LEARNING THEORIES IN EDUCATION Compiled by kang_yusuf Learning theories are conceptual frameworks that describe how information is absorbed,

processed, and retained during learning. Learning brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views. There are three main categories of learning theory: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. And constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts. Merriam and Caffarella (1991) highlight four approaches or orientations to learning: Behaviourist, Cognitivist, Humanist, and Social/Situational. These approaches involve contrasting ideas as to the purpose and process of learning and education - and the role that educators may take. 1. Behaviorism John Watson (18781959) coined the term "behaviorism." Critical of Wundt's emphasis on internal states, Watson insisted that psychology must focus on overt measureable behaviors. Watson believed that theorizing thoughts, intentions or other subjective experiences was unscientific. Behaviorism as a theory was primarily developed by B. F. Skinner. It loosely encompasses the work of people like Edward Thorndike, Tolman, Guthrie, and Hull. What characterizes these investigators are their underlying assumptions about the process of learning. In essence, three basic assumptions are held to be true. First, learning is manifested by a change in behavior. Second, the environment shapes behavior. And third, 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. For behaviorism, learning is the acquisition of new behavior through conditioning. There are two types of possible conditioning: a) Classical conditioning, where the behavior becomes a reflex response to stimulus as in the case of Pavlov's Dogs. Pavlov was interested in studying reflexes, when he saw that the dogs drooled without the proper stimulus. Although no food was in sight, their saliva still dribbled. It turned out that the dogs were reacting to lab coats. Every time the dogs were served food, the person who served the food was wearing a lab coat. Therefore, the dogs reacted as if food was on its way whenever they saw a lab coat.In a series of experiments, Pavlov then tried to figure out how these phenomena were linked. For example, he struck a bell when the dogs were fed. If the bell was sounded in close association with their meal, the dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell with food. After a while, at the mere sound of the bell, they responded by drooling. Pavlov's work laid the foundation for many of psychologist John B. Watson's ideas. Watson and Pavlov shared both a disdain for "mentalistic" concepts (such as consciousness) and a belief that the basic laws of learning were the same for all animals whether dogs or humans. b) Operant conditioning where there is reinforcement of the behavior by a reward or a punishment. The theory of operant conditioning was developed by B.F. Skinner and is known as Radical Behaviorism. The word operant refers to the way in which behavior operates on the environment. Briefly, a behavior may result either in reinforcement, which increases the likelihood of the behavior recurring, or punishment, which decreases the likelihood of the behavior recurring. It is important to note that, a punishment is not considered to be applicable if it does not result in the reduction of the behavior, and so the terms punishment and reinforcement
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are determined as a result of the actions. Within this framework, behaviorists are particularly interested in measurable changes in behavior. In operant conditioning we learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence and thus to repeat acts followed by good results and avoid acts followed by bad results. Since behaviorists view the learning process as a change in behavior, educators arrange the environment to elicit desired responses through such devices as behavioral objectives, competency -based education, and skill development and training. Educational approaches such as applied behavior analysis, curriculum based measurement, and direct instruction have emerged from this model. 2. Cognitivism Cognitive theories grew out of Gestalt psychology. Developed in Germany in the early 1900s, it was transplanted to America in the 1920s. Gestalt is roughly translated as "configuration," or "pattern," and emphasizes "the whole" of human experience. Over the years, the Gestalt psychologist provided compelling demonstrations and described principles by which we organize our sensations into perceptions. The earliest challenge to the behaviorists came in a publication in 1929 by Bode, a gestalt psychologist. He criticized behaviorists for being too dependent on overt behavior to explain learning. Gestalt psychologists proposed looking at the patterns rather than isolated events. Gestalt views of learning have been incorporated into what have come to be labeled cognitive theories. Two key assumptions underlie this cognitive approach: (1) that the memory system is an active organized processor of information and (2) that prior knowledge plays an important role in learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning. For example, the physiological processes of sorting and encoding information and events into short term memory and long term memory are important to educators working under the cognitive theory. The major difference between gestaltists and behaviorists is the locus of control over the learning activity: the individual learner is more key to gestaltists than the environment that behaviorists emphasize. Once memory theories like the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model and Baddeley's working memory model were established as a theoretical framework in cognitive psychology, new cognitive frameworks of learning began to emerge during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Today, researchers are concentrating on topics like cognitive load and information processing theory. These theories of learning play a role in influencing instructional design. Aspects of cognitivism can be found in learning how to learn, social role acquisition, intelligence, learning, and memory as related to age. Educators employing a cognitivist approach to learning would view learning as internal mental process (including insight, information processing, memory, perception) where in order to develop learner capacity and skills to improve learning, the educator structures content of learning activities to focus on building intelligence and cognitive and meta-cognitive development. 3. Constructivism (Social Constructivism) Constructivism is a revolution in educational psychology. Built on the work of Piaget and Bruner, constructivism emphasizes the importance of active involvement of learners in constructing knowledge for themselves...Constructivism emphasizes top-down processing: begin with complex problems and teach basic skills while solving these problems. Constructivism explains why students do not learn deeply by listening to a teacher, or reading from a textbook. Learning sciences research is revealing the deeper underlying basis of how knowledge construction works. To design effective environments, one needs a very good understanding of what children know when they come to the classroom. This requires sophisticated research into children's cognitive development, and the learning sciences draws heavily on psychological
