This document provides information about an upcoming examination for a learning perspectives course. It includes the examination format, which will be a closed book, 2 hour exam with 4 questions where students must answer 2. Study materials mentioned include previous exam papers, tutorial notes, and recorded sessions available online. The document encourages students to ensure they are prepared by managing their time well and knowing examination terminology. It also discusses factors that influence effective learning such as knowledge, skills, and the role of the learner. Key concepts from the course are summarized such as behaviorist theory, cognitive theories, and factors that influence observational learning.

1. LEON 611: LEARNING
PERSPECTIVES
12/05/2017
DR BERNADETTE GEDULD
SNR LECTURER
Call Centre: 0182855900
bernadette.geduld@nwu.ac.za

2. CONTACT SESSION 4
• EXAMINATION FORMAT
• STUDY MATERIAL
• Study guide
Closed book examination
Duration: 2h00
Format: 4 questions, you have to
answer any two (2).
Marks: 100

3. • 1. web address to get hold of examination scopes,
previous examination question papers and tutorial
notes:
• www.olgdownloads.co.za
• 2. To access all recorded IWB sessions:
http://distance.nwu.ac.za/content/unit-open-distance-lea

4. Are you fit enough for the
exam?

5. Test and examination
anxiety

6. Why do students fail?

7. Examination information
Know your action verbs
Understand the question
Ineffective study methods
Integrate theory and practice
Mark allocation
Poor time management

8. Be prepared
Manage your time
Write neat and legible

9. Learning Perspectives
How do you define effective
learning?
Knowledge?
Skills?
Factors that influence learning?
What is the role of the learner?

10. Study unit 1
• Behaviourist theory
• Emphasise the formation of associations
between stimuli and responses through
selective reinforcement of correct responses
• Behavioural theories therefore seem best
suited to explain simpler forms of learning
that involve associations, such as
multiplication facts, foreign language word
meanings, and state capital cities

11. Cognitive theories
• Explain learning in terms of factors such as
information processing, memory networks, and
student perceptions and interpretations of
classroom variables (e.g., teachers, peers,
materials, organisation, instruction)
• Complex forms of learning; for example, solving
mathematical word problems, drawing inferences
from text, and writing essays
• Attention, effort, and persistence
• Learning is promoted by goal setting, self-
monitoring of progress, corrective feedback from
teachers and coaches, and feelings of intrinsic
motivation

12. Study unit 2
Distinguish between different types of
reinforcement and how it can affect learning.
Primary: satisfy basic human needs.
Secondary
Positive/Negative
Concrete
Social
Activity
Group contingencies,
Positive feedback
Intrinsic

13. Par. 2.5
• Criteria we should use to make decisions
concerning conditioning techniques of the
behaviourist theory
• Limitations of the theory

14. Study unit 3
• The factors that influence observational learning
• Enactive learning involves learning from the
consequences of one’s actions, while vicarious
learning occurs without overt performance by the
learner at the time of learning.

15. Factors that influence observational
learning
Developmental status longer attention and increased capacity to
process information,
use strategies, compare performances with
memorial representations,
adopt intrinsic motivators.
Model prestige and competence Observers pay greater attention to competent,
high-status models. Consequences of modelled
behaviours convey information about functional
value. Observers attempt to learn actions they
believe they will need to perform.
Vicarious consequences Consequences to models convey information
about behavioural appropriateness and likely
outcomes of actions. Valued consequences
motivate observers. Similarity in attributes or
competence signals appropriateness and
heightens motivation.
Outcome expectations Observers are more likely to perform modelled
actions they believe are appropriate and will
result in rewarding outcomes.
Goal setting Observers are likely to attend to models that
demonstrate behaviours that help observers
attain goals.
Self-efficacy Observers attend to models when they believe
they are capable of learning or performing the
modelled behaviour. Observation of similar
models affects self-efficacy ("if they can do it, I
can too").

16. Unit 4
The basic assumptions of cognitive
psychology and their educational
implications
Give your own school related examples
that will illustrate each assumption

17. Table 4.1
Assumption Educational implication Example
Influence of cognitive processes Encourage students to think
about class material in ways that
will help them remember it.
When introducing the concept
mammal, ask students to identify
numerous examples.
Selectivity about what is learned Help students identify the most
important things for them to learn.
Also help them understand why
these things are important.
Give students questions that they
should try to answer as they read
their textbooks. Include
questions that ask them to apply
what they read to their own lives.
Construction of meaning Provide experiences that will help
students make sense of the
topics they are studying.
When studying Nathaniel
Hawthorne's The scarlet letter,
ask students to get together in
small groups to discuss why
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale
refuses to acknowledge that he is
the father of Hester Prynne's
baby.
Role of prior knowledge and
beliefs
Relate new ideas to what
students already know and
believe about the world.
When introducing the vocabulary
word debut to Mexican American
students, relate it to
quinceaniera, a coming-out party
that many Hispanic families hold
for their 15-year-old daughters.
Active involvement in learning Plan classroom activities that get To help students understand

19. • The capacity, duration and contents of STM
• What teachers should do to help learners to retain
information in the short-term memory
• Maintenance rehearsal: Useful for retaining something
you plan to use and then forget, like a phone number
• Elaborative rehearsal involves associating the
information you are trying to remember with something
you already know
• Chunking can be used to keep more information in the
short-term memory
• Different parts of the long term memory

