It seems that in every master course that you enrol in, there is some mention of the three learning theories that are also discussed in this course. In particular, I am talking about Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism. Of the three theories, it appears that behaviorism is the oldest and has its roots deeply embedded into the work of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, E. L. Thorndike, and Bandura Tolma. This theory is based on the notion that all behavior can be contributed to some external stimulus. By either using positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement, students would learn the required skills. "Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again. In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behavior will happen again."(http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html). The role of the teacher in this learning theory would be to effectively present structured material to the students and then assess how well students understand the material. The teacher is more focused on the presentation of material and acts as a tutor to the individual student. Weaknesses in the behaviorism learning theory are quite evident. If, for some reason, the learner finds his or herself in a situation where the expected stimulus does not occur, the learner cannot respond. On the other hand, the learner has a clear objective and is able to respond almost immediately when the stimulus occurs.
The second theory, Cognitivism, can be dated back to as early as the 1920's. At this time, people began to realize that the behaviorist approach to learning had its limitations and changes needed to be made. Cognitivism is based on the thought processes behind the behavior and changes in behavior are indicators that something is happening inside the learner’s mind. The shift from behavioristic to cognitive began when more of an emphasis was placed on the internal mental processes of the mind instead of the external behavior of the learner. The change from one learning theory to the other was enormous. All concepts developed by behaviorists were not just thrown by the wayside; instead they were adapted to make the work more efficiently from a Cognitivism point of view. The use of Cognitivism in Instructional Design is visible by the use of advanced organizers, mnemonic devices, metaphors, and organizing information into meaningful parts with careful grouping of instructional material from the simple to the more complex. Just like any learning theory, Cognitivism is not without its strengths and weaknesses. One weakness is that the method learned to complete a given task may not be the best way to do so and may not work in all situations all time. An example in technology could be learning how to operate one type of word processing software may not carry over to all types of word processing software. Operations in Microsoft Word may not be the exact same in WordPerfect. A visible strength is that the learner has acquired the knowledge to complete a given task in a consistent manner. If a learner becomes knowledgeable of how Microsoft Word operates, and continues to only use this software, they will have no problem completing any given task.
The newest of the three learning theory, Constructivism, is based on the theory that learners will construct their own perception of the world around them through their individual experiences. The constructivist main purpose is to prepare the learner to solve problems in ambiguous situations.
Constructivism has been used throughout this course to introduce us to different types of Instructional Design Models. We have been given the basis of how ID Models work and then given the opportunity to apply what we have found to our own model. With all of the development in the area of IT with respect to education, teachers have, at their disposal, numerous tools that they can avail of to have their students become active participates in their own education. Teachers should be aware of the fact that their students should not just be given total freedom when it comes to exploring all avenues that are available. Teachers have the responsibility to provide their students with adequate instructions that would help guide their searches and the ability to determine in what direction to head.
No one of these three learning theories single-handedly is capable of fitting the learning style of every student. All students are different and thus require different techniques for learning. As teachers, we need to determine just what learning theory can be applied to each situation. A combination of all three theories may sometimes be needed to accomplish a given task.
