3 theories of learning:

1. 3 theories of learning: Behaviorism: learning as response strengthening Information processing: learning as knowledge acquisition Constructivism:learning as knowledge construction

2. Behaviorism • Strengthening Stimulus-Response connections • The law of effect:when a response is followed by satisfaction (reward), the learner is more likely to make the same response when the stimulus is reintroduced • Based on lab research with animals (Skinner’s pigeons and rats) • The student’s role is to respond to questions: passive learning • Rote learning: leads to reproductive thinking; students perform well on retention, but not transfer • Implications for educational technology: • “drill and kill” • Students learn to give fast responses • Helpful for learning basic skills

3. Information processing • The metaphor of the human mind as computer • Learning is a series of cognitive processes • Taking in information • Building a mental representation • Encoding it into long-term memory • Based on research with humans in labs • 2 versions of information processing: • Passive learner (Freire’s “banking model”): getting the information in • Active learner: selecting, organizing, and integrating new knowledge with prior knowledge • Implications for educational technology: • For passive learning: presenting the information • For active learning: teaching learners how to process information (metacognition)

4. Constructivism • “Human beings actively build meaningful cognitive representations” • Learners engage in active processing of information • Learners as “sense-makers” • Implications for educational technology: • Guiding learners to make sense of the material • Assisting learners to build coherent mental models • Forefathers:Dewey, Vygotsky, Piaget • “emphasizes learning that is meaningful rather than rote, instruction that is child centered rather than curriculum centered, assessment based on transfer in addition to retention, and a learner-centered rather than a technology-centered approach to using educational technology.”

5. 3 types of learning • Skill learning: learning to produce a response when prompted • Learning outcome = procedural knowledge (how to do something) • Rote learning: acquiring pieces of information • Learning outcome = declarative knowledge (factual knowledge) • Meaningful learning: the learner makes sense of the information presented • Learning outcome = conceptual knowledge (knowledge of system, structure, or underlying principles)

6. Cognitive constructivism • Learning as “structure building” • An “intimate relation between understanding and model-building” • A goal of constructivist-oriented instruction: fostering the construction of mental models • Meaningful knowledge = Integrating new knowledge with prior knowledge • Learning outcomes should result in transfer, or applying knowledge in new situations • Near transfer = similar situations • Far transfer = situations that change

7. 3 processes in constructive learning • Mayer’s “SOI Model”: • Selecting: “focusing conscious attention on relevant pieces of information” • Organizing: “building internal connections among the selected pieces of information” • Learners may need help in terms of organizing the information via signaling (e.g., headings, bold face, pointer words) • Integrating: “building external connections between the organized new knowledge and organized existing knowledge For a more complex model, view Jonassen: http://www.coe.missouri.edu/~jonassen/courses/CLE/

8. ?! So what? Implications for design… • Philosophy, in part, guides design • The design should match the intended outcomes: What do you want your learners to learn? • The assessment should match the intended outcomes: What are they expected to do? • Learners’ prior knowledge is exceptionally important: What do they know coming in? • For meaningful learning, they need to make connections: How will you help them make the connections?