Teaching and Learning Theories - Article Example

Learning Theories In education and psychology, learning theories help in understanding the process of learning. There are basically two main perspectives in learning theories, constructivism and behaviorism. Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge. In other words, "learning involves constructing ones own knowledge from ones own experiences" (Ormrod, 2003). Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context. Behaviorism is an educational theory grounded on the seminal works of B. F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov, both scientists well known for their studies in animal behavior. Behaviorists believe that organisms need reinforcements to keep them interested and that the use of stimuli can be very effective in controlling behavior. For the behaviorist, environment directly shapes behavior, and complex learning requires a series of small, progressive steps. The behaviorist theory of education is probably by far the most commonly practiced, because the behaviors of the learners can be easily viewed and therefore measured, which is itself a basic premise of the scientific method (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2005). There are several factors that influence the ability of learning in an individual. These factors could vary from the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, shelter and love to negative emotions such as hostility, anger, fear, and anxiety can literally downshift the brain to basic, survival thinking. This can make learning very difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, positive emotions such as trust, love, tenderness, and humor can facilitate learning and higher-order thinking processes. Students with different kinds of abilities and disabilities belonging to different cultural, social, economic, and educational backgrounds are mainstreamed. In order for all these students to learn, teachers are developing a broad array of educational methods that make it possible for students to learn through their strengths at least part of the time. The rest of the time, students have opportunities to experience and stretch into new ways of thinking and learning. Today, accelerated learning and cooperative learning techniques are used with enormous success in large numbers of corporate training programs and schools. Learning time has reduced tremendously almost to half. As students learn more efficiently, their teachers have more time available to motivate their interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity at the outset of any learning experience. Therefore, there is increased time to help students learn how to learn and to think about what they are learning in a variety of ways. And there is time for students to apply what they learn in thoughtful, practical, and creative ways in other contexts (Dickinson, 2002). There are many different theories of how people learn and how these learning theories can be applied in educational contexts. Teaching and learning activities can be planned and implemented to take principles of learning into account. It is also interesting to think about individual differences among learners and to work towards including activities that have variety and interest for all the learners in educational programs. There are different theories of how people learn. In the following pages a few of these learning theories are mentioned. It is useful to consider their application to how the students learn and also how to teach in educational programmes. It is interesting to think about a particular way of learning and to recognize that everyone does not learn the same way. Burns (1995) ‘conceives of learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior with behavior including both observable activity and internal processes such as thinking, attitudes and emotions.’ It is clear that Burns includes motivation in this definition of learning. Burns considers that learning might not manifest itself in observable behavior until some time after the educational program has taken place. Eisner theory of MultiSensory Learning: Elliot W. Eisner (1933-) has made a significant contribution to our appreciation of the educational process. He is particularly known for his work in arts education, curriculum studies, and educational evaluation. The term multisensory is used generically to refer to any learning activity that includes the use of two or more sensory modalities simultaneously to take in or express information (Birsh, 2005). Teaching with and through the arts provides hands-on activities that are appropriate for any age student and which allow the integration and application of various academic skills (e.g., measurement, reading and research, attention to task details), social skills (e.g., negotiating, sharing, teaming), and executive control mechanisms (e.g., planning, organization, monitoring, checking outcomes) (Anderson, 2000). According to Eisner (2002 a), arts instruction introduces flexibility to standardized education environment through which teachers can promote diversity and individuality. Diverse “special populations” of students who benefit from arts-based teaching and learning include students who struggle with academics. In one program for third graders struggling with reading, artist-teachers and reading specialists combined performing arts with instruction. They found that students who participated in this program, compared with their peers who did not participate, were better able to demonstrate comprehension of the story they performed (Rooney, 2004). Eisner argues that the distinctive forms of thinking needed to create artistically crafted work are relevant not only to what students do, they are relevant to virtually all aspects of what we do, from the design of curricula, to the practice of teaching, to the features of the environment in which students and teachers live (Eisner 2002 b). He was later to argue that approaches which simply gave children arts materials in the hope that their creativity might flow resulted in programmes with little or no structure, limited artistic content, and few meaningful aims. Elliot Eisner says, "Artistic tasks, unlike so much of what is now taught in schools, develop the ability to judge, to assess, to experience a wide range of meanings that exceed what we are able to say in