Models of School Learning: The Importance
of Learner Characteristics
Inspection of Figure 1 indicates that despite
differences among the major models of school learning, significant
commonalities exits across the models. According to Walberg (1980),
all models specify certain conditions prerequisite for effective
instruction, characteristics of the teaching-learning process, and
the quantifiable outcomes of schooling with which they are
concerned. In addition, several theorists discuss
environmental conditions which include teacher background,
curriculum and institutional factors, and cultural context.
All theorists recognize the contribution of certain intrinsic
learner characteristics in the form of cognitive (e.g., aptitude,
ability to comprehend instruction, prior achievement) and
attitudinal (e.g., perseverance, motivation, self- concept as
learner) variables. As summarized by Wang et al. (1993,
see Figure 1), the major categories of learner characteristics
important for academic learning are learner demographics, history
of educational placement, social and behavioral outcomes,
motivation and affective, cognitive, metacognitive, and psychomotor
abilities (Gerlach, Aaside, Humphreys, Gade, Paulson & Law,
2002).
Five of the seven learner characteristic domains
(social and behavioral, motivation and affective, cognitive,
metacognitive, and psychomotor) reflect intrinsic traits or states
of the learner. Although serving a valuable heuristic
function for model- based research and literature integration, each
of these five learner characteristic categories refer to separate
broad and complex multivariate domains of human behavior. For
example, Carroll’s (1993) recent meta- analysis of the extant
factor analysis research on human cognitive abilities suggests that
the cognitive domain alone includes, under a single general
intellectual ability (g), at least eight broad cognitive domains
and 70+ narrow or specialized cognitive abilities. Similar
broad multivariate taxonomies have been presented in the other
broad learner characteristic domains. The breadth of
potentially important learner characteristics (and potential valued
educational outcomes) for learners with and without disabilities is
staggering.
Clearly these non-cognitive characteristics are
those that should be targeted for assessment, intervention, or that
should be designated as valued outcomes of school learning, must be
circumscribed and prioritized. The remainder of this document
articulates a model for identifying the non-cognitive (conative)
characteristics that should be targeted in order for all learners
to maximize their educational attainment. These collective
essential learner facilitators are referred to under the umbrella
term of "Model of Academic Competence and
Motivation" (MACM).
An assumption of this author is that the
identification of the broad and narrow MACM domains and proposed
organizing framework must emerge from the extant empirical research
and theoretical literature, and not from the advocacy, policy, nor
political arenas.
