TOPIC 2.

APPROACHES TO LEARNING

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more
places you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss

1. Think of a teacher that’s most unforgettable to you in elementary or high school.

2. Are there things that when you encounter at present (see, hear, touch, smell) make you go back
to the past and recall this teacher? What are these things?
3. What kinds of rewards and punishments did she/he apply in your class? For what student
behaviors were the rewards and punishment for?

A. BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
This approach to learning is based on the ideas that learners respond to stimuli in their
environment. It is concerned with learners responding to some form of stimulus. The role of the
learning therefore, is to provide relevant and useful stimuli so that the learner respond and gains
the required knowledge or experience. It centers on the belief that appropriate behavior can be
taught through constant repetition of a task combined with feedback from the teacher. The
positive feedback encourages and reinforces success while negative feedback and immediate
correction discourages the repetition of a mistake or undesirable behavior.
Examples:
1.Children completing homework to earn a
reward from a parent or teacher

2.Employees finishing projects to receive praise

or promotions

3.A child lost recess privileges because he talks

much out of turn in class

The emphasis of this approach is on the observable behavioral responses and their environmental
determinants. In other words it is the study of the connection between our minds and behavioral.
The hild is making connections between experiences and behavior.
c
The contemporary behaviorists still emphasize the importance of observing behavior to
understand an individual; however, not every behaviorist today accepts the earlier behaviorist’s
rejection of thought processes, which are often called cognition.
The approach is also presented by learning from stimuli, responses and reinforces. Stimuli
presents
excitement, response is the reactions to stimuli that are desirable or undesirable, and reinforces is
something that increases the rate of
response.
Reinforcement and punishment examples:

B. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

This approach places great significance on learning and it is concerned with the role of the active
mind in processing and developing learning. If the teacher and the student both engage with
knowledge, the role of the teacher is choosing the best method to convey understanding.
Learning here occurs in the social
context with a dynamic and reciprocal
interaction of the person, environment
and behavior. The unique feature is on
the emphasis on social influence and its
emphasis on the external and internal
social reinforcement. The
social cognitive theory considers the
unique way in which individuals
acquire and maintain behavior
while also considering the social
environment in which the individuals
perform the behavior.

The theory also takes into account the past experiences of the individual in which this past
experiences influences reinforcement, expectations and expectancies. All of which shape whether
a person will engage in a specific behavior and the reasons why a person engages in that
behavior. It also describes the influence of individual experiences the actions of others and
environmental factors on individuals behavior. It provides opportunities for social support
through instilling expectations, self-efficacy and using observational learning and other
reinforcements to achieve behavior change.
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) started as the Social Learning Theory (SLT) in the 1960s
by Albert Bandura. It developed into the SCT in 1986 and posits that learning occurs in a social
context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior.
The unique feature of Social Cognitive Theory is the emphasis on social influence and its
emphasis on external and internal social reinforcement. Social Cognitive Theory considers the
unique way in which individuals acquire and maintain behavior, while also considering the social
environment in which individuals perform the behavior. The theory takes into account a person's
past experiences, these past experiences influences reinforcements, expectations, and
expectancies, all of which shape whether a person will engage in a specific behavior and the
reasons why a person engages in that behavior.
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT:

Adults were recorded being aggressive to bobo dolls. The children were shown the
video and then allow to play in a room full of toys. Children were aggressive to the bobo doll just as
the adults were in the video. Through this research, Bandura observed that components of learning
occur through observation and modelling behaviors. This concept led to the theoretical framework of
the social cognitive learning theory.

