Our Lady of the Pillar College – Cauayan

Cauayan Campus (Main) l San Manuel Branch l San Agustin Branch

San Fermin, Cauayan City, Isabela l District 3, San Manuel, Isabela l Masaya Centro, San Agustin, Isabela
Tel. : (078) 652-0685; 652-3310; (078) 664-6089; Telefax : (078) 652-1748
Website: www.olpcc.edu.ph

EPP 2-EDUKASYONG PANTAHANAN

AT PANGKABUHAYAN WITH
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Module for

Students
 UNIT 2

Learning Theories and Their Impact to Epp Teaching

“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100
years, teach the people.”

- Confucius
 LESSON 2
Learning Theories and their Impact to EPP Teaching

Learning Compass
At the end of the unit, the pre-service teacher can:
 explain and be guided by the different learning theories needed in teaching
EPP.

Let’s Begin!
…are you ready to share your knowledge? Here we go…

Think of a teacher that’s most unforgettable to you in elementary or high school. Are
there things that you encounter at present (see, hear, touch, smell) that make you “go back to the
past” and recall this teacher? What are these things?

Let’s Discuss (Weeks 3-4)

Introduction:

Learning theory describes how students receive, process, and retain knowledge during learning.
Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences, as well as prior experience, all play a part in how
understanding, or a world view, is acquired or changed and knowledge and skills retained.

Learning design should be based on learning theories because:

 Theories provide a basis to understand how people learn and a way to explain, describe, analyze
and predict learning. In that sense, a theory helps us make more informed decisions around the
design, development and delivery of learning.
 There are different learning theories (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, connectivism,
etc.). These theorists have thought deeply about learning and contemplated and researched it
extensively. Learning designers can leverage this knowledge to think critically about learning and
education.
 Learning theories offer frameworks that help understand how information is used, how
knowledge is created and how learning takes place. Learning designers can apply these
frameworks according to different learning and learner needs and make more informed decisions
about choosing the right instructional practices.

There is no one ‘best’ learning theory because:

 Each theory offers a different way to look at learning and the essential ingredients that make
learning happen. Using these theories as lenses, learning designers can understand and describe
the role of the learner, role of the instructor/teacher/facilitator and how learning happens in
different ways. Each theory has influenced and shaped instructional practices and methods and
 all new theories will continue to do so.
 Different theories provide the context of learning, underlying motivation and methods of teaching
and these have implications for designing and delivering instruction. Also, different theories are
best suited to different learning outcomes and different audience profiles.
 Since each theory comprises of facts and assumptions, learning designers must begin the design
of training by first identifying the goal of training and then select the right theoretical framework
that can help achieve those learning outcomes.

LEARNING THEORIES
BEHAVIORISM Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive,
responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e.
tabula rasa) and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or
negative reinforcement. 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. Positive
indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of
a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behavior in the
learner.

The theory of behaviorism focuses on the study of observable and measurable behavior. It
emphasizes that behavior is mostly learned through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards and
punishment). It does not give much attention to the mind and the possibility of thought processes
occurring in the mind. Contributions in the development of the behaviorist theory largely came from
Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner.

Advance Organizer
  Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, is well known for his work in classical
conditioning or stimulus substitution. Pavlov’s most renowned experiment involved
meat, a dog and a bell. Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s salivation in order
to study digestion. This is when he stumbled upon classical conditioning.

Pavlov’s Experiment. Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral stimulus) caused
no response from the dog. Placing food (unconditioned stimulus) in front of the dog
initiated salivation (unconditional response). During conditioning, the bell was rung
a few seconds before the dog was presented with food. After conditioning, the
ringing of the bell (Conditioned stimulus) alone produced salivation (conditioned
response). This is classical conditioning.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Stage 1 – Before conditioning
Somehow you were conditioned to associate particular objects with your teacher. So at present,
when you encounter the objects, you are also reminded of your teacher. This is an example of classical
Bell No response
conditioning.
(Neutral stimulus)
Pavlov
Step also had theconditioning
2 – During following findings:
 Stimulus Generalization. Once the dog has learned to salivate at the sound of the bell, it
will salivate at other similar sounds.
 Extinction.
Bell If you stop pairing the bell with the food, salivation will eventually cease in
(Neutral stimulus
response to the bell.
 Spontaneous Recovery. Extinguished responses can be “recovered” after an elapsed
time, but will soon extinguish again if the dog is not presented with food.
 Discrimination.
Paired with
The dog could learn to discriminate between similar bells (stimuli) and
discern which bell would result in the presentation of food and which would not.
 Higher-Order Conditioning. Once the dog has been conditioned to associate the bell with
food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as a light may be flashed at the same time
Meat that
(Unconditioned Salivation
the bell is rung. Eventually, the dog will salivate at the flash of(Unconditioned
the light without the
stimulus)
sound of the bell. response)

