THEORIES

OF
LEARNING

Bruners
Constructivist Theory

 Learners are encouraged to discover

facts and relationships for themselves.
Jerome Bruner

Learning is an active process in which

learners construct new ideas or concepts
based upon their current/past
knowledge.

Concepts of
Constructivist
Approach

1. Representation

Stages:
Enactive representation
Iconic representation
Symbolic representation

2. Spiral Curriculum

Teachers must revisit the curriculum

by teaching the same content in

different ways depending on students
development levels.

Principle of Instruction
Instruction must be concerned with

the experiences and contexts that make

the student willing and be able to
learned.
Instruction must be structured so that
it can be easily grasped by the student.
Instruction should be designed to
facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the
gaps.

3. Discovery Learning

Refers to obtaining knowledge for oneself

Once students possess prerequisite

knowledge, careful structuring of material

allows them to discover important
principles.

Theory of instruction should address four

major aspects:
1. Predisposition to learn
Readiness for learning

- motivational, cultural, and personal.

Lead to learners love for learning
Direct childs spontaneous explorations

2. Structure of knowledge

Understanding the fundamental structure of a

subject makes it more comprehensible

To generate transferable knowledge, fundamental

principles or patterns are best suited

The body of knowledge must be simple enough for

the learner to understand and it must be in a form

recognizable to the students experience

3. Effective sequencing

No sequencing will fit every learner. The

lesson can be presented in increasing

difficulty.

4. Reinforcement

Rewards and punishment should be

selected and paced appropriately.

Social
Cognitive
Theory

Social Cognitive Theory

Also known as SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Main proponent: Albert Bandura
considers that people learn from one another,

including such concepts as observational

learning, imitation, and modeling

General principles:
People can learn by observing the

behavior of others and the outcomes of those

behaviors.
Learning can occur without a change in
behavior.
Cognition plays a role in learning.
considered a bridge or a transition
between behaviorist learning theories
and cognitive learning theories.

How the environment reinforces and punishes modeling?

The observer is reinforced by the model

The observer is reinforced by a third

person
The imitated behavior itself leads to
reinforcing consequences
Consequences of the models behavior affect
the observers behavior vicariously

Contemporary Social Learning Perspective of Reinforcement and

Punishment:

Both reinforcement and punishment have

indirect effects on learning.

Reinforcement and punishment influence
the extent to which an individual exhibits a
behavior that has been learned.
The expectation of reinforcement
influences cognitive process that
promote learning.

Cognitive Factors in Social Learning

1. Learning without performance
2. Cognitive processing during learning
3. Expectations
4. Reciprocal causation
5. Modeling

- live model
- symbolic model

Conditions necessary for effective modeling to occur:

1. Attention- must first pay attention to the

model.
2. Retention- must be able to remember the
behavior that has been observed.
3. Motor reproduction- ability to replicate
the behavior.
4. Motivation- must want to demonstrate
what they have learned.

Effects of Modeling on Behavior:

Modeling teaches new behaviors.
Modeling influences the frequency of

previously learned behaviors.

Modeling may encourage previously
forbidden behaviors.
Modeling increases the frequency of
similar behaviors.

Educational Implications of Social Learning Theory

1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other

people.
Describing the consequences of behavior can effectively
increase the appropriate behaviors and decrease
inappropriate ones.
Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching
new behaviors.
Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and
take care that they do not model inappropriate behaviors.
Teachers should expose students to a variety of other
models.

Learning
by
Doing

Three Assumptions:
1. People learn best when they are personally

involved in the learning experience.

2. Knowledge has to be discovered by the individual
if it is to have any significant meaning to them or
make a difference on their behavior; and
3. A persons commitment to learning is highest
when they are free to set their own learning
objectives and are able to actively pursue them
within a given framework (Smith, 1989:16).

The teachers role:

In Experience and Education Dewey
argues that children need assistance from
teachers in developing a concrete
understanding of the world. In order to
actively assist students, teacher must first
observe children and from those
observations determine the types of
experiences they maintain and are having
interest in.

Making sense of the world:

In addition to deepening their
understanding of their childrens
individual place in the world, teachers
must be willing to tap into their own
understanding of the world. Dewey
believed this to be an essential
component of making sense of the world
for students.

