Factors Affecting Learning and Exceptions in Learning

Every school day follows a pattern. The bell rings, a teacher comes in, a lesson is taught and homework is set. All of this aims at one thing: a good change in the way students think and behave. That change is what we call learning.

We normally expect regular classroom teaching to produce learning, and learning in turn helps children reach their own goals. Yet the expectation is not always met. Two students can sit through the same lesson from the same teacher, and one understands all of it while the other catches only half. So even when teaching happens regularly in a classroom, learning may remain incomplete. How well a student learns depends on a number of factors.

Six factors have a strong say in whether learning succeeds: practice, the environment, the teacher's background, the student's behaviour, society and community, and motivation together with reinforcement. They are linked to one another. If one of them is weak, learning can fall short even when all the others are in good shape.

Practice is one of the main things that makes learning effective. Think about learning to ride a bicycle. Someone can explain how to balance and pedal as clearly as they like, but nobody can ride without getting on and trying again and again. Schoolwork is the same. If children do not get plenty of chances to practise, in the classroom or at other times, their learning cannot be effective. So they should be kept busy with classwork, homework and other tasks that give them repeated practice. Without practice, learning does not become effective.

The setting in which teaching and learning happen also affects learning. It is not enough for the teacher and the students to be active. The school's learning environment has to be positive as well. A bright, clean classroom with proper seating, books and learning materials close at hand makes students want to study. In a noisy, dark and untidy room, learning can suffer even with a good teacher and hard-working students. Classroom management and the school administration play a large part in building a positive learning environment.

The teacher is another important factor in making learning effective. A teacher who helps students learn well should be:

• qualified
• skilled
• experienced
• studious, someone who keeps reading and learning
• knowledgeable about child psychology
• child-friendly

If a teacher lacks these qualities, learning cannot be fully effective. A teacher who understands child psychology, for example, notices the shy student who is too nervous to ask a question and gives that student a chance to speak. A studious teacher keeps bringing fresh examples and new methods into the room. In this way the teacher's background shapes how much a class actually learns.

Another important factor is the student's own behaviour. Not taking an active part in learning activities, not joining in regularly and being unable to focus on the subject matter are behaviours that can hold learning back badly. A student who keeps staring out of the window during the lesson misses much of what the teacher says.

The learner's ability is a factor too. Every class has learners of high, average and low ability. Because their abilities differ, their behaviour differs as well, and that behaviour in turn affects learning. This is why one lesson does not produce the same learning in everyone.

Society and the community also count among the factors that affect learning. The duty of encouraging children to learn belongs to society and the community, not to the school alone. If a community does not understand why education is needed and how much it matters, parents will not be able to support their children's learning or encourage them. In a village where people think housework or early earning matters more than study, students get little time and little encouragement to study at home. Learning suffers as a result.

Learning becomes effective only when motivation and reinforcement are used properly. A teacher must know how to use motivation well in the classroom and how to use reinforcement when it is needed. Suppose a student solves a difficult sum on the board by herself. The teacher says at once, 'Very good, you have understood the method.' She then tackles the next sum with even more enthusiasm. That praise is positive reinforcement.

Since learning becomes effective only when positive reinforcement is used generously, a teacher should use motivation and reinforcement all the time, not only once in a while.

Learning is normally a process carried out according to principles, methods and procedures. It needs planning and management, and students also need elements such as motivation, reinforcement and feedback. Yet sometimes learning is completed even when these are missing. A small child learns a song that nobody taught and nobody praised. On the other hand, a student may fail to learn a lesson in spite of careful planning. Situations that do not follow the usual rule like this lead us to the idea of exceptions in learning.

Exceptions appear because the students in a classroom differ from one another as individuals. One class may hold students of the highest ability and of the lowest. It may also include students with a physical disability or with weak hearing. While teaching goes on, such students show many different kinds of behaviour.

A teacher should not ignore these behaviours. The teacher manages them properly and keeps the whole class moving forward. Seating a student who has trouble hearing close to the teacher, and writing the main points on the board, is one such piece of management. The exceptions seen in a classroom can be understood as five kinds, described below.

During learning the learner shows positive progress and keeps moving ahead, gaining one achievement after another. A student who joins group work without being told and asks questions as soon as curiosity strikes is an example.

A student who hands in a project on the due date without any reminder, and does homework without copying anyone's answers, is showing maturity.

When a poem has been read and a student explains its meaning in their own words, that is a natural response. Since abilities differ, the level of the response differs from student to student.

A learning achievement that seems to be gained at once but does not last, or knowledge that cannot be put to use in real life when it is needed, is also an exception. A student who crams answers the night before an exam and has forgotten them all a week later is an example.

Whether a student learns at once or cannot, whether learning stays for long or not, and whether a student feels positive towards learning or not, are qualities students are born with. That is why this is taken as an exception in learning. One child picks up a tune after hearing it once, while another needs to hear it many times.

Learning is the expected change that classroom teaching brings about in a learner, and motivation is the element that supports it. Motivation makes the learner ready and active. Both innate motivation and acquired motivation can be used in learning as the need arises. The motivation a teacher uses is itself affected by the child's age, goals, curiosity, stress, illness and lack of things they need. Various methods can be used to raise motivation in the classroom.

A learner's wishes, needs and individual differences all affect learning. Exceptions in learning also make it more complicated. When a teacher recognises the exceptions and manages them properly, learning can be made effective.