Learning Theories

The Behaviorist Learning Theory

The Behaviorist theory is reliant upon the learner and designer's connections between observations, stimuli, interactions, and responses. Considered the "black box" mindset (Mergel, 1998), there is no consideration of a learner's independent thoughts, experience, or social interactions. The best example is of Pavlov's conditioning and his dog's responses to that conditioning (the ringing bell prior to food being served). With this theory's approach, the instructional designer looks at positive reinforcement as a means to get the learner to continue an action, and negative reinforcement as a means to discourage a behavior. Again, a strict viewpoint is taken of considering the learner's observable behavior and establishing positive learner-designer relationships, meaning that personalized instruction can actually be considered a positive when using the Behaviorist method (Slagter Van Tryon, 2017).

In this classroom, you may see a teacher offer his or her students the opportunity to earn free seating, candy, or free time if the students meet a certain criteria. For example, if the students all pass a test, or perhaps show good behavior for a certain number of class periods, one of the rewards would be granted. Or, if a student behaves poorly, he or she may be given a menial assignment that has the intention of causing the student to not continue his or her bad behavior in the future.

The Cognitivist Learning Theory

Developed around the mid-20th century in response to the Behaviorist theory (Slagter Van Tryon, 2017), the Cognitivist theory focused on the interactions between learners and their environment. Specifically, Bandura and Walters point out that learners are able to learn simply from routine observations and repetitions (Mergel, 1998). What distinguishes this learning theory from the Constructivist theory? Whereas Constructivism focuses on the user-centered environment and experience, Cognitivism has the instructional designer attempt to focus on methods that we would expect a learner to be able to use to help them learn (using mnemonics, lists, etc.), again owing itself to the idea that we can predict how a learner will respond to certain tasks (Slagter Van Tryon, 2017).

In this classroom, you would see students organizing and making connections of prior knowledge to help build in learning. One example is to use the Cornell note-making process with students. In doing so, students would be learning in such a fashion as to connect the concepts presented to them to see how it all relates to each other. Another popular example of cognitivism in action is when teachers use vocabulary review games like Quizlet. Quizlet allows students to perform basic recall of key terms and definitions, but in different, interactive approaches.

The Constructivist Learning Theory

Coming-of-age primarily in the late 20th century (Slagter Van Tryon, 2017), the constructivist approach relies heavily upon providing a realistic, real-world learning environment where in learners engage together in solving problems. Similar to the Social Cognition theory, it is expected that students are working together, as they would be expected to in a real-life scenario (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). This learning theory suggests that the learners are able to respond with prior knowledge and experiences, and are expected to as a part of the instruction.

In this classroom, you would see the teacher act more as a facilitator of learning. The instruction is student-centered, and will require students to think critically as they work collaboratively to demonstrate knowledge as they learn. A great example of this theory is the integration of PBL into the classroom. With this approach, students explore new ideas, focus on making connections to their lives and interests, and share what they learn with their peers. In one scenario on exploring physics, students would perform research and design the most aerodynamic bottle rocket to stay in the air for the longest period of time. This requires teamwork and groups would then demonstrate their success (or lack of) in launching the device. Assessment can be conducted along the way, as the facilitator probes with questions and thoughts that would guide the students' thinking throughout the process. This philosophy most certainly aligns with the #joco2020 focus of Johnston County Public Schools.

Social Cognition

As many school districts begin to turn attention toward student-driven learning experiences, allowing the "teacher" to become more of a "facilitator", learning environments where students collaborate, discuss, and share amongst their peers is the framework for the social cognition theory. The emphasis is placed on the idea that learners are more apt to succeed where they are immersed in learning with and from other learners in their proximity (Slagter Van Tryon, 2017). For example, using the school district's Canvas online learning management system (LMS) would allow the classroom educator to facilitate peer discussion boards for their learners, incorporating the social cognition approach to instruction.

Learning Theories Linked to ISD Models?

Just as theories of learning have evolved over the years, considering differing viewpoints and approaches to how society learns best, so have instructional design models (or systems of instruction). In fact, one could say that, at least to a degree, these basic learning theories have driven the evolution of the numerous ISD models we see today. Early on, the basic ISD model focused on the establishment of instructional goals and objectives, what the outcome(s) should be, and created a lesson for the user to follow that would lead him or her to the end goal. This was very much the idea of the behaviorist theory. However, later models began to emphasize the need to consider a user's prior knowledge, interests, and needs, as you can seen traces of in cognitivism. Hence, the needs analysis portion has risen to more prevalence. With the constructivism approach, the user would expect a much more open-ended environment, as the constructivist theory places priority on removing the artificially established environment (Mergel, 1998).