Running Head: Learning Theories and related methods.

Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, & Connectivism and their relation with

Language Teaching Methods.

A Paper Presented in Partial Fullfilment

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Learning Theories and related methods.

Abstract

The following research paper is aimed to study the different Learning Theories that have
helped education evolve over the time and it relation with methods that are based on some of
these theories. In this paper is made an overview through the learning theories as they
appeared. For instance, the first learning method studied is the behaviorism and is related to a
method that best fits. Cognitivism is also a theory that was studied with the respective
method. Also, the constructivism was taken into consideration because its importance in
education. Finally, the connectivism, considered as one of the most important learning theory
because its applicability in this times where technology is reachable for the majority of
learners. The study of the learning theories and the relation with teaching methods will work
to see how efficient a theory and a method could be.

Key words: Cognitivism, behaviorism, constructivism, connectivism, method, theory,

learning, relation.

Learning Theories and related methods.

Bibliographical Findings
Behaviorism
The humanity have been practicing behaviorism since ancient times without knowing
of the term, nowadays according to Skinner (1924) is considered a science that take into
consideration the complete field of human adjustment as its own. To well define this term is
also necessary to take into consideration other sciences as well. In this case we are taking into
account only the psychological field which is interested in knowing the functioning of parts of
the human being like the different systems that help our body function. Besides the function
of the parts, psychology is deeply interested in knowing the behavior of the human being, in
other words to monitor what the person does during the day, since the beginning until the end
of it. If we relate this to social sciences, behaviorism also helps to predict and also to control
human activity thanks to psychology.
In other words, behaviorism has it basis on the idea that behavior can be monitored
and controlled and even modified thanks to the antecedents and consequences of a behavior
becoming in this way a learning theory. Taking this into consideration, this learning theory
can only be possible with the right environment or as we called before the antecedent. So, the
behaviorism is possible to occur if we include the reinforcement or consequence with a
reward or punishment. In this case, we as teachers will be shaping classroom behavior
according to our needs.
One clear example of Behaviorism is when I started to work at a private school, in
those early ages I was just starting to get experience and learn about teaching. Of course when
I studied at the university I familiarized myself with the terms as in this case with
behaviorism. I used to work with children from about 5 to 8 years old and considering that
children are very active and lose attention very easily if the class get bored, I started to use

Learning Theories and related methods.

some techniques that helped me to call the attention from my students and also help me to get
from my student more participation becoming this a strategy that produced good results. One
of the activities I used helped me to make students behave well in class. This activity
consisted in making a schedule of the week in which every day each student received a sticker
if they behaved well, on Friday, the last day of the week. The teacher counts the stickers in
front of the class and find that the students that had more stickers was the winner of the week
receiving a no homework card for Monday as a price. The reinforcement in this case became a
motivation for them behave well.
I think that all the people put into practice behaviorism empirically, I remember that
my mom also used to give a price when I did the things that she asked me to do or thanks to
my good behavior in any specific moment considering that I was a very active child in the
past.
Method related to Behaviorism
If we relate this learning theory a method, we found that the AUDIO-LINGUAL
METHOD fits in this learning theory. As we saw before the behaviorism learning theory is
based on behavior and specifically in antecedents and consequences or reinforcements.
According to Larsen-Freeman, (2008), this method is based in this four aspects: 1. Language
learning is a process of habit formation, 2. It is important for teachers to prevent students error
since errors ca lead to the formation of bad habits, 3. Students should overlearn the sentence
pattern of the target language, 4. Positive reinforcement helps students to develop correct
habits. So as we can see in the fourth point Larsen-Freeman included the reinforcement as an
important aspect to be considered when using this method. It was thought that the way to
acquire the sentence patterns of the target language was through conditioning- helping
learners to respond correctly to stimuli through shaping and reinforcement. Learners could

Learning Theories and related methods.

overcome the habits of their native language and form the new ha bits required to be target
language speakers Larsen-Freeman, (2008).
Cognitivism
Cognitivism is a newer learning theory if compare to the previous one. This learning
theory appeared in the fifties and started to separate to the use of the behaviorism models to
an approach that goes with the learning models of cognitivists sciences. According to
Siemens, (2005), in cognitive theories, knowledge is viewed as symbolic mental constructs in
the learners mind, and the learning process is the means by which these symbolic
representations are committed to memory. This learning theory is more complex than
behaviorism because includes more aspects to take into consideration when a mental process
is taking place in a student. In other words, cognitivism is a more complete learning theory
that gives importance to how the information is processed.
According to Ertmer & Newby (1993), in cognitivism it is necessary to know how the
information is gathered and received, how it is organized, then how is it stored, and finally
how the information is retrieved by the students mind. This learning theory has been used by
teacher for many years and even I can say that teachers still use it nowadays. For instance, in
teaching planning, teachers have to include some moments in which are explicitly detailed the
processes that students must develop to acquire knowledge. So it is clear that the planning
must be organized and also has to be related with the content of the previous class so it needs
to be sequenced. Another key point is that the content must be easy to understand and wellpresented and more importantly it needs to be meaningful for the students. Cognitive
theories emphasize making knowledge meaningful and helping learners organize and relate
new information to existing knowledge in memory. (Ertmer & Newby, 1993)

Learning Theories and related methods.

