Learning and Instruction

This is a foundation course for potential and practicing teachers. Learning is a term, which we use most commonly. Infants and children learn day to day activities and skills, the desirable ways of behavior and communication skills, which are important for their everyday living. In this process their elder brothers and sisters, parents and other adults in the family help them, this is informal learning. Later they go to school and learn in a formal situation. It means that we learn informally, when we interact with our family members and also formally in an educational institute. Learning takes place through our own experiences and under the guidance of others. However, in this Course, the focus is on formal teaching - learning process that takes place in an educational institution, under the supervision of a teacher and professionals, which is guided by the curriculum to achieve the pre-decided learning outcomes.The role of teachers is very crucial in teaching learning process. They are responsible for designing the instructional process keeping in mind the psychology of learners on one side and the effective pedagogical techniques on the other side The teachers facilitate the process of learning, they take care of the individual differences among learners and also ensure that they are able to achieve the pre-decided learning outcomes, which may be in Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor domains of learningIt is expected that the teachers, complete this course in 20 hours duration, which is spread over six weeks. A variety of instructional methods have been used in this course, video presentations, activities and assignments, discussion forum and assessment. After completion of this MOOCs course, the teachers will be able to:

• Suggest activities for classroom / Lab instruction sessions in view of principles of learning derived from various perspectives
• Manage variables affecting the process of learning to enhance effectiveness
• Suggest strategies to address the different learning styles of learners.
• Formulate learning outcomes in the related discipline at different taxonomic levels of Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor domains
• Prepare an instructional plan based on events of instruction