A3+-+Learning+Theories

=Types and Uses for Collaborative Technologies=

Learning Theories
The group felt it was important to place the different theories, which have been introduced, on to a page here on the wiki to remind viewers that this is part of the process.

** Some Learning Theories and Principles ** - Related to situated learning framework and Cognitive Flexibility Theory. (Bransford, 1990) || * Learning and teaching activities should be designed around an “anchor” which should be some sort of case study or problem situation. J. Lave - Related to Gibson’s theory of affordances, and Vygotsky’s social learning. (Lave, 1988) || * Knowledge needs to presented in an authentic context … M. Knowles - Adult learning (Knowles, 1984) || * Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction. L. Festinger (Festinger, 1957) || * Dissonance results when an individual must choose between attitudes and behaviours that are contradictory R. Spiro, P. Feltovitch, & R. Coulson (Spiro, R.J., Feltovitch, P.J., Jacobson, M.J., and Coulson, R.L., 1992) || * Learning activities must provide multiple representations of content.
 * || ** Theory ** || ** Principles (Kearsley, 2004) ** ||
 * 1 || ** Anchored Instruction ** John Bransford & the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt
 * Curriculum materials should allow exploration by the learner… ||
 * 2 || ** Situated Learning **
 * Learning requires social interaction and collaboration. ||
 * 3. || ** Andragogy **
 * Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities
 * Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life.
 * Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented. ||
 * 4. || ** Cognitive Dissonance **
 * Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behaviour. ||
 * 5. || ** Cognitive Flexibility Theory **
 * Instructional materials should avoid oversimplifying the content domain and support context-dependent knowledge.
 * Instruction should be case-based and emphasise knowledge construction, not transmission of information.
 * Knowledge sources should be highly interconnected rather than compartmentalized. ||
 * 6. || ** Component Display Theory **

M.D. Merrill

(Merrill, 1983) || * Instruction will be more effective if all three primary performance forms (remember, use, generality) are present. R. Gagne (Gagne, Robert M. and Briggs, Leslie J, 1979) || * Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes. E. Thorndike (Thorndike, 1932) || * Learning requires both practice and rewards. J. Bruner (Burner, Jerome S., Goodnow, Jacqueline J., and Austin, George Al 1956) || * Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness) G. Pask (Pask, Gordon, 1975) || * To learn a subject matter, students must learn the relationships among the concepts. R. Mager (Mager, Robert, 1997) || * Instructional objectives are derived from job performance and reflect the competencies (knowledge/skills) that need to be trained. C. Argyris (Argyris, 1993) || * Effective problem-solving about interpersonal or technical issues requires frequent public testing of theories-in-use. C. Reigeluth (Reigeluth, 1983) || * Instruction will be more effective if it follows an elaboration strategy, i.e., the use of epitomes containing motivators, analogies, summaries and syntheses. C. Rogers (Rogers & Freiberg, 1994) || * Significant learning takes place when the subject matter is relevant to the personal interests of the student. T. Sticht (1977) || * Instruction should be made as meaningful as possible to the learner in terms of the learner’s prior knowledge. Wertheimer (Wertheimer, M. 1959) || * The learner should be encouraged to discover the underlying nature of a topic or problem. J. Gibson - affordances (Gibson, J.J., 1977) || * To facilitate perception, realistic environmental settings should be used in instructional materials. DeBono (DeBono, 1985) || * To get a different perspective on a problem, try breaking the elements up and recombining them in a different way (perhaps randomly). || H. Gardner (Gardner, Howard, 1985) || * Individuals should be encouraged to use their preferred intelligences in learning. A. Bandura (Bandura, Albert, 1977) || * “The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behaviour symbolically and then enacting it overtly. Coding modeled behaviour into words, labels or images results in better retention than simply observing. Adapted from: Mayo, Margo (2004). //Companion Learners: Instructional Design for Distributed Learning in the Affective Domain.// University of Calgary Doctoral Disseration. pp 20-25
 * Primary forms can be presented by either an explanatory or inquisitory learning strategy
 * The sequence of primary forms is not critical provided they are all present.
 * Students should be given control over the number of instances or practice items they receive. ||
 * 7. || ** Conditions of Learning **
 * Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of learning.
 * The specific operations that constitute instructional events are different for each different type of learning outcome.
 * Learning hierarchies define what intellectual skills are to be learned and a sequence of instruction. ||
 * 8. || ** Connectionism **
 * A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action sequence (law of readiness)
 * Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
 * Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned. ||
 * 9. || ** Constructivist Theory **
 * Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral organization).
 * Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given). ||
 * 10. || ** Conversation Theory **
 * Explicit explanation or manipulation of the subject matter facilitates understanding (e.g., use of teachback technique).
 * Individual’s [sic] differ in their preferred manner of learning relationships (serialists versus holists). ||
 * 11. || ** Criterion Referenced Instruction **
 * Students study and practice only those skills not yet mastered to the level required by the objectives.
 * Students are given opportunities to practice each objective and obtain feedback about the quality of their performance.
 * Students should receive repeated practice in skills that are used often or are difficult to learn.
 * Students are free to sequence their own instruction within the constraints imposed by the prerequisites and progress is controlled by their own competence. ||
 * 12. || ** Double Loop Learning **
 * Double loop learning requires learning situations in which participants can examine and experiment with their theories of action. ||
 * 13. || ** Elaboration Theory **
 * There are four types of relationships important in the design of instruction: conceptual, procedural, theoretical and learning pre-requisites. ||
 * 14. || ** Experiential Learning **
 * Learning which is threatening to the self (e.g., new attitudes or perspectives) are [sic] more easily assimilated when external threats are at a minimum.
 * Learning proceeds faster when the threat to the self is low.
 * Self-initiated learning is the most lasting and pervasive. ||
 * 15. || ** Functional Context **
 * Use material and equipment that the learner will actually use after training.
 * Literacy can be improved by: improving content knowledge, information processing skills, or the design of the learning materials.
 * Valid assessment of learning requires context/content specific measurement. ||
 * 16. || ** Gestalt Theory **
 * Gaps, incongruities, or disturbances are an important stimulus for learning.
 * Instruction should be based upon the laws of organization: proximity, closure, similarity and simplicity. ||
 * 17. || ** Information Pickup Theory **
 * Since perception is an active process, the individual should have an unconstrained learning environment.
 * Instruction should emphasize the stimulus characteristics that provide perceptual cues. ||
 * 18. || ** Lateral Thinking **
 * 19. || ** Multiple Intelligences **
 * Instructional activities should appeal to different forms of intelligence.
 * Assessment of learning should measure multiple forms of intelligence. ||
 * 20. || ** Social Learning Theory **
 * Individuals are more likely to adopt a modelled behaviour if it results in outcomes they value.
 * Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behaviour if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behaviour has functional value.” (Kearsley, 2004) ||