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studies of cognitive development (e.g., Siegler, 1998). The learning theories of John Dewey, Marie Montessori, and David Kolb serve as the foundation of constructivist learning theory. Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge or experience. 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. Constructivism itself has many variations, such as Active learning, discovery learning, and knowledge building. Regardless of the variety, constructivism promotes a student's free exploration within a given framework or structure. The teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working to solve realistic problems. Aspects of constructivism can be found in self-directed learning, transformational learning, and experiential learning. 4. Social Learning Theory Social learning theory is a perspective that states that people learn within a social context. It is facilitated through concepts such as modeling and observational learning. Theory According to Social Learning theory, models are an important source for learning new behaviors and for achieving behavioral change in institutionalized settings. Social learning theory is derived from the work of Albert Bandura which proposed that observational learning can occur in relation to three models: Live model in which an actual person is demonstrating the desired behaviour Verbal instruction in which an individual describes the desired behaviour in detail, and instructs the participant in how to engage in the behavior Symbolic in which modeling occurs by means of the media, including movies, television, Internet, literature, and radio. This type of modeling involves a real or fictional character demonstrating the behaviour. An important factor of Banduras social learning theory is the emphasis on reciprocal determinism. This notion states that an individuals behaviour is influenced by the environment and characteristics of the person. In other words, a persons behaviour, environment, and personal qualities all reciprocally influence each other. Bandura proposed that the modeling process involves several steps: a. Attention in order for an individual to learn something, they must pay attention to the features of the modeled behaviour. b. Retention humans need to be able to remember details of the behaviour in order to learn and later reproduce the behaviour. c. Reproduction in reproducing a behavior, an individual must organize his or her responses in accordance with the model behavior. This ability can improve with practice. d. Motivation there must be an incentive or motivation driving the individuals reproduction of the behaviour. Even if all of the above factors are present, the person will not engage in the behaviour without motivation. Bandura is known for his 1961-1963 experiments utilizing an inflatable clown known as a Bobo doll in order to test modeling behaviours in children. Children were divided into three groups one of which was exposed to an aggressive adult model, one which was exposed to a passive adult model, and a control group, which was not exposed to an adult model. Adults in the aggressive group were asked to verbally and physically attack the doll, while those in the passive group were asked to play peacefully. Once the children were given the opportunity to play,
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results showed that those exposed to the aggressive model were more likely to imitate what they had seen, and to behave aggressively toward the doll. It was found that boys were four times more likely than girls to display physical aggression, but levels of verbal aggression were about the same. The results of Banduras studies provided support for the influence of modeling on learning. Further, a later study in 1965 showed that witnessing the model being punished for the aggressive behavior decreased the likelihood that children would imitate the behaviour. Julian Rotter moved away from theories based on psychosis and behaviourism, and developed a learning theory. In Social Learning and Clinical Psychology (1954), Rotter suggests that the effect of behaviour has an impact on the motivation of people to engage in that specific behaviour. People wish to avoid negative consequences, while desiring positive results or effects. If one expects a positive outcome from a behaviour, or thinks there is a high probability of a positive outcome, then they will be more likely to engage in that behaviour. The behavior is reinforced, with positive outcomes, leading a person to repeat the behaviour. This social learning theory suggests that behaviour is influenced by these environmental factors or stimuli, and not psychological factors alone. Albert Bandura expanded on Rotter's idea, as well as earlier work by Miller & Dollard, and is related to social learning theories of Vygotsky and Lave. This theory incorporates aspects of behavioral and cognitive learning. Behavioural learning assumes that people's environment (surroundings) cause people to behave in certain ways. Cognitive learning presumes that psychological factors are important for influencing how one behaves. Social learning suggests that a combination of environmental (social) and psychological factors influence behaviour. Social learning theory outlines three requirements for people to learn and model behaviour including attention: retention (remembering what one observed), reproduction (ability to reproduce the behaviour), and motivation (good reason) to want to adopt the behaviour. Applications The applications of social learning theory have been important in the history of education policies in the United States. The zone of proximal development is used as a basis for early intervention programs such as Head Start. Social learning theory can also be seen in the TV and movie rating system that is used in the United States. The rating system is designed to let all parents know what the programs that their children are watching contain. The ratings are based on age appropriate material to help parents decide if certain content is appropriate for their child to watch. Some content may be harmful to children who do not have the cognitive ability to process certain content, however the child may model the behaviors seen on TV. Locus of control is an important consideration when helping students in higher education environments perform better academically. Cassandra B. Whyte indicated in the 1970s and 1980s that by encouraging students to accept personal responsibility for their educational outcomes, better academic performance will usually be forthcoming if ability levels are present. More frequent successful academic performance will result as thoughts and belief in the need for personal effort toward the academic task is rewarded. As successful experiences increase in frequency, the student usually incorporates the confidence that hard work often can be rewarded with positive academic outcomes. Guided participation is seen in schools across the United States and all around the world in language classes when the teacher says a phrase and asks the class to repeat the phrase. An extension of guided participation is reciprocal learning in which both student and teacher share responsibility in leading discussions. The other part to guided participation is when the student goes home and practices on their own. Guided participation is also seen with parents who are trying to teach their own children how to speak. Scaffolding is another technique that is used widely across the United States. Most academic subjects take advantage of scaffolding, however mathematics is one of the best examples. As students move through their education they learn skills in mathematics that they will build on
