Learning theories, intellectual skills, cognitive skills, psychomotor skills
- 1. Learning Theories, Intellectual Skills, Cognitive Skills, Psychomotor Skills Sahibzada Waqar Ahmad Registration No. 132/FSS/PHDEDU/F17 Department of Education IIU Islamabad
- 2. Definition: Learning is… • A change in behavior as a result of experience or practice. • The acquisition of knowledge. • Knowledge gained through study. • To gain knowledge of, or skill in, something through study, teaching, instruction or experience. • The process of gaining knowledge. • A process by which behavior is changed, shaped or controlled. • The individual process of constructing understanding based on experience from a wide range of sources.
- 3. What is Learning? • Learning is a process – Process of Learning – Learning involves the individual • Brain • Body • Learning is a product – Products of Learning • Learning is about ideas and concepts • Learning is about behaviors and skills • Learning is about attitudes and values
- 4. What is Theory… Theory is… A theory provides a general explanation for observations made over time. A theory explains and predicts behavior. A theory can never be established beyond all doubt. A theory may be modified. Theories seldom have to be thrown out completely if thoroughly tested but sometimes a theory may be widely accepted for a long time and later disproved.
- 5. How do people learn? • Easy answer: We don’t know for sure. • Difficult answer: We have multiple theories that provide glimpses of an answer from many different perspectives. These stem from psychologists, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, linguists, neuroscientists…
- 6. Broad domains of theories
- 7. Why is an understanding of learning theory important for educators?
- 8. Epistemology • Our beliefs about the nature of knowledge, our epistemology, profoundly influence our approach to education.
- 9. Psychology of Learning • Our beliefs about how people learn, our psychology of learning, profoundly influence our approach to education.
- 10. Epistemology – Theory - Practice • All three of these need to align –Our beliefs about knowledge –Our beliefs about learning –Our strategies for practice
- 11. Learning theories as glasses • What would a classroom look like as viewed through the lens of: – Plato (rationalist) – Aristotle (empiricist) – Locke (tabula rasa) • Or from these perspectives? – Behaviorism – Cognitivism – Constructivism
- 12. Behaviorism • Behaviorism Definition • focused on observable, quantifiable events and behaviour, the effect of the outside world on individual behaviour; • not interested in hidden internal processes; – A theory of human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors. – Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior
- 13. Behaviorism • Originates from the works of Ivan Pavlov’s-- classical conditioning, and • B. F. Skinner’s--operant conditioning. –Classical Conditioning is when an unconditioned stimulus and response is manipulated with a conditioned stimulus to create a conditioned response. –Operant Conditioning is a controlled response with a reward/ punishment system according to the behavior.
- 14. Behaviorism in the classroom –Rewards and Punishments –Responsibility for student learning rests squarely with the teacher. –Lecture-Based and Highly Structured –“Things we call pleasant have an energizing or strengthening effect on our behaviour.” (Skinner, 1972)
- 15. Critiques of behaviorism • It does not account for processes taking place in the mind that cannot be observed. • Advocates for passive student learning in a teacher centric environment. • One size fits all. • Knowledge itself is given and absolute. • Behaviorism does not account for all kinds of learning, since it disregards the activities of the mind.
- 16. Cognitivism • Grew in response to Behaviorism. • Knowledge is stored cognitively as symbols. • Learning is the process of connecting symbols in a meaningful and memorable way. • Studies focused on the mental processes that facilitate symbol connection.
- 17. Cognitivism • Information Processing looks at how information is retrieved and stored. • This theory focuses on how to store and retrieve information. • Learning is attained through rehearsal and consistent use of the information. – Retention strategies such as breaking down information and comparing the information to long term storage are great techniques.
