Test: Teaching Aptitude (Characteristics of Learners) - Software Development MCQ

Slow learners are those children who are low in achieving academic skills and often ignored by others as dull, lazy, or inept as a part of the school setting. Slow learners not only lag behind other students in academics but in areas of social, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Key Points

Characteristics of Slow Learners:

• Slow learners are unable to transfer or generalize skills, knowledge, and strategies as well as their peers.
• Slow process learners do not learn properly due to general socio-cultural problems.
• slow learners are limited to problem-solving, poor learning, and concentration.
• They are usually ignored because of their poor performance therefore, they usually enjoy younger children's company.
• They are more likely to have behavioral issues and social skill deficits. 
• They are inefficient in their ability to learn and apply academic information. 
• Students with borderline intellectual functioning require more practice opportunities when compared with students of average ability.

​Hence, poor judgment and enjoys younger children’s company is true for slow learners.

Adults are characterized by maturity, self-confidence, autonomy, solid decision-making, and are generally more practical, multi-tasking, purposeful, self-directed, experienced, and less open-minded and receptive to change. All these traits affect their motivation, as well as their ability to learn.

Adult Learner's Traits:

Problem and results-oriented:

• Adult learners are usually practical, resent theory, need information that can be immediately applicable to their problems or professional needs, and generally prefer practical knowledge that will improve their skills, facilitate their work and boost their confidence.
• This is why it’s important to create a course that will cover their individual needs and have more utilitarian content.

Self-direction:

• Adults feel the need to take responsibility for their lives and decisions and this is why it’s important for them to have control over their learning.
• Therefore, self-assessment, a peer relationship with the instructor, multiple options and initial, yet subtle support are all imperative.

Less open-minded:

• And therefore more resistant to change.
• Maturity and profound life experiences usually lead to rigidity, which is the enemy of learning.
• Thus, instructional designers need to provide the “why” behind the change, new concepts that can be linked to already established ones, and promote the need to explore.

Slower learning, yet more integrative knowledge: 

• Aging does affect learning.
• Adults tend to learn less rapidly with age.
• However, the depth of learning tends to increase over time, navigating knowledge and skills to unprecedented personal levels.

Motivation:

• Learning in adulthood is usually voluntary.
• Thus, it’s a personal choice to attend school, in order to improve job skills and achieve professional growth.
• This motivation is the driving force behind learning and this is why it’s crucial to tap into a learner’s intrinsic impetus with the right thought-provoking material that will question conventional wisdom and stimulate his mind.

High expectations:

• Adult learners have high expectations.
• They want to be taught about things that will be useful to their work, expect to have immediate results, seek a course that will worth their while, and not be a waste of their time or money.
• This is why it’s important to create a course that will maximize their advantages, meet their individual needs, and address all the learning challenges.
• Young Learners are mostly Future-Oriented as they are more worried and conscious about how their course decisions will impact their career in the future.

Thus, being future-oriented is not the characteristics of adult learner.

Adolescence is the time when a person transitions from childhood to adulthood. 

Key Points

•  Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, mental, social, emotional, and sexual growth and development.
• The characteristics of an adolescent are the following: 
  • ​An individual's physical, psychological, and sociological characteristics, as well as values, attitudes, interests, and behavior, change.
  • The life cycle has both regularity and inconsistency. 
  • Adolescence is a complex and often difficult period in development for both adolescents and their families, due to rapid physical, psychological, and cognitive changes. 
  • The adolescent has a problem with the quick and rapid change of physical and psychological elements throughout this stage. 
  • Adolescents are engaged in solving problems on their own and attempting to acquire independence from their parents.
  • Developing cooperative and workable relationships with peers and preparing for a meaningful job. 

​​Thus, the characteristics of adolescents are increasing independence from adult control, rapid physiological changes, and increased focus on activities with peer groups.

Learning:

1. Learning is a complex mix of intelligence, motivation, psychological factors, and even brain chemistry. 
2. Learning is a process of continual adaptation to the environment and assimilation and accommodation of new information and knowledge to fit in with pre-existing knowledge structures. 
3. Although there is no single definition of learning, most psychologists and educators would agree that learning is a process by which behavior is either modified or changed through experience or training. 

