Reviewed by Arifin
Tulungagung, 22 March 2014
Preface
By Peter Westwood
By Peter Westwood
In writing this book Peter has attempted to place the phenomenon of learning difficulty within a much wider context than is usual by exploring a variety of learning processes, learning theories, and concepts about learning. An understanding of the way in which learning occurs is fundamental to an understanding of how and when problems in learning may arise. By painting this broader canvas he hopes to help teachers and others appreciate that problems in learning are not all due to weaknesses within students or to lack of motivation on their part. Indeed, many learning difficulties are created or exacerbated not by factors within the students but by influences within the environment in which they live and learn. Many such factors in the learning environment are amenable to modification and improvement, whereas deficits within learners are not so easily changed.
Two of the most powerful influences in the learning environment are the school curriculum and the approaches to teaching. It is argued here that teaching methods and materials must be selected carefully to suit the types of learning involved in specific lessons, and to accommodate the learning characteristics of the students. Many learning problems are prevented or minimized by matching teaching methods and lesson content to learners’ current aptitude and prior experience.
Of course, some learning problems are indeed due to deficits or impairments within students themselves; and discussion focuses on such causes in later chapters of the book. However, the point is made that some commonly observed weaknesses or ‘deficits’ (for example, poor attention to task, limited concentration, poor retention and recall of information) are often the outcome from learning failure, not the cause. The impact of inappropriate curriculum, insufficient teaching, and persistent failure is discussed, with particular reference to the detrimental effects they can have on students’ affective development and motivation.
Readers will identify a number of recurring themes running through the chapters — including the need to catch and maintain students’ attention, the importance of explicit teaching and guided practice, and the value of teaching students effective task-approach strategies. Also emphasized in many chapters is the importance of addressing students’ personal and emotional needs, as well as working toward cognitive and academic goals.
He has drawn widely from international literature to support his arguments and to present contemporary perspectives on learning and learning difficulty. There is universal agreement that early prevention of learning failure is much more effective than later attempted cures
Contents
1 Perspectives on learning
Teaching should be based on a knowledge of learning
Learning defined and described
Types of learning
Categories of learning
Learning physical (psychomotor) skills
Acquiring information
Developing intellectual skills
Learning cognitive and metacognitive strategies
Developing attitudes, beliefs and values
Intentional learning and incidental learning
Observational learning
Rote learning versus meaningful learning
Learning hierarchies
The process and sequence of learning
The role of practice
2 Theories of learning and motivation
Behavioural theory
Cognitive theories of learning
Information processing
Representing information in long-term memory
Constructivist perspective
Criticisms of the constructivist viewpoint
Neobehaviourism
Self-efficacy
Locus of control and attribution theory
Explanatory style
Attribution retraining
Metacognition and self-regulation
Motivation
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
Expectancy-value theory
Motivation in the classroom
3 Brain, memory and intelligence
Brain development
Learning and the brain
Exploring brain function and structure
Memory
Short-term memory
Working memory
Long-term memory
Meta-memory
Forgetting
Remembering
Intelligence
Models of intelligence
Contemporary views
Can intelligence be taught?
Beyond intelligence
A current definition
4 Learning difficulties: prevalence and causes
Students with learning difficulties
Possible causes of learning difficulty
Teaching methods as a cause of learning difficulty
Curriculum
Classroom environment
Socio-economic disadvantage
Poor relationship between student and teacher
Poor school attendance
Health and physical status
Learning through the medium of a second language
Loss of confidence
Emotional or behavioural problems
Below-average intelligence
Sensory impairment
Specific information processing difficulties
Visual perceptual difficulties
Auditory perception
Attentional difficulties
Memory
5 Specific learning disabilities
Discrepancy between ability and achievement
Defining and describing learning disability
Types of learning disability
Prevalence
Causes
Genetic factors
Neurological factors
Phonological awareness and rapid automatic naming
Visual perception
Learning style
Dyspedagogia (inefficient teaching)
Identification
Differential diagnosis
Are students with SpLD really different from other low achievers?
Intervention methods
6 Difficulties in reading
Defining and describing reading
Learning to read
Word identification and phonics
Reading difficulties
Reading disability: dyslexia
Aptitude-Treatment Interactions
Phonological awareness
Is dyslexia different from other types of reading difficulty?
General principles of intervention
7 Difficulties in writing and spelling
The need for explicit instruction
Writing is a complex skill
Developmental aspects of writing and spelling
Difficulties in writing
Difficulties with spelling
Phonological skills
Visual imagery
Insufficient instruction
Specific disability in written language: dysgraphia
Handwriting
Assessment
Intervention: general principles
Strategy instruction
Interventions for spelling
Use of computers and spellcheckers
8 Learning difficulties in mathematics
The changing nature of mathematics education
Learning difficulties in mathematics
Poor teaching generates poor learning
Affective components of learning difficulties in mathematics
Specific learning disability in mathematics: developmental dyscalculia
Specific areas of weakness
Subtypes within dyscalculia
Determining a student’s instructional needs
Intervention: general principles and strategies
9 Intellectual disability
Description and definition
Mild intellectual disability
Moderate intellectual disability
Severe intellectual disability
Autism
Causes of intellectual disability
Cognition
Attention
Memory
Generalization
Motivation
Language delay or disorder
Social development
Teaching approaches for students with intellectual disability
Conclusion
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