Sorting out Learning Theory

I thought that I would take time to sort out my thoughts here pertaining to each of the learning theories so as to have a more concise description of each upon trying to write my learning theory paper. I am aware that each learning theory cannot be treated completely independently because all the learning theories offer implications for other learning theories. Here I am simply interested in classifying which things fall under each category so that connections can be made clearer later on.

Constructivist Learning Theory - The main idea of constructivist learning theory is that students use their prior knowledge and experiences to learn. They apply newly presented information into their current schemas. When their old ideas are inaccurate, it is up to the teacher to present the new information. This may create cognitive dissonance and cause the students to wrestle with the conflict of ideas further, which will, eventually, lead to a deeper understanding of the new material. As the student is processing the information they are receiving, he or she is actively mentally engaged. Another way to encourage active mental engagement is by having students make predictions so they are investigating the topic at hand. If content is approached as a puzzle, the students will remember the content more vividly than if they were to do something less engaging, such as reading about it. With constructivist learning theory, the big ideas are the most important and letting students explore things doesn't mean they will necessarily understand what is at hand; however, exploration will allow students to construct new ideas based off of their old experiences first. After this, the teacher can step in and offer new explanations and assist with directing the puzzle at hand so that the student can understand material at a more complete and complex level.

Social Learning Theory - The idea here is that students will learn from one another, whether it is through interaction, observation, or imitation. Students essentially rely on other people to help them learn or to encourage their learning. That being said, a very important part of social learning theory is that of zone of proximal development. This is a range between what the student is capable of learning on his or her own, without any help from others, and the point where a student can do something with the help of another person. Zone of proximal development (ZPD) has many different implications for learning because ZPD identifies what material the students are capable of learning and, as a result, what kind of thoughts students are capable of. From here there are implications in developmental learning theory with making lessons more concrete, and constructivist learning theory in regards to active mental engagement. School is a social environment so it is important that teachers encourage group work and allow students to bounce ideas off of one another because it helps them to learn. Often times, working with peers allows students to hear things in a different language than they hear it from the teacher which may make a concept easier to grasp. Overall, teachers should encourage collaboration and peer interaction in the classroom because it is a way in which students learn.

Developmental Learning Theory - Developmental learning theory is based on the idea that students have different capabilities based on where they are at in their development. As children get older, they are able to understand more complex ideas and abstract thoughts. Because of this, the biggest implication from developmental learning theory is that of teaching from concrete to abstract. If possible, instruction should begin with the most concrete representation of the information. If a students are not understanding a more abstract concept, then the teacher should go back to a more concrete example, eventually bridging the gap between the concrete and the abstract ideas. Also important is letting students do things on their own first in order to see what their capabilities and past experiences are. From this, there are implications in constructivist learning theory because prior knowledge is going to shape the individual's level of development, as well as from social learning theory because prior knowledge and development may be influenced by the interactions with peers.

Behaviorist Learning Theory - Of all the learning theories, we have spent the least amount of time on behaviorist learning theory, so I am just going to put down what I generally believe the theory to be saying in hopes that I can deepen my understanding of behaviorist learning theory later on. Generally speaking, behaviorist learning theory is based on the idea that people will respond to different stimuli in different ways. For example, if there is a task presented, the individual will react to that task in a way they deem to be appropriate. The big ideas here are those of reinforcement and how that reinforcement should be used in the classroom. Often times praise is dished out excessively to students so that they become trained to hear if their work is good or bad. Important to behaviorist learning theory is the idea of praising the process instead of the process so that students know that their learning experience is what is being valued, not necessarily the product they get from that experience. That being said, behaviorist learning theory has strong ties to classroom management because students will respond to a teacher in different ways. If the expectations are made clear in the classroom and there is a good relationship between the students and the teacher, students are more likely to behave appropriately during class and to participate more in their learning.

A final note to make about learning theories is that they are not teaching methods, but they have implications for teaching methods. Knowing how people learn is the most powerful tool that a teacher can have for their classroom because from that, they can identify so many other things. Taking into account if students are actively mentally engaged, where students' zone of proximal development are, and making material more concrete before bringing in the abstract will help the teacher to better facilitate learning. These learning theories also offer implications in classroom management and assessment, as a result of the learning processes.