THE LEARNING PROCESS REQUIRES:

1. Attention – learning by being attentive. Anything that distracts the attention will be going to
have a negative effect on learning. If the situation is far likely to the interest, the more the learner
dedicate his full attention to learn.
2. Retention – The ability to store information is also important part of the learning process.
This can be affected by a number of factors, but the ability to pull up information later and act on
its vital observation
3. Reproduction – Once person pays attention and able to retain the of the learned behaviour
leads to improvement and skill advancement.
4. Motivation – in order to be successful, you have to be motivated to learn being aware of it
outcome. Reinforcement and punishment play an important role in motivation.
Concept Map of Social Cognitive Theory

The central premise of social cognitive theory is reciprocal determinism, which is the
interaction of person, environment, and behavior. Person, environment, and behavior
continuously interact. A person's behavior is shaped by observing the people around them and
their perceptions of the environment.
C. INFORMATION PROCESSING
The information-processing approach takes the human mind as a system that processes
information. This is similar to computer programming where the processes involved are subject
to limitations and observations of logical rules. This views development according to cognitive
competencies as derived from changes in the processes and strategies applied in the process.
Relating how mind and the computer work is a powerful analogy. The terms used in the
information processing theory extend this analogy. Cognitive psychologist believe that
 cognitive processes influence the nature of what is learned. They consider learning as largely an
internal process, not an external behavior change. They look into how we receive, perceive,
store and retrieve information. They believe that how a person thinks about and interprets what
he/she receives shape what he/she will learn.

Stages of Information Processing Theory:

The stages of information processing theory involve the functioning of the senses, sensory
register, short-term memory and long-term memory. Basically, information processing theory
asserts three primary stages in the progression of external information becoming incorporated
into the internal cognitive structure of choice.
1. Encoding – information is sensed, perceived and attended to
2. Storage – the information is stored for either a brief or extended period of time, depending
upon the processes following encoding.
3. Retrieval – the information is brought back at the appropriate time and reactivated for use on
a current task, the true measure of effective memory.
THE INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL

Information is received through the senses and goes to the sensory memory for a very brief
amount of time. If not found relevant, information may decay. It goes to the short –term memory
and if given attention and is perceived and found to be relevant, it is sent to the long-term
memory. If not properly encoded, forgetting occurs.
Basic Assumptions of Information-Processing Approaches are:
1. Thinking is information processing – Mental activity or thinking is putting into the mind
whatever information there is to process in ways or means that can render the information
understandable, functional and usable. There are underlying questions about how the processes
such as perceiving, encoding, representing and sorting information, and change as children get
older and have more experiences with the world.
2. Mechanisms of change are important to describe - Mechanisms like encoding, strategy
construction, automatization and generalization all together help in instituting change in the
children’s cognitive skills. Constantly used cognitive skills eventually become a routine. Where
these are automatized the cognitive system is better able to work on new aspects of the problems,
which may require application of new cognitive skills.
3. The cognitive system is self-modifying – The child is able to modify his responses to new
situations or problems by using the acquired knowledge and strategies from solving earlier
problems. With a powerful knowledge base new and better ways of responding to situations are
developed. Thus children play an active role in their own cognitive development.
4. Careful task analysis is crucial - The child’s cognitive performance is dependent on the
problem or situation and the ability to handle such according to his level of development. A
careful task analysis is needed to appraise the child’s actual performance and how the
performance vary according to age. Most likely, the analysis will reveal how children of different
ages understand, approach and solve a problem, and what strategies they apply in solving
problems. Careful task analysis often involves error analysis or attending to the errors children
make. This involves examining incorrect answers for evidence of less sophisticated, although
systematic, strategies that children apply to problems. Such analysis often relies on a method
called microgenetic analysis.
MICROGENETIC ANALYSIS – calls for a close scrutiny, a detailed examination of how a
child solves a problem on a particular learning situation or in the succeeding learning activities
that immediately follow.

METACOGNITION – is the individual’s knowledge and control of cognitive activities. It is

knowledge that develops through time, over childhood and which includes knowledge of the self,
his frame of mind, knowledge about task and the strategies that can be applied.
D. COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVISM
 Constructivism is ‘an approach to
learning that holds people to actively
construct or make their own knowledge
and that reality is determined by the
experiences of the learner’ (Elliott et al.,
2000, p. 256).

