COMPARISON : THEORIES OF LEARNING

COMPILED BY NIZWARDI JALINUS

BEHAVIORISM

People learn through repetition. Learner is a passive blank slate shaped by

environmental stimuli, both positive and negative reinforcement.
Manusia belajar melalui pengulangan, pebelajar bersifat pasif dan dibentuk
oleh rangsangan lingkungan, keduanya mendapat penguatan negative dan
positif.
According to the learning theories propounded by the behaviorists learning is a
mechanical process of associating the stimulus with response, which produces a
new behavior. Such behavior is strengthened by the reinforcement. Main
proponents of this theory were J.B.Watson and I.Pavlov. Behaviorists view the
learner as a passive person who responds to the stimuli. According to them the
learner starts as tabula rasa ( which means clean slate) and the behavior is
shaped by the reinforcement. Positive as well as negative reinforcement
increase the probability of the repetition of behavior. Whereas the punishment
decreases the chances of repetition of the behavior. Learning is therefore
defined as a change in the behavior of the learner.

:
Behaviorism as a "how" of education, not a "what"

Use of this theory:

The techniques of reinforcement and punishment have been employed by the
teachers in the classrooms to promote desirable behavior and discourage
unwanted behavior of the learners.

Strengths:

1. It can be used to formulate behavioral contracts in the school as well as at

home.
2. It is helpful in bringing about behavior modification (desired outcome) with
the help of reinforcement, punishment and extinction.
3. Cueing responses to behavior allows the learner to react in a predictable way
under certain conditions.
4. Success of outcomes is easily measurable.
5. Guarantees specific learning.
6. Ease of application.

Weaknesses:

1. Some critics say that it is an extrapolation of animal behavior to humans.

2. Behaviorism fails to explain the development of human languages.
3. Effect of environment in shaping the behavior of a human, is not taken into
account by the behaviorists.

COGNITIVISM
This is a learning theory that was in response to behaviorism. Psychologist who
promoted this idea claimed that behaviorism failed to explain cognition. In this
theory, mind is an information processor. It emphasizes understanding the
concept as a whole instead of just the pieces.
This is the learning theory that I was taught in developing online education
using Blooms Taxonomy. Examples of cognitivist strategies for learning higher-
level thinking are starting a lesson with a hook to create interest, a review quiz
to promotes prior learning, using learning outcomes, chunking content into
organized bite-sized pieces, using graphic organizers, and the student takes on
an active role on learning. The teacher gives lots of encouragement and positive
feedback.

Use of this theory:

The techniques of reinforcement and punishment have been employed by the
teachers in the classrooms to promote desirable behavior and discourage
unwanted behavior of the learners.

Strengths:

1. It can be used to formulate behavioral contracts in the school as well as at

home.
2. It is helpful in bringing about behavior modification (desired outcome) with
the help of reinforcement, punishment and extinction.
3. Cueing responses to behavior allows the learner to react in a predictable way
under certain conditions.
4. Success of outcomes is easily measurable.
5. Guarantees specific learning.
6. Ease of application.

Weaknesses:

1. Some critics say that it is an extrapolation of animal behavior to humans.

2. Behaviorism fails to explain the development of human languages.
3. Effect of environment in shaping the behavior of a human, is not taken
into account by the behaviorists.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Students learn new things through experience. They build knowledge through
experiences and interactions. In cognitive learning, the students are taught to do
something in constructivism. The students are encouraged to discover
something on their own; this is known as self-directed learning. The major
difference is that cognitive learning is about building on prior knowledge, and
constructivism is about building new ideas and concepts based on your own
discoveries.

Constructivism is the study of a learner's own construction of knowledge

(Learning Theories, 2011c). This knowledge is constructed through one's own
personal experiences and interactions with the outside world. The learner takes
in new information and gives meaning to it using his or her own prior attitudes,
beliefs, and experiences as references (Stavredes, 2011). Learners are active
participants in the construction of knowledge while the instructor serves as a
facilitator. Two types of constructivism emerged beginning in the late 1970s.
Lev Vygotsky introduced social constructivism, in which social interaction with
others helps the learner put meaning to information.

Vygotsky noted a Zone of Proximal Devleopment, in which learners can

develop a certain level of meaning on their own but can grow even greater after
interacting with classmates and instructors. In 1985, Jean Piaget introduced
cognitive constructivism, in which knowledge is constructed by either
assimilation or accommodation. In assimilation, incoming information is
associated with a schema, and in accommodation, incoming information does
not match a schema. Thus, the schema must be changed to accommodate this
conflict (Stavredes, 2011).

Strengths: Constructivist activities are generally relevant to the learner and

real-world based. Learners construct knowledge and meaning as they can relate
the information to their own experiences, beliefs, and attitudes.

