Learning Principles

Types of Learning
• Signal Learning
– Simplest level of learning
• Stimulus-Response Learning
– Developing a voluntary response to a specific
stimulus or combination of stimulus
• Chaining
– Acquisition of a series of related conditioned
responses or stimulus-response connections
 Types of Learning
• Verbal Association
– A type of chaining and is easily recognized
in the process of learning terminology
• Discrimination Learning
– Learned through forming large numbers of
stimulus-response or verbal chains
• Concept Learning
– Learning how to classify stimuli into groups
represented by a common concept
 Types of Learning
• Rule Learning
– Rule can be considered a chain of
concepts or a relationship between
concepts
• Problem Solving
– Requirements:
• Learner must have a clear idea of the
problem or goal being sought;
• and must be able to recall and apply
previously learned rules that relate to the
situation
Kolb’s Theory of Experiential
Learning
• Four stage cycle:
– Immediate concrete experience
– Person makes observations and
reflections
– Development of abstract theory
(develop ideas on how to proceed)
– Person actively experiments with
actions to test them out
 Kolb’s Theory (needed
abilities)
• Concrete Experience (CE) abilities:
Learning from actual experience
• Reflective Observation (RO) abilities:
Learning by observing others
• Abstract Conceptualization (AC)
abilities: Creating theories to explain
what is seen
• Active Experimentation (AE): Using
theories to solve problems
 Kolb’s Learning Styles
• Converger
– Learns by AC and AE
– Person is good at decision making and problem solving
and likes dealing with technical work rather than
interpersonal relationships
• Diverger
– Requires CE and RO
– Person excels in imagination and awareness of meaning
– He or she is feeling oriented and people oriented and
likes working in groups
 Kolb’s Learning Styles
• Accommodator
– Relies heavily on CE and AE
– Actively accomplishes things often using trial-and-error
methods to solve problems
– This person might be impatient with other people
– Acts on intuition and is a risk taker
• Assimilator
– Emphasizes AC and RO
– Strength of this person is inductive reasoning, creating
theoretical models, and integrating ideas
– Prefers to play with idea than to actively apply them
– Concerned with ideas than people
Gregorc Cognitive Styles
Model
• Hypothesized that perception and
ordering affects how the person
learns (mediation abilities)
• Perception is the way one grasps
incoming stimuli (abstractness to
concreteness)
• Ordering is the way one arranges
and systematizes incoming stimuli
(sequence to randomness)
 Gregorc Cognitive Styles
Model
• Concrete sequential learners
– Like highly structured, quiet learning environments
and do not like being interrupted
– Focus on details, like concrete learning materials,
especially those that are visual, and they may
interpret words literally

• Concrete Random learners

– Learners of this type are intuitive, use trial-and-error
methods and look for alternatives
– Order new information mentally into a three-
dimensional pattern
 Gregorc Cognitive Styles
Model
• Abstract sequential
– Learners are holistic thinkers who seek
understanding of incoming information
– Need consistency in the learning environment and
do not like interruptions
– Have good verbal skills and are logical and
rational
• Abstract random
– Learners think holistically and benefit greatly from
visual stimuli
– Like busy, unstructured learning environments
and are often focused on personal relationships
 Field Independence / Dependence
Model
• By Herman Witkin
• Field-Independent Style
– Items are perceived relatively independently of their surrounding
field
– More analytical (sees parts more than the whole)

• Field-Dependent Style
– Style in which a person has difficulty perceiving items aside from
their surrounding field
– Is more global (sees whole more than the parts)
– Girls are more field dependent than men and boys
 Field Independence / Dependence
Field Independent
Model Field Dependent
Mathematical reasoning may be strong More difficulty with mathematical
reasoning

Analyzes the elements of a situation Analyzes the whole picture; less able
to analyze the elements

Recognizes and recalls details Does not perceive details

More task oriented More people oriented

Forms attitudes independently Attitudes guided by authority figures or

peer group

More pronounced self-identify See themselves as others see them

 Adult Learning
• Malcolm Knowles introduced Andragogy
• Model of learning:
– Adults are motivated to learn information for which
they understand the purpose and see practical
applications
– They want to take some control of their learning
process and be self-directed
– Want their life experience to be considered in the
learning situation and also want to learn from
others’ experiences
 Andragogy vs. Pedagogy
Area of Concern Pedagogy Andragogy
Need to know Learn what the teacher Need to know why they need
wants them to learn to learn something
Self-Concept Perception of being Feel responsible for their own
dependent on the teacher learning
for learning
Role of Experience The teacher’s experience, Adults learn from each other’s
not the children’s is what experience
counts
Readiness to learn Must be ready when the Ready to learn when they feel
teacher says they must or the need to know
they will not be promoted
Orientation to Subject-centered Life-centered or task-
learning Motivation orientation; externally orientation; primarily internally
motivated motivated, with some external
motivation
 Adult Learning
• Nature: joyful, inherently self-directed,
totally and uniquely different from learning
in children
• Teachers will be less of a disseminator of
information and director of the learning
process and more of a facilitator
• Teacher’s role: guide, coach, mentor,
challenger, motivator
 Learning Theories
• Behaviorist Theories
• Cognitive Learning Theories
• Social Learning Theory (Social Cognitive
Theory)
– Adult Learning
 Learning propositions
• Behaviors which are rewarded (reinforced) are
more likely to occur
• Sheer repetition without indications of improvement
or any kind of reinforcement is a poor way to learn
• Threat and punishment have variable and
uncertain effects upon learning
• Reward (reinforcement) to be most effective in
learning, must follow almost immediately after the
desired behavior and be clearly connected with
that behavior in the mind of the learner
 Learning propositions
• Forgetting proceeds rapidly at first – then more
slowly; recall shortly after learning reduces the
amount forgotten
• Learning from reading is facilitated more by time
spent recalling what has been read than by rereading
• When children or adults experience too much
frustration, their behavior ceases to be integrated,
purposeful, and rational.
• No school subjects are markedly superior to others
for ‘strengthening mental powers’
 Learning propositions
• What is learned is most likely to be available for
use if it is learned in a situation much like that in
which it is to be used and immediately preceding
the time when it is needed
• Children (adults even more) … remember new
information which confirms their previous attitudes
better than they remember new information which
runs counter to their previous attitudes
• Adults need to know why they need to learn
something before undertaking to learn it