of those
Domain 6 Community Linkages and Professional which can be consciously recalled like facts (semantic
Engagement (4 strands) memory) as well as personal events (episodic memory)
while Non-declarative memory (also called procedural
1. Establishment of learning environments that is
memory) refers to implicit memory responsible for
responsive to community contexts Philippine
helping us carry out common tasks even without the
Professional Standards for Teachers 7
conscious thinking of it. (e.g. riding a bike, washing
2. Engagement of parents and the wider school
dishes, etc.)
community in the educative process
3. Professional ethics
4. School policies and procedures
Lateralization of Brain Function
Domain 7 Personal Growth and Professional Right hemisphere functions include the following;
Development (5 strands) judging the position of objects in space, understanding of
body position, comprehending and remembering things
1. Philosophy of teaching you do and see, putting pieces of information together to
2. Dignity of teaching as a profession make an entire picture, and motor control of the left side
3. Professional links with colleagues of the body.
4. Professional reflection and learning to improve
practice Left hemisphere functions include the following: Use of
5. Professional development goals language (listening, reading, speaking and writing),
memory for spoken and written language, analysis of
information in detail, and motor control of the right side
COGNITION OF LEARNERS of the body.
The Memory Stores

Each store is a unitary structure and has its own

characteristics in terms of encoding, capacity and
duration.

Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can

be stored in the memory.

There are three main ways in which information can be

encoded (changed):

1. visual (picture),
2. acoustic (sound),
3. semantic (meaning).

Verbal representations and mental images, and that

human memory thus comprises two functionally
independent (although interacting) systems or stores,
verbal memory and image memory.