20. Study Unit 5
Critically discuss the cognitive characteristics of
learners according to Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development.
Four key principles derived from Vygotsky's ideas

21. Age birth to two years

22. Characteristics
Actions are spontaneous and represent an attempt to
understand the world.
Understanding is rooted in present action, for example,
a ball is for throwing and a bottle for sucking.
Begin to make use of imitation, memory and thought.
Formation of concept of “object permanence”
(Recognise that objects do not cease to exist when
they are hidden)
Gradual progression from reflexive behaviour to goal-
directed behaviour

23. 2-7 years
Rapidly develops use of language.
Development of the ability to use symbols to represent
objects in the world.
Ability to think operations through logically in one
direction.
Unable to think in more than one dimension at a time. (e.g.
if they focus on length they are apt to think a longer object
is bigger than a shorter one even when the shorter one is
taller and deeper.)
Thinking is irreversible, that is, once things are done they
cannot be changed (e.g., the box flattened cannot again he
made into a box).
Difficulties in distinguishing fantasy from reality. Cartoon
characters appear as real as people do.
Thinking remains egocentric and centred. (Has difficulties
in seeing another person’s point of view.)

24. 7-11 years
Display less egocentric thought and language
increasingly becomes social
Reversibility in thinking is acquired along with
classification and seriation - concepts essential for the
acquisition of mathematical skills.
Thinking is no longer dominated by perception; children
draw on their experiences and are not always swayed by
what they perceive.
Ability to solve concrete (hands-on) problems in logical
fashion.
Understands laws of conservation and is able to classify
and seriate.
New abilities include the use of operations that are
reversible. (Understand reversibility.)
Thinking is decentred
Abstract thinking is not possible

25. 11 years - adulthood
Abstract and purely symbolic thinking possible.
Reasoning capabilities improve, and children can think about
multiple dimensions and abstract properties.
Egocentrism emerges in adolescents' comparing reality to the
ideal; thus, they often show idealistic thinking.
Becomes more scientific in thinking.
Problems can be solved through the use of systematic
experimentation.
Children are able to think about hypothetical situations.
Develops concerns about social issues, and identity.

26. Four key principles derived
from Vygotsky's ideas
• Social nature of learning should be
emphasised
• Children learn the best concepts that
are in their zone of proximal
development
• Cognitive apprentice
• Scaffolding/ mediated learning is
important

27. Discuss, with relevant examples from Vygotsky’s ideas,
how teachers should apply principles of contructivism
in their teaching
Top down processing
Instructional scaffolding
Co operative learning
Discovery learning

28. Top-down processing
• Constructivist approaches to teaching emphasise top-down
rather than bottom-up instruction.
• Begin with complex problems to solve and then work out or
discover (with the teacher's guidance) the basic skills required.
• E.g. write compositions and only later learn about spelling,
grammar, and punctuation
• Contrasted with the traditional bottom-up strategy, in which
basic skills are gradually built into more complex skills
• In top-down teaching, the tasks learners begin with are complex,
complete, and authentic, meaning that they are not parts or
simplifications of the tasks that students are ultimately expected
to perform but are the actual tasks
• The constructivist approach works in exactly the opposite
order, beginning with problems (often proposed by the students
themselves) and then helping students figure out how to do the
operations)

29. Instructional scaffolding
• Helps students acquire cognitive functions
• Instructional scaffolding refers to the process of
controlling task elements that are beyond the
learners' capabilities so that they can focus on and
master those features of the task that they can grasp
quickly
• Analogy of scaffolding employed in construction
projects,
• Five major functions: provide support, function as a
tool, extend the range of the learner, permit the

30. • In a learning situation, a teacher initially might do
most of the work, after which the teacher and the
learners share responsibility
• As learners become more competent, the teacher
gradually withdraws the scaffolding so learners can
perform independently
• The key is to ensure that the scaffolding keeps
learners in the ZPD, which is altered as they develop
capabilities

31. Co-operative learning
• Constructivist approaches typically make
extensive use of co-operative learning, on the
theory that learners will more easily discover
and comprehend difficult concepts if they talk
with each other while solving problems co-
operatively
• Co-operative groups are most effective when
each learner has assigned responsibilities and
all must attain competence before any are
allowed to progress
• Peer groups for learning in mathematics,
science, and language arts, attests to the
recognised impact of the social environment

32. Discovery Learning
• Discovery learning is an important
component of modern constructivist
approaches that has a long history in
education innovation.
• Encouraged to learn largely on their own
through active involvement with concepts
and principles.
• Experiences and conduct experiments that
permit them to discover principles for
themselves

33. Study Unit 6
• Learning strategies:
Cognitive learning strategies
Metacognitve learning strategies
Resource management strategies
Affective strategies
• Goal setting
• Properties of specificity, proximity,
challenge, commitment, difficulty
• Learning Goal orientation

34. • 1. web address to get hold of examination scopes,
previous examination question papers and tutorial
notes:
• www.olgdownloads.co.za
• 2. To access all recorded IWB sessions:
http://distance.nwu.ac.za/content/unit-open-distance-lea

35. Dr Bernadette GeduldDr Bernadette Geduld
Call Centre: 0182855900Call Centre: 0182855900
bernadette.geduld@nwu.ac.zabernadette.geduld@nwu.ac.za
THANK YOU. GOOD LUCK WITH THE EXAMINATION