Group Activity -Select 2 theories and discuss it’s

application in classroom learning and teaching

process (12 minutes)

Key Theories in Educational Psychology

Although the discipline of educational psychology includes
numerous theories, many experts identify five main schools of
thought: behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism,
experientialism, and social contextual learning theories. The
following overview summarizes these five major theory groups
and outlines the key theorists, definition, history, principles,
and applications for each.

Behaviorism
Key Theorists

Edward Thorndike, Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F.

Skinner

Definition and Background

Behaviorist learning theories first emerged in the late 19th

century from the work of Edward Thorndike and Ivan
Pavlov. They were popularized during the first half of the 20th
century through the work of John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner,
and others.

Behaviorism defines learning as observable behavioral change

that occurs in response to environmental stimuli. Positive
stimuli or "rewards" create positive associations between the
reward and a given behavior; these associations prompt one to
repeat that behavior. Meanwhile, negative stimuli or
"punishments" discourage the behaviors associated with those
stimuli. Through this process of conditioning, people learn to
either repeat or avoid behaviors.
Because early behaviorists tried to legitimize psychology as a
science, their theories emphasized external, scientifically
measurable behavioral changes in response to similarly
measurable stimuli.

Although they admit that thought and emotion influence

learning, behaviorists either dismiss these factors as phenomena
beyond the realm of scientific inquiry (methodological
behaviorism) or convert internal factors into behavioral terms
(neobehaviorism/radical behaviorism).

Assuming that changes in behavior signify learning,

methodological behaviorists see no fundamental difference
between human and animal learning processes, and they often
conduct comparative research on animals.

Key Principle(s)

Behaviorism relies on the prediction or analysis of behavior

based on causal stimuli, while education uses the process of
positive and negative reinforcement to encourage or discourage
behaviors. This school of thought emphasizes behavior's learned
causes over its biological one; therefore, behaviorism deeply
values the ability of education to shape individuals.

Behaviorist learning theory distinguishes between classical and

operative conditioning. The former involves natural responses to
environmental stimuli, while the latter involves the
reinforcement of a response to stimuli. Using a process often
called "programmatic instruction," educators use operative
conditioning to reinforce positive and correct negative learnings
that often accompany classical conditioning.

Behaviorist theories ascribe to a reductionist approach, which

dictates that breaking behavior down into parts is the best way
to understand it. Other schools of thought critique behaviorism
for underemphasizing biological and unconscious factors,
denying free will, equating humans with animals, and
overlooking internal learning processes or types of learning that
occur without reinforcement.

Application

Behaviorism has significantly shaped the disciplines of

psychology and education, illuminating major influencing
factors in human behavior and learning. In psychology, both
behavior modification and behavior therapy owe their origins to
behaviorism.

Meanwhile, behaviorist insights underlie many of the teaching

methods still used today in homes, classrooms, workplaces, and
other contexts. The widespread use of learning objectives, for
example, breaks down larger learning goals into a series of
specific skills and behaviors desired from a student.

Behaviorism also influences the sequence and methods used

during the teaching and learning process. Teachers work toward
their desired objectives by using external stimuli, explaining and
demonstrating a skill or behavior, and then inviting student
practice and providing feedback that reinforces the behaviors or
skills they wish students to learn or unlearn.

Cognitivism
Key Theorists

Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Robert Mills Gagne, Marriner

David Merill, Charles Reigeluth, and Roger Schank.

Definition and Background

Cognitive psychology emerged in the 1950s and became

dominant in the 1960s. Departing from the comparative
emphasis of behaviorists, cognitivists see human beings as
rational creatures quite different from animals. Consequently,
cognitive theory explores the complexities of the human mind as
it processes information. It views behavior as a result of one's
thoughts.

Using the computer as a metaphor for the human mind,

cognitivists see learning as a product of mental faculties and
activities, including thought, knowledge, memory, motivation,
reflection, and problem-solving. Recasting learning as the
acquisition of knowledge and the development of understanding,
this approach emphasizes reading and lecture as learning
modalities.

Rather than measuring learning based on observable behaviors,

cognitivists evaluate learning based on a learner's demonstration
of knowledge and understanding.

