Republic of the Philippines

Tarlac State University

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
CENTER OF DEVELOPMENT
Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City
Tel. No. (045) 493-0182; Fax No. (045) 982-0110
Re-Accredited Level IV by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the
Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.
______________________________________________________________________________

MODULE IN EDUC 201

FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN?

ADULT LEARNING

SUBMITTED BY:
DAYLO CHRISTOPHER REGINALD III P.
BSED ENGLISH 2A

SUBMITTED TO:
 MR. MICHAEL A. GANDOLA
LECTURER
TITLE: HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN? ADULT LEARNING
INTRODUCTION:
INSTRUCTION TO THE USERS:
PRE-TEST: ( 25 ITEMS)

I - LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
II - CONTENT:
A. PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES:
Sentences can be very complex, and can contain many different parts of speech which implicate

B. DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES:

B. How Children Think and Learn?

"One might as well say he has sold when no one has bought, as one might say he has
taught when no one has learnt," according to John Dewey. Teaching is a work that a teacher
performs for the child's development.
What is learning?
Learning is to gain knowledge, understanding, or skill. An even broader definition of
learning is “any permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of a practice or an
experience.” This makes what we teach our children even more important as it has the potential
to have a lasting affect in their behavior.
How do children think?
Children are a bunch of thoughts and ideas. If you take a close look at your child's
thoughts, you'll see that they're very different from those of an adult and can be conveyed in a
variety of ways. Each child goes through four main stages of development or learning.
Sensorimotor
This is from the time a child is born to the time he or she turns two. The five senses are
used as the major technique of learning for the infant throughout this time. The surroundings is
taught to him or her. Everything in sight is touched, held, looked at, listened to, tasted, felt,
banged, and shaken by the child. The concept of time and place are both there in this child's
mind. When a child develops motor abilities like crawling, crawling, and walking, his or her
surroundings grows exponentially. With two senses and the ability to move about, the kid is now
exploring their surroundings.
 Because you now have to deal with things like protection and guidance, your job as a
parent has just increased. This form of learning continues until the age of twelve, although as
time passes, it gets less acute.
Preoperational
Between the ages of two and seven, these are the stages. During this stage, the child is
busy acquiring knowledge or learning new skills, and then trying to figure out how to apply what
they've learned to solve issues in a practical way.
Your child will be very tough to generalize anything at this time of his or her life because
he or she will be thinking in particular. A ball, for example, is not something you use to play a
game with, but rather something you throw.
This is the stage when a child begins to learn through asking questions. The word why
will make you think you're going insane if you hear it just one more time. There will be no true
answer to the child's inquiry at this time. When he inquires as to why we have grass, he merely
wants to know if it is for him to enjoy. There are no technical answers at this time.
It has an impact on me since this age group of children judges things on a personal level.
Is it something I enjoy? You have the idea! There's no way for this child to go back in time and
reason. When it happens, if you don't take advantage of the opportunity to explain or punish it,
you'll be forgiven.
Concrete Operations Period:
This is when your child is now between ages of seven and 10 or eleven years old. This is
a beautiful age since it is at this age that kids begin to mentally manipulate facts. They begin by
defining, comparing, and contrasting the facts at hand. Their thinking is still based on reality,
however.
If you were to ask a pre-operations child, “How does God hear prayer?” They would
most likely answer that He has big ears. The concrete child would put a little more thought into it
and answer something like this: “God is smart and he made some special earphones just so He
could hear me.”
The concrete operational child has the ability to think logically. This child continues to
learn through his senses, but he no longer relies solely on them to do so. He's also thinking now.
For this age range, a wise instructor would begin each lesson with a concrete goal in mind before
moving on to a more general goal in mind.
Formal Operations Period
Around the age of eleven, this era begins. At this point, the child will be able to go
beyond literalism and begin to think more abstractly. He no longer thinks in terms of time and
place. Now is the time for this child to think, speculate, and conjecture. He's truly thinking about
it. Children must develop their cognitive talents during the period of formal operation. Listed
below are six basic categories of cognitive abilities:
  Knowledge of facts and principals. This is the direct recall of facts and principals.
Examples: memorization of dates, names, definition, vocabulary words.
 Comprehension. Understanding of facts and ideas.
 Application. Needs to know, rules, principles, and procedures and how to use them
 Analysis. Breaking down concepts into parts.
 Synthesis. Putting together information or ideas.
