Learning theories - Behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism
The words learning theory or theories are often bandied about when talking about learning and how people learn. But what are learning theories anyway?
Learning theories are theoretical frameworks that outline and explain how people learn. In layman terms, it means there are a number of theories that tell us how people learn and these theories often have different ways of viewing how people learn. There have been times when one theory was considered to be more applicable than others or was more widely accepted to be true than others. It might also be the case with some learning theories that they may not be held in as high an esteem as they were earlier.
Whatever may be the case, I think it is useful to know about these learning theories and the idea they represent, in order to form a more refined idea about how people learn.
Now there are a lot of learning theories out there so I will talk about the most popular ones as well as the ones that might be known to have the most impact.
The three major learning theories are:
Behaviourism
Behaviourism is a learning theory that says that learning occurs as a response to stimuli and repetitively doing something to reinforce the learning. Stimuli are events that provoke a particular response from an individual. Behaviourism is only concerned with observable behaviour and not with internal thought and emotional processes. Think of an automaton which does not think why it's doing something as it only does what it has been programmed to do. This type of learning is seen in the traditional rote and repetitive learning. Another aspect of behaviourism, known as operant conditioning, as proposed by BF skinner was that behaviour is determined by its consequences. These consequences might be positive reinforcements (praise/reward) or negative reinforcements (punishments/threats) and are used to ensure that the desired behaviour happens.
A critiscism against behaviourism is that it does not promote independent thinking and analysis among learners and is useful for relatively basic tasks where a consistent response is required from the learner to a given situation or event.
Behaviourism's application in the workplace is seen when an employee does something good or behaves in an expected manner then they get praise or a reward whereas on behaving contrary to expectations they might be counseled or relieved of their duties.
Cognitivism
Cognitivism, on the other hand, rejects that learning is a response to stimuli. In this aspect, Cognitivism is directly opposite to behaviourism. According to cognitivist perspective, learning occurs due to internal processes such as thinking, observing, knowing, generalising etc. So for example, if an employee learns a task, it's not simply due to an expectation of getting praise or monetary reward (as in behaviourism) rather it is due to the employee observing that particular task, memorising how to do it and thinking about how to do it in future.
Constructivism
Constructivism says that learning is a construct of learner perceptions and interpretations. In other words, learning occurs when a learner develops their own ideas about the learning by using their interpretations, experiences, and perceptions. Constructivism views learners as individuals who analyse a given situation with regard to their environment as opposed to their status as simple knowledge recorders under behaviorism.
The constructivist approach is often described as a learner-centric approach where the teacher acts as a cognitive guide for the learner and the learner develops their learning based on their experiences, knowledge, and understanding.
The Constructivist approach is often used to encourage problem-solving capabilities of the learner . At the same time due to inherent nature of constructivism wherein, learners apply their own interpretations to a situation based on their knowledge and experience, constructivism is not well suited for instances where a consistent response is required.
The Constructivist approach is applied when learners are provided case studies, research projects and simulations where they are expected to provide a solution based on factors and situations presented to them.
A good video explaining these theories can be found here.
Learning theories are theoretical frameworks that outline and explain how people learn. In layman terms, it means there are a number of theories that tell us how people learn and these theories often have different ways of viewing how people learn. There have been times when one theory was considered to be more applicable than others or was more widely accepted to be true than others. It might also be the case with some learning theories that they may not be held in as high an esteem as they were earlier.
Whatever may be the case, I think it is useful to know about these learning theories and the idea they represent, in order to form a more refined idea about how people learn.
Now there are a lot of learning theories out there so I will talk about the most popular ones as well as the ones that might be known to have the most impact.
The three major learning theories are:
Behaviourism
Behaviourism is a learning theory that says that learning occurs as a response to stimuli and repetitively doing something to reinforce the learning. Stimuli are events that provoke a particular response from an individual. Behaviourism is only concerned with observable behaviour and not with internal thought and emotional processes. Think of an automaton which does not think why it's doing something as it only does what it has been programmed to do. This type of learning is seen in the traditional rote and repetitive learning. Another aspect of behaviourism, known as operant conditioning, as proposed by BF skinner was that behaviour is determined by its consequences. These consequences might be positive reinforcements (praise/reward) or negative reinforcements (punishments/threats) and are used to ensure that the desired behaviour happens.
A critiscism against behaviourism is that it does not promote independent thinking and analysis among learners and is useful for relatively basic tasks where a consistent response is required from the learner to a given situation or event.
Behaviourism's application in the workplace is seen when an employee does something good or behaves in an expected manner then they get praise or a reward whereas on behaving contrary to expectations they might be counseled or relieved of their duties.
Cognitivism, on the other hand, rejects that learning is a response to stimuli. In this aspect, Cognitivism is directly opposite to behaviourism. According to cognitivist perspective, learning occurs due to internal processes such as thinking, observing, knowing, generalising etc. So for example, if an employee learns a task, it's not simply due to an expectation of getting praise or monetary reward (as in behaviourism) rather it is due to the employee observing that particular task, memorising how to do it and thinking about how to do it in future.
Constructivism
Constructivism says that learning is a construct of learner perceptions and interpretations. In other words, learning occurs when a learner develops their own ideas about the learning by using their interpretations, experiences, and perceptions. Constructivism views learners as individuals who analyse a given situation with regard to their environment as opposed to their status as simple knowledge recorders under behaviorism.
The constructivist approach is often described as a learner-centric approach where the teacher acts as a cognitive guide for the learner and the learner develops their learning based on their experiences, knowledge, and understanding.
The Constructivist approach is often used to encourage problem-solving capabilities of the learner . At the same time due to inherent nature of constructivism wherein, learners apply their own interpretations to a situation based on their knowledge and experience, constructivism is not well suited for instances where a consistent response is required.
The Constructivist approach is applied when learners are provided case studies, research projects and simulations where they are expected to provide a solution based on factors and situations presented to them.
A good video explaining these theories can be found here.
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