Learning theories

1. Constructivism

1.1. Definition

1.1.1. Constructivism is a learning theory that “equates learning with creating meaning from experience”. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner is not a blank slate but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation.

1.1.2. "Humans are knowledge constructors" - Mayer, 1996

1.1.3. "Teachers are cognitive guides for academic tasks, and learners are sense makers" -Mayer, 1996

1.1.4. The mind filters input from the world to produce its own unique reality (Jonassen, 1991a as cited in Ertmer and Newby, 1993)

1.1.5. "Learners do not transfer knowledge from the external world into their memories; rather they build personal interpretations of the world based on individual experiences and interactions"-Ertmer and Newby, 1993

1.2. How can it be applied

1.2.1. e.g. Traditionally,students always choose slides to act on their presentation in classes.However,once a group used H5(an interactive software which allows students to scan QR code and use own mobile phone to see the presented pages)and successfully improved other students' motivation.

1.2.2. "Transfer is facilitated by involvement in authentic tasks anchored in meaningful contexts" -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

1.2.3. Emphasis on learner control and the capability of the learner to manipulate information -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

1.2.4. The need for information to be presented in a variety of ways -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

1.3. Influences of applying them into practice

1.3.1. Teacher has to instruct the student on how to construct meaning (monitor, evaluate and update those constructions) and align and design experiences for the learner so that authentic, relevant contexts aan be experienced -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

2. Behaviourism

2.1. Definition

2.1.1. "Consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses" -Berk, 2013

2.1.1.1. Operant Conditioning Skinner -He believed that the frequency of a behavior can be increased by using reinforcers such as food, drink, praise or decreased through punishment.

2.1.1.2. Classical Conditioning Pavlov -He trained dogs to associate a neutral stimulus (the trainer) with another stimulus (food), which resulted in a reflexive response of salivation.

2.1.2. "Any response to a situation will, other things being equal, be more strongly connected with the situation in proportion to the number of times it has been connected with the situation in proportion to the number of times it has been connected with that situation" -Thorndike, 1911/1965 as cited in Mayer, 1996

2.2. How it can be applied

2.2.1. Learning

2.2.1.1. Kahoot! When using Kahoot, students are awarded points for answering correctly. Students who continue to answer correctly and demonstrate this desired behaviour appear as the top 5 on the scoreboard. They can also receive further reward from the teacher for appearing on the scoreboard.

2.2.1.2. "Emphasis on producing observable and measurable outcomes in students (Behavioral objectives, task analysis, criterion-referenced assessment)" Ertmer and Newby, 1993

2.2.1.3. "Emphasis on mastering early steps before progressing to more complex levels of performance" Ertmer and Newby, 1993

2.3. Influences of applying them into practice

2.3.1. Kahoot! When students are continuously rewarded for achieving the desired behaviour of answering questions correctly, they develop a positive affirmation. In comparison. students who continuously answer incorrectly receive the consequence of being awarded less points. They will become demotivated and not want to participate in the activity anymore.

2.3.2. "Behaviorists assess the learners to determine at what point to begin instruction as well as to determine which reinforcers are most effective for a particular student" -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

2.3.3. Teachers who applied the response-strengthening metaphor in the classroom become "drillmasters instead of educators" (Cuban, 1984 as cited in Mayer, 1996)

2.3.4. Teacher has to determine which cues can elicit the desired responses, arrange practice situations where the prompts are paired with the target stimuli and arrange environmental conditions for students to make the correct reponses

3. Cognitivism

3.1. Definition

3.1.1. Cognitive theory mainly stresses the acquisition of knowledge and growth of the mental structure. It tends to focus on conceptualizing the student's learning process: how information is received; how information is processed and organized into existing schema; how information is retrieved upon recall.