The cognitive view focuses on the internal processes. Learning is an active process.
Learners initiate experiences, search for information to solve problems and reorganize what they
already know to come up with new insights. It signifies that teaching involves giving
opportunities for learners to explore and discover, because learners construct their own
meaning. The learners generate insights and are enlightened.

This approach emphasizes on individual, internal construction of knowledge and it is largely

based on Piaget’s theory. It is more on the child-centered and discovery learning because they
believe that learners should be allowed to discover principles through their own exploration
rather than direct instruction by the teacher.
Since it based on the work of Jean Piaget. His theory has two major parts: an ages and
stages component that predicts what children can and cannot understand at different ages, and a
theory of development that describes how learners develop cognitive abilities.
 Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be given
information, in which they immediately understand and use. Instead, learners must construct
their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them
to create schemas — mental models of the world. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and
made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and
accommodation.

COGNITIVE PROCESS:

Schemas are continually being modified by two complementary processes that Piaget
termed assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation refers to the process of taking in new
information by incorporating it into an existing schema. In other words, people assimilate new
experiences by relating them to things they already know. On the other hand, Accommodation is
what happens when the schema itself changes to accommodate new knowledge. According to
Piaget, cognitive development involves an ongoing attempt to achieve a balance between
assimilation and accommodation that he termed equilibration. The adjustment to the environment
is nothing but adaptation.

PIAGET COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

Basically this is the “staircase” model of development and Piaget have this four major
stages of cognitive development, and called them (1) sensorimotor intelligence, (2)
preoperational thinking, (3) concrete operational thinking, and (4) formal operational thinking.
Each stage is correlated with an age period of childhood, but only approximately.

I. Sensorimotor stage (infancy): In this stage the infant is completely unaware of the
environment. He/she used the senses and actions. Instead of thinking infants discover
by sensing and doing. Sensory and motor in function. In this period, intelligence is
demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the
world is limited, but developing, because it is based on physical interactions and
experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about seven months of age
(memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new
intellectual abilities. Some symbolic (language) abilities are developed at the end of
this stage.
 1. Coordinating Reflexes: The reflexes not coordinated from birth are coordinated from
4 months of age.
2. Objectified Causality: Infants learn about relationship between actions and the
external world.
3. Object Permanence: Post the age of 8 months, the infants understand that the objects
around them are permanent. They try to get attached to parents or the care taker and
often cry when are with others.
4. Imitation: Infants try to imitate the actions or facial expressions of an older person.

At 12 months of age, babies can follow a fast-moving object; can speak two to four
words, including "mama" and "papa"; imitate animal sounds; associate names with objects;
develop attachments to objects, such as a toy or blanket; and experience separation anxiety when
away from their parents. By 18 months of age, babies can understand about 10–50 words;
identify body parts; feel a sense of ownership by using the word "my" with certain people or
objects; and can follow directions that involve two different tasks, such as picking up toys and
putting them in a box.

II. Pre-operational stage (toddlerhood and early childhood): In this period, which has
two sub stages, intelligence is demonstrated using symbols, language use matures and
there is lot of development, memory enhances, and imagination are developed, but
thinking is done in a non-logical, non-reversible manner. Egocentric thinking
predominates.

A. Pre-conceptual phase (2 to 4 years): This is the period of rudimentary concept

formation. During this period, the child develops the ability to identify and classify objects.
Twoyear-olds should be able to understand 100 to 150 words and start adding about ten new
words per day. Toddlers also have a better understanding of emotions, such as love, trust, and
fear. They begin to understand some of the ordinary aspects of everyday life, such as shopping
for food, telling time, and being read to.
1. Representational Thought: The child develops the ability to form mental symbols to
represent objects or events that are not present.
a. Differed Imitation: Ability to imitate actions of adults.
b. Symbolic Play: The child demonstrates make-believe play in which he uses signs
and symbols in place of real objects.
2. Transductive Reasoning: Reasoning is from particular to general in nature.
3. Ego-Centrism: The child at Pre-conceptual phase cannot think beyond his own
view. He assumes that what others see is the same as he/she himself or herself.
4. Animistic Thinking: The kid thinks in an animistic way. He/she attributes human
feelings and motives to non-living objects.