Key Principle(s)

Cognitive psychology understands knowledge acquisition

schematically and symbolically. It posits learning as the process
of changing a learner's mental model or schematic
understanding of knowledge.

In this view, human behavior reflects internal processing of the

human mind, rather than simply a conditioned response to
external stimuli. Learning involves the integration of
information into a stored and usable body of knowledge.

Cognitive psychology derives, in part, from Piaget's stages of

development, which depend on biological factors such as age.
Learning capacity and activity change over time as a person
moves through life. For example, although older people have
accumulated more knowledge, they do not always remain as
teachable due to their tendency to adopt a more fixed outlook
over time.
Cognitivism emphasizes the importance of an expert in
transmitting accurate information, yet sees a learner's success or
failure in absorbing this information as largely dependent upon
the learner's mental capacity, motivation, beliefs, and effort.

Application

The setup of many learning experiences today reflects persistent

cognitivist ideas, approaches, and assumptions.

Although many contemporary educational psychologists see

cognitivist approaches as outdated, teachers often deliver
lectures in front of a classroom and expect students to
demonstrate their retention of content through information-
oriented tests.

However, teachers' efforts to balance lectures with activities that

encourage mental processing also reflect cognitivist influence.
Self-reflection — a widely used cognitivist technique — helps
students think about and transform their understanding of the
subject at hand.

Constructivism
Key Theorists

John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Jerome Bruner

Definition and Background

Constructivism gained notoriety in the 1930s-40s and enjoyed a

resurgence in the 1970s-80s. This view challenges both the
behaviorist notion of the learner as a blank slate and the
cognitivist notion of learning as the acquisition of objective
information from an expert.
Rather, this school of thought suggests that learners create their
own subjective information by interpreting their world and
restructuring their thinking. Constructivist theories take a
learner-centered approach, in which the teacher serves as a
guide — rather than the source of — the student's learning.

Originating in part from Piaget's understanding of intellectual

growth as occurring through the interaction between old and
new knowledge, constructivism views knowledge acquisition as
a process of building upon a learner's previous knowledge.

Key Principle(s)

Constructivists agree that learners create knowledge rather than

passively receiving it, and that pre existing knowledge plays a
crucial role in their learning. However, two differing strands of
constructivism bear mentioning.

Social constructivism — associated with Vygotsky's emphasis

on social context — posits that students learn naturally through
a process of discovery. While late 20th century cognitivist
theories tend to reduce a learner to a passive receptacle, social
constructivism believes learners actively hypothesize about their
environment and test these hypotheses through social
negotiations.

Cognitive constructivism agrees that learners construct rather

than receive information, but it is interested in the cognitive
processing involved in knowledge construction.

Following Piaget, cognitive constructivism acknowledges age-

based developmental learning stages and articulates learning as
an expansion (through assimilation and accommodation
processes) of a learner's experientially informed mental model
of their world.

Application
Constructivism influences the lesson plan methodologies
employed by many teachers today. For example, constructivist
influence shapes the common teaching practice of posing
questions or problems and then inviting students to answer and
solve them in their own ways.

Constructivism is also evident in popular classroom practices,

such as having students create their own questions, welcoming
multiple points of view and intelligence styles, and using group
work as a collaborative learning tool.

Experientialism

Key Theorists

David A. Kolb and Carl Rogers

Definition and Background

This school of thought emerged in the 1970s out of the influence

of the learner-centered and interactive foci of constructivism and
social learning theories. Experiential learning theories identify
meaningful everyday experience as the most central factor in
increasing a learner's knowledge and understanding, as well as
transforming their behavior.

Experientialist theorist Carl Rogers prioritizes experiential

approaches to education because they work with humans' natural
desire to learn. Rogers posits that humans are more likely to
learn and retain information when they participate actively in the
learning process.

Experientialist David A. Kolb identifies four stages in this

learning process: experiencing, absorbing and reflecting on
experience, conceptualizing experience, and testing concepts in
other situations. These are cyclical stages that function as an
ongoing feedback loop, which in turn allows learners to improve
skills and apply new or recent knowledge.

