Learning Theories (LINDA PATIÑO)

The definition of Learning

Wakefield defined  learning  as:  “a  relatively  permanent  change  in  the behaviour of an individual based on his/her experiences or discoveries”. Thus, the process of experience and discovery lead to a new understanding of the world and ourselves and enables us to apply the acquired knowledge in new situations. Knowledge acquisition involves a process that transforms data from experience into organized information.

1. Behaviorism

Behaviourism defines learning as a change in the behaviour of the learner. The learning theory suggests that in order to have learning, the learners must be actively engaged and being rewarded immediately to reinforce their activity. Behaviorism concentrates on the aspects of learning that are overtly observable and measurable.  The desired behaviour is advanced by external stimuli. Therefore, it is mainly based on the stimuli-response associations: given the right stimulus, you will get the right response.

Key principles and classroom implications:

The main principles underpinning the behaviouristic learning theory are:

• Learning at its best takes place through the teacher taking control over the learning process, who is actively reinforcing learners in order to get the desirable learning outcomes
• Learning outcomes are measurable/observable
• Repetition and practice is key to achieve learning, as it strengthens the relation between stimulus of the teachers and the desired response by the learner
• Feedback is vital to achieve learning, as the teachers stimulates the learner to give the desired response to measure learning outcomes
• Positively reinforced behaviour (for example, by rewards, praise or recognition) is likely to be repeated
• Negatively reinforced behaviour (for example, by ignorance) is less likely to be repeated

2. Constructivism:

Learning, according to the constructivist theory, occurs when knowledge is constructed by the individual as a result of their experiences in the world. The core concept of constructivism is that knowledge is constructed as learners build new knowledge on the basis of what they have already learned. As learners enter learning situations with knowledge acquired from previous experiences, their prior knowledge influences what new or modified knowledge they will build from the new learning experiences. 

Key principles and classroom implications

The main principles underpinning the constructivist learning theory are:

• Learners come to the classroom with prior understandings and experiences. To promote learning, teachers must address and build upon this prior knowledge.
• Teachers must think about what a child already knows, so that new knowledge can be related to existing schemata (assimilated or accommodated).
• Teachers must look for misconceptions in the learners’ existing knowledge and provide learning activities that enable the learners to understand the limitations of their current conceptions.
• Teachers must prepare learning tasks in which the learners can actively participate as learners’ own discovery as a crucial element in learning.

3. Cognitivism:

Cognitivism is a learning theory that focusses on how information is received, organized, stored and retrieved by the mind. It uses the mind as an information processer, like a computer. Therefore, cognitivism looks beyond observable behaviour, viewing learning as internal mental processes. In this view, learners are actively involved in the way they process information. Knowledge, memory, thinking, and problem solving are areas for development.

Key principles and classroom implications

The main principles underpinning the cognitive learning theory are:

• Learning is a process of organizing information into conceptualized models.
• Instructions should be organized, sequenced and presented in a manner that
  
  is understandable and meaningful to the learner.
• Retention and recall is important to build schema’s in the brain.
• Memory is supported by organizing learning material.
• Teachers must provide tools that help learner’s brain process information.

Most popular approaches and methods in language teaching.

• Congnitivism
• Constructivism
• Behaviorism
• Social constructivism
• Krashen’s hypothesis

1. Prepare a power point describing each of the characteristics of the requested elements, and then after reading topic, (learning theories) prepare a chart about the different theories, identify the most important concepts, authors, and characteristics.

First read the topic about learning theories, then identify what those theories are:

• Characteristics
• Concept
• Authors

Then make the power point and the chart.

Here is a link on how to use power point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCi7z-bJJXw

All these theoretical currents will have an impact on education in a favorable way, as long as they are all together.

There is no theory superior to the others, simply each of them has a different approach, and depending on the type of competencies we want to obtain for our students during the teaching-learning process, we can rely on the theories that we believe are the most favorable to obtain the desired results.

http://www.isabelperez.com/webquest/taller/qwebquest2.htm

https://www.phoenix.edu/blog/educational-learning-theories.html#:~:text….