Factors influencing learning

Factors influencing learning

By Hardik

What do you do when studying for an exam? Do you read your class notes and textbook? Do you try to find a quiet place without distraction? Do you use flash cards to test your knowledge? The choices you make reveal your theory of learning, but there is no reason for you to limit yourself to your own intuitions. Each time we listen to a song, we hear it differently because of our experience. When we exhibit changes in behavior without having intended to learn something, that is called implicit learning and when we exhibit changes in our behavior that reveal the influence of past experience even though we are not attempting to use that experience, that is called implicit memory. 

Learners

People bring numerous individual differences with them into memory experiments, and many of these variables affect learning. Learners are, however, quite able to allocate more effort to learning prioritized over unimportant materials. In addition, the organization and planning skills that a learner exhibits matter a lot, suggesting that the efficiency with which one organizes self-guided learning is an important component of learning. 

Working memory describes the form of memory we use to hold onto information temporarily. Working memory is used, for example, to keep track of where we are in the course of a complicated math problem, and what the relevant outcomes of prior steps in that problem are. Anxiety also affects the quality of learning. For example, people with math anxiety have a smaller capacity for remembering math-related information in working memory, such as the results of carrying a digit in arithmetic.

General Principles of learning

1. The value of effective metacognition: To be able to guide our own learning effectively, we must be able to evaluate the progress of our learning accurately and choose activities that enhance learning efficiently. It is of little use to study for a long time if a student cannot discern between what material she has or has not mastered, and if additional study activities move her no closer to mastery. Metacognition describes the knowledge and skills people have in monitoring and controlling their own learning and memory. 

2. Transfer-appropriate processing: The principle of transfer-appropriate processing states that memory is “better” when the test taps the same type of knowledge as the original encoding activity. When thinking about how to learn material, we should always be thinking about the situations in which we are likely to need access to that material. An emergency responder who needs access to learned procedures under conditions of great stress should learn differently from a hobbyist learning to use a new digital camera.

3. The value of forgetting: Forgetting is sometimes seen as the enemy of learning, but, in fact, forgetting is a highly desirable part of the learning process. The main bottleneck we face in using our knowledge is being able to access it. We have all had the experience of retrieval failure—that is, not being able to remember a piece of information that we know we have, and that we can access easily once the right set of cues is provided. But the value of forgetting is even greater than that. There is lots of evidence that some forgetting is a prerequisite for more learning.

Conclusion

Learning is a complex process that defies easy definition and description. We reviewed some of the philosophical issues involved with defining learning and described in some detail the characteristics of learners that seem to affect how well people can acquire new memories, knowledge, or skills. At the end, we considered a few basic principles that guide whether a particular attempt at learning will be successful or not.