PED5 FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

MODULE 1 THE OVERVIEW: LEARNER CENTERED APPROACH

Lesson Proper for Week 1
LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH
Learner centered teaching is an approach that places the learner at the centre of the
learning. This means that the learner or student is responsible for learning while the
tutor/teacher is responsible for facilitating the learning. This is also known as student-
centered learning. This learner-centered approach is based on constructivist learning
theory that put emphasis on learner’s role in constructing meaning from new information
and prior experiences. The students will choose what they will learn, how they will learn
and how they will assess their own learning. Here students take a more active role. In a
nutshell, a learner centered approach is one where the complete Learning experience is
focused on the learners. For example, the courses need to be very user-friendly, so that
learners can navigate the course without any difficulty. They should be able to easily
access the content of their choice, and skip the sections they are not interested in.
Likewise, learners should find the courses relevant to their challenges and learning
needs. The courses should include real life examples that learners can relate to. In this
kind of approach, student-centered learning requires the student to be active,
responsible participants in their own learning and with their own pace of learning.

CURRICULUM AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN LEARNER CENTERED APPROACH

The curriculum provides a lot of help and assistance to the learners.
The curriculum gives students a written detail about the types of learning experiences
they need to acquire for completing the expected learning objectives.
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The curriculum makes them familiar with the learning objectives. This way it makes the
tasks of learning purposeful and goal oriented. This purposefulness makes them
motivated towards learning as they are aware of the types of behavioral changes
expected as learning outcome from the study of a particular subject or doing a certain
activity to complement learning.
A properly developed curriculum is accompanied by the resource materials needed to
supplement it. These resources include suggested experiments, learning activities,
projects, assignments, references etc. These materials are equally important for both
teachers and learners.
A curriculum is a properly developed framework of the teaching-learning process. It
includes learning objectives that should be known to the learners. When learners are
aware of the learning objectives they can plan, execute and evaluate them for the
realization of the learning outcome of the course being studied.
Hence a properly developed curriculum can help the learner in their learning process
from beginning to end for the realization of the set learning objectives.
Realization of these learning objectives results in overall growth and development in all
the aspects and dimensions of their personality.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH

•Advantages
•Improved participation. A learner centered approach addresses all the essential needs
of learners, ensuring learners get a personalized and convenient Learning experience.
For example, if a certain learner group prefers games and exercises, the courses
should be made more interactive. Similarly, if learners are more likely to access the
course content on tablets or mobiles, the courses should be designed to support this
need. Due to the minute attention paid to learner’s needs, learner centered courses
ensure greater participation in Learning.
•Improves retention of knowledge. Given that a learner centered approach places high
emphasis on relevance and engagement, it greatly influences learners’ interest levels.
•This approach to curriculum gives power to learners.
•Facilitates personalizes learning.
•Students see their needs clearly reflected in the classroom, which is very motivating.
•It creates a direct link between classwork and the learner’s needs.
•Learners can easily transfer new skills in day to day activities.
•It encourages learners persistence.
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•Makes learning more fun.

•Boosts performance at work. A typical learner centered Learning course will have a lot
of scenarios, case studies, role plays, etc. For example, if an organization is training its
employees on quality guidelines or industry best practices, a learner centered course
with a lot of engaging and interactive content will help learners grasp the content more
effectively. This way, learners are more likely to apply their learning at work, leading to
improved on-the-job performance.
•Disadvantages
•It often relies on the teacher’s ability to create materials appropriate to learner’s
expressed needs.
•It requires more skill on the part of the teacher as well as their time and resources.
•It is often difficult for teachers to make an acceptable balance among competing needs
and interests of students.
•In terms of man, material and resources this approach could be a luxury that learners
often can not afford.

MODULE 2 METACOGNITION
Lesson Proper for Week 2
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Metacognition
is considered a critical component of successful learning ‘…themselves through
metacognitive strategies such as adapting , monitoring , self-regulation. If we want
students to develop into critical thinking, lifelong learners, we need them to develop
metacognitive skills. Metacognition is vital for helping students become self-directed
learners (both self-managers and selfstarters). It will help them navigate the
complexities of a changing world and it will help them as they engage in creative work.
In this blog post, we explore how to make that happen.
Navigating the Maze
• We live in an era where robotics and artificial intelligence will replace many of our
current jobs. Global connectivity will continue to allow companies to outsource labor to
other countries. Our students will likely change jobs every five to seven years. The
corporate ladder is gone and, in its place,, is a complex maze. They will inhabit a world
of constant change. But how do we help students navigate that maze?

