Topic 1 Educational Learning

Theories
Zhou, Molly and Brown, David, "Educational Learning Theories: 2nd
Edition" (2015). Education Open Textbooks. 1.
https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-textbooks/1
Contents
 Behaviorism
 Stages of Cognitive Development
 Social Cognitive Theory
 Sociocultural Theory
 Theory of Moral Development
 Experiential Learning Theory
 Bioecological Model of Human Development
 Psychosocial Theory of Identity Development
 Theory of Multiple Intelligences
 Bloom’s Taxonomy
 Theory of Human Motivation
 Information Processing Theory
Behaviorism

 What is Behaviorism?
 Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable and
measurable aspects of human behavior.
 behaviorist learning theories emphasize changes in behavior
that result from stimulus-response associations made by the
learner.
 Behavior is directed by stimuli. An individual selects one
response instead of another because of prior conditioning and
psychological drives existing at the moment of the action
(Parkay & Hass, 2000).
Application of Behaviorism in Education

 system of rewards and punishments in classrooms

 rewarding desired behaviors and punishing inappropriate ones.
 Rewards vary, but must be important to the learner in some way.
 For example, if a teacher wishes to teach the behavior of remaining seated
during the class period, the successful student's reward might be checking
the teacher's mailbox, running an errand, or being allowed to go to the
library to do homework at the end of the class period.
 practical classroom application are contracts, consequences, reinforcement,
extinction, and behavior modification.
 Behaviorism Advocates
 John B. Watson (1878-1958)  B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
 based on Pavlov’s Classical
Conditioning.
 Human behavior resulted from
specific stimuli that elicited certain
responses.
 Stages of Cognitive Development
 Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
 , birth to age 2, gaining motor control and learning aboufour stages of mental growth.
 Sensorimotor Staget physical objects.
 Preoperational Stage, ages 2 to 7, verbal skills, name objects and reason intuitively.
 Concrete Operational Stage, ages 7 to 11, abstract concepts such as numbers and
relationships.
 Formal Operational Stage, adolescence to adulthood, reason logically and
systematically.
Educational Implications
 adaptation of instruction to the learner's developmental level.
 facilitate learning by providing a variety of experiences, eg. "Discovery
Learning"
 allow students of differing cognitive levels to work together
 use of concrete "hands on" experiences to help children learn.
 Provide concrete props and visual aids, such as models and/or time line;
 Use familiar examples to facilitate learning more complex ideas,
 Allow opportunities to classify and group information with increasing
complexity; use outlines and hierarchies
 facilitate assimilating new information with previous knowledge; and
 Present problems that require logical analytic thinking; the use of tools such
as "brain teasers" is encouraged.
 Social Cognitive Theory
 Albert Bandura (1925- )
 reciprocal determinism: behavior, personal factors, and environmental
factors are all equal, interlocking determinants of each other
 an observed behavior is influenced by the interaction of the following
three determinants:
 1. Personal: Whether the individual has high or low self-efficacy toward
the behavior (i.e. Get the learner to believe in his or her personal abilities
to correctly complete a behavior).
 2. Behavioral: The response an individual receives after they perform a
behavior (i.e. Provide chances for the learner to experience successful
learning as a result of performing the behavior correctly).
 3. Environmental: Aspects of the environment or setting that influence the
individual's ability to successfully complete a behavior (i.e. Make
environmental conditions conducive for improved self-efficacy by
providing appropriate support and materials). (Bandura, 2002)
 implications in classroom teaching and learning
practices
 1. Students learn a great deal simply by observing others;
 2. Describing the consequences of behavior increases appropriate behaviors,
decreasing inappropriate ones; this includes discussing the rewards of various
positive behaviors in the classroom;
 3. Modeling provides an alternative to teaching new behaviors. To promote
effective modeling, teachers must ensure the four essential conditions exist:
attention, retention, production, and motivation (reinforcement and punishment);
 4. Instead of using shaping, an operant conditioning strategy, teachers will find
modeling is a faster and more efficient means of teaching new knowledge, skills,
and dispositions;
 5. Teachers must model appropriate behaviors and they do not model
inappropriate behaviors;
 6. Teachers should expose students to a variety of models including peers
and other adult models; this is important to break down stereotypes;
 7. Modeling also includes modeling of interest, thinking process, attitudes,
instructional materials, media (TV and advertisement), academic work
achievement and progress, encouragement, emotions, etc. in the physical,
mental and emotional aspects of development.
 8. Students must believe that they are capable of accomplishing a task; it
is important for students to develop a sense of self-efficacy. Teachers can
promote such self-efficacy by having students receive confidence-building
messages, watch others be successful, and experience success on
themselves;
 9. Teachers should help students set realistic expectations ensuring that
expectations are realistically challenging. Sometimes a task is beyond a
student's ability;
 10. Self-regulation techniques provide an effective method for improving
student behaviors.
Sociocultural Theory
 Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934)
 Social interaction leads to continuous step-by-step changes in children's thought
and behavior that can vary greatly from culture to culture (Woolfolk, 1998).
 development depends on interaction with people
 zone of proximal development (ZPD) defines the difference between the child’s
independent learning accomplishments, and accomplishments under the guidance
of a person who is more competent at the specific task at hand.
 the tools that the culture provides to help form their own view of the world. three
ways:
 imitative learning
 instructed learning
 collaborative learning,
Educational Implications

