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In psychology and education, learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views (Illeris, 2004; Ormrod, 1995). Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions.
There are three main categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. And constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theory_%28education%Learning theories tend to fall into one of several perspectives or paradigms, including behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and others.
- Founders and proponents: John B. Watson in the early 20th century. B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov, and others.
- Basic idea: Stimulus-response. All behavior caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All behavior can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness.
- Learner viewed as: Passive, responds to environmental stimuli.
- Behavior may result in reinforcement (increased likelihood that behavior will occur in the future); or punishment.
- Founders and proponents: Replaced behaviorism in 1960s as dominant paradigm. Noam Chomsky.
- Basic idea: Mental function can be understood
- Learner viewed as: Information processor
- Cognitivism focuses on inner mental activities — opening the “black box” of the human mind. It is necessary to determine how processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving occur. People are not “programmed animals” that merely respond to environmental stimuli; people are rational beings whose action are a consequence of thinking.
- Metaphor of mind as computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes.
- Founders and proponents: John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky, others.
- Basic idea: Learning is an active, constructive process.
- Learner viewed as: Information constructor.
- People actively construct or create their own subjective representations of objective reality. New information is linked to to prior knowledge, thus mental representations are subjective.
- Founders and proponents: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, others.
- Basic idea: Learning is a personal act to fulfill one’s potential.
- Learner viewed as: One with affective and cognitive needs.
- Emphasis on the freedom, dignity, and potential of humans.
- Learning is student-centered and personal, facilitated by teachers, with the goal of developing self-actualized people in a cooperative, supportive environment.