We often hear that our current students will work in jobs that don’t exist right now. But
here’s another reality: our current students will be the ones who create those jobs. Not
every student will create the next Google or Pixar or Lyft. Some students will be
engineers or artists or accountants. Some will work in technology, others in traditional
corporate spaces and still others in social or civic spaces. Some of them will work in
high-skilled manufacturing. But no matter how diverse their industries will be, our
students will all someday face a common reality. They will need to be self-starters and
self-managers.

The Critical Role of Metacognition

People debate about which subjects will prepare kids for the future – whether it’s
engineering or coding or philosophy. But I love way A.J. Juliani puts it, “Our job as
teachers is not to ‘prepare’ kids for something; our job is to help kids learn to prepare
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themselves for anything.” This is why metacognition is so important. When students

have strong metacognition skills, they are able to anticipate change and navigate
complexity. But that doesn’t always happen. According to a Pascarella and Terenzini
study, one of the most significant challenges college students face is managing their
own learning. However, it goes beyond success in college and career. If we want
students to become lifelong learners, they need to know how to own their learning;
which means they need to know how to think about thinking.

How Does Metacognition Work?

• It starts with the ability to assess the task at hand. Here, students have a clear picture
of what they need to accomplish. This part sounds easy. However, this goes beyond
simply reading instructions. It includes the ability to integrate prior knowledge with new
knowledge and make connections between direct instruction and a new tasks. If a task
feels too complicated, students can become overwhelmed and give up. Other times,
they might oversimplify the task or get hung up on one specific detail.

How Does Metacognition Work?

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• In the second phase, students evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses. This can
be tricky if students have an inaccurate view of their skills. Often, students who are
highly skilled will suffer Imposter Syndrome, where they underestimate their skills
because they are painfully aware of what they don’t know. On the other hand, students
with a lower skill level might experience the Dunning Kruger Effect, where they
overestimate their skills.

How Does Metacognition Work?

• Afterward, students plan out their approach. Note that this does not have to be a
detailed plan. In some cases, students might visualize where they need to be and what
they need to do to get there. However, it’s interesting that experts tend to spend more
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time in planning than novices but are more effective in implementation, because novices
experience more initial mistakes.

How Does Metacognition Work?

• Students then take action and apply the strategies and monitor their progress, which
leads to the next phase, where they reflect on their learning and adjust their approach.
Here, they might determine new strategies that ultimately lead back to a re-assessment
of the tasks. Effective problem-solvers are more likely to adjust their approach by
highlighting what’s working and fixing what’s failing while poor problem-solvers are more
likely to stick with an approach that isn’t working.

How Does Metacognition Work?

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• This cycle can happen rapidly or over a longer stretch of time. And it doesn’t always
follow the sequence systematically. In some cases, it can almost feel so seamless that
it’s invisible. However, even so, it is vital for learning.
NATURE AND OTHER PRINCIPLES OF METACOGNITIVE FACTORS OF
LEARNING.
NATURE OF THE LEARNING PROCESS
GOALS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS
CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE
STRATEGIC THINGKING

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.
GOALS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS
The successful learner, overtime and with support and instructional guidance, can
create meaningful, coherent representation s of knowledge.
CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful
ways.
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Individual differences in Metacognition

• Age 5 or 7.
• They continue to improve throughout school years.
• Developmental
• Two questions that kids can ask themselves or that teachers can ask students can
help students become more metacognitive (see Perry, et al., 200)
• What did you learn about yourself as a reader/writer/learner today?
• What did you learn that you can do again and again and again?
• Students, however, vary greatly in their metacognitive abilities - some differences are
probably biological or variations in learning experiences
DISTINCTION BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
Cognitive and Metacognitive strategies and skills are closely related in terms of them
both involving cognition and skill but they are conceptually distinct in at least one major
way. Weinstein and Meyer state that a cognitive learning strategy is a plan for
orchestrating cognitive resources, such as attention and long term memory to help
teach a learning goal. This indicate that there are several characteristics of cognitive
learning strategies, such as being goal-directed, intentionally, invoked, effortful, and are
not universally applicable, but situation specific.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
Metacognitive strategies appear to share most of this characteristic with the exemption
of the last one since they involve more universal application through focus upon
planning for implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. That is to say metacognitive
strategies are not so situation specific but involve generic skills essential for adult, more
sophisticated forms of thinking and problem solving.

