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Learning theory presentation
- 1. Learning Theory Presentation AET 500/Foundations of Adult Learning Roger John Cosgrove April 25, 2016 Dr. Deborah Hornsby
- 2. Five Orientations of Learning Behaviorism Humanism Cognitivism Constructivism Social Cognitive (Merriam & Bierema, 2014)
- 3. Operant Conditioning and Constructivism Theory Operant Conditioning Theory Constructivism Behaviorism Cognitivism
- 4. History of Behaviorism Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov Behaviorism John B. Watson Connectivism Edward L. Thorndike Contiguity Theory Edwin Guthrie Operant Conditioning B. F. Skinner (Shuell, 1993) Memory Study Hermann Ebbinghaus
- 5. Operant Conditioning Theory “Behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organism’s tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.” (Life Circles Incorporated, 2013)
- 6. Operant Conditioning in Adult Education Adults need adult education to stay current and improve their situation in life. Adults do respond to positive and negative stimulation or feedback in a school setting and work environment. (McLeod, 2010)
- 7. Impact of Operant Conditioning in an Adult Education Environment
- 8. Constructivism Theory Constructivism has been defined as learners constructing new ideas based on their current and prior knowledge. (Haylock & Thangata, 2007).
- 9. History of Constructivism Theory Jean Piaget Cognitive Constructivism John Dewey Lev Vygotsky Social Constructivism Jerome Bruner Constructivism
- 10. Constructivism in Adult Education (Deulen, 2013).
- 11. Impact of Constructivism in Adult Education
- 12. Conclusion During the research portion of this presentation, I was struggling with the categorization of various learning theories I had read about and have discussed with my classmates online. It took a while, but I finally figured out that learning theories bleed into one another. They overlap because the science of the mind and how people learn is not an exact science. One single theory does not provide all the answers to how people learn, but the theories together offer us insight so that we as educators can do the best possible job helping people learn in the manner most comfortable and appropriate for their needs.
- 13. References Deulen, A. A. (2013). Social Constructivism and Online Learning Environments: Toward A Theological Model for Christian Educators. Christian Education Journal, 10(1), 90- 98. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/134056014?accountid=458 Haylock, D., & Thangata, F. (2007). Key concepts in teaching primary mathematics. London, United Kingdom: SAGE UK. Life Circles Incorporated. (2013). Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.lifecircles- inc.com/Learningtheories/behaviorism/Skinner.html McLeod, S. (2010). Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/behavioral-therapy.html Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Shuell, T. J. (1993). Toward an integrated theory of teaching and learning. Educational Psychologist, 28(4), 311. Retrieved from http://http://web.b.ebscohost.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/p dfviewer?sid=ba690041-3932-4210-9e63- 8e01dee56bf1%40sessionmgr106&vid=1&hid=125
Editor's Notes
- My name is Roger Cosgrove and I am with you today to discuss learning theory.
- Prior to the nineteenth century, learning and the nature of knowledge was thought to be a philosophical topic, but in the nineteenth century, it became the domain of the scientific and psychology community (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). Learning orientations or perspectives can be clustered into five general groupings comprised of behaviorism which is a theory focused on observation of behavior, cognitivism which is focused on mental processing, and humanism which is focused on the ability of people to make choices and decisions on their own behavior. The last two theories are social cognitive theory which is based on the premise that learning is best when done in group work or activity, and constructivism in which meaning is derived from experience. Within each one of these clusters or groupings are specific theories.
- For my specific theories to explore in this presentation, I have selected operant conditioning theory and constructivism. In the research, I discovered that there is sometimes great difficulty in categorizing theories within the overarching groupings, because there is so much of learning theory which has been built on the foundation of previous theories. An example of this is constructivism is sometimes categorized as its’ own free standing orientation and in other instances it is categorized within cognitivism.
- Psychological research on learning began in the late 1800’s with the pioneering work done by Hermann Ebbinghaus (Shuell, 1993). His study of memory, along with the Edward Thorndike’s work in problem solving were part of the foundation of research on learning theory in America. John B. Watson who named this branch of science, behaviorism, was another pioneer in this field, who held hope and belief that this new field of science would be able to predict behavior and control behavior. Behaviorism is based on the premise that a change in behavior occurs from the outside in. In behavior analysis, new behavior is acquired through conditioning, in conjunction with social learning. There are three parts to behavioral learning and conditioning. They are classical conditioning where response is a reflex to a stimulus (Pavlov), operant conditioning where stimuli is followed by a reward or punishment (Skinner), and social learning theory where modeling follows an observation of behavior. Behaviorism is based on the premise that a change in behavior occurs from the outside in. In behavior analysis, new behavior is acquired through conditioning, in conjunction with social learning. There are three parts to behavioral learning and conditioning. They are classical conditioning where response is a reflex to a stimulus, operant conditioning where stimuli is followed by a reward or punishment, and social learning theory where modeling follows an observation of behavior. Behaviorism is based on the premise that a change in behavior occurs from the outside in. In behavior analysis, new behavior is acquired through conditioning, in conjunction with social learning. There are three parts to behavioral learning and conditioning. They are classical conditioning where response is a reflex to a stimulus, operant conditioning where stimuli is followed by a reward or punishment, and social learning theory where modeling follows an observation of behavior.
