1. Constructivism
1.1. Major theorist: John Dewey
1.1.1. 1859-1952
1.1.2. American Psychologist and Philosopher
1.1.3. Created a learning theory that emphasized integrating simulations and activities to further the learning process (Brau, 2018).
1.2. Major characteristics:
1.2.1. Learners rely on their cultural background and personal views to interpret and understand new information.
1.2.2. Each learner is unique due to their different experiences, background, and beliefs.
1.2.3. Learner differences should be praised and acknowledged to build the learning among peers (Brau, 2018).
1.3. Role of memory:
1.3.1. Memory is a fluid concept; rather, always changing based on new information.
1.3.2. Knowledge retention should not be the goal of learning. Learners should be able to interpret information and the lesson rather than echoing definitions or facts (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
1.3.3. Memory will be improved through simulations and activities where the learner can practice the new information.
1.4. How learning occurs:
1.4.1. Individuals learn by completing tasks and illustrating the importance of the lesson in a real-life scenario.
1.4.2. Lessons must have context to be useful to the learner and for the information to be retained (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
1.4.3. Learning builds upon previous knowledge in three steps: introductory, advanced, and expert (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
1.5. Types of learning explained by this theory:
1.5.1. Group activities after a lecture where the group discusses their reasoning behind completing the activity
1.5.2. Assessments in which the learner is required to walk the instructor through a process explaining each step to take in the correct order.
1.5.3. Debates in which learners can present their arguments while listening and understanding their peers' perspectives (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
2. References Brau, B. (2018). Constructivism: the students' guide to learning design and research. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/studentguide/constructivism. Cherry, K. (2020). B.F. Skinner Biography. Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/b-f-skinner-biography-1904-1990-2795543 Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71. Kelly, J. (2012). Learning theories. The Peak Performance Center. https://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/learning/theories/ McLeod, S. (2020). Piaget's theory and stages of cognitive development. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html Shank, P. (2018). What research tells us about chunking content. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/chunking-content-what-research-tells-us
3. Behaviorism
3.1. Major theorist: B.F. Skinner
3.1.1. 1904-1990
3.1.2. American psychologist
3.1.3. Created theories including: Operant conditioning, Skinner box, schedules of reinforcement, and radical behaviorism (Cherry, 2020).
3.2. Major characteristics:
3.2.1. Stimuli and response: Learners are responding to the stimuli of new information.
3.2.2. Positive reinforcement: Increasing learner behavior by adding something.
3.2.3. Negative reinforcement: Increasing learner behavior by removing something.
3.2.4. Repetition: Habits become strong when stimulus and response occurs frequently.
3.3. Role of memory: Memory does not have a strong role in this theory, however, habits are emphasized. The creation of habits indicates that the curriculum is successful (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
3.4. How learning occurs:
3.4.1. Learning is based in experience. The learner will experience a scenario with new information, what happens during the scenario will lead to new knowledge and the creation of memory.
3.4.2. A learner will experience stimuli that leads to a response. The response will tell the learner that the stimuli should be avoided or repeated. If it should be repeated, the stimuli turns into a habit (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
3.5. Types of learning explained by this theory:
3.5.1. Repetitive practicing: Learners are required to repeat the information until it is transferred and retained. This is often seen in learning drills (Kelly, 2012).
3.5.2. Reinforcement: Verbal reinforcement praising good work, physical reinforcement to prize correct answers, or negative reinforcements to remove bad behavior and wrong answers.
4. Cognitivism
4.1. Major theorist: Jean Piaget
4.1.1. 1896-1980
4.1.2. Swiss Psychologist
4.1.3. Emphasized the concept of cognitive development, however focused mainly on child development (McLeod, 2020).
4.2. Major characteristics:
4.2.1. Focuses on the mental processing of new information during learning and how learners acquire new knowledge (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
4.2.2. Emphasizes that environmental conditions will affect the learning process.
4.2.3. Learner's beliefs and attitudes will also influence the way they learn and retain information.
4.3. Role of memory:
4.3.1. Cognitivism emphasizes the process of memory.
4.3.2. Memories are defined as information that is stored in an organized manner, allowing learners to retain and utilize the knowledge efficiently (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
4.3.3. Forgetting is the failure of the learner to retrieve information after it is learned (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).
4.4. How learning occurs:
4.4.1. Learning occurs when information is presented in an organized manner, allowing learners to retain and retrieve information when presented with cues.
4.4.2. New information should build upon previous experiences or understanding of other models.
4.4.3. Learners are more likely to retain knowledge that they feel is important and useful.
4.5. Types of learning explained by this theory:
4.5.1. Complex and analytical learning that requires problem-solving.
4.5.2. Chunking: a tool for transferring short term memory to long term memory by providing information in small sections (Shank, 2018).
4.5.3. The method of learning by building on what the learner already knows or has experienced.
4.5.4. Learner should be presented with expectations and objectives of the lesson to encourage further attention and retention of information (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).