MODULE 3 AFFECTION DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL, INDIVIDUAL

DIFFERENCES, CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY
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Lesson Proper for Week 3

AFFECTION DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, CONTINUITY
AND DISCONTINUITY
Affective development is the development of emotions as well as their outward
expression that begins in infancy and progresses throughout adolescence. Affective
development is the development of emotions as well as their outward expression that
begins in infancy and progresses throughout adolescence. It encompasses the
awareness and discernment of one’s emotions as well as those of others, the ability to
connect emotions to those of others, to display emotion, and to manage one’s own
emotions.
Emotions involve three components: feeling, cognition, and behavior.
Feeling is the physiological sensation experienced;
Cognition relates subjective thoughts to accompany the sensation; and
Behavior includes a variety of actions, such as facial display and body positioning that
relate to the feelings and thoughts.

The underlying result of acquiring social-emotional learning skills could be described as

learning to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions,
behave ethically and responsibly, develop positive relationships, and avoid negative
behavior.
` Eight skills of emotional competence have been defined:
1. The awareness of one’s own emotions
2. The ability to discern and understand other’s emotions
3. The ability to use the vocaabulary of emotion and expression
4. The capacity for empathic and sympathetic involvement in others’
emotional experiences
5. The ability to differentiate subjective emotional experience from
external emotion expression
6. The adaptive coping with aversive emotions and distressing
circumstances
7. The awareness of the nature and structure of emotional
communication within relationships
The capacity for emotional self-efficacy
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Just as children’s language and cognitive development is accomplished as a result of

maturation and experience, so is their affective development. As a newborn’s senses
are inundated by stimulation, his first emotional milestone is to feel peaceful despite the
stimulation. Within a short time the infant takes an interest in what is happening around
him with the sights and sounds. A third emotional milestone is met when the child
realizes that the world operates as cause and effect and that his actions produce
corresponding actions. This progresses to the realization that feelings and social
behavior are connected. They learn their first social games like peek-a-boo and also
express “fake” crying to get attention.
Toddlers express a wide variety of emotions, such as affection, jealousy, fear,
frustration, anger, guilt, and joy, and often demonstrate extreme emotional shifts. Their
vocabulary for communicating their feelings begins to develop, and they are growing in
their ability to distinguish others’ emotions and the meanings behind them. As toddlers
become more aware of their own emotional responses, they are able to express early
forms of empathy as well. Empathy has been defined as knowing what another is
feeling, feeling what another is feeling, and responding compassionately to another’s
distress. Prosocial behaviors, such as helping, sharing, and comforting others illustrate
the development of empathy. During the preschool years, young children are constantly
trying to understand their own and others’ behavior. They use the information conveyed
by others’ behavior, emotions, and perceived intentions to guide their own responses
and behavior. Children begin to enjoy pretend play and learn to discern teasing
behavior during these years.

To build successful relationships children need to have developed skills in self-