3.1.2. Information process system -Stimulus -Input -Storage -Output -Response

3.1.3. Learning by understanding

3.1.4. Human-computer analogy Both computers and humans engage in cognitive processes such as learning, remembering, making decisions, answering questions and so on. (Mayer, 1996)

3.1.5. Knowledge is transmitted from teacher to learner.

3.1.6. "Learning is equated with discrete changes between states of knowledge" Ertmer and Newby, 1993

3.1.7. "Learning is concerned not so much with what learners do but with what they know and how they come to acquire it" (Jonassen, 1991b as cited in Ertmer and Newby, 1993)

3.2. How can it be applied

3.2.1. During video editing classes,our teacher asked us to upload our assessments to a network disk ,making the process transparent and our works shared.

3.2.2. Input The lecturer shows us videos and delves deeper into each of the learning theories. Storage As students, we take notes to remember the information. Output We are asked to produce a mindmap to demonstrate our understanding of the learning theories, and asked to think of HOW it is applied. Lecturer provides feedback on mindmaps created by students

3.2.3. Knowledge is "sized" and "chunked" in a way to assimilate and/or accommodate the new information quickly and easily as possible

3.2.4. Feedback is given to guide and support accurate mental connections (Thompson, Simonson and Hargrave, 1992 as cited in Ertmer and Newby, 1993)

3.2.5. Emphasis on the active involvement of the learner in the learning process (learner control, metacognitive training) Ertmer and Newby, 1993

3.2.6. Emphasis on structuring, organizing, and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing

3.3. "Use of hierarchical analyses to identify and illustrate prerequisite relationships" -Ertmer and Newby, 1993

3.4. Influences of applying them into practice

3.4.1. "Understanding is seen as being composed of a knowledge base in the form of rules, concepts and discriminations" (Duffy and Joanssen, 1991 as cited in Ertmer and Newby, 1993)

3.4.2. Knowledge is made meaningful to students and learners learn to organize and relate new information to existing knowledge in memory

4. Reflection

4.1. Civen After completing the mindmap, I developed a better understanding on the learning theories and how they are constantly being represented in the classroom. Through the cognitivist theory, I was able to organize my thoughts using the mindmap which has helped me visualize and organize the information clearly. While through the constructivist theory, I have been able to discuss and learn with my peers. I was able to further construct my understanding through discussion. Lastly, the behaviorist approach has made me demonstrate the desired behavior of completing the task. I learned that there isn't a best approach or one approach that is more efficient than the other. I feel that learning is complex and dynamic. Instead of learning through only one approach, we should learn through a variety of approaches. We should utilize whichever approach best suits us as a learner and the content that we need to learn.

4.2. Jasmine：I strongly feel that we should choose the correct way to teach students according to the teaching object and teaching content. For example，when we are teaching in primary school,we should not only teach them the textbook knowledge，but also set some rules to regulate their behaviors.

4.3. Luna:The mind map actually help me to understand the differences between the three theories. It is useful for teachers to use different learning theory in special situation. For example, in order to constrain students' behavior, teachers can make some reinforcers such as reward.

4.4. Ray: In order to build up this mind map, I have to read those reference materials for acquiring these three learning theories. I think this process of receiving information, understanding, comparing the differences between these three learning theories and organizing the mind map is implementing the cognitive theory. After acquiring the definition, then I started to think of the examples of theories applied and influences of applying them in practices. I am working on the constructivism theory. Furthermore, I was reminded by the behavioral approaches that mentioned in the PGDE courses. Skinner identified effective ways to instill discipline in children. The methods are negative punishment, positive punishment, negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement. And the research remind me that positive reinforcement is the optimum way to encourage learning.

5. References Berk. L. E. (2013). Child Development (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education Ertmer, P. A. & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, Cognitivismm Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features From An Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quaterly, 6(4), pp. 50-72. Mayer, R. E. (1996). Learners as Information Processors: Legacies and Limitations of Educational Psychology's Second Metaphor, Educational Psychology, 31(3/4), pp. 151-161.