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throughout their scholastic careers. A student who has never taken a basic math class and does not understand the principles of addition and subtraction will not be able to understand algebra. The process of learning math is a scaffolding technique because the knowledge builds on itself over time. Another important application of social learning theory has been in the treatment and conceptualization of anxiety disorders. The classical conditioning approach to anxiety disorder, which spurred the development of behavioral therapy and is considered by some to be the first modern theory of anxiety, began to lose steam in the late 1970s as researchers began to question its underlying assumptions. For example, the classical conditioning approach holds that pathological fear and anxiety are developed through direct learning; however, many people with anxiety disorders cannot recall a traumatic conditioning event, in which the feared stimulus was experienced in close temporal and spatial contiguity with an intrinsically aversive stimulus. Social learning theory helped salvage learning approaches to anxiety disorders by providing additional mechanisms beyond classical conditioning that could account for the acquisition of fear. For example, social learning theory suggests that a child could acquire a fear of snakes, for example, by observing a family remember express fear in response to snakes. Alternatively, the child could learn the associations between snakes and unpleasant bites through direct experience, without developing excessive fear, but could later learn from others that snakes can have deadly venom, leading to a re-evaluation of the dangerousness of snake bites, and accordingly, a more exaggerated fear response to snakes (see 19, for a discussion of similar US re-evaluation effects). 5. Multiple Intelligences The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 as a model of intelligence that differentiates intelligence into various specific (primarily sensory) modalities, rather than seeing it as dominated by a single general ability. Gardner argues that there is a wide range of cognitive abilities, and that there are only very weak correlations among them. For example, the theory predicts that a child who learns to multiply easily is not necessarily generally more intelligent than a child who has more difficulty on this task. The child who takes more time to master simple multiplication 1) may best learn to multiply through a different approach, 2) may excel in a field outside of mathematics, or 3) may even be looking at and understanding the multiplication process at a fundamentally deeper level, or perhaps as an entirely different process. Such a fundamental understanding can result in what looks like slowness and can hide a mathematical intelligence potentially higher than that of a child who quickly memorizes the multiplication table despite possessing a less detailed understanding of the process of multiplication. The theory has been met with mixed responses. Traditional intelligence tests and psychometrics have generally found high correlations between different tasks and aspects of intelligence, rather than the low correlations which Gardner's theory predicts. Nevertheless many educationalists support the practical value of the approaches suggested by the theory. Gardner articulated several criteria for a behavior to be an intelligence. These were that the intelligences: Potential for brain isolation by brain damage, Place in evolutionary history, Presence of core operations, Susceptibility to encoding (symbolic expression), A distinct developmental progression, The existence of savants, prodigies and other exceptional people, Support from experimental psychology and psychometric findings. Gardner believes that eight abilities meet these criteria:
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 Spatial Linguistic Logical-mathematical Bodily-kinesthetic Musical Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic He considers that existential and moral intelligence may also be worthy of inclusion. The first three are closely linked to fluid ability, and the verbal and spatial abilities that form the hierarchical model of intelligence. 6. A brain-based theory of learning The differences of opinion and theory cited above indicate that the learning process is not yet understood. As our understanding of the brain and learning develop we should expect that the educational theory debate will gradually be replaced by a neuroscience-based theory of learning. We are in a similar position to the one found in medicine in the mid-19th century where a range of opinions and theories vied for position. These were gradually replaced by the current biomedical model and became the foundation of the professionalism and progress of medicine since then. We should expect to see the same process developing in education with the new experts replacing those who hold ideas about Behaviourism or Cognitivism. These current theories are, by comparison to neuroscience, 'intelligent guesswork'. The outline of the theory is already clear: the brain is seen, not as having a central processor where 'intelligence' lies, but in having perhaps 70 functional areas. Any mental activity requires several areas to work together. What appear as different types of intelligence result from different combinations of well-developed functional areas. Neuroplasticity means that all functions can be improved. Learning is the process by which neurons join by developing the synapses between them. Knowledge is arranged hierarchically, with new knowledge being linked to existing neural networks. Although the neuroscience is in its early stages, many of its findings have, effectively, been tested in ordinary classroom experiments. Evidence-based teaching already relates the findings of classroom experiments with brain-based explanations providing a firm foundation for a neuroscience-based theory of learning. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theory_%28education%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_learning_theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences