Learning Theories vs. Instructional Theories

Good references on constructing theories:
Kuhn, T.S. The structure of scientific revolutions

Learning Theories vs. Instructional Theories
Learning Theories are Descriptive - describes / explains how people learn
Instructional Theories are Prescriptive - suggests actions / how to instruct

Jar of Marbles
In behaviorism the response to the desired behavior must be immediate in order to reinforce the desired behavior.
Fading - when the reward is withdrawn little by little, but the frequency of the desired response is still maintained
Variable frequency of rewards
Punishment and negative reinforcement can also alter behavior - behavior is learned to avoid undesirable responses

Skinner - father of behaviorism

Operant Conditioning - learning based on the organism voluntarily operating on the environment
Classical Conditioning- learning based on the organism involuntarily responding to the environment
started by Pavlov - match an involuntary response with an artificial stimulus
later, when the artificial stimulus was presented, the response would still occur
Pavlov’s Dogs
Application: when a class is misbehaving, simply jiggle their marble jar - when they hear the sound they will remember they need to behave

Reinforcement - there has to be a value attached to the reinforcement
Positive - getting a marble for good behavior
Negative - taking a marble out of the jar

Punishment
Removal punishment - decreasing behavior by removing a stimulus, or the inability to get positive reinforcement - it must be a removal that is undesirable for the learner
Presentation punishment - occurs when a learner’s behavior decreases as a result of being presented with a punisher

Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn - Good book - Criticism on behaviorism in education, the home - He says we need to help students focus on the intrinsic rewards instead of the extrinsic (external) & extrinsic rewards can actually hinder student progress in the long run
No Contest: The Case Against Competition by Alfie Kohn

Reinforcement Schedules
Consistent
Fixed Ratio (response)
Fixed Interval (time)
Intermittent
Variable Ratio (response) - considered the most effective in changing behavior
Variable Interval (time)

Extinction - the elimination of a response as a result of non reinforcement
if a child is misbehaving to get attention, don’t give him the attention and he’ll stop acting out for lack of the reinforcement he desires

Task Analysis - the process of breaking content of a skill down into its component parts

Learned Helplessness - the feeling that no amount of effort can lead to success
Because of constant negative reinforcement, no matter if the behavior is the desired behavior or not, they begin to think they cannot achieve the right results no matter what they try

Shaping - the process of reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior
reward the little efforts that get close to the desired behavior

Fading - reinforcement is gradually removed, but the behavior stays consistent with less frequent reinforcement

3 Main Learning Theories

3 Main Learning Theories:

Behaviorism
Concerned with the response - how do we get the desired response?
Not concerned with how they understood or their deeper thoughts, just response / results
Examples: Classroom management, psychomotor skills

Cognitiveism
Concerned with HOW people learn - how is the stimulus received, stored, responded too? What happens between stimulus and response?

Constructivism
The meaning of knowledge is all in the mind of the learner.
What is the effect of individual experiences on the learning?
How can learning be enhanced, how can you achieve a common set of knowledge from people with different sets of experiences?