UNDERSTANDING

THE LEARNER:
THEORIES OF
LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT

Defining Learning and Theories of Learning,

Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences
Influence of theories on Influence of theories of
the development of learning and
concepts and educational Defining development on
practices such as Learning concepts and practices
inclusion such as differentiation

Theories
Brain about
Research Learning
Understandin
g the Learner

Multiple
Learning
Intelligence
Style
s – Howard
Theories
Gardner
 KEY UNIT CONCEPTS

■ Educational ■ Special Needs

Psychology
■ Learning ■ Exceptionalities
■ Theories of ■ Differentiation
Learning ■ Brain-Based
■ Learning Styles Learning
■ Multiple
Intelligences
■ Neuroscience
■ Inclusion ■ Neuroplasticity
What is Educational Psychology?

■ Educational psychology is the branch of

psychology that specializes in understanding
teaching and learning in educational settings.
■ It is the branch of psychology in which the
findings of psychology is applied in the field of
education
What is Educational Psychology?
Teachin • Early
g and Childhood
Learnin
g • Adolescence

• Cognitive
Learning
Processes
• Social
• Emotional

• Student
How
People
outcomes
Learn • Instructional
process etc
What is Educational Psychology?

■ Educational psychology involves the study

of how people learn, including topics such
as student outcomes, the instructional
process, individual differences in learning,
gifted learners and learning disabilities
Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/f/educational-psychology.htm
What is Educational Psychology?

■ This branch of psychology involves not just the

learning process of early childhood and
adolescence but includes the social, emotional,
and cognitive process that are involved in
learning throughout the lifespan.
Source:
http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/f/educational-psycho
logy.htm
Why the Interest in Psychology?

■ The curriculum is of worth only if children are learning

■ Curriculum specialists incorporate psychological knowledge to
increase the probability that students will learn
■ It provides a basis for understanding the process of teaching
and learning
WHAT IS LEARNING?

■ QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

– What is learning?
– What would you expect to observe when learning takes
place?
– In what contexts can learning occur?
 What is Learning?
■ Is it the flip side of teaching
which is defined by Nacio-
Brown (1994) as an attempt to
help someone acquire, or change,
some skill, attitude, knowledge,
ideal or appreciation?
 What is Learning?

■ Learning is a persisting change in human

performance or performance potential. This
means that learners are capable of actions they
could not perform before learning occurred and
this is true whether or not they actually have an
opportunity to exhibit the newly acquired
performance (Driscoll, 2000, p.1).
 What is Learning?

■ Learning takes place intentionally in schools through the

instructional process but also unintentionally or
incidentally when we learn from experiences
■ Learning is thus a lifelong activity…encompassing a
multitude of competences, from knowledge of simple
facts to great skills in complex and difficult procedures.
Learning sometimes requires great effort and sometimes
proceeds with relative ease (Driscoll, 2002, p.4).
 What is Learning?

■ A relatively permanent influence on behaviour knowledge

and thinking skills which comes about through
experience. (Santrock, p. 227)
 Theories of Learning
■ To explain the complex, oftentimes invisible but also visible aspect
of the learning process theories have been developed to offer a set
of scientifically acceptable principles to aid understanding of the
phenomenon called learning.
■ Theories provide frameworks for interpreting environmental
observations and serve as bridges between research and education
■ Specifically, theories are a set of laws or principles about learning;
they originate with questions, usually prompted by curiosity, or
arising out of a problem or events which contradict pre-existing
beliefs.
 HISTORICAL LOOK AT
LEARNING

Major Theories of Learning

BEHAVIOURIST OR COGNITIVE
INFORMATION HUMANISTIC THEORIES
ASSOCIATION THEORIES
PROCESSING THEORIES Consideration of the whole
theory of learning based on the child including their social,
idea that all behaviours are the branch of psychology that
studies mental processes psychological and cognitive
acquired through conditioning development
including how people think,
perceive, remember and learn
 Three Main Theoretical Perspectives on
Learning
■ Behavioural school of psychology – founded by John Watson who was of the
view that behaviours can be measured, trained and changed. All behaviours
according to this school of thought result from conditioning.
■ Cognitive psychology – this school of psychology began to gain prominence
by the 1960’s with the term being first used in 1967 by Ulric Neisser in his
book Cognitive Psychology. He is regarded as the ‘father’ of cognitive
psychology.
■ The cognitive school of psychology focuses on how people acquire, process
and store information and is related to other disciplines such as neuroscience,
philosophy and linguistics
■ Humanistic psychology - also referred to as humanism emphasizes the study
of the whole person and looks at human behaviour through the individual of
concern but also through the eyes of the observer.
www.simplypsychology.org/humantic.html
 Key Behavioural Theorists