 the central role of the teacher-student relationship in learning;

 the inherent cultural and immediate-social influences upon the student’s
attitudes and beliefs towards,
 for example, learning, schooling, and the education philosophy;
 the importance and power of language as a primary tool for the transference
of sociocultural influences upon the child; and
 the benefits of student-centered teaching, whereby the student can efficiently
progress within their potential towards a learning outcome; i.e. constructing
knowledge through social interaction or co-constructivism. (Tudge &
Winterhoff, 1993)
Theory of Moral Development

 Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)  3. Interpersonal accord and

 Levels and Stages of Moral conformity (Social norms)
Development (The good boy/good girl
attitude)
 Level 1 Pre-Conventional
 4. Authority and social order
 1. Obedience and punishment
maintaining orientation (Law
orientation (How can I avoid
and order morality)
punishment?)
 Level 3 Post-Conventional
 2. Self-interest orientation
(What's in it for me?) (Paying for  5. Social contract orientation
a benefit)  6. Universal ethical principles
 Level 2 Conventional (Principled conscience)
Educational Implications

 Moral and Character Development in Education

 Attributes/Character Traits for Moral and Character
Development
 Moral Development and Classroom Management
 Moral Development and Cheating in the Classroom
Experiential Learning Theory

 David Allen Kolb (1939- )

 Experiential learning is a cyclical process that capitalizes on
the participants' experiences for acquisition of knowledge.
 This process involves setting goals, thinking, planning,
experimentation, reflection, observation, and review.
 By engaging in these activities, learners construct meaning in
a way unique to themselves, incorporating the cognitive,
emotional, and physical aspects of learning.
 Experiential Learning
Theory

 two modes of gaining experience

 concrete experience (apprehension) and
 abstract conceptualization (comprehension).
 two modes of transforming the experience so that learning is achieved
 reflective observation (intension [the internal content of a concept])
and
 active experimentation (extension)
Applications of Experiential Learning Theory

 Cooperative learning  study abroad courses,

 Internships field studies, role plays,
 Service learning  computer-based
interventions.
 Field courses
 Simulations
 Gaming
 E-learning
 Bioecological Model of Human Development

 Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917- )

 child and youth development is influenced by
 the microsystem of a person (for example, family,
school, peers);
 relations between settings (mesosystem) can affect
what happens within them (for example, interactions
between school and family);
 settings within which the individuals have no direct
presence (exo- and macrosystem) can affect settings
in their microsystems (for example, how parents’
experiences at their workplace affect their
relationships within the family)
Educational Implications