Key Principle(s)

Rejecting all didactic approaches, experientialism argues that

one person cannot effectively impart knowledge directly to
another person; people must learn for themselves. A teacher can
facilitate the learning process by engaging students through an
experience, but they cannot control exactly what students learn
from that experience.

Experientialists argue that learners become less flexible and

receptive when they are afraid; as a result, this view encourages
teachers to create non-threatening learning environments in
which learners can experience and experiment freely.

Contemporary experientialists are interested in how a learner's

engagement and testing of new skills or concepts influences
their learning environment, which creates a larger feedback loop
that shapes the world in which we live.

Application

The experientialist understanding of the learning process as a

dynamic feedback loop often shapes how educators plan their
lessons.

By placing an emphasis on activities that prompt effective

perception and processing, educators can activate the learner's
prior experience, demonstrate a new skill for the learner, ask the
learner to practice the skill, and then invite application of those
skills in practical scenarios.

Experientialism also shapes theories of organizational learning,

including workplace design and professional training. Such
programming often introduces realistic problems or scenarios
where professionals practice new skills to generate a
constructive solution. Individuals may also work collaboratively
and receive feedback from their peers and instructors.

Many schools incorporate experiential education as a formal

component in their programs and curricula. In K-12 schools,
these experiences often take the form of field trips or projects.

Meanwhile, colleges offer undergraduates internships and study

abroad programs, and graduate schools often incorporate
practicum experiences that allow students to apply what they
have learned in other courses.

Social and Contextual

Key Theorists

Lev Vygotsky, Albert Bandura, Jean Lave, Rogoff, Etienne

Wenger, and Thomas Sergiovanni

Definition and Background

First emerging in the late 20th century, social and contextual

learning theories challenge the individual-focused approaches
evident in both constructivism and cognitivism. Social and
contextual theories are influenced by anthropological and
ethnographic research and emphasize the ways environment and
social contexts shape one's learning.

In this view, cognition and learning are understood as

interactions between the individual and a situation; knowledge is
situated in — and a product of — the activity, context, and
culture in which it is developed and used. This led to new
metaphors for learning as a "participation" and "social
negotiation."
Social learning theory pays particular attention to social and
interactive aspects of learning. Albert Bandura, for example,
emphasizes the roles that social observation and modeling play
in learning, while Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger posit that
learning works best in a community of practice that produces
social capital that improves the health of the community and its
members.

Key Principle(s)

The situated, relational nature of knowledge and the social,

engaged nature of effective learning are the foundational
principles of social and contextual learning theories.

Bandura posits a reciprocal determinism between environment,

personality, and behavior, arguing that these factors influence
one another while also shaping learning situations. Emphasizing
learner attention, motivation, and memory, Bandura encourages
educators to use natural tendencies toward observation,
modeling, and imitation when designing learning situations.

Bandura's ideas correlate with Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal

Development, where the zone of development is only accessible
to a learner through interaction with mentors or other more
knowledgeable persons.

Lave and Wenger, on the other hand, view the diversity in

knowledge levels as the best asset to a community of practice.
They believe that learning depends on a group's effective use of
cooperation, trust, understanding, and problem-solving to
produce beneficial learning outcomes for the community.

Thomas Sergiovanni seconds this view, arguing that schools and

other communities need to shift toward this approach before
they can see substantial improvement.

Application
The efforts of today's teachers to connect students' new and
preexisting knowledge aligns with social and contextual
learning. As a result, teachers account for the demographics of
their classrooms as much as they do lesson planning.

Social and contextual learning theories also inform educators'

efforts to connect new concepts with direct applications of
concepts in specific contexts where a student lives, works,
and/or learns.

While educators used to expect learners to make connections on

their own, teachers now achieve more successful learning
outcomes when they create learning environments that facilitate
this process. Many teachers try to incorporate multifaceted,
experiential learning environments that assist students in forging
meaningful connections between abstract and practical concepts.
A teacher's effort to explicitly address the importance of lesson
material reflects the impact of social and contextual learning
theory. Explanations and illustrations of reasons for a lesson
typically improve student motivation, helping students visualize
or actually practice using this knowledge in practical contexts.