Activity 7.1

Behavior Factors:

·         Self-control and or self-discipline

·         Awareness and or alertness

·         Student’s attitude toward school, learning and teacher

·         Student’s self-respect and self-efficacy

·         Student’s feeling of acceptance by peers and teacher    

Personal Factors:

·         Cognitive abilities

·         Student’s strengths, weaknesses, skills, prior knowledge

Environmental Factors:

·         School and classroom environment

·         Home life including stability, nourishment, and shelter

·         Parents education and cognitive abilities

·         Parents attitude about content, school, teacher  

Behavior Factors directly influence a student’s personal factors when it comes to learning.  A student’s attitude toward school can negatively or positively influence his or her cognitive behaviors. For example, Sarah doesn’t like her math teacher and she performs poorly in math because she doesn’t listen, regularly misses class and doesn’t complete assignments.  Although, Sarah’s cognitive abilities are strong and she’s always been an excellent math student, her negative attitude toward her math teacher impedes her learning.  On the contrary, Sarah loves her new reading teacher and this positively influences her cognitive skills in reading. Sarah’s been an average reader but due to her positive attitude toward the reading teacher she’s now out performing her peers.

Similarly, environmental factors such as instability and nourishment can influence a student’s alertness or feeling of acceptance by his or her peers. Personal factors can also impact environmental factors by causing more tension in the classroom or at home. All three factors influence one another and inhibit or encourage the student’s ability to learn.