1. Learning involves various dimensions of psychological and mental activities.
2. For effective learning to take place, among various psychological factors, motivation and learning ability are important factors.
3. Besides psychological factors, there are physiological factors of learning too. 

1. While Social And Economic Background, Intelligence And Study Habits, Age, And Health do impact the level and quality of learning, but it is inner motivation which ultimately decides the effectiveness of learning.
2. A poor student with limited resources can outwit a richer student with all possible resources if he/she has a greater level of inner motivation backed by consistency and integrity than the latter. 

It is easier to teach an academically weaker person than a lethargic one. Thus, Aptitude And Motivation are the most important characteristics of learners. 

The correct answer is Learner's maturity level, academic performance level, and motivational dispositions.

Key Points 

Adolescent Learners:

Adolescent learners are individuals who fall within the age range of 10 to 19 years old, which is a critical period of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Adolescents are transitioning from childhood to adulthood and are faced with a multitude of changes, including hormonal changes, changes in social relationships, and changes in academic expectations.

Factors affecting Adolescent Learners:

• Maturity Level: Learners' maturity level refers to their level of emotional, social, and cognitive development. Maturity level can have a significant impact on how learners approach learning, engage with the learning process, and interact with others in the learning environment.
• Academic Performance Level: In the context of learning, maturity can influence learners' ability to engage with the material, process information, and apply what they have learned. Mature learners tend to be more self-directed, take responsibility for their own learning, and are able to set and achieve goals. They also tend to be more motivated and engaged in the learning process.
• Motivational Dispositions: Motivational dispositions are the underlying attitudes and beliefs that influence an individual's motivation to learn. For adolescent learners, there are several motivational dispositions that can have a significant impact on their engagement and success in the learning process:
• Interest: Adolescents are more likely to engage with and be motivated by material that they find interesting and relevant. Therefore, educators can help to foster interest by using teaching aids that are interactive, hands-on, and relevant to adolescents' lives and experiences.
• Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in their own ability to succeed. Adolescents who have high self-efficacy are more likely to be motivated and engaged in the learning process. Educators can help to foster self-efficacy by providing opportunities for success, offering constructive feedback, and encouraging learners to take risks and challenge themselves.
• Goals: Adolescents who set and work towards specific, achievable goals are more likely to be motivated and engaged in the learning process. Educators can help learners to set goals by breaking down larger tasks into smaller, achievable steps and by providing opportunities for learners to reflect on their progress.
• Autonomy: Adolescents are developing a sense of independence and autonomy, and may be more motivated when they have opportunities to make choices and take ownership of their learning. Educators can provide opportunities for autonomy by allowing learners to select topics or methods of learning, and by encouraging learners to take responsibility for their own progress.

Hence, the correct answer is Learner's maturity level, academic performance level, and motivational dispositions.

Awareness of learner’s characteristics helps the teacher to determine what approach, methods and strategies to use in the teaching and learning process. Learner characteristics can be physical, cognitive, social, emotional, moral or academic.

Key Points

• Social Characteristics of Learner: It is manifested in the process of establishing one’s distinct identity, self-image, role and purpose corresponding to the group one is part of.

These social characteristics may include:

• Assessing one’s place within a group
• Craving for social acceptance and approval
• Feelings of self-efficacy and agency
• Ability to relate oneself with family, peers, neighbours, relatives, etc.
• Fondness in popular culture and tendency to follow trends in fashion
• Development of interpersonal skills
• Modelling behaviour and communication after those who they admire

Hint

• The characteristics such as the thinking ability, sensory perception and power of imagination are related to the mind.

Hence, from the given points, it is clear that the ability to relate oneself with others is a social characteristic.

Adjustment is a process through which an individual maintains the balance among various factors affecting the fulfilment of his needs and desires. It emphasizes the student’s process of interaction with his external environment. The problem arises when socio-psychological needs are not met often resulting in a maladjusted behaviour.

