HOW DO STUDENTS LEARN?
Among all human activities, learning is one of the most ancient ones, and everybody is always involved in this process since birth until death. Since we are children we have the necessity of learning many things: walking, speaking, recognizing our parents, constructing phrases and utterances, distinguishing objects, etc. (Michel, 2010). Later on, we learned writing, reading, execute mathematic operations, etc . Little by little, our level of knowledge grows and, however , every time we achieve a determined level we notice that there are still more and more things to learn (Piaget, . This paper will try to provide a wider view about how this process occurs in students especially in adolescents.
As everybody knows the adolescence is considered as a normal part of the human life span, connecting middle childhood and young adulthood. The adolescent years extend roughly from age 10 to age 22. It is common to mark the beginning of the teenage years as the entrance to adolescence; most people consider that the onset of puberty, or the beginning of sexual maturity, as a sign of an individual's passage from middle childhood to adolescence. While the physical changes of puberty are an important indicator signaling adolescent development, many other kinds of changes also occur during such in their cognitive and learning process. Thus, as the adolescence is a complicated, critical and confusing stage in the life of a human being, it is in this period when most of the physical, psychological and social changes occur.
As mentioned before, human beings are learning everyday of our lives, it means, we never stop learning beacause it is a constant process in which we are involved with experiences and actions. But what do we understand as learning?. According to Michel (2010, p. 20) “Learning is the process by which we obtain new knowledge, skills or attitudes trough experiences just lived that produce any change in our way of being or behaving”. In other words, learning is acquiring and modifying new knowledge and other habits such as skills, values and behaviors. In addition Wittig (2000) defined learning as “any change relatively permanent in a background of a person, which occurs as a result of the experience” (p.76). Then and based on these definitions we can deduce that learning gives us an opportunity to grow, to assimilate reality and even to transform it in order we to achieve a deeper and better existence.
Learning consists in assimilate those experiences and that those experiences become part of our lives and change us in anyway (Michel, 2010, p. 18). Recent researches show that experience plays an important role in this process, but it is important to mention what other elements are implied in this kind of learning:
CONDITIONING. We learn when we respond correctly to each situation or problem, considering the kind of situation you are in and involving acquired skills or attitudes in the process. E.g. When we learn talking , we learn to participate in all kind of conversations: about love, politics, religion or scientific.
Rehearsal and error. Trying and practicing students learn. In this way, experiences that lead us to the correct solution get printed in the memory, they get stronger, meanwhile you eliminate the other ones, trough the facing you make between the practice and the obtained results, because they have learned to solve problems by solving them (Thorndike, 1940)
On the other hand, Witt (2000, p. 76) points out that “According to the psychological conductist perspective, the person solve a problem by rehearsing and making mistakes due to the taken action produces a positive result, this behavior or inhibition of the behavior will be repeated.
COMPARISONS. According to Michel (2010, p. 21) “Through comparisons students since they are child learn to distinguish between a rose from a carnation, between a true friend and a fake one, and so forth” . All this imply practice, it means, the experience they have and about they reflect on, including theory than helps them to know more.
IMITATION. It is referred to a model, an example or a paradigm follow by the copy or repetition of it. It is in this way as we acquire language, just by repetition and imitation. We acquire knowledge and with the time we develop the style. Morales (2009) considers that this kind of learning is based on one social situation in which at least two people are involved: the person who behaves and the person who observes that behavior, this observation determines the learning.
Likewise, Brown (2004) establishes that:
1.- Learning as an increase in knowledge. The student will often see learning as
something done to them by teachers rather than as something they do for
themselves.
2. Learning is memorising. ‘Learning is about getting it into your head. You’ve just
to keep writing it out and eventually it will go in.’
3. Learning is acquiring facts or procedures that are to be used. ‘‘Well it’s about
learning the thing so you can do it again when you’re asked to, like in an exam.’
4. Learning is making sense. ‘Learning is about trying to understand things so you
can see what’s going on. You’ve got to be able to explain things, not just
remember them.’
5. Learning is understanding reality. ‘Learning enables you to perceive the world
differently.’ This has also been termed ‘personally meaningful learning’.
As a conclusion and regarding the different conceptions already seen I can say that students learn from different ways:
Engaged Learning - Students are engaged in active learning when they read, write, listen, speak and view in a variety of settings to gather information and develop concepts important to everyday life. These concepts, together with basic facts, form the foundation for all learning.
Problem Solving - Problem solving is fundamental to all curriculum areas. Students construct knowledge of the world as they recognize problems, formulate solutions and arrive at conclusions.
Communication - Communication is central to learning to express ideas and understand the ideas of others so as the interaction.
Collaboration - Collaboration is an important process in a democratic society. Learning is often a social process that requires students to value and work with others.
Seeking Connections - Knowledge does not exist in isolation. Students learn that the content areas are connected. Such learning is essential to forming a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live.
Technology – Nowadays technology allows students to reach beyond the walls of the classroom to obtain information on a wide variety of topics. Technology permits students to be active researchers and communicators in the quest for knowledge.
REFERENCES
Boud, D. and Feletti, G. (1998). The challenge of problem based learning. London: Kogan
Page, 2nd edn.
Brown, G. (2004).How students learn. London: Routledge. Retrieved February 20th, 2011 from website:
Michel, G. (2010). Aprende a aprender. México, D.F.