The two codes or channels in our memory deal with

visual and verbal stimuli and though they store those
 Theories of Intelligence people to understand the order of words, its meaning
and apply metalinguistic skill in using language.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
7. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Math Smart)
Howard Gardner in his book Frames of Mind (1983)
explained that intelligence does not come in one type but - Math Smart has the ability to quantify, calculate,
in 9 different types. He explained that intelligence comes consider proposition and hypotheses, and carry out
in different forms and understanding these different complete mathematical operations. This intelligence
types of intelligence can help people especially teachers helps the learner to perceive relationships and
in understanding the learners better. connections and to use abstract, symbolic thought;
sequential reasoning skills, inductive and deductive
The 9 types of Intelligence
thinking.
1. Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)
8. Existential Intelligence (Spirit Smart)
- This intelligence focuses its ability to think in three
- This intelligence is sensitive and has the ability to
dimensions. Some of its strength includes spatial
answer/ask questions about human existence like
reasoning, artistic skill, active imagination and image
the true meaning of life, is there life after death and
manipulation. People with spatial intelligence enjoys
why to de exists.
jigsaw, puzzles, mazes and drawing.
9. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)
2. Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)
- The people under this intelligence has the ability to
- The strength of this intelligence is to organize and
understand and communicate with others in a very
discriminate living things as well as being sensitive to the
effective way. The skills that involves in people smart
features of the natural world.
includes sensitivity to moods and temperaments of
3. Musical Intelligence (Music Smart) others, strong verbal and non-verbal communication
skills and the ability to identify the differences of
- People under this intelligence has the ability to others.
recognize rhythm, timbre, pitch, and tone. This
intelligence helps learners in creating and reflecting Thurstone’s Theory: Primary Mental/ Group Factor
music. Instrumentalist, composers and singers possesses Theory
this intelligence.
Thurstone has given the following nine primary factors:
4. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart)
1. Numerical Factor (N)- This ability involves fast
- Recognizing personal strengths, thoughts and feelings and accurate mathematical calculations.
and using it to plan and direct your life is the major 2. Verbal Comprehensive Factor- This ability
characteristic of people possessing this intelligence. This involves accurate understanding verbal
intelligence does not only focus on self but it also has the materials, vocabulary and reading
ability to understand the nature of human condition. comprehension.
3. Verbal Fluency Factor- The ability to produce
5. Bodily- Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart) words, sentences and other verbal material.
- This intelligence is portrayed through manipulation of 4. Perceptual Speed Factor- This ability involves
objects and use of different physical strength. Strong proofreading and rapid recognition of numbers
hand-eye coordination, timing, and skill perfection and letters.
through strong mind- body coordination are the main 5. Inductive Reasoning Factor- The ability to create
strengths of this intelligence. generalization- reasoning from specific to
general thinking.
6. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart) 6. Spatial Visualization Factor- The ability to
- The strength of a word smart is the ability to use words manipulates imaginary object in space.
and language in expressing ideas. This intelligence allows 7. Memory Factor- The ability to memorize quickly.
 8. Deductive Reasoning- Ability to use general example, knowledge that it will take more time
result correctly. to read, comprehend, and remember a technical
9. Problem Solving Ability Factor- This ability article than it will a similar-length passage from a
focuses on the skill to solve problem novel.
independently • Strategy variables: The strategies a person has
“at the ready” to apply in a flexible way to
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence American
successfully accomplish a task; for example,
psychologist Robert Sternberg (1985) has created
knowing how to activate prior knowledge before
threepronged or the triarchic theory of intelligence.
reading a technical article, using a glossary to
The three are: look up unfamiliar words, or recognizing that
sometimes one has to reread a paragraph several
1. Analytic Intelligence- generally define as the times before it makes sense.
academic ability. This intelligence helps us to
solve problems and acquire new information. Metacognitive Strategies
Problem solving involves encoding information,
As an active learner, you are capable of monitoring
combining and comparing evidences and finally
your progress related to your learning and the tasks
generation of solution.
at hand. There are metacognitive strategies that can
2. Creative Intelligence- the ability to adapt within
be learned which will serve as your mechanism for
a situation and to learn from experiences. This
controlling your thinking activities and to ensure you
intelligence helps the learners to related current
are meeting your goals.
situation to the past experiences whether it is
similar or different. The result of such experience
helps an individual to solve problems rapidly. MOTIVATION OF LEARNERS
3. Practical Intelligence- also known as the street
When a person is intrinsically motivated, his
smart, help learners to adapt to the demand of
motivation comes from within him/her or from the
their environment. This intelligence involves
activity or task itself. When a person is extrinsically
dealing with common personal o practical
motivated s/he is motivated by something or
problems. This intelligence also involves dealing
someone outside herself/himself.
with unusual problem in our daily life
Types of Motivation
Metacognition
Motivation is classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic.
Metacognition means “thinking about thinking” coined It is intrinsic when the source of motivation is from
by John Flavell, the founding father of the concept of within the person himself/herself or the activity
metacognition. Flavell said that metacognition is an itself. It is motivation to engage in an activity for its
individual’s knowledge about how he/she thinks. Flavell own sake (Schunk et al, 2008). An example is when a
(1979) explicitly said, “It is your ability to control your student reads pocketbooks because s/he
thinking processes through various strategies, such as herself/himself wants to read them or because
organizing, monitoring, and adapting. Additionally, it is reading them is in itself worthwhile and enjoyable.
your ability to reflect upon tasks or process you Motivation is extrinsic when that which motivates a
undertake and to select and utilize the appropriate person is someone or something outside him/her.
strategies necessary in your intercultural interactions.” When a student studies because s/he was told by
her/his teacher or because s/he is afraid to fail and
Elements of Metacognition
his/her parents will make her/him stop schooling or
• Person variables: What one recognizes about his because it will lead to a good grade, we can say that
or her strengths and weaknesses in learning and s/he is extrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation is
processing information. motivation to engage in an activity as a means to an
• Task variables: What one knows or can figure out end. In our examples, the student studies to please
about the nature of a task and the processing her/his teacher, parents or to get a good grade. He
demands required to complete the task—for does not study for the joy of studying.
Obviously, intrinsic motivation is more beneficial
than extrinsic motivation because intrinsic
motivation comes from within the person
himself/herself. If that which motivates a person is
something or someone outside, the moment that
person or that something is gone, the person’s
motivation is also gone. Intrinsic motivation is
evident when people engage in an activity for its own
sake, without some obvious external incentive
present. Reading for no reason other than the joy of
reading illustrates intrinsic motivation.

What Is Academic Motivation?

Academic motivation is defined as a student’s desire

regarding academic subjects. Usher et al (2012).
Motivation is seen to students through their
approach, persistence, and level of interest when the
student’s competence is judged against a standard of
performance or excellence.

Academic motivation is a broad term incorporating

many concepts studied by scholars which include
selfefficacy, determination and resilience. All of these
terms are incorporated characteristics that are
related to motivation (Steinmayr et al, 2019).