Characteristics of a well-adjusted person:                  

• A continuous process
• Healthy – both physically and mentally

• Emotional stability i.e. ability to manage one’s own emotions
• Ability to make decisions independently
• Warm, polite and empathetic nature towards other people
• Maturity in thinking
• Fairly free from any kind of stress in daily routine activities

Therefore, it can be understood from the above-mentioned points that a well-adjusted person does not depend on others for decision making.

Field-independent learners are characterized by their ability to focus on details, their competitive nature, and their ability to organize information independently. They are less likely to seek teacher guidance or relate concepts to personal experience.

Key Points

• Theorists explain these two cognitive styles in terms of how they differ psychologically, making this a useful model for teachers attempting to comprehend their students. It's a notion that refers to how individual learners receive, structure, and digest information relatively convincingly.
• It concerns how people think, perceives, solves issues, and learn. This approach to cognitive style, it is believed, has consequences for individual and organizational learning efficacy.

Important Points The characteristics of Independent learning are-

1. Independent learners are self-reliant.
2. They are always aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
3. They can connect classroom learning with the real world.
4. They know about different strategies for learning.
5. Focuses on details of curriculum materials.
6. Likes to compete.
7. Can organize information by himself or herself.

Additional Information

Differences between Field Dependent and Field Independent Learners are-

Therefore, the correct statements (B), (C), and (E) only

Many of the learning disabled suffer from an attention deficit or inattention. These children do not concentrate or focus on the task of learning or are in the habit of paying attention to unimportant details of the task.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): It is a type of developmental or behavioural disorder whose essential feature is a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development.

Typical Behaviours associated with ADHD are:

• Poorly sustained attention in all situations
• Diminished persistence in tasks not having immediate consequences
• Impulsivity
• More active or restless than normal children
• Difficulty in adhering to the rules and regulations

Note: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can impact an individual’s social skills, communication and self-regulation. Autism is a “spectrum condition” that affects people differently and to varying degrees. Dyslexia is a specific language-based learning disability, which means it causes problems with certain abilities such as reading, spelling, word order, etc.

Hence, from the given points it can be inferred that restlessness and poor attention are the characteristics associated with ADHD.

Learners Characteristics:

• The concept of learner's characteristics is used in the science of learning and cognition to designate a target group of learners and define those aspects of their persona, the academic, social, or cognitive self that may influence how and what they learn.
• Learners' Characteristics are important for an instructional designer as they allow them to design and create tailored instruction for a target group. It is expected by taking into account of the characteristics of learners, more efficient, effective, and/or motivating instructional materials can be designed and developed.
• Learners' Characteristics can be: Personal, Academic, Social and emotional, and Cognitive.

Important Points

One of the important characteristics that is highly related to the effectiveness of teaching is

1. Prior experience of the learner:

• Prior experience of the learner is based on the learner's Academic characteristics. 
• To facilitate learning, one of the fundamental principles instructors employ is understanding students' prior knowledge.
• It is also important to assess prior knowledge and skills early since such information could be used to help foster student engagement and critical thinking in the course.

​Key Points

Other characteristics that affect the learning experience of the learner are:

1. Educational status of the parents of the learner:

• This is based on the learner's characteristics.
•  Parents play an important role in their children's learning.
• Aside from being actively involved in their children's education, parents also provide a home environment that can affect learning.

​2. Peer groups of the learner: 

• The term peer learning refers to situations where peers support each other in learning processes.
• Peer learning occurs among peers from similar social groupings, who are not professional teachers, helping each other to learn and in doing so, learning themselves.

​3.  Family size from which the learner comes:  

• Large numbered families whether rich or poor are difficult to maintain, they are characterized by a high number of children this does not create convenience for learning.
• They also create in the upbringing of children some identified problems such as feeding, poor clothing, insufficient funds, lack of proper attention for children, disciplinary problems, and malnutrition which impact negatively children's academic performance.​

Therefore, the prior experience of the learner is highly related to the effectiveness of teaching.