UNDERSTANDING AND USE OF PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

CHARLES EMERSON MOORE, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe how selected secondary teachers implemented principles of learning and what influenced teacher ability to operationalize selected principles. The following four areas were investigated: (1) understanding of learning principles, (2) use of learning principles, (3) sources of knowledge of learning principles, and (4) impact of parental education and socioeconomic variables on learning principle orientation. A review of previous research studies showed that secondary teacher knowledge and use of learning principles had not been extensively studied. In instances where teacher knowledge and use of learning principles had been examined, the subjects were elementary teachers. These studies were limited to examination of a pre-selected group of learning principles and investigation of teacher attitude towards principles of learning; teachers were not able to disclose in an open forum what principles of learning they actually implemented in practice. The population for this study consisted of secondary school teachers who: (1) were practicing teachers in grades seven through twelve, (2) held at least a bachelor's degree plus fifteen semester hours of credit in professional education, (3) were certified in the area of their assigned teaching duties, and (4) were active full-time teachers with no administrative assignments. From this population, a sample of thirty subjects was selected. From data collected during pilot interviews, a set of nine structured interview questions was developed. These nine questions were used in all subsequent interviews. Three raters were trained to review and code a sample of the responses from the thirty interviews. Once data collection was completed, these individuals (1) received information regarding three selected learning principle orientations--humanistic, modeling eclectic, and behavioristic; (2) sorted a group of learning principle cards; and (3) coded training tapes gathered during the pilot study. Four data analysis procedures were used. First, a criterion level of .80 was established for interrater reliability. Next, a multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between selected educational and socioeconomic variables. Third, a discriminant function analysis was conducted to examine relationships between selected educational and socioeconomic variables and the learning principle definition. Finally, to determine the extent to which teachers understood and used learning principles, a Pearson product moment correlation was computed. A significant and positive relationship between teacher use and teacher understanding of learning principles was found for behavioristic and humanistic orientations. Four criteria for learning principles were identified: (1) time, (2) reward, (3) feedback, and (4) action. Action was the only variable which a majority of the teachers included in their definitions. Of the educational variables which were related to learning principle orientations of teachers, years of teaching experience and educational level had the greatest degrees of positive relationship. Father's education and profession had the greatest influence, of the socioeconomic variables which were studied, on learning principle orientation. All respondents stated that many factors influenced their knowledge and understanding of learning principles, including: (1) college courses, (2) student teaching (both the experience and the influence of the supervising teacher), (3) actual teaching experiences, (4) how they were taught, and (5) how they were raised.

Subject Area

Education

Recommended Citation

MOORE, CHARLES EMERSON, "UNDERSTANDING AND USE OF PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS" (1980). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8018672.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8018672

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