What Is The Meaning Of Learning And Teaching In Education In English

Meaning of Learning

Learning refers to the acquisition of skills and knowledge through experience and study. It is the acquisition of new knowledge, understanding, skills, and behavior. Learning is a process and an activity which is done in order to acquire knowledge and to develop any skill through practice, learning, training, studying, experiencing and researching.

Learning is a process which keeps an individual in the student part for gaining knowledge from various means. Learning is a process which is meant to bring change in the situation and state of the knowledge and experience level in an upward direction as learning always adds up something through the process.

Learning can be beneficial in various ways. Such as, learning provides an opportunity to an individual to enhance the academic and professional performance to get higher positions in achieving the milestones. Therefore, learning always enhances the human potential to do better and get better in certain areas of education and work.

What is Learning?

The word learning is used routinely in discussions about teaching in higher education, so it’s important to clarify what we are referring to when we talk about learning. Educational researchers agree that learning is much deeper than memorization and information recall. Deep and long-lasting learning involves understanding, relating ideas and making connections between prior and new knowledge, independent and critical thinking and ability to transfer knowledge to new and different contexts.

Learning is “a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the potential for improved performance and future learning” (Ambrose et al, 2010, p.3). The change in the learner may happen at the level of knowledge, attitude or behavior. As a result of learning, learners come to see concepts, ideas, and/or the world differently.

Learning is not something done to students, but rather something students themselves do. It is the direct result of how students interpret and respond to their experiences.

While there are disciplinary differences in what students learn, it is important to keep in mind that learning content or information constitutes only one part of learning in university courses. Regardless of the field of study, students need to have significant opportunities to develop and practice intellectual skills/thinking processes (e.g. problem-solving, scientific inquiry), motor skills and attitudes/values that are important to their fields of study. In addition, students need opportunities to develop interpersonal and social skills (often referred to as soft skills) that are important for professional and personal success. Examples of these skills include teamwork, effective communication, conflict resolution and creative thinking. As teaching assistants and instructors, we need to keep in mind that there is much more to learning than content and that we should pay attention not only to the content but also to thinking processes and other types of learning.

Many researchers and educationists have given various definitions to learning. These are as following:

Definitions of Learning

Robert Gagne has states in the book The Conditions of Learning that,

A change in human disposition or capability that persists over a period of time and is not simply ascribable to processes of growth.

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel in Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning stated that,

Acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available from memory so you can make sense of future problems and opportunities.

Malcolm Knowles in The Adult Learner stated that learning is

the process of gaining knowledge and expertise.

M. Driscoll

“A persisting change in human performance or performance potential…[which] must come about as a result of the learner’s experience and interaction with the world.”

E.A. Peel

“Learning can be described as a change in the individual which takes place as a result of the environmental change.”

Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner

“We define learning as the transformative process of taking in information that—when internalized and mixed with what we have experienced—changes what we know and builds on what we do. It’s based on input, process, and reflection. It is what changes us.”
Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner

Ruth C. Clark and Richard E. Mayer

“Learning involves strengthening correct responses and weakening incorrect responses. Learning involves adding new information to your memory. Learning involves making sense of the presented material by attending to relevant information, mentally reorganising it, and connecting it with what you already know.”
From eLearning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth C. Clark and Richard E. Mayer

Famous Definition of Learning:

Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learning in certain plants.

Meaning of Teaching

Teaching is the process of teaching or giving instructions to another individual or person. It is the process of imparting knowledge.

Concept of Teaching

Teaching is a process in which one individual teaches or instruct another individual. Teaching is considered as the act of imparting instructions to the learners in the classroom situation. It is watching systematically. Dewey:- considers it as a manipulation of the situation, where the learner will acquire skills and insight with his own initiation.

Definitions of Teaching

N.L.Cage

“Teaching is interpersonal influence aimed at changing the behavior potential of another person.”

Jackson

“Teaching is a face to face encounters between two or more persons, one of whom ( teacher) intends to effect certain changes in the other participants ( students).”

J B Hough and James K Duncan

“Teaching is an activity with four phases, a curriculum planning phase, an instructing phase, and an evaluating phase.”

Clerk

“Teaching refers to activities that are designed and performed to produce in students behavior.”

H C Morrison

“Teaching is an intimate contact between the more mature personality and a less mature one.”

Definitions as per different viewpoints

We can define teaching according to the following three viewpoints.

(a) Authoritarian

(b) Democratic

(a) Authoritarian:-

According to this viewpoint-

Teaching is an activity of memory level only

This teaching does not develop thoughts and attitude in the students.

Is known as thoughtless teaching

This teaching is teachers centric criticism of the teachers.

(b) Democratic teaching:-

According to this-

Teaching is done at understanding level.

Memory level teaching is the prerequisite (concept) is first memorized and then understand

Such teaching is known as thoughtful teaching.

According to this point of view, teaching is an interactive process, primarily involving classroom talks which takes place between teachers and student.

Here students can ask questions and criticize the teachers.

Here students can ask the questions and self-disciplined is insisted.

(c) Laissez Faire Attitude:-

It is known as reflective level teaching.

It is more difficult then memory level and understanding level of teaching.

Memory level and understanding level teaching are must for the reflective level of teaching.

It is highly thoughtful activity.

In this level both students and teachers are participants.

This level produces insights.

Teaching and learning process can be defined as a transformation process of knowledge from teachers to students. It is referred as the combination of various elements within the process where an educator identifies and establish the learning objectives and develop teaching resources and implement the teaching and learning strategy. On the other hand, learning is a cardinal factor that a teacher must consider while teaching students. The paper evaluated various academic journals, pedagogy, and inclusive practices to assess the teaching effectiveness within the higher education setting. The objective of the research is to assess the teaching effectiveness in a higher education setting.
The research used experimental research methods (primarily reflection) using literary forms to analyse the theory with the reinforcement of the practice from the university experiences. The research findings suggest that providing positive and adequate formative and developmental feedback, introduction of role-play has a profound positive impact on the students’ confidence and self-esteem. It was also revealed that, active learning environment promotes inclusivity and improve the faculty and student academic performances. The research findings will enable the educators to help create and implement an inclusive teaching and learning environment to improve the learner’s expectation and academic performance.

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