Learning Theories

1. Learning Theories Emmett Mitchell

2. Learning Theory: Foundations of Directed Integration Models

3. Behaviorist Theories • Based on work of B.F. Skinner • Instruction must provide the right stimuli and reinforcement to get students to make the desired behavioral responses, or learned skills • Example: computer-based instruction with teaching machines and programmed instruction • They provide consistent, reliable stimuli and reinforcement on an individual basis

4. Information-Processing Theories • Cognitive theory • Based on a model of memory and storage proposed by Atkins and Shiffrin • Process inside the brain allow human beings to learn and remember

5. Cognitive-Behaviorist Theory • Robert Gagne’-educational psychologist • Instruction has to provide “conditions for learning” by offering activities matched to each type of skill • Students have to demonstrate learned prerequisite skills by demonstrating the type of behavior appropriate for the skill • Example: computer-based methods such as drills and tutorials are useful • Constantly provide the ideal events and conditions for learning

6. Systems Approaches: Instructional Design Model • Concept of instruction as a self-contained system with interdependent components, based on work of Robert Gagne and Leslie Briggs • Applied systems principles from military and industrial training to create models for designing school and college instruction.

7. Learning Theory: Foundations of Constructivist Integration Models

8. Social Activism Theory • John Dewey • Today’s interdisciplinary curriculum and hands-on, experienced-based learning, go along with Dewey’s lifelong message. • Emphasis on the need for cooperative (social) learning would work will with social media and technologies that enable group projects.

9. Social Cognitive Theory • Alberta Bandura • Supported Dewey’s views of learning as a social process, pioneered research to show how this learning occurred • Focus on modeling and self-efficacy

10. Scaffolding Theories • Lev Semenovich Vygotsky • How children learn and think derives directly from the culture around them, but a child perceives things differently than an adult. • Children learn by scaffolding, building on what they know to what they need to know, with the help of adults.

11. Child Development Theory • Jean Piaget • Exploring early stages of development in children and the role of environment in these stages

12. Discovery Learning • Jerome Bruner • Believe children go through various stages of intellectual development • Supported instructional intervention • Theories associated with unstructured learning activities • Can be supported with simulations, problem-solving environments, and exploring Internet sites for relevant information

13. Multiple Intelligences Theory • Howard Gardner • There are at least eight different and relatively independent kinds of intelligence. • Less impact on curriculum due to the need for students to pass high-stakes test • Supports doing group work on multimedia products, assigning students group roles based on their type of intelligence

14. Bibliography • Roblyer, M. D. (2015). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.).