Four Learning Theories (Extracts)

1. Behaviourism 1

Behaviourism revolves around three key assumptions:

Observable behaviour rather than internal thought processes are the focus of study. In particular, learning is manifested by a change in behaviour.

The environment shapes one's behaviour; what one learns is determined by the elements in the environment, not by the individual learner.

The principles of contiguity (how close in time two events must be for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means of increasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) are central to explaining the learning process.

Responses (or behaviours) were strengthened or weakened by the consequences of behaviour. This notion is better known as operant conditioning - reinforcing what you want people to do again; ignoring or punish what you want people to stop doing.

In terms of learning, four key principles stand out:

Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive. ('Learning by doing' is to be applauded).

Repetition, generalization and discrimination are important notions. Frequent practice - and practice in varied contexts - is necessary for learning to take place. Skills are not acquired without frequent practice.

Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator. Positive reinforcers like rewards and successes are preferable to negative events like punishments and failures.

Learning is helped when objectives are clear. Those who look to behaviourism in teaching will generally frame their activities by behavioural objectives e.g. 'By the end of this session participants will be able to...'.

2. Cognitivism

The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box” of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer). Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box” of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn.

Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata.

In contrast to behaviorism, people are not “programmed animals” that merely respond to environmental stimuli; people are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking. Changes in behavior are observed, but only as an indication of what is occurring in the learner’s head. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes2.

Key principles include are3:

Instruction should be well-organized. Well-organized materials easier to learn and to remember.

Instruction should be clearly structured. Subject matters are said to have inherent structures - logical relationships between key ideas and concepts - which link the parts together.

The perceptual features of the task are important. Learners attend selectively to different aspects of the environment. Thus, the way a problem is displayed is important if learners are to understand it.

Prior knowledge is important. Things must fit with what is already known if it is to be learnt.

Differences between individuals are important as they will affect learning. Differences in 'cognitive style' or methods of approach influence learning.

Cognitive feedback gives information to learners about their success or failure concerning the task at hand. Reinforcement can come through giving information - a 'knowledge of results' - rather than simply a reward.

3. Constructivism

Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge. In other words, "learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences."

Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context. The teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working to solve realistic problems. This is also known as knowledge construction as a social process. We can work to clarify and organize their ideas so we can voice them to others. It gives us opportunities to elaborate on what they learned. We are exposed to the views of others. It enables us to discover flaws and inconsistencies by learning we can get good results4.

Twelve principles of constructivism5:

1. Constructivist teachers encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative.

2. Constructivist teachers use raw data and primary sources long with manipulative, interactive, and physical material

3. While framing tasks, constructivist teachers use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create.

4. Constructivist teachers allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies, and alter content.

5. Constructivist teachers inquire about students' understanding of concepts before sharing their own understanding of those concepts.

6. Constructivist teachers encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with other students.

7. Constructivist teachers encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask questions to each other.

8. Constructivist teachers seek elaboration of students' initial responses.

9. Constructivist teachers engage students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion.

10. Constructivist teachers allow wait time after posing questions.

11. Constructivist teachers provide time for students to construct relationships and create metaphors.

12. Constructivist teachers nurture students' natural curiosity through frequent use of the learning cycle model.

1 http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

2 http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html

3 http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive,

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theory_(education)#Constructivism

5 http://ci.coe.uni.edu/students/strayers/portfolio/TWELVEP1.HTM

4. Connectivism

“Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing. Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.”6

Principles of connectivism7

Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist

learning activities. Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the

meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision

6 http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

7 http://instructor.aviation.ca/content/view/140/75/