Learning Theories and their effect on educational learning theories on education

The plan of the lecture

I.              Learning Theories and their effect on educational learning theories on education

              II.                Basic learning theories

              III.             Application of Learning Theories and their models in teaching

Problematic issues

1.      Identify the essence of Learning theories

2.      Define main principles of Learning theories

3.      Justify ways of applying Learning Theories in Teaching

I. Learning is defined as a process that brings together personal and environmental experiences and influences for acquiring, enriching or modifying one’s knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, behavior and world views. Learning theories develop hypotheses that describe how this process takes place. The scientific study of learning started in earnest at the dawn of the 20th century. The major concepts and theories of learning include behaviourist theories, cognitive psychology, constructivism, social constructivism, experiential learning, multiple intelligence, and situated learning theory and community of practice. As the prolific number of educational theorists in learning suggests, there’s actually an impressive variety of educational approaches to the art and science of teaching. Many of them have been pioneered by educational theorists who’ve studied the science of learning to determine what works best and for whom.

Generally, there are five widely accepted learning theories teachers rely on:

❖     Behaviorism learning theory

❖     Cognitive learning theory

❖     Constructivism learning theory

❖     Humanism learning theory

❖     Connectivism learning theory

Educational theorists, teachers, and experts believe these theories can inform successful approaches for teaching and serve as a foundation for developing lesson plans and curriculum.

II. Behaviorism is based largely on the work of John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Behaviorists were concerned with establishing psychology as a science and focused their studies on behaviors that could be empirically observed, such as actions that could be measured and tested, rather than on internal states such as emotions. According to behaviorists, learning is dependent on a person’s interactions with their external environment. As people experience consequences from their interactions with the environment, they modify their behaviors in reaction to those consequences. For instance, if a person hurts their hand when touching a hot stove, they will learn not to touch the stove again, and if they are praised for studying for a test, they will be likely to study in the future.

According to behavioral theorists, we can change people’s behavior by manipulating the environment in order to encourage certain behaviors and discourage others, a process called conditioning. Skinner examined how conditioning could shape behavior in longer-term and more complex ways by introducing the concept of reinforcement. According to Skinner, when people receive positive reinforcement, such as praise and rewards for certain behaviors, those behaviors are strengthened, while negative reinforcement will deter behaviors. According to Skinner, by carefully controlling the environment and establishing a system of reinforcements, teachers, parents, and others can encourage and develop desired behaviors. A simple example of behaviorism in the classroom is a point system in which students are awarded points for good behavior and deducted points for unwanted behavior. Eventually, accumulated points might be traded in for rewards like small gifts or homework passes. This approach assumes that motivation is external, in that students will engage in certain behaviors in order to gain the rewards. Because it emphasizes the external environment, behaviorism largely ignores or discounts the role of internal influences such as prior knowledge and emotion.  To an extent, behaviorists view learners as blank slates and emphasize the role of the teacher in the classroom. In this teacher-centered approach, instructors hold the knowledge, decide what will be learned, and establish the rewards for learning. Since their experience and prior knowledge are not considered relevant, learners are passive participants simply expected to absorb the knowledge transmitted by the teacher. While the idea of learners as blank slates has fallen out of favor, many of the conditioning aspects of behaviorism remain popular. As almost any student can attest, behavioral methods of reinforcement, such as the point system described above, are still common, especially in younger grades. Recent trends toward gaming in the classroom, where certain behaviors are rewarded with points and leveling up, are based in a behaviorist approach to learning.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism, or cognitive psychology, was pioneered in the mid-twentieth century by scientists including George Miller, Ulric Neisser, and Noam Chomsky. Whereas behaviorists focus on the external environment and observable behavior, cognitive psychologists are interested in mental processes. They assert that behavior and learning entail more than just response to environmental stimuli and require rational thought and active participation in the learning process.

Cognitivists view the brain as an information processor somewhat like a computer that functions on algorithms that it develops in order to process information and make decisions. According to cognitive psychology, people acquire and store knowledge, referred to as schema, in their long-term memory. In addition to storing knowledge, people organize their knowledge into categories, and create connections across categories or schema that help them retrieve relevant pieces of information when needed. When individuals encounter new information, they process it against their existing knowledge or schema in order to make new connections. Cognitivists are interested in the specific functions that allow the brain to store, recall, and use information, as well as in mental processes such as pattern recognition and categorization, and the circumstances that influence people’s attention.

These processes that enhance memory and recall, and thus learning, have some implications for instructors in creating an optimal environment for learning. Gagné proposed nine conditions for learning, referred to as the external conditions of learning, or the nine events of instruction:

1.         Gain attention. Engage students’ attention by tying learning to relevant events in their lives and asking stimulating questions.

2.         Inform the learner of the objective. Begin by sharing the learning goals with the students, thus setting expectations and providing a map of the learning.