Learning Theories, Instructional Theories, and Instructional Design

1. Learning Theories, Instructional Theories, and Instructional Design Dania Bilal IS 551 Fall 2005

2. Learning Theories • Descriptive • Generic • Explain how learning takes place to achieve certain outcomes • Apply to numerous learning situations

3. Learning Theories: Behaviorism • B.F. Skinner • Centers on reinforcements and incentives • Emphasis placed on instructor rather than the learner • Instructor plays central role • Learner is empty slate

4. Learning Theories: Cognition • Jean Piaget • Learner creates new constructs based on prior experience and knowledge • Focus on learner not teacher • Stages of child development

5. Learning Theories: Social Cognition • Vygotsky • Roles of social interaction and culture in learning process • Teacher-student communication • Team Work • Proximal Zone of Development

6. Instructional Theory • Prescriptive • Situation-specific • Task-oriented • Narrower in scope than learning theories

7. Instructional Theory • Centers on how to ensure desired learning occurs • Informed by learning theory • Defines core teaching strategies to incorporate in a lesson

8. Instructional Design (ID) • Informed by instructional theory • How to apply instructional theory to create effective lessons or training units • Fundamental components 1. Learners 2. Objectives 3. Methods 4. Evaluation

9. ID Key Components • Learners • Learner characteristics • Objectives • General • Enabling

10. ID Key Components • Methods • Instructional strategies • Evaluation • Formative • Summative A complete ID process has 9 elements.

11. Writing Objectives • Terminal objectives • Those that learners must achieve upon completion of training, of class enrollment, etc. • The Ends • Enabling objectives • The skills and knowledge the instructor or trainer provide the learners to achieve achieve terminal objectives • Means to achieve the Ends

12. Example of Writing Objectives for TEL Tranining Terminal objective • Understand the purpose • Describe the scope of TEL • Enabling objective for terminal objective 1 • Give an overview about TEL (instructor/trainer) • Enabling objective for terminal objective 2 • Demonstrate TEL and show databases in various disciplines (instructor/trainer)

13. Writing Objectives • Start with a verb • Include one element to achieve in each objective • Include conditions (if needed), such as accuracy, effectiveness, and percentage levels. • Examples: use the Web effectively; provide answers with 100% accuracy, etc.