REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

TARLAC STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City

CHAPTER 2

COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS OF LEARNING

12. FIVE KEYS TO FACILITATING LEARNING

SHIELA B. MENDOZA

(reporter)

FIVE KEYS TO FACILITATING LEARNING

People can remember and use very little of what they hear and see, and considerably more of

what they hear, see, and do. Typically, one remembers twenty per cent of what one hears, 40 per

cent of what one hears and sees, and 80 per cent when hearing, seeing, and doing are involved.

By and large, education and training is offered in a “tell them and throw in some visuals” mode.

Even much of today’s Web based training is little more than lecture transferred to a computer

screen. And “interactive” is defined too often as “Q” and “A”. This shows that humans are

equipped to learn, love to learn and live to learn.

KEY #1: SET THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Get the room ready. Use color. Have all materials in place. Put on some music. Arrange the

setting in a friendly manner. Get the learner’s attention- which is not an easy thing to do. Send a

signal that the lesson will be interesting and different.

KEY#2: ACTIVATE PRIOR LEARNING

We all learn by applying new information to what we already know. To help the students more

easily grasp new information, we can activate what the students already know either directly or

in a related way. Such action warms up the brain and fire up its connection, thus making new

information easy to absorb.

Key#3: USE A VARIETY OF APPROACHES

Howard Gardner, who has developed a theory of multiple intelligences, refers to a standard

“single chance” mode of education still favored today. Learners receive information typically by

hearing it or seeing it and “must get”. Instead of a single chance, we want our learners to have

multiple chances to get it. We accomplish this by using a variety of approaches that appeal to the

visual, the auditory and the kinaesthetic preferences of learners.

KEY#4: ENGAGE LEARNERS IN A DIALOGUE

A dialogue approach is done by talking about what the students are learning so that they can give

the new information personal meaning, ground it in their own realities, and make it their own.

KEY#5: REINFORCE THE LEARNING

The teacher should develop activities that will help learners reinforce what they have learned, tie

things together, and project into the future.

Five keys to facilitate learning were crafted to help educators….

“JUST DO YOU’RE BEST AND GOD WILL DO THE REST”