Stage 3 – After conditioning

Salivation (Conditioned
Bell (Conditioned response)
Stimulus)
Edward L. Thorndike Edward Thorndike’s Connectionism theory gave us the original S-R framework of
behavioral psychology. More than a hundred years ago he wrote a textbook
entitled, Educational Psychology. He was the first one to use this term. He
explained that learning is the result if associations forming between stimuli (S)
and responses (R). Such associations or “habits” become strengthened or
weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The model for S-R
theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses came to be
repeated more than others because of rewards. The main principle of
connectionism (like all behavioral theory) was that learning could be adequately
explained without considering any unobservable internal states.

Thorndike’s theory on connectionism, states that learning has taken place when a strong connection or
bond between stimulus and response is formed. He came up with three primary laws:
 Law of Effect. The law of effect states that a connection between a stimulus and response is
strengthened when the consequence to positive (reward) and the connection between the
stimulus and the response is weakened when the consequence is negative. Thorndike response is
weakened when the consequence is negative. Thorndike later on, revised this “law” when he
found that negative rewards (punishment) do not necessarily weaken bonds, and that some
seemingly pleasurable consequences do not necessarily motivate performance.
 Law of Exercise. This tells us that the more an S-R (stimulus-response) bond is practiced the
stronger it will become. “Practice makes perfect” seem to be associated with this. However, like
the law of effect, the law of exercise also had to be revised when Thorndike found that practice
without feedback does not necessarily enhance performance.
 Law of Readiness. This states that the more readiness the learner has to respond to the stimulus,
the stronger will be the bond between them. When a person is ready to respond to a stimulus
and is not made to respond, it becomes annoying to the person. For example, if the teacher says,
“Okay we will now watch the movie (stimulus) you’ve been waiting for.” And suddenly the power
goes off. The students will feel frustrated because they were ready to respond to the stimulus but
was prevented from doing so. Likewise, if the person is not at all ready to respond to stimuli and
is asked to respond, that also becomes annoying. For instance, the teacher calls a student to stand
up and recite, and then the teacher asks the question and expects the student to respond right
away when he is still not ready. This will be annoying to the student. That is why teachers should
remember to say the question first, and wait for a few seconds before calling on anyone to
answer.

Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism:

1. Learning requires both practice and rewards (law of effect/exercise).
2. A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action sequence
(law of readiness).
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.

John Watson

John B. Watson was the first American psychologist to work with Pavlov’s ideas.
He too was initially involved in animal studies, then later became involved in
human behavior research. He considered that humans are born with a few
reflexes and the emotional reactions of love and rage. All other behavior is
learned through stimulus-response associations through conditioning. He
believed in the power of conditioning so much that he said that if he is given a
dozen healthy infants he can make them into anything you want them to be,
basically through making stimulus- response connections through conditioning.
Experiment on Albert
 Watson applied classical conditioning in his experiment concerning Albert, a young child and a
white rat. In the beginning, Albert was not afraid of the rat; but Watson made a sudden noise each time
Albert touched the rat. Because Albert was frightened by the loud noise, he soon became conditioned to
fear and avoid the rat. Later, the child’s response was generalized to other small animals. Now, he was
also afraid of small animals. Watson then “extinguished” or made the child “unlearn” fear by showing the
rat without the loud noise.

Surely, Watson’s research methods would be questioned today, nevertheless, his work did clearly
show the role of conditioning in the development of emotional responses to certain stimuli. This may help
us understand the fears, phobias, and prejudices that people develop.

Burrhus Frederick Skinner

Like Pavlov, Watson and Thorndike, Skinner believed in the stimulus-response pattern
of conditioned behavior. His theory zeroed in only on changes in observable behavior,
excluding any likelihood of any processes taking place in the mind. Skinner’s 1948
book, Walden Two, is about a utopian society based in operant conditioning. He also
wrote, Science and Human Behavior, (1953) in which he pointed out how the principles
of operant conditioning function in social institutions such as government, law,
religion, economics and education.

Skinner’s work differs from that of the three behaviorists before him in that he studied
operant behavior (voluntary behaviors used in operating on the environment). Thus, his theory came to
be known as Operant Conditioning.

Operant Conditioning is based upon the notion that learning is a result of change in overt
behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual’s response to events (stimuli) that occur in
the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a
math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual
is conditioned to respond.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that
strengthens the desired response. There is a positive reinforcer and a negative reinforcer.

A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that is given or added to increase the response. An example
of positive reinforcement is when a teacher promises extra time in the play area to children who behave
well during the lesson. Another is a mother who promises a new cellphone for her son who gets good
grades. Still, other examples include verbal phrases, star stamps, and stickers.

A negative reinforce is any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it
is withdrawn or removed. A negative reinforce is not a punishment, in fact it is a reward. For instance, a
teacher announces that a student who gets an average grade of 1.5 for the two grading periods will no
longer take the final examination, the negative reinforce is “removing” the final exam, which we realize is
a form of reward for working hard and getting an average grade of 1.5.

A negative reinforce is different from a punishment because a punishment is a consequence

intended to result in reduced responses. An example would be a student who always comes late is not
allowed to join a group work that has already began (punishment) and therefore, loses points for that
activity. The punishment was done to reduce the response of repeatedly coming to class late.

Skinner also looked into extinction or non-reinforcement: Responses that are not reinforced are
not likely to be repeated. For example, ignoring a student’s misbehavior may extinguish that behavior.

Shaping of Behavior. An animal on a cage may take a very long time to figure out that pressing a
lever will produce food. To accomplish such behavior, successive approximations of the behavior are
rewarded until the animal learns the association between the lever and the food reward. To begin shaping,
the animal may be rewarded for simply turning in the direction of the lever, then for moving toward the
lever, for brushing against the lever, and finally for pressing the lever.
Behavioral chaining comes about when a series of steps are needed to be learned. The animal
would master each step in sequence until the entire sequence is learned. This can be applied to a child
being taught to tie a shoelace. The child can be given reinforcement (rewards) until the entire process of
tying the shoelace is learned.
Reinforcement Schedules. Once the desired behavioral response is accomplished, reinforcement
does not have to be 100%; in fact, it can be maintained more successfully through what Skinner referred
to as partial reinforcement schedules. Partial reinforcement schedules include interval schedules and ratio
schedules.

Fixed Interval Schedules. The target response is reinforced after a fixed amount of time has
passed since the last reinforcement. Example, the bird in a cage is given food (reinforce) every 10 minutes,
regardless of how many times it presses the bar.

Variable Interval Schedules. This is similar to fixed interval schedules but the amount of time that
must pass between reinforcement varies. Example, the bird may receive food (reinforce) different
intervals, not every ten minutes.

Fixed Ratio Schedules. A fixed number of correct responses must occur before reinforcement may
recur. Example, the bird will be given food (reinforce) everytime it presses the bar 5 times.

Variable Ratio Schedules. The number of correct repetitions of the correct response for
reinforcement varies, example, the bird is given food (reinforcer) after it presses the bar 3 times, then
after 10 times, then after 4 times. So the bird will not be able to predict how many times it needs to press
the bar before it gets food again.
Variable interval and especially, variable ratio schedules produce steadier and more persistent
rates of response because the learners cannot predict when the reinforcement will come although they
know that they will eventually succeed. An example of this is why people continue to buy lotto tickets
even when an almost negligible percentage of people actually win. While it is true that very rarely there
is a big winner, but once in a while somebody hits the jackpot (reinforcement). People cannot predict
when the jackpot can be gotten (variable interval) so they continue to buy tickets (repetition of response).

Implication of Operant Conditioning. These implications are given for programmed instruction.
1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) – answer (response) frames which expose
the student to the subject in gradual steps.
2. Require that the learner makes a response for every frame and receives immediate feedback.
3. Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct and hence, a
positive reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with secondary reinforcers such as verbal
praise, prizes and good grades.

Principles Derived from Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

1. Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is particularly
effective.
2. Information should be presented in small amounts so that responses can be reinforced
(“shaping”).
3. Reinforcements will generalize across similar stimuli (“stimulus generalization”) producing
secondary conditioning.

Neo Behaviorism: Tolman and Bandura

With new researchers, explanations provided by the basic principles of behaviorism appeared not
to satisfy all learning scenarios. New theories came into view which maintained some of the behaviorist
concepts but excluded others, and added new ideas which later came to be associated with the cognitive
views of learning. The neo-behaviorists, then, were a transitional group, bridging the gap between
behaviorism and cognitive theories of learning.
Advance Organizer
Neo Behaviorism

Tolman’s Purposive Bandura Social-

Behaviorism Learning Theory

Goal-Directedness Principles

Cognitive Maps Modeling

Four Conditions for

Latent Learning Effective Modeling

Intervening Variables

Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism

Purposive behaviorism has also been referred to as Sign Learning Theory and is often seen as the
link between behaviorism and cognitive theory. Tolman’s theory was founded on two psychological views:
those of the Gestalt psychologists and those of John Watson, the behaviorist.
Tolman believed that learning is a cognitive process. Learning involves forming believes and
obtaining knowledge about the environment and then revealing that knowledge through purposeful and
goal-directed behavior.
Tolman stated in his sign theory that an organism learns by pursuing signs to a goal. i.e., learning
is acquired through meaningful behavior. He stressed the organized aspect of learning: “The stimuli which
are allowed in are not connected by just simple one-to-one switches to the outgoing responses. Rather
the incoming impulses are usually worked over and elaborated in the central control room into a tentative
cognitive-like map of the environment. And it is this tentative map, indicating routes and paths and
environmental relationships, which finally determines what responses, if any, the animal will finally
make.”
Tolman’s form of behaviorism stressed the relationships between stimuli rather than stimulus-
response. Tolman said that the new stimulus (the sign) becomes associated with already meaningful
stimulus (the significate) through a series of pairings; there is no need for reinforcement in order to
establish learning.

Tolman’s Key Concepts

 Learning is always purposive and goal-directed. Tolman asserted that learning is always
purposive and goal-directed. He held the notion that an organism acted or responded for some
adaptive purpose. He believed individuals do more than merely responded to stimuli; they act on
beliefs, attitudes, changing conditions, and they strive toward goals. Tolman saw behavior as
holistic, purposive and cognitive.
 Cognitive Maps in rats. In his most famous experiment, one group of rats was placed at random
starting locations in a maze but the food was always in the same location. Another group of rats
had the food placed in different locations which always required exactly the same pattern of turns
from their starting location. The group that had the food in the same location performed much
better than the group, supposedly demonstrating that they had learned the location rather than
a specific sequence of turns. This is tendency to “learn location” signified that rats somehow
formed cognitive maps that help them perform well on the maze. He also found out that
organisms will select the shortest or easiest path to achieve a goal.
Applied in human learning, since student passes by the same route going to school every day, he acquires
a cognitive map of the location of his school. So when the transportation re-routing is done, he can still
figure out what turns to make to get to school the shortest or easiest way.
Latent Learning is a kind of learning that remains or stays with the individual until needed. It is
learning that is not outwardly manifested at once. According to Tolman it can exist even without
reinforcement. He demonstrated this in his rat experiments wherein rats apparently “learned the maze”
by forming cognitive maps of the maze, but manifested this knowledge of the maze only when they
needed to.
Applied in human learning, a two-year old always sees her dad operate the t.v. remote control
and observes how the t.v. is turned on or how channel is changed, and volume adjusted. After sometime,
the parents are surprised that on the first time that their daughter holds the remote control, she already
knows which buttons to press for what function. Through latent learning, the child knew the skills
beforehand, even though she has never done them before.

The concept of intervening variable. Intervening variables are variables that are not readily seen
but serve as determinants of behavior. Tolman believed that learning is mediated or is influenced by
expectations, perceptions, representations, needs and other internal or environmental variables.
Example, in his experiments with rats he found out that hunger was an intervening variable.

Reinforcement not essential for learning. Tolman concluded that reinforcement is not essential
for leaning, although it provides an incentive for performance. In his studies, he observed that a rat was
able to acquire knowledge of the way through a maze, i.e., to develop a cognitive map, even in the absence
of reinforcement.

Albert Bandura’s Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social
SOCIAL LEARNING
context. It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational
learning, imitation and modeling. The ten-year old boy Sergio Pelico did watch Saddam’s execution on TV
and then must have imitated it.
Among others, Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory.

General principles of social learning theory

1. People can learn by observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorism say that learning has to be
represented by a permanent change in behavior, in contrast social learning theorists say that
because people can learn through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be shown
in their performance. Learning may or may not result in a behavior change.
3. Cognition plays a role in learning. Over the last 30 years, social learning theory has become
increasingly cognitive in its interpretation of human learning. Awareness and expectations of
future reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the behaviors that people
exhibit.
4. Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition between behaviorist learning
theories and cognitive learning theories.

How the environment reinforces and punishes modeling

People are often reinforced for modeling the behavior of others. Bandura suggested that the
environment also reinforces modeling. This is in several possible ways:
1. The observer is reinforced by the model. For examples a student who changes dress to fit in with
a certain group of students has a strong likelihood of being accepted and thus reinforced by that
group.
2. The observer is reinforced by a third person. The observer might be modeling the actions of
someone else, for example, an outstanding class leader or student. The teacher notices this and
compliments and praises the observer for modeling such behavior thus reinforcing that behavior.
3. The initiated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences. Many behaviors that we learn
from others produce satisfying or reinforcing results. For example, a student in my multimedia
class could observe how the extra work a classmate does is fun. This student in turn would do the
same extra work and also experience enjoyment.
 4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the observer’s behavior vicariously. This is known
as vicarious reinforcement. This is where the model is reinforced for a response and then the
observer shows an increase in that same response. Bandura illustrated this by having students
watch a film of a model hitting an inflated clown doll. One group of children saw the model being
praised for such action. Without being reinforced, the group of children began to also hit the doll.

Contemporary social learning perspective of reinforcement and punishment

1. Contemporary theory proposes that both reinforcement and punishment have indirect effects on
learning. They are not the sole or main cause.
2. Reinforcement and punishment influence the extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior
that has been learned.
3. The expectation of reinforcement influences cognitive processes that promote learning.
Therefore, attentions pays a critical role in learning, and attention is influenced by the expectation
of reinforcement. An example would be, when the teacher tells a group of students that what
they will study next is not on the test. Students will not pay attention because they do not expect
to know the information for a test.

Cognitive factors in social learning

Social learning theory has cognitive factors as well as behaviorist factors (actually operant
factors)
1. Learning without performance: Bandura makes a distinction between learning through
observation and the actual imitation of what has been learned. This is similar to Tolman’s latent
learning.
2. Cognitive processing during learning: Social learning theorists content that attention is a critical
factor in learning.
3. Expectations: As a result of being reinforced, people form expectations about the consequences
that future behaviors are likely to bring. They expect certain behaviors to bring reinforcements
and others to bring punishment. The learner needs to be aware, however, of the response
reinforcements and response punishment. Reinforcement increases a response only when the
learner is aware of that connection.
4. Reciprocal causation: bandura proposed that behavior can influence both the environment and
the person, in fat each of these three variables, the person, the behavior, and the environment
can have an influence on each other.
5. Modeling: There are different types of models. There is the live model, an actual person
demonstrating the behavior. There can also be a symbolic model, which can be a person or action
portrayed in some other medium, such as television, videotape, computer programs.

Behaviors that can be learned through modeling

Many behaviors can be learned, at least partly, through modeling. Examples that can be cited are,
students can watch parents read, students can watch the demonstrations of mathematics problems, or
see someone act bravely in a fearful situation. Aggression can be learned through models. Research
indicates that children become more aggressive when they observed aggressive or violent models. Moral
thin king and moral behavior are influenced by observation and modeling. This includes moral judgments
regarding right and wrong which can, in part, develop through modeling.

Conditions necessary for effective modeling to occur

Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary before an individual can successfully model
the behavior of someone else.
1. Attention – the person must first pay attention to the model.
2. Retention – the observer must be able to remember the behavior that has been observed. One
way of increasing this is using the technique of rehearsal.
3. Motor reproduction – the third condition is the ability to replicate the behavior that the model
has just demonstrated. This means that the observer has to be able to replicate the action, which
could be a problem with a learner who is not ready developmentally to replicate the action. For
example, little children have difficulty doing complex physical motion.
 4. Motivation – the final necessary ingredient for modeling to occur is motivation, learners must
want to demonstrate what they have learned. Remember that since these four conditions vary
among individuals, different people will reproduce the same behavior differently.

Educational Implications of social learning theory

1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior can effectively increase the appropriate behaviors
and decrease inappropriate ones. This can involve discussing with learners about the rewards
and consequences of various behaviors.
3. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors. Instead of using
shaping, which is operant conditioning, modeling can provide a faster, more efficient means
for teaching new behavior. To promote effective modeling, a teacher must make sure that
the four essential conditions exist; attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation.
4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models. This technique is especially
important to break down traditional stereotypes.

What is meant by constructivism? The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge
for CONSTRUCTIVIST
themselves---each (CONSTRUCTIVISM)
learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she
learns. Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic consequences of this view
are twofold;
1) We have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning (not on the subject/lesson to be
taught):
2) There is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by
the learner, or community of learners.

Advance Organizer

Constructivism

Views of Characteristics of
Organizing Knowledge
Constructivism Constructivism

Individual
Constructivism

Social Constructivism
 In this quotation, “filling up the pail” is more
linked to rote learning and behaviorism. It
connotes that teaching is dominated by the
teacher and the learners are passive receivers of
knowledge. “Lighting the fire” is related to the
cognitive perspective and constructivism. It
signifies that teaching involves giving
opportunities for learners to explore and
discover. Learners construct their own meaning. Learners generate insights and are “enlightened”.

Two Views of Constructivism

Individual Constructivism. This is also called cognitive constructivism. It emphasizes individual,

internal construction of knowledge. It is largely based on Piaget’s theory. Proponents of this type choose
child-centered and discovery learning. They believe the learners should be allowed to discover principles
through their own exploration rather than direct instruction by the teacher.

Social Constructivism. This view emphasizes that “knowledge exists in a social context and is
initially shared with others instead of being represented solely in the mind of an individual.” It is based
on Vygotsky’s theory. Here, construction of knowledge is shared by two or more people. According to
social constructivists, the opportunity to interact and share among learners help to shape and refine their
knowledge construction becomes social, not individual.

Characteristics of Constructivism

Whether one takes the individual or social view of constructivism, there are four characteristics
that these two views have in common. According to Eggen and Kauchak, these are:

1. Learners construct understanding. As discussed earlier, constructivists do not view learners as

just empty vessels waiting to be filled up. They see learners as active thinkers who interpret new
information based on what they already know. They construct knowledge in a way that make
sense to them.
2. New learning depends on current understanding. Background inform is very important. It is
through the present view or scheme that the learner has that new information will be interpreted.
3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction. Constructivists believe in creating a “community of
learners” within classrooms. Learning communities help learners take responsibility for their own
learning. Learners have a lot of opportunities to cooperate and collaborate to solve problems and
discover things. Teachers play the role of a facilitator rather than an expert who has all the
knowledge.
4. Meaningful learning occurs within authentic learning tasks. An authentic task is one that involves
a learning activity that involves constructing knowledge and understanding that is so akin to the
knowledge and understanding needed when applied in the real world. Example, a writing activity
where six-year olds prepare a checklist of things they need to do in school is a more an authentic
activity than for them to be working only on tracing worksheets with dotted lines.

Organizing Knowledge

Concepts. A concept is a way of grouping or categorizing objects or events in our mind. A concept
of “teach” includes a group of tasks such as model, discuss, illustrate, explain, assist, etc. In your life as a
student you would learn thousands of concepts, some simple ones, and other more complicated that may
take you to learn them more gradually. The concepts you learn are also revised as you learn more and
experience more.

 Concepts as Feature Lists. Learning a concept involves learning specific features that
characterize positive instance of the concept. Included here are defining features and
correlational feature. A defining feature is a characteristic present in ALL instances.
Example, a triangle has three sides. Having three sides is a defining feature of a triangle
because ALL triangles should have three sides. If one doesn’t then it is not a triangle. A
 correlational feature is one that is present in many positive instances but not essential
for concept membership. For example, a mother is loving. Being loving is a feature
commonly present in the concept of a mother. But a mother may not be loving. So “being
loving” is only a correlational feature, not a defining one.
 Concepts as Prototypes. A prototype is an idea or a visual image of a “typical” example.
It is usually formed based on the positive instances that learners encounter most often.
Example, close your eyes now and for a moment think of a cat. Picture in mind what it
looks like. You probably thought of an image of the common car we see, rather than some
rare breed or species. Once learners have their own concept of prototypes, the new
examples that they see are checked against this existing prototype.
 Concepts as Exemplars. Exemplars represent a variety if examples. It allows learners to
know that an example under a concept may have variability. Example, a learner’s concept
of vegetable may include a variety of different examples like cauliflower, kangkong,
cabbage, string beans, squash, corn, potatoes. When he encounters a new type of
vegetable like “bitsuelas”, he would search from the exemplars he knows and looks for
one that is most similar, like string beans.

