Learning is a complex process that everyone experiences differently. Every learner will have their own ability to learn in a given situation.
Influencing a person's ability to engage with and understand the content of a course can be affected by the learner's cognitive, physical and sensory abilities. Personal cultural and social factors will also play a role.
Cognitive Abilities
There are a number of cognitive abilities that will greatly affect a person's rate of learning.
A good level of concentration is an important ability for a student to posses. Those that can focus their attention and keep it focused for the duration of the class will be more likely to absorb knowledge than those who cannot concentrate for long. A teacher that can improve the concentration of the people in the class by making it more interesting and enjoyable or removing distractions will enhance learning.
Perception is another cognitive ability that can have a great impact on learning. People do not always perceive the same communication in the same way. Everybody is different. Two people can receive the same message, but interpret it completely differently. A teacher needs to be aware of this and tailor their communication accordingly.
Both short-term and long-term memory are cognitive functions vital to learning. Some people will have a preference to learn visually whilst others will learn better from what they hear. The teacher must be aware of this and accommodate both learning styles. The visual learners will take in information better from pictures, demonstrations and videos, whilst those that learn better auditorily will need to listen to the teacher speak.
Another important learning style is when people retain information kinesthetically, that is through feelings. It is normal for fitness qualifications to have a practical element. For example, those doing a fitness instructor course will be required to learn and teach how to perform basic exercises that will be...