regulation to be able to avoid conflict and not hurt others’ feelings. Children less skilled
will be more self-centered and react in less adaptive ways to promote a successful
relationship. Children’s ability to regulate their emotions appropriately affects how well
they are liked by their peers. Developing the capacity to control impulses helps children
adapt to social situations and follow rules.
During the early elementary school years, children begin to learn to regulate their self-
conscious emotions such as embarrassment. While they tend to still lean on support
from caregivers to help them cope in difficult situations, they are beginning to be more
self-reliant on problem-solving solutions to some conflicts. By middle childhood years,
children prefer to solve their own problems if not too difficult or they learn to distance
themselves from the problems if necessary. Preadolescent children aged 1013 years
are capable of generating multiple solutions and strategies for dealing with stress. They
are more aware of expected behavior to sustain relationships. Adolescent teens
become more aware of their emotions and develop better coping skills to deal with
them.
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SOCIAL INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Individuals differ not only in the ability to make decisions, but also in the degree to which
they respond adaptively to uncertainty about those decisions.
Definitions of individual differences point out the reality of traits that distinguish
individuals. For example, The Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (Baumeister & Vohs,
2007) defines individual differences in terms of enduring psychological characteristics.
Individual differences are the more-or-less enduring psychological characteristics that
distinguish one person from another and thus help to define each person's individuality.
Among the most important kinds of individual differences are intelligence, personality
traits, and values. The study of individual differences is called differential or trait
psychology and is more commonly the concern of personality psychologists than social
psychologists. Individual differences are neither a fiction nor a nuisance; they are
enduring psychological features that contribute to the shaping of behavior and to each
individual's sense of self. Both social and applied psychology can benefit by taking
these enduring dispositions into account.
The Sage Glossary of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Sullivan, 2009) has a
definition of individual differences that is particularly geared to learning.
How individuals differ in traits such as skills, aptitudes, and abilities to learn and
perform. Learners may vary in their personalities, motivations, and attributions for their
successes and failures when learning—all of which may affect how and why they learn.
Additionally, they differ in their preferences for learning and their willingness to learn.
Some traits may be more adaptive, whereas others are stable and less malleable, or
resistant to change, especially as an individual matures to adulthood. Examples of
stable traits are gender, culture, and race. Even education and age are considered as
stable traits. Traits that may be more malleable, or adaptive, could include effort and
attributions of success and failure, among others. Individual differences may be
considered in making the learning environment educationally appropriate, interesting,
and relevant.
A theme that typifies most definitions of individual differences is that individual
differences vary across people and thus distinguish individuals from one another. As the
second definition demonstrates, individual differences are sometimes malleable.
It is also important to note that when scoring individual difference variables such as
personality traits and learning styles, the scores can be averaged for a group of people.
For example, one could calculate the Introversion of a sample of engineers. One might
want to do this to ascertain the characteristics of a “typical” engineer, while recognizing
that individual engineers will differ in respect to these characteristics.
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CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY

Continuity and discontinuity are two theories in developmental psychology that attempt
to explain how people change throughout their lives.
CONTINUITY – view says that change is gradual. Children become more skillful in
thinking, talking or acting much the same way as they get taller
DISCONTINUITY-view says development as more abrupt a succession of changes that
produce different behaviors in different age specific life periods called stages.
Some theories of development argue that changes are simply a matter of quantity;
children display more of certain skills as they grow older. Other theories outline a series
of sequential stages in which skills emerge at certain points of development.
Most theories of development fall under three broad areas:
1. Psychoanalytic theories are those influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud, who
believed in the importance of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences. Freud's
contribution to developmental theory was his proposal that development occurs through
a series of psychosexual stages.
Theorist Erik Erikson expanded upon Freud's ideas by proposing a stage theory of
psychosocial development. Erikson's theory focused on conflicts that arise at different
stages of development and, unlike Freud's theory, Erikson described development
throughout the lifespan.
Most theories of development fall under three broad areas:
2. Learning theories focus on how the environment impacts behavior. Important
learning processes include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social
learning. In each case, behavior is shaped by the interaction between the individual and
the environment.
3. Cognitive theories focus on the development of mental processes, skills, and
abilities. Examples of cognitive theories include Piaget's theory of cognitive
development.

MODULE 4 NATURE VS NURTURE

NATURE.
Nature principle holds that biological characteristics of individuals get inherited from the
genetic makeup in their lineage. Character traits such as height, weight, vulnerability to
certain illnesses and skin complexion are inherited and determined by the genetic
combination of individuals. Such biological combination is usually similar amongst
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individuals who are blood relatives, and for this reason, they tend to have almost a
uniform genetic combination. Moreover, other behavioral, mental and personality
attributes are also a reflection of our genetic makeup and usually inherited from
individuals’ close blood relatives (Kong et al. 2018). Through the traits, it is easier to
identify closely related individuals just by looking at their appearance and conduct.
Besides, specific characteristics do not become evident during birth, and when a person
reaches a certain age, for instance, during puberty, that is when the hidden attributes
begin showing up. The biological clock guides such characteristics, and when the right
time comes, the physical and behavioral attributes mature and become conspicuous.
Such traits get programmed in a way that for them to grow visible, they will take a
certain period to develop. Moreover, they are also dependent on other biological factors
within our bodies for them to manifest. However, the traits still maintain the genetic
combination and the similarity of a specific lineage.

