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Factors that Affect the Teaching and Learning Process

Lua Shanks

Dr. Thompson

Valley State University

10-6-2021

Factors that Affect the Teaching and Learning Process

Contextual Factors

The efficacious teaching and learning processes are important in generating the desired academic outcomes for students. Such processes entail the transformation and transfer of knowledge from the educators to students. It requires a combination of different elements within the procedure, in which an instructor determines and establishes the learning goals and objectives, and designs teaching resources. Thereafter, teachers implement the learning strategy that they will utilize to impart intellectual content into students. However, learning is a cardinal factor that an educator musty take into account while overseeing the process of knowledge acquisition and retention. Many factors play an important role in shaping the process of teaching and learning. Contextual factors, for instance, are associated with a particular context and characteristic that is distinct to a specific group, community, society, and individual. Such factors may take the form of a child’s educational, community, as well as classroom settings.

Community, District, and School Factors

Armstrong School District is a major public learning institution that occupies a geographical area of approximately 437 square miles. Located in Pennsylvania, it forms one of the 500 public school districts in the state, and hosts teachers and students from diverse racial, ethnic, and ethnic backgrounds. As a consequence, the institution partners with families, community leaders, and teachers to improve students’’ capacity to acquire knowledge ahead of their graduation. The community refers to the urban or rural environment in which both the teachers and learners operate. These may include the teacher and students’ ethnic, racial political or social affiliations that affect learning or knowledge acquisition. Additionally, parents and community members play an integral role in ensuring the quality of education in schools. They for, example, collaborate with teachers and school administrators to develop the most effective ways of improving their students’ learning outcomes. Indeed, community involvement in schooling issues is potentially a rich area for innovation that has immense benefits that far exceeds its limitations. Considering that governments are constrained in offering quality education due to contextual issues such as remoteness, bureaucracy, corruption, and inefficient management, community factors are pivotal in bridging the gap between government initiatives and community needs. This helps to adjust the child’s familial obligations to family interests, thereby shifting towards ways of mobilizing a sense of community by strengthening trust and relationships between community members, parents, governments, as well as teachers and school leaders. Other important community factors that affect teaching and learning outcomes include student population and demographics, academic achievement, as well as the type of social community that a child belongs, which may include social class, farmer, middle class, lower class, or educated groups. Furthermore, progressive schools are more likely to optimize learning outcomes that those that are ethnically, politically, and socially reserved.

Classroom Characteristics

The classroom environment may significantly affect the success of teaching and learning processes. My classroom environment was, for example, well lighted, warm, and spacious. These environments provided a friendly condition for the students to increase their levels of engagement. Additionally, the students were from diverse cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds, a factor that strengthened collaboration and improved the process of sharing different ideas on how to address their academic problems. Each student has their own desks, seats, and shelves for keeping their books. These resources help to eliminate the potential chaotic processes of keeping and sorting out learning materials before settling down for studying. The bookshelves are located at the entries of each school to make it easy for students to access their study materials easily before they can settle down. The proposed classroom environment also had additional technological resources to make it easier for students to grasp different learning concepts. These technologies included projectors, tablets, personal computers, as well as assisting devices. These resources go a long way in optimizing student engagement and successful learning outcomes.

The classroom’s design also impacted learning experience in many ways. The room, for example, was properly ventilated, thereby reducing the likelihood of students suffocating or spreading respiratory infections. While students’ grades and academic accomplishments are often viewed as the leading determinants of success, it is also important not to overlook other intangible pointers that are harder to measure, which include attitudes to learning, motivation, and social skills. In light of the above, an efficacious classroom design should have the capacity to strike a balance between teaching methods and learning styles that occur in the space. Such an environment supports teachers’ mission of combining both learning and teaching, thereby helping them to establish a condition that facilitates both student and teachers collaboration, which in turn translates to fulfilling the learning experience.

Student Characteristics

The availability of learning resources, supportive classroom environments, and a caring community may not be enough to generate academic success. Student characteristics, too, play a pivotal role in ensuring the effective delivery and acquisition of knowledge. In my classroom environment, for instance, students had different attitudes, perceptions, and eagerness to acquire knowledge. In this respect, learners who were attentive to teachers and asked questions regularly performed better academically than their inattentive counterparts. One of the characteristics that some of my learners exhibited are open-mindedness. This quality manifests in form of being receptive to the diverse views, perspectives, and paradigm-shaking ideas (Apple et al., 2016). In that connection, my classroom environment increased their eagerness to do more and be better in what they lacked. Self-drive is another important student characteristics that I observed as pivotal in improving learning outcomes. Many students who would read their books and conduct their own research without a teacher’s supervision gathered more knowledge than those who over depended on their teacher. Such learners desire to grow academically from every experience and set development goals, identify challenges, and overcome them. They also seek mentors and competent team members who have the capacity to support them in overcoming complex study concepts.

