Week 2, September 5, Learning theories: behaviorist, cognitive/constructivist, humanist

It was interesting to read the theory behind the psychology of learning.  In chapter 3, I learned that learning theories fall into 3 main categories; doing, thinking, and feeling.  The behaviorist model is based on doing and relies on the association between stimulus and response.  The learner is actively engaged in the process so they learn by doing.  Material can be broken down into tasks with learning objectives.  Self-instruction is an example of behaviorist learning.   The second theory is thinking or the cognitive model.  Learners perceive, organize, and interact and respond to the environment by determining how elements, ideas, concepts and topics relate to one another.  Constructivism is a learning process by which learners build new mental models based on experiences and is based on cognitive development.  Learners discover solutions by solving problems.  The last learning model is humanist and based on feelings and how people feel about themselves.  Self-directed learning is an example of this.    Chapter 4 applies the learning models.  Since learning styles vary, so must instruction.  Teachers must be flexible and willing to try new things. 
 
In class we went over examples of the theories.  Behaviorism was Pavlov’s stimulus-response, Thorndike’s conditioning, and Skinner’s active learning.  Cognitivism is both active and social such as Piaget’s perception , organization, interaction, and response.  Humanists look at how you feel about what you are learning.  I didn’t know all of the theory behind learning but recognized the different methods from being in school my whole life.  I think the most important point was that no one teaching style is effective for all learners or for all situations.