Making Concept-learning Effective. As a future teacher, you can help students learn concepts by doing
the following:

 Provide a clear definition of the concept

 Make the definition features very concrete and prominent
 Give a variety of positive instances
 Give negative instances
 Cite a “best example” or a prototype
 Provide opportunity for learners to identify positive and negative instances
 Ask learners to think of their own example of the concept
 Point out how concepts can be related to each other

Schemas and scripts. A schema is an organized body of knowledge about something. It is like a file of
information you hold in your mind about something. Like a schema of what a teacher is. A script is a
schema that includes a series of predictable events about a specific activity. Examples would include
knowing the series of steps done when we visit a doctor, or what transpires at the beginning of the class
when the teacher arrives.

Your role as a teacher is to bring learners to construct their own knowledge such that they have
a well-organized set of concepts, aim to make clear those concepts that are still vague for them, and to
pave the way for them to overcome misconceptions. It is important that you acquire skills on how to
facilitate concept formation and development. Constructivism can be an excellent guide for you.

Applying constructivism in facilitating learning

 Aim to make learners understand a few key ideas in an in-depth manner, rather than taking u so
many topics superficially.
 Give varied examples.
 Provide opportunities for experimentation.
 Provide lots of opportunities for quality interaction.
 Have lots of hands-on activities.
 Relate your topic to real life situations.
 Do not depend on the explanation method all the time.
Gestalt psychology was at the forefront of the cognitive psychology. It served as the foundation of
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
the cognitive perspective to learning. It opposed the external and mechanistic focus of behaviorism.
It considered the mental processes and products of perception.
 Advance Organizer
Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Principles Lifespace (Lewin)

Insight Learning

Law of Proximity Inner Forces

Law of closure Outer Forces

Law of closure

Law of closure

Law of closure

Gestalt theory was the initial cognitive response to behaviorism. It emphasized the importance
of sensory wholes and the dynamic nature of visual perception. The term gestalt means “form” or
“configuration.” Psychologists Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka studied perception
and concluded that perceivers (or learners) are not passive, but rather active. They suggested that learners
do not just collect information as is but they actively process and restructure data in order to understand
it. This is the perceptual process. Certain factors impact on this perceptual process. Factors like past
experiences, needs, attitudes and one’s present situation can affect their perception.

Wolfgang Kohler Kurt Koffka Max Wertheimer

1887-1967 1887-1941 1880-1943

Gestalt Principles
Law of Proximity. Elements that are closer together will be perceived
as coherent objective. On the left, there appears to be four columns,
while on the right, there appears to be four horizontal rows. When
objects we are perceiving are near each other, we perceive them as
belonging together.
Law of Similarity. Elements that look similar will be perceived as part of
the same form. There seems to be a triangle in the square. We link
similar elements together.
 Law of Closure. We tend to fill the gaps or “close” the figures we perceive.
We close a space by completing a contour and ignoring gaps in the figure.

Law of Good Continuation. Individuals have the tendency to continue contours

whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction. People
tend to draw a good continuous line.

Law of Good Pragnanz. The stimulus will be organized into as

good a figure as possible. In this example, good refers to
symmetry, simplicity and regularity. Based on our experiences
with perception, we “expect” certain patterns and therefore
perceive that expected pattern.

Law of Figure/Ground. We tend to pay attention and perceive

things in the foreground first. A stimulus will be perceived as
separate from its ground.

Insight Learning
Gestalt psychology adheres to the idea of learning taking place by discovery or insight. The idea
of insight learning was first developed by Wolfgang Kohler in which he described experiments with apes
where the apes could use boxes and sticks as tools to solve problems. In the box problem, a banana is
attached to the top of a chimpanzee’s cage. The banana is out of reach but can be reached by climbing on
and jumping from a box. Only one Kohler’s apes (Sultan) could solve this problem. A much more difficult
problem which involved the stacking of boxes was introduced by Kohler. This problem required the ape
to stable stack. Kohler also gave the apes sticks which they used to rake food into the cage. Sultan, Kohler’s
very intelligent ape, was able to master a two-stick problem by inserting one stick into the end of the
other in order to reach the food. In each of these problems, the important aspect of learning was not
reinforcement, but the coordination of thinking to create new organizations (of materials). Kohler
referred to this behavior as insight or discovery learning.