As explained before, cognitivism is based in how students process information so we

can also say that cognitivism is focused in retention and recall through the use of quality
teaching practices.
Method related to Cognitivism
If we relate a method to this learning theory we can say that the method that fits with
this theory is the TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE which gives clear guidance to students
when teaching.
This method was designed to accelerate listening comprehension of a foreign
language by having subjects give a physical response when they heard a foreign utterance.
(Asher, 1968)
As explained before we understand by cognitivism when the students internalize
knowledge, the information needs to be stored for later be recalled through a process in the
mind of the students. In this method it is easy to see how a student receive very
comprehensible input through the teacher to help students understand better, the teacher even
use modeling to make students to understand words and its pronunciation. In this method the
student is able to watch and listen for later repeat what they learned.
Constructivism
Constructivism is a theory that has been used for many years by teachers since it
brings some benefits for learners in their cognitive development. According to Husen &
Postlethwaite (1989), this theory is related to some other fields and in fact takes as its bases in
psychology and philosophy. This make sense since this related fields has to be with the
development of the cognitive processes of the students thanks to the teaching practices planed
with the objective to make our students be more critical and productive. According to these
two authors, this theory has two principles; the first principle has to be with the activeness of
the students and suggests that knowledge is not acquired just thanks to the input received by

Learning Theories and related methods.

the teacher or textbooks, and the second principle says that students start to develop cognitive
skills and this skills later will be able to be adapted to any situation in the experimental field.
So now we understand constructivism as a learning theory that takes into consideration
not only learning content but also creating the opportunities for learners to be involved with
the content to be taught and this will be possible when our students consider experience as a
way of learning, in this case the knowledge will be more meaningful for them and obviously
the internalization of the content will be better and faster.
It is very interesting to see how the learning theories have appeared and have been
replacing others, this is a phenomenon that has allowed education improve the way teachers
teach and more importantly the way students learn, according to Cooper (1993), a paradigm
has been set that has shifted over the time from behaviorism going to cognitivism getting until
this point to constructivism.
Sin this theory appeared, has been clearly stated that has contributed to improve
students motivation and also to engage students to the subject. As stated before students have
the chance to be an active part of the class in other words learners have an active role in the
teaching-learning process. Considering all these aspects, learners will construct knowledge by
themselves thanks to their own experiences.
Method related to Constructivism
In my own experiences in teaching I can say that constructivism is one of the most
important theories that nowadays still work. In my case I often use constructivism with my
students when I make them work in groups. By doing this I take advantage of the cooperative
learning to make my students understand any topic. They share what they now and finally
they get to a conclusion that has come thanks to the cooperative learning.

Learning Theories and related methods.

According to Taber (2011) in his paper, Constructivism as Educational Theory: Contingency

in Learning, and Optimally Guided Instruction, shows this graphic which clearly explains
how knowledge is built by having and interpreting new experiences.

Connectivism
As we have been seeing through this paper, learning theories have been appearing
through the pass of the time and have brought innovations to education. With no doubt,
technology nowadays has become an important part in education and for learners. According
to Siemens (2005), the inclusion of the new trends and innovations in technology to education
enables learners to make connections about content taking advantage of technology and their
different sources so in other words the learning activities are starting to move the learning
theories into a digital age.
According to Duke, Harper, & Johnston, (2013), connectivism is a way in which
teachers check on all the things that has been done in digital education and at the same time
the teachers reconsider, analyze, and debate in how all the parts exposed fits one to the other.
The implementation of connectivism also has encouraged teachers be continuously upgrading
their knowledge in order to know how new generations learn. Instruction and curriculum will
also be modified to have an education with higher standards.

With the new generation of students we as teachers are the responsible to provide our
students the tools that they need to succeed in school but taking into consideration the new

Learning Theories and related methods.

trends and the era in which our students are living. At this point teachers must not be selfish
with knowledge because the way teachers learned a language maybe will not be useful or so
successful for students of the age. Now, we have the ease of the technology and if the students
know how to use it properly, will take advantage of the most useful tool to learn.

This theory is well named as the Learning Theory for the digital age because
nowadays we have so many web .2 pages aimed for education and even more for learning a
language. Maybe an specific and well detailed method that fits to this theory is not developed
yet, I consider one of the most interesting and productive for learners.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the learning theories has allowed knowledge get the students and be
internalized by them. With no doubt these learning theories has made of teachers the
facilitators to make knowledge reachable with new trends each time. At first behaviorism was
created with the concept and believe that knowledge was acquired through repetition which
was used for teacher for so many years. Then it came the cognitivism which suggests that
learning is about understanding the concept rather than just knowing it. This makes sense
since the education was becoming more important each time. As the education evolves, the
learning theories do too. Constructivism is a learning theory that puts the student as a center
of the process. This theory says that the students create their own knowledge thanks to their
experiences. And finally, connectivism, that is based in the use of technology to the
educational field. This theory is very productive for learners since internet offers many
sources where the student can get information from.

Learning Theories and related methods.

10

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