 Evaluation. Judging the value of information.
Key Factors In Learning
 It's rare for a child to learn in a vacuum.
 The majority of the time, learning takes place in a group of youngsters of the same age.
 Motivation, peer relationships within the group, and communication between the child
and the teacher are all elements that influence learning.
 Environment, physical setting, emotional atmosphere, and social and cultural standards
are all aspects to consider.
There has been a lot of research done on how children learn, and the results have been
mixed and skewed. However, one thing that all of these research findings have in common is that
each person learns in their own unique method, which is known as customized learning. It is a
well-known truth that understanding how children learn can help both teachers and students learn
more effectively. There are a number of hypotheses that can help us better understand how we
learn. We'll now go over some of the fundamentals of how children learn in greater depth.
Active Participation
One of the most fundamental aspects that must be discussed is active participation and
involvement. The greatest method to actively engage with a work is to learn about it, as different
studies have demonstrated. In school, there are a variety of tasks that require the student to
employ his or her cognitive ability to complete. In school, they must comprehend, explain, and
elaborate on subjects that require active engagement. As a result, teachers should encourage
pupils to become active learners. To pique the interest of students, they should make classroom
instruction engaging, imaginative, and demanding.
Learning as a Social Activity
Various scholars have demonstrated that knowledge is socially rooted, and that learning
is a social activity as well. Understanding the topic in the context in which it was formed is the
greatest method to learn something. Social involvement is crucial in this regard. In this sense, the
process of socialization can be viewed as a very good illustration. The social life of the family
teaches children a lot. This assumption underpins the entire concept of constructivism. "Children
learn by social interaction and engagement," according to Vygotsky, "and they internalize values
and rituals through active involvement in the social setting."
Useful and Meaningful Learning
 Participation in learning improves learning and makes learning more valuable and
meaningful in the daily lives of learners. We all know that there are some teaching and learning
methods that are only theoretical and have no practical application for a student. When a subject
isn't important in their lives, students begin to wonder why they're learning it. This issue arises as
a result of the appropriateness of learning in a given situation. According to research, students
will not be drawn to a course that isn't relevant to them. Learning exercises can often be useless,
and as a result, students are unable to create any connections between what they are learning and
what they will utilize in the real world.
Developing a Bridge between Existing Knowledge and New Knowledge
The need to build a bridge between what a learner already knows and what he or she will
learn is an important learning principle. This link allows you to combine previous knowledge
with new ones. According to research, our ability to learn something new is determined by what
we already know. It is crucial and important to link up fresh information with information that
has already been gathered. This bridge can be developed in a variety of ways by teachers. The
following are some ideas for such a method:
In light of information gained from previous chapters, the teacher can create opportunity
for discussion of a new chapter. Learners' prior knowledge will be activated as a result of this.
If a student's prior knowledge is incomplete or flawed, they may have a lot of
misperceptions. After addressing these misconceptions, the teacher must recognize these gaps
and provide new concepts. It won't help if you just know what they know.
A smart technique to make a link between previous and new knowledge is to have a
discussion, ask questions, and give an overview.
Acknowledging Individual Differences
The need of the time is inclusion. The same is true in India as well as in all other societies
around the world, where there exist variances. In the school system and in a class, this diversity
is plainly obvious. The following approaches can help a teacher make his or her class more
inclusive:
 Teachers should be aware of how kids learn and comprehend information.
 Teachers can assist a child by attempting to comprehend his or her issue as best they can.
It is vital for parents to be involved in this process.
 Students who exhibit signs of learning difficulties can be given extra time.
 Rather than being a site of competition, the classroom should be changed into a place of
learning.
 Do not compare the results of two students.
 The learning process should put the learner's abilities to the test.
Allow Learners to Practice
 As we all know, practice makes perfect. This principle also aids in the process of
learning. If a child puts the acquired concept or phenomenon into practice, he or she will be able
to master it. The term "practice" here does not refer to simple recollection or mechanistic
revision; rather, it refers to a longer period of meaningful involvement with the task, which will
assist the learner get a greater understanding of the phenomenon.
C Adolescent and Adult Learning
What is Adult Learning Theory?
Adult Learning Theory, also known as andragogy, is a concept or study of how adults
learn and how they differ from children. It was created by Malcolm Knowles in 1968. Its