Gestalt Principles and the Teaching-Learning Process

The six gestalt principles not only influence perception but they also impact on learning. Other
psychologists like Kurt Lewin expounded on Gestalt psychology. His theory focusing on “lifespace”
adhered to gestalt psychology. He said that an individual has inner and outer forces that affect his
perceptions and also his learning. Inner forces include his own motivation, attitudes, and feelings. Outer
forces may include the attitude and behavior of the teacher and classmates. All these forces interact and
impact on the person’s learning.
 EXPERIANTIALISM

Learning by doing. This is the basis for the experiential learning theory. Experiential learning
focuses on the idea that the best ways to learn things is by actually having experiences. Those experiences
then stick out in your mind and help you retain information and remember facts.
David Kolb is best known for his work on the experiential learning theory or ELT. Kolb published
this model in 1984, getting his influence from other great theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and
Jean Piaget. The experiential learning theory works in four stages—concrete learning, reflective
observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The first two stages of the cycle
involve grasping an experience, the second two focus on transforming an experience. Kolb argues that
effective learning is seen as the learner goes through the cycle, and that they can enter into the cycle at
any time.
 Concrete learning is when a learner gets a new experience, or interprets a past
experience in a new way.
 Reflective observation comes next, where the learner reflects on their experience
personally. They use the lens of their experience and understanding to reflect on what
this experience means.
 Abstract conceptualization happens as the learner forms new ideas or adjusts their
thinking based on the experience and their reflection about it.
 Active experimentation is where the learner applies the new ideas to the world around
them, to see if there are any modifications to be made. This process can happen over a
short period of time, or over a long span of time.

Kolb went on to explain that learners will have their own preferences for how they enter the cycle
of experiential learning, and that these preferences boil down to a learning cycle.

Kolb's experiential learning cycle model.

The experiential learning cycle rests on the idea that each person has a specific type of learning
tendencies, and they are thus dominant in certain stages of experiential learning. For example, some
learners will be more dominant in concrete learning and reflective observation, while others will be
dominant in abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

The four learning styles are:

1. Diverging. The diverging learning style is full of learners who look at things with a unique
perspective. They want to watch instead of do, and they also have a strong capacity to imagine.
These learners usually prefer to work in groups, have broad interests in cultures and people, and
more. They usually focus on concrete learning and reflective observation, wanting to observe and
see the situation before diving in.
2. Assimilating. This learning style involves learners getting clear information. These learners prefer
concepts and abstracts to people, and explore using analytic models. These learners focus on
abstract conceptualization and reflective observation in the experiential learning style.
3. Converging. Converging learners solve problems. They apply what they’ve learned to practical
issues, and prefer technical tasks. They are also known to experiment with new ideas, and their
learning focuses on abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.
4. Accommodating: These learners prefer practicality. They enjoy new challenges and use intuition
to help solve problems. These learners utilize concrete learning and active experimentation when
they learn.
Experiential learning examples.
There are many ways that experiential learning is used every day. Some examples include:
 Going to the zoo to learn about animals through observation, instead of reading about them.
 Growing a garden to learn about photosynthesis instead of watching a movie about it.
 Hoping on a bicycle to try and learn to ride, instead of listening to your parent explain the concept

Benefits of experiential learning.

There are many benefits of experiential learning for teachers and students, including:
 Opportunity to immediately apply knowledge. Experiential learning can allow students to
immediately apply things they are learning to real-world experiences. This helps them retain the
information better.
 Promotion of teamwork. Experiential learning often involves working in a team, so learning in this
setting allows students to practice teamwork.
 Improved motivation. Students are more motivated and excited about learning in experiential
settings. Experiments are exciting and fun for students, and they will be passionate about
learning.
 Opportunity for reflection. Students using the experiential model are able to spend time reflecting
about what they are experiencing and learning. This is valuable as they are able to better retain
information when they can think about what’s happening to them.
 Real world practice. Students can greatly benefit from learning that helps them prepare for the
real world. Experiential learning is focused on using real situations to help students learn, so they
are then better prepared for their future.

Take Note!
REMEMBER:

Learning is a change and modification in behavior.

How Far Have We Gone?
Summarize the five (5) learning theories and their impacts to EPP teaching using the table
below:

Behaviorism Constructivism Social Learning Cognitivism Experientialism

Knowledge is:
Learning is:
Focus of
learning is on:
Key learning
concept:
Centered on:
 EPP teaching
impact/s:

Walk the Extra Mile!

Choose 3 key concepts of Bandura’s social learning theory then state how you will apply these
concepts when you teach. Use the table below for this purpose.

3 Key Concepts of Albert Bandura How I will apply it in my teaching

1. 1.1
1.2
2. 2.1
2.2
3. 3.1
3.2

REFERENCES

 https://tarunagoel.blogspot.com/2017/08/why-we-need-learning-
theories.html
 https://www.exploratorium.edu/education/ifi/constructivist-learning
 https://www.wgu.edu/blog/experiential-learning-theory2006.html