E. L.
Thorndike

John Watson

Ivan Pavlov
Theorists and Concepts Linked to
Behaviourism

■ Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) – classical

conditioning
■ John Watson (1878-1958) – modern
behaviourism
■ E.L. Thorndike (1874 –1949)
connectionism or S-R bond theory
■ B.F Skinner (1904-1990) – operant
conditioning
 Behavioural Theories

Albert Bandura (b. 1925) (Sometimes classified as cognitive theorist)

■ Theory referred to as social learning theory – stresses the importance of
observational learning, imitation and modelling
■ His theory integrates a continuous interaction between behaviours,
cognitions and the environment
■ Known for his Bobo Doll Experiment – 1961: illustrated the influence of
observational learning and its key elements – attention, retention,
reciprocation and motivation.
DISCUSSION BASED ON PRESENTATIONS
FROM SLAVIN CHAPTER 5

■ Read the sections assigned. Be prepared to

– Explain the section
– Provide an example – draw on personal
experiences
Behavioural Learning

■ Classical Conditioning ■ Punishers

■ Operant Conditioning – Presentation
– Removal
■ Reinforcers
– Primary and Secondary ■ Immediacy of consequences
– Positive and negative – Shaping
– Premack principle – Extension
– Intrinsic and extrinsic – Maintenance
 Cognitive Theories

■ These theories explain learning by means of internal mental

processes that people use to make sense of the world
■ Cognitive theories focus on how children construct their
understanding of themselves and the world around them
■ Cognitive theories are constructivist… and interactional… and
are based on a variety of perspectives
 Cognitive Theorists
Jean Piaget (1896-1980): Genetic Epistemology,
 Constructivism
 Four invariant stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational,
concrete operational, formal operational
 Centration
 Egocentric
 Conservation
 Schema
 Assimilation
 Accommodation
 Equilibration
 Disequilibrium
 Cognitive Theorists
■ Robert Gagne (1916-2002): Information Processing Model of Cognition
■ Model includes three components
i. Taxonomy of learning outcomes – verbal
information, intellectual skills, cognitive
strategies, attitudes, motor skills
ii. Specific learning conditions – the internal and
external conditions
iii. The events of instruction – shows how the
external events must be designed to facilitate the
internal learning processes
 Cognitive Theories

Jerome Bruner (born 1915)

■ Regarded as one of the best known educational theorist

■ Some of his most well known ideas are:
1. His spiral curriculum – led to his statement that “any subject can be
taught effectively in some intelligently honest form to any child at any
stage of development”
2. Discovery learning
3. The three modes through which learning takes place – enactive, iconic,
symbolic
 Cognitive Theories
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
■ Student of history, philosophy, psychology and literature
■ Most of his work influenced by his background in psychology
■ Equated cognitive development with education
■ View on learning is regarded as socio-cultural
■ Theory regarded as constructivist which emphasize the social
environment as a facilitator of development and learning
■ Terms related to his theory
1. Zone of proximal development
2. Scaffolding (coined by Bruner)
 Cognitive Theories

■ David Ausubel (1918 - 2008)

■ His contribution lies in the area of meaningful reception
learning
■ He is also noted for his idea of the advance organizer which
he proposes as a means of getting students prepared for
learning new information
■ Ausubel proposed that readiness for learning is facilitated
when prior knowledge is activated and made ready to receive
new information
Group Work –

■ Groups to do research on the three theories of learning and present to class.

■ Please see word document for questions for each group
Useful online resources for group activity

■ Learning Theories
– http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/learningmap.html
– http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/19919565/Learning
%20Theories
■ Bandura
– http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html