Thorndike (1928, 1932, 1935) was a pioneer in educational psychology by publishing several laws of learning that have generally held up to the test of time.  Learning has been found to be significantly more complex since the 20’s and 30’s; however, the “laws” still provided input and weight to the following information.  Although the following has been added to and perhaps modified, the essence came from Thorndike’s ideas about learning.

Law of Readiness

Knowles, Swanson, and Holton (2015) describe the Readiness to learn as the fourth of the six core adult learning principles in the Andragogy in practice model (p. 80).  Humans learn best when they decide there is something the want to know.  People will not seek knowledge if there is no reason or benefit for them applies to them directly.  To prepare a student to learn can be considered one of a Coach’s primary responsibilities.  By presenting the student with a strong purpose, clear objective, and a life related reason for learning a topic, the student will progress at a better rate than if there was not significance for them to be motivated (the sixth core principle).  By being ready, the student will show eagerness and focus which meets the coach half-way in the learning transaction and creates a better atmosphere for transfer of knowledge.  Setting that environment is a responsibility of the Coach, which means helping to alleviate any outside concerns, worries, or issues.  Likewise, a student has a responsibility to dedicate themselves to the opportunity by clearing their calendar and minds of any other distractors which may cloud their ability to think and learn during the instructional period.

Law of Exercise

Practice makes perfect.  The Law of exercise is the basis for repeating tasks to develop a memory and is often associated with drills that help with motor skill development.  Because the mind is not infallible, repetition helps to retain, evaluate, and apply new concepts after idea exposure to ensure it is remembered.  Students rarely learn by only hearing something as discussed in the last article.  They must hear a description, see what is expected, and practice the application of the task.  Every time practice occurs, learning continues.  It is a Coach’s responsibility to provide opportunities for practice and repetition ensuring the process is correct and focused on the learning objectives.

Law of Effect

Learning happens more effectively when accompanied by pleasant feelings of satisfactory accomplishment.  The opposite can be true if unpleasantness prevails and accomplishment is not recognized.  A struggling student can feel defeat, frustration and anger if the coach is not creating a good environment for learning.  Dissatisfaction and stress can lead to feelings of inferiority which also could shut down the learning transaction.  Coaches are required to be cautious not over emphasizing difficulty, rather – actively supporting a student with positive encouragement commenting that although the task may be difficult, it is well within a student’s capability to understand and perform.  Whatever the situation, positive elements can affect the quality of learning and student satisfaction.  Much of which was discussed in the “Art Beyond Instruction.”

Law of Primacy

Primacy should be considered as the most important stuff first, but also the correct “way” from the start.  First impressions are typically indelible impressions, making re-learning more difficult.  For a coach, this means providing the correct information and demonstrating actions right to the student the first time.  It is conceivable that most everyone agrees that “un-teaching” is much more difficult than teaching it right the first time.  If for an example, a coach teaches through demonstration an improper brake application, the coach will then have a difficult task un-teaching the bad habits learned, which can last far beyond the time it takes to re-teach the correct procedures.  Every student deserves a solid first experience which is positive and correct, to lay the foundation for all that is to follow.

Law of Intensity

Articles like this fall short with students and boring sucks!  A seriously fun, vivid, and somewhat dramatic learning experience teaches more than a droning lecture.  Getting on a motorcycle and performing basic tasks will be much more engaging than listening to a coach ramble on about their one time at band camp.  The law of intensity implies that it is better for a student to learn from the real thing than to be bored by a substitute.  A classroom imposes limitations to the amount of realism that can be brought into physical learning and should be reserved for concepts that enhance mental activities as opposed to physical activities.  The classroom also needs to be dynamic, engaging the students in group activities with each other- only facilitated by the coach as necessary, when necessary.

Law of Recency

The last law for this article is the law of recency, meaning that the things best remembered are the ones most recently learned.  Conversely, the further a student is removed time-wise from a fact or understanding, the more difficult it is to remember.  For example, if discussing the smooth application of both brakes simultaneously at the beginning of riding to establish how to stop skillfully; it may be valuable to repeat, restate, or reemphasize throughout the course including at the end of some exercises to make sure students remember how to accomplish a skillful stop.  The law of recency can work together with the law of exercise in shaping knowledge retention.