Principles of Learning
People learn all the time, from everything around them. However, some situations and circumstances are more conducive to learning than others. Some people learn best when the information is presented visually, while others learn easier when it is presented orally. Some people learn best in a quiet surrounding, while others find it easier to learn if there is music or noise in the background. Although people have preferences of how the information is presented, even if the information is not presented in the most conducive way to that individual, learning still occurs. This is because learning styles or preferences are only one aspect of the learning process.
The learning process includes:
- How information is presented
- How information is obtained
- How information is perceived (taking in information)
- How information is processed and understood (connections to other information)
- How information is organized or ordered
- How the information is applied
Understanding the Principles of Learning will help to enhance the various elements of the learning process. There are strategies to help ensure that the learning we want to encourage happens.
Our Principles of Learning section focuses on increasing your knowledge by providing information about how learning occurs. This section provides insight into what makes people learn most effectively. This section also introduces some key concepts from the cognitive and educational research literatures and presents a set of principles on how people learn.
