Learning Theories
This week our focus is on learning, distance
education, and instructional design theories.
These affect the formation, application, and assessment of online
learning or pedagogy for both educator and student. As our reading supported, one is not necessarily
better than the other (Szapkiw & Szapkiw, 2010). What remains important is the teaching style
of the educator and the needs of the students.
For this post, two learning theories were chosen to be discussed:
behaviorism and constructivism.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is the “change in the
rate, frequency of occurrence, or form of behavior or response, which occurs
primarily as a function of environmental factors” (Schunk, 2016, p. 21). Clark and Mayer
(2016) explain the goal as to strengthen correct responses and lessen
incorrect responses. This is
accomplished by the learner being a “passive recipient of rewards and punishments”
(Clark & Mayer, 2016, p.34). Continuing,
the educator is the focal point of delivering knowledge and administering the reward
or punishment. The basis of behaviorism utilizes
practice, modeling, reinforcement, and active learning (Szapkiw & Szapkiw,
2010). Personally, modeling and
reinforcement have been the most effective with young learners. Modeling can be effective in all walks of
life as declared in Titus 2:7-8 (English Standard Version); “Show yourself in
all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity,
dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be
put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” Reinforcers could be positive or negative with
debate as to which remains more effective.
For the young learner positive reinforcement could be a prize; whereas
for the older learner it could be praise on a job well done. Not to say that it is impossible to implement
behaviorism practices to distance learning it could prove challenging. The utilization of modeling could be limited
in an online environment which would necessitate creativity on the part of the
designer. Reinforcement on the other
hand could be successfully introduced into distance learning. The best use of behaviorism in a distance
learning design should include practice, reinforcement, and active learning
through activities such as discussion boards or other collaborative work areas.
Constructivism
“Constructivism is a psychological and philosophical perspective
contending that individuals form or construct much of what they learn and
understand” (Schunk, 2016, p. 296). Clark and Mayer (2016) explain that knowledge is
constructed by an active learner that participates in the building of knowledge
or “active sense-maker” (p. 35). In this
case the educator is a cognitive guide to learning. They continue to state that the goal is to
facilitate an environment that will encourage cognitive processing by the
learner. Szapkiw and Szapkiw (2010)
reveal that knowledge and understanding of the world is constructed by each
learner through personal experiences and their reflections of those experiences. They continue to explain that educators take
on more of a collaborator and facilitator role which guides instruction. It does not rely on reciting back memorized
information. Constructivism is
considered more effective for older learners that can take responsibility for their
own learning experiences which makes it particularly effective for distance
learning. There is no real downside with
the constructivism approach for older learners since they can take responsibility
for their own learning except for cognitive overload. This also makes it a good choice for a design
model for distance education. It
encourages active learning that can be built upon each week through individual
or group projects.
Over my education career, I have
taught all age groups in and out of the classroom. After studying numerous theories on learning
and pedagogy over the years, I consider myself an eclectic educator. Viewing that there is merit in most theories,
the best of each have been employed in my classroom. Behaviorism practices seem to fit the younger
students better; whereas, constructivism seems to engage the older student to
take control of their learning for themselves which creates an additional sense
of accomplishment for the student. Considering
the different learning theories and recognizing that students learn differently
at varied paces a distance education course development should include three
goal for instructional design as describe by Clark and Mayer (2016): “create
instructional environments that minimize extraneous cognitive processing,
manage essential processing, and foster generative processing” (p.38).
References
Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016).
E-learning and the science of
instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia
learning (4thed.). San Francisco,
CA: Wiley & Sons.
Schunk, D. H. (2016).
Learning theories: An educational perspective. Boston: Pearson.
Szapkiw, M., &
Szapkiw, A. (2010). Module 2: Theories and Foundations of Instruction Design.
Retrieved from http://www.amandaszapkiw.com/elearning/principles-of-design/module-2/index.html