Self-assessment and commitment to success are other important student characteristics that I observed in my classroom environment. Some learners, for instance, established their personal criteria for performance, and made observations. This process also included reflecting on and analyzing the observations, behaviors, and actions in a consistent fashion, thereby making remarkable academic progress. Furthermore, a student who is devoted to success does everything that is necessary to reach all the milestones towards the stated goals. Such an attitude enables the learner to make personal decisions that extend their limits. As soon as they have gathered the motivation, all the skills and knowledge follow.

Goals and Objectives

Learning Goals and Objectives

1. To improve students’ knowledge on phonics, fluency, and phonemic awareness in a model that is backed by scientific evidence with proven effectiveness.

2. To improve the students’ communication skills.

3. To enhance learners’ social and problem-solving skills.

How the Goals are aligned with National and Arts Standards

The goals are in line with the Pennsylvania Core Standards CC.1.1.S.D., which requires the student to know and apply grade level phonics and word analysis in decoding words. According to this standard, the student should be able to use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication and morphology to read accurately (PA Core Standards, 2020). Further, the standard requires student to increase their ability to utilize contexts to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, and rereading.

Types and Levels of the Goals

The first to the third goal focus on teaching students’ phonemics is to enlighten hem on how to decode letters into their respective sounds. This area of competency is critical in ensuring that they are able to read unfamiliar words on their own. Additionally, improving letter-sound knowledge can allow the students to create a connection between the unfamiliar print words and their spoken language (Waugh et al., 2015). The process of learning the English language may be complex in early childhood settings since it has many words with similar spellings but with different meanings. Additionally, learning phonics will enable the students to improve their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills and competencies. Therefore, this lesson goes a long way in improving the students’ oral and written communication skills.

Assessment Plan

Overview of the Assessment Plan

The purpose of the assessment plan is to evaluate the extent to which learners have acquired knowledge on the subject area. To attain this objective, they will undergo a pre-assessment to determine their prior familiarity with phonics and phonemics before the lessons begin. Thereafter, both summative and formative assessment exercises will be conducted. The latter will take the form of quiz and homework, while the former will include end of term exams.

Assessment Plan

Learning Goals	Assessment	Format of Assessment	Adaptations
Goal 1	Pre-assessment	Online forms	Repeat and modify instructions
Goal 2	Formative	Grading and observation	Ability to differentiate words with the same spelling
Goal 3	Summative	Choice Questions	Understand homonyms

Activities

Activity 1

Select All Questions Which word has a short /e/ sound? a. bad b. bee c. bed Which word has a short a sound? a. cap b. cup c. cape Which word has a short i sound? a. bit b. bite c. bee Grade 1Short vowels Which word has a short /e/ sound? a. red b. rad c. rid Grade 1Short vowels CCSS:  hit a. hie b. hive Which word has a short i sound? a. site b. sign c. sit Which word has a short i sound? a. rime b. rim c. ride Which word has a short a sound? a. sick b. sack c. suck

Activity 2

Word Family Awareness Choose a word family to practice. Parent says, "C….at. What’s the word?" Child says, "Cat." Continue with the same word family to reinforce rhyming, vowel patterns and sound blending. Example: at an it en ot ake ane ole cat, ran, bit, hen, dot, cake, plane, sole sat, fan, hit, pen, cot, sake, cane, whole bat, man, sit, ten, tot, rake, lane, mole fat, clan, fit, men, lot, make, mane, pole

Activity 3

Table of Consonants, Vowels, & Word Families Consonants: b d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x z Vowels: a e i o u sometimes y Short Vowel sounds: a e i o u cat pen it top cup Long Vowels say their own names: Long "a" "e" "i" "o" “u” cake me tie no cute say meet wife poke hue train eat night boat cue Identify many rhymes that can be derived from the following 37 rhymes: –ack –ain –ake –ale –all –ame –an –ank –ap –ash –at –ate –aw –ay –eat –ell –est –ice –ick –ide –ight –ill –in –ine –ing –ink –ip –ir –ock –oke –op –or –ore –uck –ug –ump

Adaptations

The purpose of adaptations in learning is to find viable alternatives that a teacher can use in order to ensure that every learner participates in the learning process. Effective use of substitutes and alternatives requires a teacher to understand the various challenges that learners face. In as much as my classroom is diverse, there are a few challenges that may affect their capability to participate in the learning process. There are about some cases of learners who use glasses. However, in the case any of them losses their glasses or the glasses get broken, I will ensure that they participate equally. For instance, I will write the letters in bright colors for those that cannot see over short-eyedness or take the material closer to them. Some learners still have difficulty in pronouncing letter sounds or reading fluently. I will ensure that these types of learners participate by giving special attention to each case. I do not expect that all the learners will read at the same speed, therefore, I will make sure I stand close support slow readers or those that cannot speak fast enough

References

Apple, D., Duncan, W., & Ellis, W. (2016). Key learner characteristics for academic

success. International Journal of Process Education, 8(2), 61-82.

PA Core Standards. (2020). PA Common Core Standards.

https://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/PACC%20ELA%20Crosswalk%20111

413.pdf

Waugh, D., Carter, J., & Desmond, C. (2015). Lessons in Teaching Phonics in Primary Schools.

Learning Matters.