Learning Theories Presentation

1. Learning Theories Presentation By Rene Lopez

2. Cognitivism Defined Cognition can be defined as “The act or process of knowing in the broadest sense ; specifically, an intellectual process by which knowledge is gained from perception or ideas”.

3. Cognitive Learning Theorist: Robert M. Gagné Robert M. Gagné is best known for his Nine Events of instruction. He was born in 1916 in North Andover, Massachusetts. In 1937, he earned his A.B. from Yale University. After receiving his Ph. D. from Brown University in psychology in 1940, he taught at Connecticut College for Women and Pennsylvania State University.

4. Theorists of Cognitive Learning Robert M. Gagné Robert Gagné built upon behaviorist and cognitive theories to recommend approaches to instruction. Much of Gagné’s early experience as an instructional psychologist was spent tackling practical problems of training air force personnel. He dealt particularly with problems in determining just what skills and knowledge are required for someone to be an effective performer at a given job. Once job requirements were identified, the task then became one of determining how those requirements might best be learned by a person in training for the job. He suggested that a task would be best learned by following a specific sequence of nine events:

5. Robert M. Gagné’s “Nine Events of Instruction The following example illustrates a teaching sequence corresponding to the nine instructional events for the objective, Recognize an equilateral triangle: 1. Gain attention - show variety of computer generated triangles 2. Identify objective - pose question: "What is an equilateral triangle?" 3. Recall prior learning - review definitions of triangles 4. Present stimulus - give definition of equilateral triangle 5. Guide learning- show example of how to create equilateral 6. Elicit performance - ask students to create 5 different examples 7. Provide feedback - check all examples as correct/incorrect 8. Assess performance- provide scores and remediation 9. Enhance retention/transfer - show pictures of objects and ask students to identify equilaterals Gagné's work is sometimes summarized as the Gagné Assumption.

6. Robert M. Gagné Cognitive Learning The concept of Gagné's knowledge hierarchy leads to the assumption that it is important to present all the necessary lower-level facts before proceeding to teach at higher levels. Related to this is the concept that people can reason with higher-level concepts if they have learned all of the prerequisite lower-level information.

7. Behavioral Learning Theorists: Ivan Petrovich Pavlov September 14, 1849 – February 27, 1936) was a Russian, and later Soviet, physiologist, physiologist, and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904 for research pertaining to the digestive system. Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomenon of classical conditioning.

8. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov Behavioral Learning Theory Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e. tabula rasa) and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again. In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behavior will happen again. Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behavior in the learner. Lots of (early) behaviorist work was done with animals (e.g. Pavlov’s dogs) and generalized to humans.

9. Analyze and describe how the selected learning theories impact teaching/training. Cognitive styles are relatively stable overtime, include the way that individuals acquire and store information, it is a multi-dimensional construct (eg., visual-haptic, etc.) In order to properly employ cognitive teaching styles, it is necessary to identify which cognitive skills are strong and which are weak in the student. Due to the more personalized approach of this style, the size of the class is often limited. After testing, it becomes possible for the educator to formulate plans for the class. Some of these cognitive skills are connected to the sensory systems, namely vision and hearing. Others are long-term memory, short-term memory, logic and reasoning, comprehension, and focus. Each of these skills can be sub-divided into sub-skills, like discrimination, analysis, blending, and segmentation sub-skills for the main skill of auditory processing.

10. Analyze and describe how the selected learning theories impact teaching/training. Behavioral style: The term “Learning Theory” is often associated with the behavioral view. The focus of the behavioral approach is on how the environment impacts overt behavior. Remember that biological maturation or genetics is an alternative explanation for relatively permanent change. Classical conditioning: is the process of reflex learning—investigated by Pavlov—through which an unconditioned stimulus (e.g. food) which produces an unconditioned response (salivation) is presented together with a conditioned stimulus (a bell), such that the salivation is eventually produced on the presentation of the conditioned stimulus alone, thus becoming a conditioned response.

11. Evaluate the applicability of each theory for the selected adult education environment. • Cognitive Learning: • In order to properly employ cognitive teaching styles, it is necessary to identify which cognitive skills are strong and which are weak in the student. By doing this you will be able to concentrate on the weaknesses of your student s to make them a stronger student. Behavioral Learning: The focus of the behavioral approach is on how the environment impacts overt behavior. Students learn in different environments, for instance some students prefer online courses to classroom settings. Some students prefer the campus life. The Behavioral Learning is a concept based on learning from passed educational situations.

12. The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box” of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata.

13. References • http://www.learning-theories.com/category/cognitive-theories • http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/2004/september04/eis.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Gagn%C3%A9 • http://www.ivanpavlov.com/

14. THE END