- 18. Cognitive learning theories DISCOVERY LEARNING (BRUNER, 1961) • Anybody can learn anything at any age, provided it is stated in terms they can understand. • Powerful Concepts (Not Isolated Facts) • Transfer to many different situations. • Only possible through Discovery Learning. • Confront the learner with problems and help them find solutions. Do not present sequenced materials. MEANINGFUL VERBAL LEARNING (AUSUBEL) •Advance Organizers •New material is presented in a systematic way and is connected to existing cognitive structures in a meaningful way. •When learners have difficulty with new material, go back to the concrete anchors (Advance Organizers). •Provide a discovery approach and they will learn.
- 19. Cognitivism in the classroom • Inquiry-Oriented Projects • Provide opportunities for the testing of hypotheses. • Curiosity is encouraged. • Scaffolding
- 20. Critiques of cognitivism • Like Behaviorism, knowledge itself is given and absolute. • Input – Process – Output model is mechanistic and deterministic. • It does not account enough for individuality. • It has little emphasis on affective characteristics.
- 21. Constructivism • Grew out of and in response to Cognitivism and was framed around Met cognition. • ‘Making meaning’ --- learning is a result of the child’s exploration of and interaction with the environment; • Knowledge is actively constructed. • Learning is: – A search for meaning by the learner. – Contextualized – An Inherently Social Activity – Dialogic and Recursive – The Responsibility of the Learner
- 22. Constructivism • Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner constructs knowledge based on their past experiences. • The teacher only acts as a facilitator who encourages students to explore within a given framework. • Learners may collaborate with others to organize their ideas and learn from each other to construct their own knowledge.
- 23. CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE CLASSROOM • Journaling-- Teachers use journaling in the classroom as a way for students to reflect upon their thinking, and connect information that they know, with what they learned. • Experiential Activities • Personal Focus • Collaborative and Cooperative Learning
- 24. CRITIQUES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM • Constructivism is relativistic; there are no right or wrong answers • Students constructing knowledge take too long to figure it out and lose valuable learning time, leading to lower motivation • It is often seen as less rigorous than traditional approaches to instruction. • It does not fit well with traditional age grouping and rigid terms/semesters.
- 25. Putting It All Together Learning Theory Learning Process Technology Support Behaviorism Through positive/ negative reinforcement and punishment Educational software can be used to measure the students assessment Cognitivism Rehearsing information and then storing it for long term use Flashcards and memory games can help retain information taught in a lesson Constructivism Constructing ones own knowledge through past experiences and group collaboration Group PowerPoint projects allow students to work together and combine their knowledge to learn
- 27. Intellectual Skills • The ability to distinguish, combine, classify, analyze, and quantify objects, events, and symbols; the are divided into discriminations, concrete concepts, defined concepts, rule using, and higher- order rule using ( Gagné, 1977 ).
- 28. Types of Intellectual Skills • Knowledge and Understanding. ... • Critical Thinking. ... • Problem Solving. ... • Creative Skills.
- 29. Knowledge and Understanding • In Bloom's taxonomy, the most basic forms of intellectual skills are defined as Knowledge and comprehension • Knowledge is defined as the ability to memorize and reproduce information. • Comprehension builds on knowledge and is the ability to understand what memorized information means. – For example, memorizing that two plus two equals four is a use of knowledge as a skill, where as knowing two of an object + two of an object is four is comprehension.
- 30. Critical Thinking • critical thinking -- the ability to analyze and interpret information to assess its context and validity. –This can include multiple specific skills: asking questions about information, comparing material to known information and drawing connections between information and its context to analyze it -- for instance, to check for bias.
- 31. Problem Solving • problem solving involves an individuals using intellectual skills to solve situations they are not familiar with by analyzing the problem, using information to come up with potential solutions and testing solutions empirically. • problem solving involves relating the information of the problem to: –multiple sets of known information and –finding a way to creatively synthesize that information with the problem
- 32. Creative Skills • Some 21st century education psychologists have modified Bloom's taxonomy to show creating as the most developed intellectual skill. • Different intellectual skills connected with creativity involve planning: – synthesis -- combining multiple sources of information -- and – fluency, the ability to create quickly from limited information. – Originality, the skill to create distinctive solutions, and – flexibility, the skill to alter and revise information given changing circumstances, are important skills in the creative process.