LEARNING
o

The process of learning is most enjoyable when

people are engaged in the material they are
presented with, however, Dewey argued that
enjoyment itself is enough to make an experience
educational.

o Learning is seen as a dynamic process, which leads

to action. In other words, to be meaningful,

learning needs to be tested in reality. (Young,
2006:79)

Thus, as Dewey suggests:

When we experience something we act
upon it, we do something; then we suffer or
undergo the consequences. We do something
to the thing and then it does something to us
in return: such is the peculiar combination.
The connection of these two phases of
experience measures the fruitfulness of
experience. Mere activity does not constitute
experience. (Dewey, 1916:104)

Reflective
Learning

Reflective learning involves students

thinking about what they have read,
done, or learned, relating the lesson at
hand to their own lives, and making
meaning out of the material. Its more
than just memorizing some facts,
formulas, or dates.

Advantages:
Accepting responsibility for students

learning and, as a result, for their personal

growth;
Becoming metacognitive, or literally,
learning how to learn;
Becoming aware of your motives with your
actions;
Seeing a link between the work you are
putting into learning and what you are
getting out of it.

Reflective Learning Theorist

1. John Dewey

- Dewey is famous name in education, and

Dewey believed that reflection was a
necessary precursor for action. In other
words, Dewey advocated that students really
think and mull over what they had read and
encountered, and after doing this, they could
apply that knowledge much better.

2. Donald Schon
- Schon studied Dewey and his theories very
carefully, and he believed in two types of reflection:
Reflection-on-action, which is an unconscious

event that deals with the knowledge we use to solve

problems and carry out actions.
Reflection-in-action, which occurs as the action is

happening. In other words, you reflect on what

youre doing while youre doing it.

3. David Kolb

- Kolb developed an entire learning cycle,

which includes elements of feeling, watching,
thinking, and doing. While in this cycle, the
learner is actively observing, conceptualizing,
experimenting, and finally, experiencing. Kolb
felt that moving through the different steps in
this cycle was very important to being a
reflective learner.

Concrete Experience
(doing/ having an experience

Active
Experimentation

Reflective
Observation

(planning/ trying out what you

have learned)

(reviewing/ reflecting on the

experience)

Abstract
Conceptualization
(concluding/ learning from the
experience

Technique employed by reflective learners:

Applying the five Ws (who, what, when, why, and where) to
what the students are learning.

Transformative
Learning

Transformative learning theory says that the process of

perspective transformation has three dimensions:

psychological

- (changes in understanding of the self),

convictional
- (revision of belief systems), and
behavioural
- (changes in lifestyle).

The transformational Learning Theory

originally developed by Jack Mezirow is
described as being constructivist, an
orientation which holds that the way
learners interpret and reinterpret their
sense experience is, central to making
meaning and hence learning (Mezirow,
1991)

Two basic kinds of Learning:

Instrumental Learning,

- which focuses on learning through taskoriented problem solving and determination of cause
and effect relationships.
Communicative Learning,

- involves how individuals communicate their

feelings, needs, and desire.

Four ways of Learning:

By refining or elaborating our meaning schemes
Learning new meaning schemes;
Transforming meaning schemes;
Transforming meaning perspective

Application:
Transformative learning theory is focused on adult learning,
particularly in the context of post-secondary education.

Example:
Applying transformative theory to curriculum evaluation,
one looks for evidence of critical reflection in terms of content,
process and premise. Content reflection consists of curricular
mapping from student from student and faculty perspectives;
process reflection focuses on best practices, literature-based
indicators and self-efficacy measures, premise reflection would
consider both content and process reflection to develop
recommendation.

Principles:
Adult exhibit two kinds of learning: instrumental

(e.g. cause/effect) and communicative (e.g. feelings).

Learning involves changes to meaning structures
(perspectives and schemes).
Change to meaning structures occurs through
reflection about content, process or premises.
Learning can involve: refining/elaborating meaning
schemes, transforming schemes, or transforming
perspectives.

Importance of reflective learning:

accept responsibility for students own personal
growth;
see a clear link between the effort students put
into their development activity and the benefits
they get out of it;
help see more value in each learning experience,
by knowing why theyre doing and whats in it for
them;
learn how to learn and add new skills over time.

THE END </3

MOVE ON
NA
MARTIN! :(