B. The Intuitive Phase (4-7 years): The behaviour is still controlled by perception.
Reasoning is based on intuition rather than systemic thinking or logic.
 III. Concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence): In this stage,
characterized by seven types of conservation (number, length, liquid, mass, weight,
area, and volume), intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic
manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops
(mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.
1. Inductive- Deductive Reasoning: Thinking is not based upon small bit of knowledge,
but he/she makes use of inductive deductive approaches to get to conclusions.
2. Flexibility in Thinking: Loss of ego-centrism and take views of others.
3. Understanding the ‘Principle of Conservation’: Now he/she understands that the
change in appearance of an object does not alter its quality or its number.
4. Classification and Serialization: He/ she develops the ability to classify and serialize
things.
5. Reversibility of Thoughts: He/she can go back or forward with thought in time.

IV. Formal operational stage (adolescence and adulthood): In this stage, intelligence
is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early
in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. This stage invokes abstract
thinking, logical thinking in a systematic and reasonably well integrated way.

1. Abstract Thinking: Logic and abstract thinking by an individual.

2. Hypothetical Reasoning: Systematic assumption of possible solutions (hypothesis is
derived by the child for the problem).
3. Problem- Solving: Using proper solutions (hypothesis), he/she tests it to get the correct
solution.
4. Transfer of Knowledge: Able to transfer the learnt knowledge from one situation to the
other.

Piaget proposed that cognition developed through distinct stages from birth through the end of
adolescence. By stages he meant a sequence of thinking patterns with four key features:
1. They always happen in the same order.
2. No stage is ever skipped.
3. Each stage is a significant transformation of the stage before it.
4. Each later stage incorporated the earlier stages into itself.

Principles of Constructivism:

1. Knowledge is constructed, rather than innate or passively absorbed - Constructivism's

central idea is that human learning is constructed, that learners build new knowledge upon the
foundation of previous learning. This prior knowledge influences what new or modified
knowledge an individual will construct from new learning experiences (Phillips, 1995).

2. Learning is an active process - The second notion is that learning is an active rather than a
passive process. The passive view of teaching views the learner as ‘an empty vessel’ to be filled
with knowledge, whereas constructivism states that learners construct meaning only through
active engagement with the world (such as experiments or real-world problem solving).
Information may be passively received, but understanding cannot be, for it must come from
making meaningful connections between prior knowledge, new knowledge, and the processes
involved in learning.

3. All knowledge is socially constructed - Learning is a social activity, it is something we do

together, in interaction with each other, rather than an abstract concept (Dewey, 1938).
4. All knowledge is personal - Each individual learner has a distinctive point of view, based on
existing knowledge and values. This means that same lesson, teaching or activity may result in
different learning by each pupil, as their subjective interpretations differ.
6. Learning exists in the mind - The constructivist theory posits that knowledge can only exist
within the human mind, and that it does not have to match any real world reality (Driscoll, 2000).
Learners will be constantly trying to develop their own individual mental model of the
real world from their perceptions of that world. As they perceive new experiences, the learners
will continually update their own mental models to reflect the new information and will,
therefore, construct their own interpretation of reality.

Constructivist View of Learning:

Because knowledge is actively constructed, learning is presented as a process of active
discovery. The role of the instructor is not to drill knowledge into students through consistent
repetition, or learning through carefully employed rewards and punishments. The role of the teacher
here is to facilitate the discovery of learning by providing the necessary resources and by guiding
learners as they attempt to assimilate new knowledge to old and to modify the old to accommodate
the new. Teachers must always take into account the knowledge that the learner currently possesses
before the presentation of the learning materials.