- 33. Levels of Intellectual Skills • Discrimination—Making different responses to the different members of particular class • Concrete Concept—Responding in a single way to all members of a particular class of observable events • Rule Using—Applying a rule to a given situation or condition by responding to a class of inputs with a class of action • Problem Solving—Combining lower level rules to solve problems in a situation never encountered.
- 34. Cognitive Skills • Cognitive skills are the core skills that our brain uses to: – think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. • Working together, they take incoming information and move it into the bank of knowledge we use every day at school, at work, and in life.
- 35. Description of cognitive skills • Attention/Sustained – What it does: Enables to stay focused and on task for a sustained period of time. – Common problems when this skill is weak: Lots of unfinished projects, jumping from task to task • Attention/Selective – What it does: Enables to stay focused and on task despite distractions – Common problems when this skill is weak: Easily distracted • Attention/Divided – What it does: Enables you to remember information while doing two things at once – Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulty multitasking, frequent mistakes
- 36. Description of cognitive skills • Memory/Long-Term – What it does: Enables you to recall information stored in the past – Common problems when this skill is weak: Forgetting names, doing poorly on tests, forgetting things you used to know • Memory/Working – What it does: Enables you to hang on to information while in the process of using it – Common problems when this skill is weak: Having to read the directions again in the middle of a project, difficulty following multi-step directions, forgetting what was just said in a conversation
- 37. Description of cognitive skills • Logic & Reasoning – What it does: Enables you to reason, form ideas, and solve problems – Common problems when this skill is weak: Frequently asking “What do I do next?” or saying “I don’t get this,” struggling with math, feeling stuck or overwhelmed • Auditory Processing – What it does: Enables you to analyze, blend, and segment sounds – Common problems when this skill is weak: Struggling with learning to read, reading fluency, or reading comprehension
- 38. Description of cognitive skills • Visual Processing – What it does: Enables you to think in visual images – Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulties understanding what you’ve just read, remembering what you’ve read, following directions, reading maps, doing word math problems • Processing Speed – What it does: Enables you to perform tasks quickly and accurately – Common problems when this skill is weak: Most tasks are more difficult. Taking a long time to complete tasks for school or work, frequently being the last one in a group to finish something
- 39. Psychomotor Skills • Psychomotor learning is demonstrated by physical skills such as movement, coordination, manipulation, dexterity, grace, strength, speed— actions which demonstrate the fine motor skills, such as use of precision instruments or tools. • Psychomotor ability refers to a wide range of actions involving physical movement related to conscious cognitive processing. Psychomotor ability may be measured by accuracy or speed (reaction time).
- 40. Psychomotor Skills • Psychomotor skills are skills where movement and thinking are combined. This includes things like balance and coordination. • Psychomotor learning is demonstrated by physical skills such as movement, coordination, manipulation, dexterity, grace, strength, speed; actions which demonstrate the fine motor skills such as use of precision instruments or tools. •
- 41. Psychomotor Skills • There are different categories of psychomotor skills. The following are some of those categories. –Discrete Skills: Skills that consist of a single step or a few steps and have distinct task- determined beginnings and endings. –Continuous Skills: Skills whose beginning and ending points are more subtle and are performer-determined.
- 42. Psychomotor Skills –Closed Skills: Skills that are performed without active influence from the environment. –Open Skills: Skills that are usd when the environment causes the performer to make continuous adjustments. –Person and object motion: Skills that can be performed at rest or in motion.
- 43. Sources • Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn – Bridging research and practice. Washington, DC: National Academy. Free Abstract/HTML/PDF • Harasim, L. (2017). Learning theory and online technologies. Taylor & Francis. • Illeris, K. (Ed.). (2009). Contemporary theories of learning: learning theorists... in their own words. Routledge. • https://classroom.synonym.com/types-intellectual-skills-8216731.html • Chivers, Barbara. Learning Theories and Information Literacy. • Bransford John D., Brown, Ann L., and Cocking, Rodney (eds.). How People Learning: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, National Research Council, 1999. •