- The definition is “behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organism’s tendency to repeat the behavior in the future” (Life Circles Incorporated, 2013). Additionally, positive reinforcement after a behavior occurrence, increases the probability of repeating the behavior. The opposite is also true.
- Analyzing this model as it relates to adult education, at first I thought it is simply not a fit any longer. However, as I studied it more, the premise is people need education and knowledge to be respected and live a nice life. Additionally, adults respond to positive and negative stimuli. However, it is the responsibility of the facilitator to deliver this type of feedback in a manner that the student knows what they need to do to improve their performance the next time. For example, a person may invest additional time for education in order to improve their lot in life. The stimulus may be their employer or significant other encouraging them to gain knowledge, the desire to attain a degree or certificate of competency, or to acquire an additional skill in order to make more money or get a promotion. Examples of reinforcements or stimuli during this process would be increased intelligence, increased sense of self-worth, recognition at work, recognition from an instructor, more money, or any other number of things. Operant training theory is employed in many work environments where onsite training is done. Conditioning is also used in other environments for adults and adolescents in need of therapy or education in the area of eating disorders and drug, alcohol, and smoking addition education (McLeod, 2010).
- In a traditional classroom arrangement, I think that operant conditioning can be used in an adult education environment. For example, when a student or group does well on a project, the facilitator will give them positive feedback on the project which reinforces their effort on the project. Should a group not do so well on a project, the facilitator can and will give them feedback on ways to improve for the next presentation and maybe suggestions on how to work better as a team. In effect, the facilitator is giving the team in this case negative stimuli after seeing a poor effort on the part of a team within the class. Additionally, I think this model and the example I just gave would work in an online environment when a facilitator of the class gives feedback on a team project or an individual’s assignment. In a self-directed environment, it can be a little more difficult for the facilitator unless the facilitator has clearly spoken to the adult student about the self-directed activity and both are in agreement about the scope, goal, and expectations for that activity so the student holds himself or herself accountable and the facilitator can monitor the situation for accountability. However, I would say that in the case of self-directed projects it is much more difficult for the facilitator to fulfill this role since the student is really responsible for their education.
- Constructivism has been defined as learners constructing new ideas based on their current and prior knowledge (Haylock & Thangata, 2007). Adult learning is predicated on connecting new information with retained knowledge and building on it. Adults are self-determining - meaning they will decide for themselves what information is valuable or non-valuable. Adult education provides an environment where social exchange of ideas and thoughts occur. This allows adults in many respects to teach each other and teach their teacher through the sharing of life experiences. A significant part of this process is reflective in nature.
- Constructivism has a great number of contributors to it throughout the years, so you can say it is an umbrella theory with noteworthy contributors like Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget’s focuses on the aging process and the ability to construct meaning at a more sophisticated level (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). Dewey’s contribution is focused on the connection between the individual and the environment and Vygotsky brought in the socio-cultural aspect of how meaning is derived from experience. The final contributor to constructivism is one of its’ founding fathers, Jerome Bruner. Bruner’s concept is that a learner constructs new ideas based on knowledge that they already retain.
- Constructivism is the bedrock of adult learning theory! It is the tool which helped lead to the modernization of how adults are being educated as society embraces life-long learning. While the classroom setting can make this approach much easier, it can be difficult using other mediums for the delivery vehicle of adult education. Without the face to face interaction and verbal communication which takes place in a classroom setting, a facilitator must plan activities that will allow the sense of community to unfold in online courses. Suggested methods to help with this would be a blended model of online and some face-to face using podcasts, virtual classrooms, and a model where student teaches student via communication and group projects over the internet (Deulen, 2013). This is my first online course and I was concerned about having team projects and the need to communicate so I arranged the capability to have a weekly conference call for the A-Team. When I presented the idea to my teammates, they effectively did not like the idea. Since communication in a team arrangement is so important, I am wondering why. The online communication and the back and forth of documents is working fine for us, but I wonder sometimes why there was resistance. I do sometimes wonder if part of it is peoples schedules or style. I also wonder sometimes if there are people who just would prefer to limit the social engagement which school affords.
- Constructivism is essential to adult education practices in the classroom, online, and in self-directed settings. Examples of delivery vehicles of content and knowledge which stem from and complement constructivism are apprenticeships, field trips, and communities of learning.
- During the research portion of this presentation, I was struggling with the categorization of various learning theories I had read about and have discussed with my classmates online. It took a while, but I finally figured out that learning theories bleed into one another. They overlap because the science of the mind and how people learn is not an exact science. One single theory does not provide all the answers to how people learn, but the theories together offer us insight so that we as educators can do the best possible job helping people learn in the manner most comfortable and appropriate for their needs.
- For those of you that would like more information about learning theory, please note the resources which were studied to put this presentation together. I would like to thank you for taking the time to join me today!