Weaknesses: Individual experiences and attitudes can vary. A specific, desired

outcome may not always be achieved when different people approach the
problem or task.

Use of this theory: Constructivism is best utilized when learners take control of
the learning situation, such as in Problem-Based Learning. As learners engage
themselves in an activity like this, they develop an understanding of the
importance of the problem, comprehend the relevance of the topic, and
construct knowledge through their experiences. It is more important to focus on
the whole rather than the individual parts in constructivist learning (Stavredes,
2011). Constructivism is sometimes misconstrued as a theory that compels
students to reinvent the wheel, but instead, it implores students to attempt to
learn how it functions and apply this to real-world learning. (Educational
Broadcasting, 2004)

Vygotsky and Constructivism

Any investigation of Constructivism, especially Social Constructivism, wouldn't
be complete without a review of Lev Vygotsky’s (1896-1934) contributions.
His “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD) forms an integral part of
pedagogical theory: “...this zone is defined as the distance between the level of
actual development and the more advanced level of potential development that
comes into existence in interaction between more or less capable participants”
(Cole & Wertsch, n.d., “Social Origins,” para. 4).

The ZPD epitomizes constructivist learning theory in action, how learning

advances as it is built upon previous learning, and advances in stages through
facilitation by a mentor more knowledgeable than the student.

https://youtu.be/InzmZtHuZPY
CONNECTIVISM
Connectivism is a learning theory developed by George Siemens and Steven
Downs. It stresses the connections and combinatorial creativity. All the
knowledge is out there - it’s a matter of making the connections.

Siemens (2004) states, “A community is the clustering of similar areas of

interest that allows for interaction, sharing, dialoguing, and thinking together.”
For example, if a learner is trying to learn how Donald Trump has risen to
power, they may start on a Facebook post that a friend made, which could then
take them to an article, but the text is dense and confusing, so instead the
student scrolls down to the comments sections and finds another link to a blog,
and from the blog there is an embedded Youtube video that they watch to more
fully understand the issue. That student has used various forms of gathering
information using the Internet, and has gleaned the most salient information by
using many different modes to more fully understand the issue.
 Siemens, G. (2008). Learning and Knowing in Networks: Changing roles for Educators
and Designers

Connectivism is a learning theory, in which knowledge exists outside of the

learner, and the learner makes connections between information to build
knowledge. The connections that learners make help them create their own
learning network. Through this connected web, learners will be able to stay up-
to-date with content as it changes. It is important for the learner to be able to
identify credible resources. Siemens outlines the major ideas of connectivism
as:

• "Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions"

• "Learning is the process of connecting specialized nodes or information
sources"
• "Learning may reside in non-human appliances"
• "Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known"
• "Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate learning"
• The ability to identify connections between concepts is important
• Maintaining current and accurate knowledge is the purpose in connectivist
activities
• Decision-making is a learning process as information can change and
what is viewed as correct one day may be incorrect the next (Siemens,
2004)

Use of this theory: This theory can be used whenever research needs to be
conducted. In this digital age, learners can set up RSS feeds, follow
organizations on Twitter, link to certain sites, search videos, and much more.
With all of these resources available, learners can build a learning network that
is constantly growing and can receive the most up-to-date information on any
topic.

Strengths: Since learning is networked and connected to a variety of sources,

information can be obtained easily and instantly. RSS Feeds and other Web 2.0
tools allow for the learner to retrieve the most recent updates to any topic.

Weaknesses: Because so many sources exist, it can become difficult to

determine if a source is legitimate or not

https://youtu.be/XwM4ieFOotA
Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism & Connectivism

A Quick Comparison of all Theories

Questions Behaviorism Cognitivism Constructivism Connectivism

Distributed
within a
Black box - Social, meaning network, social,
How does
observable Structured, created by each technologically
learning
occur? behavior main computational learner enhanced,
focus (personal) recognizing and
interpreting
patterns
What Nature of Existing
Engagement,
factors reward, schema, Diversity of
influence punishment, participation,
previous network
learning? social, cultural
stimuli experiences
Memory is
hardwiring of
Adaptive
repeated
patterns,
What is experiences - Encoding, Prior knowledge
representative
the role of where reward storage, remixed to
memory? and of current
retrieval current context
state, existing
punishment
in networks
are most
influential
Duplicating
How does
Stimulus, knowledge Connecting to
transfer Socialization
occur? response constructs of (adding nodes)
"knower"
What Complex
Reasoning,
types of learning, rapid
learning clear
Task-based Social, vague changing core,
are best objectives,
explained learning ("ill defined") diverse
problem
by this knowledge
theory? solving
sources
Source: Ireland, T. (2007)