Why students don’t learn what teachers teach

We achieve results or learn when learning brings us satisfaction or rewards us. | Photo credit: Freepik

learning money is not the prerogative of a select few! Social status, economic wealth, geographical advantage, etc. are not prerequisites or necessary conditions for learning to occur. You don’t have to be incredibly smart, especially talented, or “good at languages” to learn a foreign language. Every normal person is programmed to learn. All we need to start learning is a favorable atmosphere and an inner desire to learn. An irresistible attraction to an understandable topic and sufficient opportunity to interact in the target language while understanding questions and solving problems related to the topic enable the learner to learn both the content and the medium. What is encouraging is that these opportunities are entirely possible to implement in our schools and colleges.

Making the annotation visible

In a sense, learning, like seeing, occurs involuntarily. No one needs to teach another normal person to see. All you have to do is open your eyes and everything in front of them will become visible. You just need to determine what you want to capture and intelligently leave out any distractions. Some help from a caring expert or colleagues will help you avoid ignoring what is important but not obvious in appearance. This helps focus your attention on what’s important and on subliminal features that might not be detected by casual observation, such as the implied arrow in the Amazon logo connecting the letters A and Z, and the hidden number 31 in the Baskin Robbins logo, which subtly hints at ice cream varieties. in a sentence. Another difference an expert can make is to make the abstract concrete and visible.

At this point, we need to pay attention to the depressing fact that not all of us acquire everything we desire. Despite strong resolutions and repeated attempts, many do not seem to make progress. Let’s find out what makes them give up their pursuit halfway. Think of any three decisions you’ve made in the last six months, the things you need to acquire, any three skills or information you’ve wanted to achieve. For example, learning to drive a car, mastering a computer package or language, cooking something new, learning to speak a new language, trying to lose weight, or publishing an article in Scopus or UGC magazines.

So what did you achieve from this? What did you leave? Analyzing both factors, you will agree that the main reason for the refusal is one of the following: the task was beyond your capabilities; had no immediate benefit or relevance; it was boring and dull.

Thus, it becomes clear that we achieve or learn what we really crave, what we desire and what we enjoy doing because it gives us satisfaction or rewards us. When our passion grows into persistence and becomes pleasure, we become aware of a symbiotic attraction; that what we seek also takes care of us.

Hints from games

See the amazing progress kids are making in learning video games like Minecraft or Roblox. These are the same students who find objects in the classroom repulsive. And yet they easily master computer games that are much more intricate than the rules governing language construction! They master complex concepts that have many interconnected parts, operate under specific conditions, and require an understanding of rules. The game requires them to calculate the most successful route, anticipate the likely actions of competitors, develop strategies to counter them, and take advantage of favorable assistance. Their skill, competence and experience are amazing.

Their success is due to the fact that the game creates in them an obsessive need to learn, as well as a pleasure and passion that is so addictive that they ignore the burdens and demands that lead them along the path to victory. To replicate this in the classroom, we need to consider the features that make learning so fun, engaging and effective. One of the salient features is that the game is customized to suit their learning level, both in terms of speed and cognitive needs. The game becomes attractive because it is dynamic and is set in an almost natural context. The fact that the player earns and accumulates rewards is a very motivating factor. Providing the ability to track progress, on-demand feedback, “just in time”, “just for you” are non-threatening and help to stay on track and improve progress.

Classroom activities that include these features will allow students to retain what teachers teach. Learning will be transformed into a joy, and students’ current “have to” attitudes and struggles with learning will transform into desirable active learning processes that produce more confident and desirable results.

The writer is the Provincial Advisor to the Educational Research Center and the Director of the Joseph Language Center (JHL), Tiruchi.