Nature refers to an individual’s qualities based on their genes

 Physical traits
 Personality traits Etc. 
 These traits stay the same regardless from where you were born and raised 
 Encoded by;
Biological factors
Family Factors 
 Examples of Nature: A girl was born with brown hair because her parents hair
was brown too. Therefore; her brown hair was inherited, Genetic diseases, Eye
color, Hair color , Skin color and Height

NURTURE
On the contrary, through nurture, an individual acquires specific attributes from the
environment that surrounds them. When a child is born, for instance, its mind is black
and empty. It is through its interaction with the surrounding and the people around it that
will make the infant acquire some of their traits through learning, observation and aping
their conducts. In other words, nurturing is dependent on the environment, experience,
and learning as the individual interacts with the environment with time (Vazsonyi,
Roberts, Huang & Vaughn, 2015). The way an individual was nurtured or brought up will
influence their aspect of child development. Maturation will only affect biological
development. The environment plays a vital role in the development process.
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· Nurture refers to all environmental influences after conception, i.e. experience.”

· In other words, What an individual learns by its surroundings and experiences?
What an individual learns by its surroundings and experiences?
· Examples of Nurture:
Suppose a man had parents who both consumed drugs on a daily basis, and their son
began to use drugs as he got older
o This may have been a result of “nurture”
 Because; he was around this type of environment and this is what he learned
A child might observe and be taught how to be poliet by saying “please” and “thank you”
Academic Achievement.

NATURE VS NURTURE

Nature and nurture is a hotly contested argument concerning what influences the
behavior and personality attributes of individuals. Nature is entirely dependent on the
genetic combination of an individual which

dictates their character and appearance. On the other hand, nurture is dependent on
the environmental factors that an individual gets exposed to which end up shaping his
or her personality. Nature and nurture influence individuals to a certain extent because
individuals get exposed to both of them in one way or the other dictating their
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development process. Twins are often used in a variety of studies to uncover the truth
behind nature and nurture and which one takes more effect.

TWIN SEPERATED AT BIRTH CASE

• In this case, researchers focused on identical twins who were separated at birth.
• Were both adopted by different families
• They were raised apart
• When they met they found that they both shared many similiarities Suffered
headaches
Bit their nails Smoked Salems
Took up woodworking
Vacationed on the same beach in Florida

NATURE IN NURTURE IN
PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY
(Nativist) (Empiricists)

• Certain traits are • We are they way we are because of our experiences
inborn and occur
• Mind begins as a blank slate (tabula rasa)
naturally because of your
genes regardless from • Characteristics are as a result of learning
your environmental
influences • Philosophers such as John Locke were empiricists

• Philosophers such
as Plato and Descartes
suggested this theory

Is Human Behavior affected by Nature and Nurture?

• Nature and Nurture both play a role in a persons traits, they both operate
together and somewhat equal
• For example
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• Many families have genetics that gives them a great advantage in musical,
mathematical, or verbal intelligences
• However, this does not mean that you will have these advantages if you do not
practice them.
• If you are raised in a home with no sign of music, math, or verbal communication
you will not develop these advantages since you are not exposed to them.
• It simply demonstrates that you have a genetic possibility for being outstanding
in these areas.
• There is no telling whether If nature or nurture takes a bigger role in a persons
life. Without either or, a person would not be the way they are. A persons brains varies
and is different in its own ways because of genes and environmental factors

MODULE 5 BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE-PAVLOV, WATSON,

THORNDIKE, SKINNER
Behaviorism
by Watson,
Thorndike and skinner
DR. MARY JANE GUAN
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INTRODUCTION
This subject focuses on concept of Behaviorist Perspective. The Behavioral Perspective
Behavioral psychology is a perspective that focuses on learned behaviors. Behaviorism
differs from many other perspectives because instead of emphasizing internal states, it
focuses solely on observable behaviors. It is important in the field of education because
is a systematic approach to the understanding of human and animal behavior. It
assumes that the behavior of a human or an animal is a consequence of that
individual's history, including especially reinforcement and punishment, together with the
individual's current motivational state and controlling stimuli.
What is BEHAVIORISM all about?
• Focuses on the study of observable and measureable behavior. It emphasizes that
behavior is mostly learned through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards and
punishment).
• Behavioral psychology is the study of external behavior
• Behavior is objective and observable
• Behavior is the response of an organism to stimuli
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ACTIVITY
How do you explain Behaviorism?