All of the learning theories above have valuable insights for instructional design and can be applied to the Companion Learner model in various ways, depending on the subject matter and the target population requiring instruction.

References Kearsley, Greg (2004). Explorations in learning & instruction: The theory into practice database. Retrieved May 3, 2004, from: []

Bransford, John (1990). Anchored Instruction: Why we need it and how technology can help. In D. Nix & R. Spiro (Eds.) //Cognition, Education and Multimedia: Exploring Ideas in High Technology//. Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum

Lave, Jean (1988). //Cognition in practice: Mind mathematics and culture in everyday life//. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Knowles, Malcolm S. (1984). //The adult learner: A neglected species//. Houston: Gulf

Festinger, Leon (1957). //A theory of cognitive dissonance//. Evanston, Ill: Row, Peterson.

Spiro, R.J., Feltovich, P.J., Jacobson, M.J., and Coulson, R.L. (1992), Cognitive flexibility, constructivism and hypertext: Random access instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. In T. Duffy and D. Jonassen (Eds.) //Constructivism and the technology of instruction//, Hillsdale, N.J. Erlbaum.

Merrill, M. David. (1983). Component Display Theory. In Charles M. Reigeluth (Ed.) //Instructional Design Theories and Models: An Overview of Their Current Status//. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Gagne, Robert M. and Briggs, Leslie J. (1979). //Principles of instructional design//. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Wilson

Thorndike, Edward L. (1932). //The fundamentals of learning//__.__ New York: Columbia University.

Bruner, Jerome S., Goodnow, Jacqueline J., and Austin, George A. (1956). //A study of thinking//. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Pask, Gordon (1975). //Conversation, cognition and learning: A cybernetic theory and Methodology//. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Mager, Robert (1997). //Preparing instructional objectives: A critical tool in the development of effective instruction//. 3rd Ed., Atlanta, GA: Center for Effective Performance.

Argyris, Chris (1993). //Knowledge for action: A guide to overcoming barriers to organizational change//. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Reigeluth, Charles M. (1999). //Instructional-design theories and models volume II: A new paradigm of instructional theory//. Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers

Rogers, Carl R. and Freiberg, H. Gerome. (1994), //Freedom to learn//. 3rd ed., New York: Merrill

Sticht, T.G. (1977). Comprehending Reading at Work. In M.A. Just and P.A. Carpenter (Eds.) //Cognitive processes in comprehension//, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

Wertheimer, Max (1959). //Productive thinking//. Wertheimer, Michael (Ed.), New York: Harper

Gibson, J.J. (1977), The theory of affordances. In R. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.), //Perceiving, acting and knowing: Toward an ecological psychology//, Hillsdale N.J.: Erlbaum

DeBono, Edward. (1985). //Six thinking hats//. Toronto: Penguin Books.

Gardner, Howard (1985). //Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences//. New York: Basic Books, Inc.

Bandura, Albert (1977). //Social learning theory//. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.