Learning Theories

Major Theorist:

Jean Piaget

Major Theorist:

B.F. Skinneret

Major Theorist:

Albert Bandura

Constructivism

Learners create meaning from experiences Branches from cognitivism Learning is an interpretation of the real world in our minds

Cognitivism

Triadic Reciprocal Causation:The relationship between behavior, personal thoughts, and environment Shift from studying observable behavior to more complex thinking processes

Behaviorism

The association between a provided stimulus and the response that follows.There is an emphasis on the consequences of actions without changing the response, but instead avoiding the stimulus.

Click the icon next to the learning theory to learn more! References

Learning Theories

Behaviorism

Types of Learning Best Explained:

• Nonuse of responses will deteriorate a learner's response readiness
• Behaviorists pay more attention to the habits students create or have than memory, but do not consider them closely

• environmental factors are very important
• learners are assessed for the best time to receive instruction
• effective reinforcers are used based on the individual students
• close attention to the environmental stimuli and consequences
• students transfer information by generalization and connections

How Learning Occurs:

Students benefit from

• instructional cues
• practicing concepts
• reinforcement

In order to

• generalize
• make associations
• perform a specified task/procedure

Does not explain how students develop higher level skills or intense processing for problem-solving and critical thinking

Role of Memory:

Cognitivism

Types of Learning Best Explained:

• Very important in the learning process
• Learning occurs if information is stored in an organized way
• Teachers relate information to prior knowledge so that it may be retained
• Forgetting of information happens when a student is unable to retrieve from their memory due to missing cues to access information or interference

• Changes between states of knowledge
• Focuses on what students know and how they learned the information
• Receiving, organizing, retrieving, and storing information in the brain
• Corrective feedback benefits the learner
• Planning, goals, and organization that lead up to response is the focus

How Learning Occurs:

• Complex learning processes
• Problem-solving
• information-processing
• reasoning
• Communicate knowledge in an efficient/effective way
• Simplified knowledge that is broken down and standardized information that can be analyzed is important

Role of Memory:

Constructivism

Types of Learning Best Explained:

• Memory develops through repeated usage of knowledge
• Concepts can continually grow and develop with new experiences
• Memory grows and changes, nothing being cemented as learners create their perception and connect what information has been gathered.
• Learning must include activity for practice, a concept for retaining knowledge, and context to be retained in a meaningful way

• Meaning is created by humans
• Each person has a unique reality created from their own perception
• Knowledge is constantly changing
• Knowledge is affected by the context in which the learner applies or retrieves it

How Learning Occurs:

• Considered most effective for advanced learning
• Provides learners with the ability to handle complex or loosely structured problems
• Realistic as much is learned in a context of poor structure

Role of Memory:

Deeper Learning: Beyond 21st Century Skills, edited by James A. Bellanca, Solution Tree, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/lib/gcu/detail.action?docID=3404972. Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43–71. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/piq.21143 Films Media Group. (2003). Bandura’s social cognitive theory: An introduction. Films On Demand. Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=96349&xtid=44898.

References