goal is to explain how adult learning differs from that of children, as well as the learning
styles that work best for them.
The hypothesis has evolved over time and has been altered and updated. It consists of
four andragogy principles and five fundamental assumptions about adult learners at its
foundation. It's a philosophy that works well for typical training courses, such as soft skills,
and it's one that can be applied to businesses in particular.
5 Key Assumptions of Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory
A central part of Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory refers to five assumptions. Each
one outlines the general ways in which adults perceive learning and how they prefer to train.
 Self-Concept
We shift from being dependent to being more self-sufficient as we get older.
As a result, we prefer to study in a more self-directed manner rather than under the
supervision of a teacher.
 Adult Learner Experience
Adults have a broad understanding and references from which they might
draw. We can take what we've learned and apply it to our own lives.
 Readiness to Learn
When there is a cause for it, such as when it is relevant to their profession,
adults desire to learn or are willing to learn.
 Orientation of Learning
We want what we're learning to be relevant to our daily lives as adults, rather
than just basic knowledge about a subject. We aim to develop practical skills that will
aid us in solving challenges and improving our efficiency.
 Motivation to Learn
Extrinsic factors, such as parents and instructors, influence how we learn as
children. Adults, on the other hand, want to learn for their own reasons, such as to
advance in their careers or to improve their self-esteem.
4 Principles Of Andragogy
 Because adults learn in their own unique style, there are four main ideas that describe
how to provide the best knowledge for them.
 Adults want or need to have a role in how their training is designed, administered,
and carried out when it comes to learning. They want to be in charge of how, when,
and what they learn.
 When adults are able to incorporate past experiences into their learning, they gain
more. They can use what they already know to help them understand what they're
learning.
 It is not appropriate for adults to learn by memorizing facts and information. The
greatest way for them to absorb the knowledge they are provided with is to solve
problems and utilize logic.
 Adults want to know “How can I use this information now?”. What they are learning
needs to be applicable to their lives and be implemented immediately.
Apply Adult Learning Theory to Your Corporate Learning
So, now that you've learned about Adult Learning Theory, how can you use it to your
career progression? Here are a few pointers on how to apply this theory to your studies:
 Analyze your learning with the theory in mind
There is an analysis step in several instructional design approaches. You
examine everything from who, what, when, where, and how to who, what, when,
where, and how. It's also a good opportunity to think about how andragogy may help
you.
You should evaluate how past training went and whether or not it fit into the
framework at this point. Question also how you can lay out the actual applications of
training so that your staff and customers can see how important it is to them.
 Collaborate on the learning you’re providing
Adults, as previously stated, enjoy being involved in every aspect of their
education, so make sure you involve them as much as possible. When it comes to
staff training, for example, you should first inquire what they want to learn and how
they want to learn it.
Encourage participation, ideas, and conversations with other students and
instructors as you study. When that, ask for comments on everything from the
material to the software used to train after the training is finished. Throughout the
process, it will offer the students a sense of ownership.
 Enable self-directed learning
In the past, corporate learning was frequently a time-consuming task that had
to be completed at a specific time. You may now create a far more self-directed,
independent learning environment for your adult learners using technologies like an
LMS.
 You may give them the freedom to train whenever and wherever they choose,
provide them a variety of courses to pick from, and allow them to set their own
learning objectives.
 Use real-world learning examples
Adults, according to the theory, want to know how the instruction will help
them immediately. As a result, include as many real-world examples as possible in
your course content.
If you're teaching your consumer how to use your product, lead them through
a workflow that they'll actually use and explain how and why they'll utilize it in
detail. The same can be said for employee training: explain how the training will
benefit you, and then utilize real-life examples to teach you.
 Let your learners figure it out themselves
It's a good idea to not just put out all the solutions right once when developing
content because grownups prefer problem-solving over facts. Instead, why not get
creative and create courses that stimulate your students' minds?
Add tests and simulations that highlight specific difficulties that a learner
would face, and then get your students to utilize their abilities to solve them in a
variety of ways to accomplish this.
 Experimentation is key
For your corporate learning, Adult Learning Theory has a lot of applications.
However, experimentation and testing are, as always, the keys to great learning. Take
some of the theory and put it to use in your employee or customer training to see
whether it improves the learning experience for your students.

Characteristics of the Adolescent Learner

Five key areas
 Intellectual
 Social
 Physical
 Emotional and Psychological
 Moral

Characteristics of young adolescent intellectual development include:

 Moving from concrete to abstract thinking.
 An intense curiosity and wide range of intellectual pursuit, few of which are sustained
over the long term.
 High achievement when challenged and engaged.
 Prefers active over passive learning experiences.
  Interest in interacting with peers during learning activities.
 An ability to be self-reflective.
 Demand the relevance in learning and what is being taught.
 Developing the capacity to understand higher levels of humor, some of which may be
 Misunderstood by adults to be sarcastic or even aggressive.

Characteristics of young adolescent social development include:

 Modeling behavior after that of older students, not necessarily that of parents and
other adults.
 Experimenting with ways of talking and acting as part of searching for a social
position with peers.
 Exploring questions of racial and ethnic identity and seeking peers who share the
same background.
 Exploring questions of sexual identity in visible or invisible ways.
 Feeling intimidated or frightened by the initial middle school experience.
 Liking fads and being interested in popular culture.
 Overreacting to ridicule, embarrassment, and rejection.
 Seeking approval of peers and others with attention-getting behaviors.
 As interpersonal skills are being developed, fluctuates between a demand for
independence and a desire for guidance and direction.
Characteristics of young adolescent physical development include:
 Restlessness and fatigue due to hormonal changes.
 A need for physical activity because of increased energy.
 Developing sexual awareness, and often touching and bumping into others.
 A concern with changes in body size and shape.
 Physical vulnerability resulting from poor health/dietary habits or engaging in risky
behaviors.
 Bodily changes that may cause awkward, uncoordinated movements.
Characteristics of young adolescent emotional and psychological development include:
 Mood swings marked by peaks of intensity and by unpredictability.
 Needing to release energy, with sudden outbursts of activity.
 A desire to become independent and to search for adult identity and acceptance.
 Self-consciousness and being sensitive to personal criticism.
 Concern about physical growth and maturity.
 A belief that their personal problems, feelings, and experiences are unique to themselves.
 Overreacting to ridicule, embarrassment, and rejection.
 Seeking approval of peers and others with attention-getting behaviors.
Characteristics of young adolescent moral development include:
 An understanding of the complexity of moral issues (question values, cultural
expressions, and religious teachings).
 Being capable of and interested in participating in democracy.
 Impatience with the pace of change, and underestimating how difficult it is to make
social changes.
 Needing and being influenced by adult role models who will listen and be trustworthy.
 Relying on parents and important adults for advice, but wanting to make their own
decisions.
 Judging others quickly, but acknowledging one’s own faults slowly.
 Show compassion and are vocal for those who are downtrodden or suffering and have
special concern for animals and environmental issues

C. CLOSURE ACTIVITIES: take a closer look and try to do the following exercises

III - SYNTHESIS / GENERALIZATION:

In the absence of teaching, it is impossible to comprehend how children think and learn.
Teaching and learning have a long-standing relationship. It is not necessary to supply everything
to the student in order to teach them. It’s a way to make the learning process go more smoothly.
Teaching is a structured, systematic, ability-based, democratic, and exciting activity that aims to
improve the learner’s intellectual ability.
In contrast to child education, adult education is a technique in which individuals engage
in systematic and ongoing self-education in order to acquire new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or
values. It can refer to any type of adult learning that goes beyond traditional education, from
basic literacy to personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner. And to ensure that a person’s
happiness is ensured.
Adult education, in particular, reflects a particular teaching and learning philosophy
based on the concept that adults can and want to learn, that they are capable and ready to take
responsibility for their own learning, and that the learning should be tailored to their
requirements.
Just as each adult’s life is unique, learning takes place in a variety of ways and in a
variety of settings. Adult learning can take place in any of the following three situations:
Formal – Learning that is structured and usually takes place in a formal setting, usually
with a prescribed curriculum and a set of credentials;
Non-formal – Learning that is not accredited by a credential but is organized by
educational organizations. In the workplace and through the actions of civil society organizations
and groups, non-formal learning possibilities may be available;
 Informal education – is continuous learning that occurs as a result of daily activities such
as work, family, community, or leisure (e.g. community baking class).
IV - EVALUATION: minimum of 25 items

V- ASSIGNMENT: 1. For enrichment of the discussed topic

2. For advance reading or related activity for the next topic.
VI- REFERENCES: (APA format)

TET Success Key (n.d.) Child Development & Pedagogy

https://www.tetsuccesskey.com/2015/01/how-children-think-and-learn-ctet.html
Debbie Tipton (n.d.) How Children Think and Learn Lesson Tutor
https://www.lessontutor.com/dt7/
Emma O’neill (March 2020) What is Adult Learning Theory? Learn Upon
https://www.learnupon.com/blog/adult-learning-theory
WGU (April 2020) Adult learning theories and principles https://www.wgu.edu/blog/adult-
learning-theories-principles2004.html