CONTRIBUTION OF THE FF:

• Ivan Pavlov
• Edward L. Thorndike
• John Watson
• Burrhus Frederick Skinner
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Ivan Pavlov
A Russian psychologist, well know for his work in classical conditioning or stimulus
substitution. Experiment involved meat, a dog and a bell.
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Study by Pavlov

Stimulus Generalization – once the dog has learned to salivate at the sound of the
bell, it will salivate at other similar sounds.
• Extinction – if you stop pairing the bell with the food, salivation eventually cease
in response to the bell
• Spontaneous recovery – extinguished responses can be “recovered” after an
elapse time but it will soon extinguished again if the dog is not presented with food.
• Discrimination – the dog could learn to discriminate between similar bells
(stimuli) and discern which bell would result in the presentation of food and which
would not.
• Higher –Order Conditioning – once the dog has been conditioned to associate
the bell with food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as a light may be flashed at
the same time that the bell is rung.
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Edward L. Thorndike
is famous in psychology for his work on learning theory that lead to the development of
operant conditioning within Behaviorism. Whereas classical conditioning depends on
developing associations between events, operant conditioning involves learning from
the consequences of our behavior.
Connectionism theory gave us the original S-R framework of behavioral
psychology. The main principle of connectionism was that learning could be
adequately explained without considering any observable internal states
Law of Effect - connection between a stimulus and response is strengthened when the
consequences is positive (reward) and the connection between the stimulus and the
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response is weakened when the consequence is negative.

• Law of Exercise – the more S-R (stimulus response) bond is practice the stronger it
will become.
Law of Readiness – the more readiness the learner has to respond to the stimulus, the
stronger will be the bond between them.

Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism

1. Learning requires both practice and rewards (laws of effect/exercise)
2. A series of S-R connectionism can be chained together if they belong to the
same action sequence (law of readiness)
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.

• John Watson
First American psychologist to work with Pavlov’s ideas. He considered that humans
are born with a few reflexes and the emotional reactions of love and rage.
All other behavior is learned through stimulus-response associations through
conditioning.
Experiment on Albert
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• His work did clearly show the role of conditioning in the development of emotional
responses to certain stimuli. This may help us understand the fears, phobias and
prejudices that people develop.
• Burrhus Frederick Skinner
• American psychologist and an influential exponent of behaviourism, which
views human behaviour in terms of responses to environmental stimuli and favours the
controlled, scientific study of responses as the most direct means of elucidating human
nature.

• Burrhus Frederick Skinner

• Believed in the S-R pattern of conditioned behavior.
• Wrote Walden Two (1948) and Science and Human Behavior (1953)
Operant Conditioning
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• Studied operant behavior (voluntary behaviors used in operating on the

environmentBased upon the notion that learning is a result of change in overt behavior.
Change in behavior are the result of individual’s response to event (stimuli) that occur
in the environment.
• Reinforcement - is the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory.
• Reinforcer – anything that strengthen the desired responses.
• Positive reinforcer – any stimulus that is given or added to increase the
response.
• Negative reinforcer - any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a
response when it is withdrawn or removed . A negative reinforcer is not a punishment,
it is a reward.
• Punishment - consequence intended to result in a reduced responses

• Extinction or Non-reinforcement: responses that are not reinforced are not

likely to be repeated.
• Shaping behavior - successive approximation of the behavior are rewarded.
• Behavior chaining - comes about when a series of steps are needed to be
learned.
• Reinforcement schedules – once the desired behavioral response is
accomplished, reinforcement does not have to be 100%
• Fixed interval schedule - target response is reinforced after a fixed amount of
time has passed since the last reinforcement.
• Variable inter schedule – similar to fixed interval schedule but the amount of
time that must pass between reinforcement varies.
• Fixed ratio schedule - fixed number of correct responses must occur before
reinforcement may recur.
• Variable ratio schedule – number of correct repetitio9ns of the correct
response for reinforcement varies
Operant Conditioning
• Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a
method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior. Through
operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence
(whether negative or positive) for that behavior.1
 PED5 FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

For example, when lab rats press a lever when a green light is on, they receive a food
pellet as a reward. When they press the lever when a red light is on, they receive a mild
electric shock. As a result, they learn to press the lever when the green light is on and
avoid the red light.

1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) - answer (response)

frames which expose the student to the subject in gradual steps.
2. Require that the learner makes a response for every frame and received
immediate feedback
3. Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct
and hence, a positive reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with secondary
reinforcers such as verbal praise, prizes and good grades.
Principle derived from skinners operant conditioning
1. Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is
particularly effective.
2. Information should be presented in small amounts so that responses can be
reinforced (shaping).
3. Reinforcements will generalized across similar stimuli (stimulus
generalization) producing secondary conditioning.