 Supportive interactions in fostering development.

 proximal processes - those interactions nearest to the
individual have the greatest influence on the development
of the individual
Psychosocial Theory of Identity Development
 Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994)
 eight stages from infancy to late adulthood.
 Educational Implications
 create an environment where each child feels appreciated and
is comfortable with learning new things and building
relationships with peers without fear
 At the preschool level, teachers want to focus on developing a
hardy personality
 At the Elementary Level, teachers should focus on
achievement and peer relationships
 During the middle and high school years, building identity and
self-esteem should be part of a teacher's focus
 Theory of Multiple Intelligences
 Howard Gardner (1943- )
 Existential Intelligence is a
ninth intelligence
 encompasses the ability to
pose and ponder questions
regarding the existence-
including life and death.
 This would be in the domain
of philosophers and religious
leaders.
 Educational Implications
 students have different strengths and weaknesses
 Teachers to think of lesson planning for a variety of the intelligences.
 Multiple Intelligences curriculum.
 set up learning centers with resources and materials that promote involving
the different intelligences.
 project-based and collaborative learning integrated into lessons with Multiple
Intelligences.
 Teacher-centered approach: instructor incorporates materials, resources, and
activities into the lesson that teach to the different intelligences.
 student-centered approach: students create a variety of different materials
that demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter.
Bloom’s Taxonomy

 Benjamin Samuel Bloom (1913-1999)

 three domains of educational activities or learning:
 Cognitive Domain: mental skills (knowledge)
 Psychomotor Domain: manual or physical skills (skills)
 Affective Domain: growth in feelings or emotional areas
(attitude)
Educational Implications
 Theory of Human Motivation
 Abraham Harold Maslow
(1908-1970)
 basic needs are physiological,
safety, love, esteem, and self-
actualization.
 we are motivated by the desire
to achieve or maintain the
various conditions upon which
these basic satisfactions rest
and by certain more
intellectual desires.
Educational Implications

 fulfil the student’s basic physiological needs before the cognitive

needs can be met they must first.
 Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted
within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential.
 students must be shown that they are valued and respected in the
classroom and the teacher should create a supportive environment.
 Students with a low self-esteem will not progress academically at an
optimum rate until their self-esteem is strengthened.
 develop people who are “stronger, healthier, and would take their
own lives into their hands.
Information Processing Theory
 "Input" from the environment
goes through the cognitive
systems which is then measured
by the "output."
 Educational Implications
 To help students effectively process information,
 the teacher or the instructor could use the following guidelines:
 Gain students' attention. Example: Gain attention before providing information, move around the room, voice
fluctuations, etc.
 Ask students to recall prior relevant learning. Example: review of previous day's material.
 Point out important information. Example: information on the board, handouts, study guides, etc.
 Organizing information. Example: present information starting at simple and moving to more complex.
 Categorize related information. Example: Present information in a logical sequence and teach students to look
for similarities and differences.
 Have students relate new information. Example: Connect new information with something that is already known.
 Teaching encoding for memorizing lists. Example: mnemonics and imagery.
 Repetition of learning. Example: Present information in many different ways and provide many ways for
students to manipulate information.
 Overlearning. Example: Daily practice drills.
 Pay attention not to create cognitive overloading activities.
 Discussion Activity
 Discuss and decide each on a learning theory and read further to complete
the following tasks. Use a mind map to process the following information:
 a. Summarize the main ideas of the theory
 b. Discuss how the ideas in the theory relates to pedagogical approaches and
effective teaching and learning
 c. Analyze how the theory resonates (either positively or negatively or both)
with your own experiences as a learner and a teacher
 d. Assess the importance and usefulness of the ideas in the theory that
contributes new learning to you in terms of:
 i. strategies and techniques that support learning
 ii. helping learners learn to think critically, creatively and meta-cognitively.
 e. Explain how you may apply the ideas in the theory into your practice