Exploring Learning Theories & Competence: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Social Constructivism

1. Learning Theory COMPETENCE III

2. Learning theories Behaviorism Cognitivism Social Constructivism

4. Behaviorism The assumption has been that if teachers speak clearly and students are motivated, learning will occur. If students do not learn, the logic goes, it is because they are not paying attention or they do not care. These ideas were grounded in a theory of learning that focused on behavior. One behavior leads to another, behavioral-learning theorists argued, and so if teachers act in a certain way, students will likewise act in a certain way. Central to behaviorism was the idea of conditioning—that is, training the individual to respond to stimuli.

5. Behaviorism • Learning is defined by the outward expression of new behaviors • Focuses only on visible behaviors • A biological basis for learning • Learning is context-independent • Classical & Operant Conditioning • Reflexes (Pavlov’s Dogs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI • Feedback/Reinforcement (Skinner’s Pigeon Box)

6. Cognitivism Research suggests that learners—from a very young age—make sense of the world, actively creating meaning while reading texts, interacting with the environment, or talking with others. Even if students are quietly watching a teacher speak, they can be actively engaged in a process of comprehension, or “minds on” work, as many teachers describe it. As Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000) wrote, “It is now known that very young children are competent, active agents of their own conceptual development.

7. Cognitivism • Grew in response to Behaviorism • Knowledge is stored cognitively as symbols • Learning is the process of connecting symbols in a meaningful and memorable way • Studies focused on the mental processes that facilitate symbol connection

8. Cognitivism • Jean Piaget • Genetic Epistemology • Assimilation and Accommodation • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9SgbAK5I • Jerome Bruner • Discovery Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz2fOBcqUHY Learner as independent problem-solver

9. Social Constructivism According to Vygotsky (1978, 57), every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. Vygotsky’s theory of social learning has been expanded upon by numerous later theorists and researchers.

10. Social Constructivism • Grew out of and in response to Cognitivism, framed around metacognition • Knowledge is actively constructed • Learning is… • A search for meaning by the learner • Contextualized • An inherently social activity • Dialogic and recursive • The responsibility of the learner • Lev Vygotsky • Social Learning • Zone of Proximal Development https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Im_GrCgrVA

11. Other Learning Theories • Multiple Intelligences • Brain Based Learning • Situated Learning (J. Lave) • Subsumption Theory (D. Ausubel) • Conditions of Learning (R. Gagne)

12. Multiple Intelligences (MI) • Grew out of Constructivism, framed around metacognition • H. Gardner (1983 to present) • All people are born with eight intelligences: • Facilitates students to power their strengths and decisively target and develop their weaknesses

13. Brain-Based Learning (BBL) • Grew out of Neuroscience and Constructivism • D. Souza, N. Caine and G. Caine, E. Jensen (1980’s to present) • 12 governing principles

14. Our Brain