words. The limits of language are not the limits of our consciousness. Sensory stimulation theory: Traditional sensory stimulation theory has as its basic premise that effective learning occurs when the senses are stimulated (Laird, 1985). Laird quotes research that found that the vast majority of knowledge held by adults (75%) is learned through seeing. Hearing is the next most effective (about 13%) and the other senses — touch, smell and taste — account for 12% of what we know. By stimulating the senses, especially the visual sense, learning can be enhanced. However, this theory says that if multi-senses are stimulated, greater learning takes place. Stimulation through the senses is achieved through a greater variety of colors, volume levels, strong statements, facts presented visually, use of a variety of techniques and media. Reinforcement theory: This theory was developed by the behaviorist school of psychology, notably by B.F. Skinner (Laird 1985, Burns 1995). Skinner believed that behavior is a function of its consequences. The learner will repeat the desired behavior if positive reinforcement (a pleasant consequence) follows the behavior. Positive reinforcement, or ‘rewards’ can include verbal reinforcement such as ‘That’s great’ or ‘You’re certainly on the right track’ through to more tangible rewards such as a certificate at the end of the course or promotion to a higher level in an organization. Negative reinforcement also strengthens a behavior and refers to a situation when a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior. Punishment, on the other hand, weakens a behavior because a negative condition is introduced or experienced as a consequence of the behavior and teaches the individual not to repeat the behavior which was negatively reinforced. Contiguity Theory: This theory specifies that `a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its recurrence tend to be followed by that movement. According to Guthrie, all learning was a consequence of association between a particular stimulus and response. Simple contiguous (close together in time or space) association of a stimulus and response can lead to a change in behavior. Contiguity theory further suggests that forgetting is due to interference rather than the passage of time; stimuli become associated with new responses and old responses become `unlearned. In this theory, the role of motivation is to create a state of arousal and activity which produces responses that can be conditioned (Guthrie, 1996). Holistic learning theory: The basic premise of this theory is that the ‘individual personality consists of many elements... specifically ... the intellect, emotions, the body impulse (or desire), intuition and imagination’ (Laird, 1985) that all require activation if learning is to be effective. Facilitation theory (the humanist approach): this theory was developed by Carl Rogers and others. The basic idea of this theory is that learning will occur by the educator acting as a facilitator, that is by establishing an atmosphere in which learners feel comfortable to consider new ideas and are not threatened by external factors (Laird 1985). Experiential learning: Kolb proposed a four-stage learning process with a model that is often referred to in describing experiential learning (McGill & Beaty 1995). The process can begin at any of the stages and is continuous, i.e. there is no limit to the number of cycles you can make in a learning situation. This theory asserts that without reflection we would simply continue to repeat our mistakes. Kolb’s research found that people learn in four ways with the likelihood of developing one mode of learning more than another. As shown in the ‘experiential learning cycle’ model above, learning is: Through concrete experience; through observation and reflection; through abstract conceptualization; and through active experimentation Relevance of these theories in the 21st century teaching Todays powerful accelerated learning theories are being used successfully in both schools and corporate training programs. Even though these educators used different processes, there are common denominators in their approaches. All these teachers believed that their students could learn. They recognized their strengths and helped them to learn through these strengths in multisensory, interactive, and dynamic ways (Dickinson, 2002). Teaching and learning activities can be designed and implemented to take principles of learning into account. Also, it is interesting to think about individual differences among learners and to work towards including activities that have variety and interest for all the learners in educational programs. References Anderson,D.W. (2000) Using the Arts as a Vehicle for Educational and Emotional Success. Presented at ISEC 2000, Retrieved December 23, 2005, from http://www.isec2000.org.uk/abstracts/papers_a/anderson_1.htm Birsh, R.J. (2005). Multisensory Structured Language Education. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Burns, S. (1995). ‘Rapid changes require enhancement of adult learning’ HRMonthly June, pp 16-17. Dickinson, D. (2002) Positive Trends in Learning: Meeting the Needs of a Rapidly Changing World, New Horizons for Learning, Retrieved December 23, 2005, from http://www.newhorizons.org/trans/positivetrends.html Eisner, E.W. (2002 a). What can education learn from the arts about the practice of education? Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 18, 4-16. Eisner, E. W. (2002 b) What can education learn from the arts about the practice of education?, the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_or_education.htm . Guthrie, E.(1996). Contiguity Theory. Retrieved December 23, 2005, from http://www.educationau.edu.au/archives/cp/04b.htm Laird, D. (1985). Approaches to training and development, Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley. McGill, I. & Beaty, L. (1995) Action Learning, second edition: a guide for professional, management and educational development London: Kogan Page. Ormrod, J. E., (2003) Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Fourth Edition. p. 227. Rooney, R (May 2004). Arts-Based Teaching and Learning. Retrieved December 23, 2005, from http://www.vsarts.org/documents/resources/research/VSAarts_Lit_Rev5-28.pdf Wikipedia Encyclopedia, (2005). ‘Learning theory’. 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