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Learning theories and teaching
Theories of teaching and learning
Learning theories and their educational implications
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Learning Theory of Instructional Design
The instructions created by teachers and trainers in different educational and training institutes as well as in training programs of different organizations, which include the “instructional experiences which helps in making the learning a better experience by enabling and making the process of acquisition of related and relevant knowledge and skill more efficient, appealing in nature, and effective for the learner; is known as “Instructional Design”.
There are various theories under “Instructional Design” such as Learning Theory, Pedagogical Theory, and Instructional Theory.
The link between learning theory and educational practice was proposed and envisioned by John Dewey (1910). But, it was Edward Thorndike (1913) who explored the different associated principals of learning theory, which the teachers can use and directly apply to design their teaching material. There are two theories namely, “Elaboration Theory” and “Linking Theory” which builds a bridge for the transition between instructional design process, learning theory, instructional design methodology, and instructional theory.
I have selected “Elaboration Theory” to describe how it can be applied to design of educational material.
Elaboration Theory (Reigeluth and Stein, 1993) is the learning theory of instructional design, which is aimed at teachers and trainers to focus on “how to teach” rather than concentrating their focus on “how and why people learn different things.” The major concern of the elaboration theory is the organization of the educational material and the structure, which is provided to it by the instructor (teachers mostly). Here the focus is being shifted to organization and structure rather than the materi...
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The problems, which can occur while using an invalid learning theory during the designing of the instructional material, are as follows:
• The instructions can get jumbled and incoherent for the learners. The incoherency can lower the motivation of the students along with their learning experience.
• The instructional materials when not organized and structured according to the learning theory of instructional design; the teacher may miss some points here and there and thus the learning and teaching process remains incomplete and the process of acquiring knowledge becomes low in efficacy.
• The general relationship between different parts of a specific instructional material cannot be established and taught to the learner effectively and thus the whole process of teaching fails; if the invalid learning theory is used while designing the instruction materials.
McTighe, J. (2010). Understanding by design and instruction. Defining the role of the classroom teacher. In R. J. Marzano (Ed.), On excellence in teaching, (pp. 270-299). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Martin, K. (2000). Alternative Modes of Teaching and Learning. Received September 13, 2002 from Internet. http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/atmodes/to_delivery/discovery_learing.html.
Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.
Universal Design for Learning Taskforce. (2010). Universal Design for Learning, The Facts for Educators. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from UDL Universal Design for Learning Taskforce: http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/UDL/Educatorfaqs.shtml
In order to become a remarkable teacher, there must be dedication to many things, one of them being passionate about how children learn. Theories are one of the determining things that influence teachers and how they approach teaching. A theory is a set of explanations used to explain how children learn (Morrison, 2009, p.113). Theorists and theories are important for many reasons: 1) theories help us understand how children learn, which helps us teach better; 2) understanding theories and how children learn helps teachers communicate better with parents / caregivers; 3) theories help teachers have a basis of how children learn which helps in evaluation of them; 4) theories help guide program development to enhance children’s learning (Morrison, 2009, p. 114). Theories not only help support teaching, they help guide teachers to become better at what they do.
During the early years and eras, there were many learning theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and etc. Each of them gave big impacts on teaching and learning. To be more specific, Gagne developed nine events or steps used in instructions for teaching and learning and it is called Gagne nine events of instructions. From what I have learned in the last lecture, these nine events are still relevance and applicable even though it needs to be improve a little bit. But yet, it could still give a big impact towards teaching and learning until nowadays.
Gagné’s approach to instructional design is considered a seminal model that has influenced many other design approaches and particularly the Dick & Carey systems approach. Gagné proposed that events of learning and categories of learning outcomes together provide a framework for an account of learning conditions. The diagram below, from the third edition of The Conditions of Learning (Gagné, 1977), illustrates his vision of how the events of learning impact the conditions learning, which ultimately result in the learning outcomes, or learning capabilities.
A. Behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism are relatively common theories used in the classroom as ways to approach student learning. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior, such as students answering questions correctly, or being able to follow directions to complete a task as instructed. Characteristics of a classroom that uses behaviorism might be memorization of facts, writing vocabulary words, or a token reward system to inspire the desired behavior and decrease undesired behaviors. Constructivism, as indicated by the root word “construct,” focuses on the construction of new ideas, or expanding on what is already known. Students in a classroom using constructivism as a means for learning might seem more actively engaged in the learning process; they often learn something new through applying what they already know about the content area, and exploring new matter to further their understanding. This type of classroom often uses hands on manipulatives to allow students to actually build, create, or experiment with what they are learning. A cognitivism approach to learning might be explained by the minds capacity to process information – such as how a learner might remember something, retrieve information, or store new concepts. Learning through this method often depends on how the student processes what the teacher is presenting. Classrooms using this approach might incorporate learning strategies that help students categorize and sequence information to assist with processing. Like constructivism, it can be an active style of learning.
Instructional Design is a systematic approach to design, evaluation and management of instruction. It helps to facilitate learning in an effort to improve. There are many models that have been developed to assist in the design of instructional materials. This paper will compare three: ADDIE, ASSURE and Kemp with a focus on online learning.
In order to understand and gain knowledge, learning theories stress the importance of creating a relationship between all pieces of information, the learner, and the environment. It is the responsibility of both the teacher and the learner to link the appropriate information together. If students can develop a relationship for the "underlying reasons for ‘how’ and ‘why’ to use specific procedures, they will be able to store this information as part of their knowledge network," and develop links with other pieces of information (Gersten and Baker, 1998, p.24). On the contrary, if learners learn facts of information that are isolated from a meaningful context, their understanding is often incomplete and meaningless. As a result of these linked relationships between individuals and environments, knowledge is the prevailing outcome. In summary, "knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used (Brown, Collins, and Duguid, 1989, p.32).
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.
Kameenui, Edward J., and Deborah C. Simmons. Designing Instructional Strategies: The Prevention of Academic Learning Problems. Columbus, OH: Merrill Pub., 1990.
Each of the three learning theories, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Behaviorism, has worth and merit in my opinion. Yet, each one has its own unique qualities with one common factor, the learning process. It seems to me that the best teacher is one who would utilize all the theories of learning. However, if I look closely, I am most likely favoring one or two more than the others in my own instructional methods. I read the brief definition of these three theories and realized that I needed to examine a more in-depth explanation of each of them. The theory of cognitivism focuses on the mind of the learner
Instead, EL students benefit in learning new content knowledge when an instructor methodically produces a lesson with a systematic I do you do approach; while purposely adding visuals whenever possible. Modeling content knowledge can be accomplished when the instructor writes the objective or provides an outline of what the lesson entails in student friendly vocabulary for each lesson where students can visually see. Next, the instructor should discuss what the end goal of the lesson is through hand gestures and changing the speed and tone of the voice to elaborate key concepts. Additionally, teachers should provide visual vocabulary whenever possible. Playing videos, word walls, or showing pictures of key vocabulary in a lesson will help students who struggle with differences in language grasp what is being asked of them more clearly. Lastly, instructor should show examples of projects and essays for reference. This will allow EL students to visualize the end product; allowing them to organize their ideas and
The second step in developing an engaging lesson is to focus on the instructional strategies used to help the students understand the material. It is at this point, the teacher decides what activities they will use to help address the “big ideas” or the “essential questions”.