Learning Theories and Educational Research

Learning: the process of gaining in knowledge or skills acquired through instruction or study or to modify behaviour through exposure to a type of conditioning of form or form of gaining experience. 

Learning Theories:provide frameworks fo rinterpreting the conditions and observations of teaching and learning and provide the bridge between educcation and research. 

Each new lesson you present should be based on learning theory and research. 

Deep Processing: necessary for student to make sense of information, to give meaning to information and to remember things for a longer period of time. 

Behaviourism: the predicition and control of human behaviour in which introspection or independent thinking play no essential part of its teaching methods. 

To a behaviourist, human learning is purely an objective experimental branch of natural science. 

Ivan Pavlov:Dogs, classic conditioning.

B.F Skinner:  Operant Conditioning- learnignthat is controlled and results in shaping behaviour through the reinforcment of stimulus-response patterns. Skinner believed that hunman behaviour even language development is based on stimulus response theory. 

Albert Bandura:Social Cognitive theory- observing others and imitate what they observe. 

Self effiacy: one's personal observation about one's ability to feel, think and motivate oneself to lean 

Cognitive Theory: activities like thinking and remembering seem like a behaviour, thus providing an avenue to use behaviour analysis to measure their effect on learning. 

Allan Paivio: Dual coding theory-assumes that people process information in two different ways-processing of images and processing of language. Sub processes- representational, referential, associative p262.

Robert Gagne: 5 major categories of learning, verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes. 3 Principles- providing instruction of a set of components that link to a final task, (2) ensuring each component task is mastered, (3) sequencing the component to ensure optimal transfer to the final task. 

Gagne believed internal and external conditions must be present for learning to occur.  Internal-attention, motivation and recall. External- timing and place. 

9 Events of Instruction- gain attention of learners, inform learners of LO, Present the Stimulus, provide guidance and instruction, elicit performance, provide feedback, assess performance, enhance retention and transfer.  

Intelligence is the ability to gain knowledge, apply knowledge, manipulate one's environment and think abstractly.

Howard Gardner:11 intelligences-linguistic verbal, logical mathematical, spatial visual, body kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist. 

Gardner also beliefs intelligences are influenced by biological predispositions and learning opportunities in one's culture. Educators must take into account the learners different needs. 

Benjamin Bloom: learning as 3 domains, (1) cognitive domain, (2), affective domain, (3) psycho-motor domain. Within the cognitive domain there are six levels to acquire knowledge about a topic-(1) knowledge, (2), comprehension, (3), application, (4), Analysis, (5), Synthesis, (6), Evaluation. 

Critical ingredient is changing instructional methods so students can master a skill. 

Constructivists agree that students learn by doing.

Jean Piaget: children are active learners. 4 cognitive stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Adaptation:cognitive understanding or development at any time. Assimilation: leanring knew knowledge as they experience new things. Accommodation: change of knowledge based on new experiences. 

Jerome Bruner: Learner constructs new ideas based on previous knowledge. teachers should encourage children to discover new concepts by themselves.

Socratic method: analyze problems, think critically about heir own point of view and the opinions of others, whilst defending their position.  

Curriculum should be organised in a spiral manner, students can build upon what they already know. 

Lev Vygotsky: social cognition-child's social environment could positively or negatively affect the child's development.

Zone of proximal development, collaborative learning. 

Students assimilate knew knowledge and build their own. 

Anchored instruction: a model of tech based learning and is a form of instruction where the student has already learned concepts and information, which form a basis for other information to connect to and build upon, which is called the anchor. 

John Dewey: learning should engage the and expand the experiences of the learner. Education is a social process. Learning is student directed, teacher serves as a guide or a host. 

Progressive education:educating the whole child, physically, mentally and socially. 

Pragmatism: truth of the theory could only be determined if the theory worked.