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During their learning journey, students often go through phases where they feel disconnected from their academics. This situation can arise due to various factors such as economic, financial, technological, or linguistic barriers.

This leads to the poor academic performance of the students and a lack of motivation for further studies. Students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions must make collaborative efforts to counter these situations to avoid learning gaps among students. In this blog, we will understand what are these learning gaps, their types, and the steps that must be taken to identify and bridge these learning gaps for the students. Let us first understand the meaning of learning gaps that negatively affect the academic performance of students.

What are Learning Gaps?

Learning Gaps refer to the differences between the amount of knowledge and skills acquired by the students during their education compared to the expected acquisition. High learning gaps in education pose a challenge to the growth of children as they head to learn far more complex subjects in further education and to the overall education system of the country as it also affects the employability of the students in the future workforce. It is of crucial importance for students and institutions to effectively identify these learning gaps and address these gaps through various activities and initiatives. This will help the students to gain the expected amount of proficiency in the subject that will help them in their further academic careers.

Types of Learning Gaps

Educational Gaps - Educational Gaps refer to the disparity in learning caused due to various educational factors such as lack of qualified teachers, poor course curriculum, and lack of good infrastructure that are necessary for students in their learning process to acquire the understanding of their subjects effectively.

Language Gaps - Every student has a unique understanding of a particular language. It is imprudent to think that every student will acquire the same level of knowledge if taught in only one language. Institutions need to provide instruction in languages that are easily comprehensible to every student.

Cultural Gaps - Students coming from different cultural backgrounds can be intimidated by the learning process if not properly guided and supported by institutions. It may result in misunderstandings among students. So, institutions must ensure that every student feels secure and welcome during their learning process.

Technology Gaps - Not every student has access to modern technology at their home. Every educational institution must provide the essential technologies for students that will help them engage more efficiently with their course of study.

Experience Gaps - The lack of practical experience can result in experience gaps in learning for the students as they won't have the opportunity to encounter real-world scenarios related to their field of study or employment.

Motivation Gaps - Motivation gaps refer to the lack of motivation among students for their academic careers. These gaps can arise due to various reasons such as the preference of a student to earn money and support his family instead of pursuing education.

Environmental Gaps - Students may undergo learning difficulties due to the lack of appropriate environmental conditions at their learning institutes such as poor classroom conditions, poor sanitation, and hygiene facilities, etc. 

Communication Gaps - If the teachers or administration staff are not supportive of the students, it can lead to a communication gap among them. This will result in poor communication and students will hesitate to reach out to their educators in case of any doubt.

How to identify and bridge academic gaps

There are various ways through which we can identify and bridge academic gaps for the students. These steps require a comprehensive assessment of the problem, the reasons due to which these problems are occurring, and effective management of these problems for students to experience a smooth learning process during their course of study. Below are the steps through which we can identify and bridge the academic gaps for our students.

Steps to identify learning gaps

Assessment - Students must perform various assessment techniques to figure out what are the underlying causes of the academic problems faced by students during their learning process. After identifying these issues, students must work on them to improve productivity in their studies.

Student Feedback - Talking to peers can greatly help students in identifying their strengths and weaknesses. For this purpose, It is recommended that students engage in constructive discussions with each other regularly.

Curriculum Analysis - The curriculum imparted to the students should be engaging and simplified for a better understanding of the students. This can be achieved through a critical analysis of the curriculum by the educators.

Parent and Teacher Inputs - Continuous feedback and support from teachers and parents help boost the confidence of the students. Through this, Students will feel accepted even with their learning gaps and will work toward bettering themselves. 

Also Read: How Does 10th Adeeb/Secondary empower students for the future?

Steps to bridge learning gaps 

Set Clear Goals - After identifying the root cause of learning gaps, students must set clear and realistic goals to close these gaps and perform better in their studies.

Personalized Learning - There is no single formula that applies to every student. Students and institutions must work collaboratively to personalize their learning experiences to enhance the overall performance of students.

Practice Regularly - It is not possible to observe changes in students in one night. For any improvement, they must practice their learning habits regularly to see positive results.

Monitor Progress - By tracking student progress, it will be easier for both students and institutions to understand which area requires improvement. This will greatly help in identifying and resolving the issues for the students.

Community Hubs - Apart from learning in institutions, students can form or join various community groups to make extra efforts to bridge their learning gaps and learn extra apart from their academic curriculum.

About Adeeb-e-Mahir Course

ADEEB-E-MAHIR is a 1-year 12th education course offered by Jamia Urdu Aligarh that has been recognized by the Government of India and has received accreditations from prominent authorities such as the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) and the National Commission for Minority Education Institution of India (NCMEI). This ADEEB-E-MAHIR Course is suitable for all embassy attention and after completion of this course, students can apply for admission to several Indian and other universities for higher education. To be eligible for admission to the Adeeb-e-Mahir course, students must be equal to or above 16 years of age and must have completed 10th/Adeeb/Secondary education. To apply at Jamia Urdu Aligarh, students must submit a self-attested copy of their Secondary Certificate to gain admission to the Adeeb-e-Mahir course. Students can choose from three streams (Arts / Commerce / Science) in this course according to their preferences. This ADEEB-E-MAHIR course can also be completed as a correspondence course in which digital study material will be provided for all subjects if required.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have understood learning gaps and their types, how they affect students, and what are the measures that can be taken to identify and close these learning gaps to improve the overall performance of students and boost their confidence levels. By applying the above-mentioned steps, we can assume to see a positive change in the learning outcomes of students. It must be noted that to close the learning gaps among students, students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions must make collaborative efforts. This will lead to high morale among the students and will eventually improve their academic performance and employability in the workforce.

FAQs

 

Q1. What is a Learning Gap?

Ans. Learning Gaps refer to the disparity in the comprehension of academic content in the students compared to the expected level of proficiency in the subjects. These gaps can result due to various factors such as cultural, lingual, financial, or technological factors.

 

Q2. How to Close Learning Gaps?

Ans. Closing learning gaps among students requires the collaborative efforts of students, teachers, and parents. The steps required to close these gaps involve identifying the root cause through assessment and feedback, making a plan to resolve these issues, and practicing regularly.

 

Q3. How to Bridge the Gaps in Student Learning?

Ans. A systematic approach must be adopted to bridge the gap in student learning. The steps involved in this process are Assessing your shortcomings, Classroom Observation, taking Student Feedback, Curriculum Analysis, guidance through Parent and Teacher Inputs, setting clear goals, personalizing learning, Practicing Regularly, Monitoring Progress, and joining Community Hubs.