Folks:

The posting below is a nice summary of  three main categories of learning
theory: behaviorism, cognitivism, and the social construction of knowledge.
It is from Chapter 5, The Organization of Teaching with Technology in,
EFFECTIVE TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION by A.W. (Tony) Bates
and Gary Poole.  Copyright © 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  All rights
reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San
Francisco, CA 94103-1741 [www.josseybass.com]. Reprinted with permission.

I have a copy of this book in my office if you want to borrow it.

 Jim Greenberg. 

                 THE NATURE OF LEARNING

Again, this is a huge topic.  There is a great deal of research into how
students learn at the postsecondary level.  We particularly recommend the
report of the National Research Council, as commissioned by the U.S.
Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement
(OERI).  This research is documented in How People Learn (Donovan,
Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999).  One of the assumptions behind this work is
that there is a significant gap between what is known about learning
processes and how we teach; in other words, between research and
practice.  The authors attempt, in a very practical way, to highlight just
what is going on when people learn well.  We share their view that an
understanding of learning processes should inform how we teach, including
how we use technology for teaching.
    
We will just very briefly introduce some key concepts that need to be
explained in order to show the link between different understandings of how
students learn and the design of technology-based teaching.

There are many different theories of learning.  We will look first at three
main categories of learning theory: behaviorism, cognitivism, and the social
construction of knowledge.  We also discuss some issues arising from these
theories, such as cognitive development, student differences, and motivation
and engagement in learning.  These themes of how students learn and what
influences their learning will, as with epistemology, recur throughout the
book as we examine the role of media and technology in teaching and
learning, and the planning, design, and delivery of technology-based
courses.

                Behaviorism

Behaviorist psychology arose in the 1920s and 1930s from an attempt to model
the study of human behavior on the methods of the physical sciences.
Therefore it concentrates attention on aspects of behavior that are capable
of direct observation and measurement.  At the heart of behaviorism is the
idea that certain behavioral responses become associated in a mechanistic
and invariant way with specific stimuli. Hence a certain stimulus will evoke
a particular response.  At its simplest, the response may be a purely
physiological reflex action, like the contraction of an iris in the eye when
stimulated by bright light.
    
However, most behavior is more complex.  Nevertheless, according to
behaviorists, it is possible to reinforce through reward or punishment the
association between any particular stimulus or event and a particular
response.  The bond formed between a stimulus and a response will depend on
the existence of an appropriate means of reinforcement at the time of
association between stimulus and response.  Behavior therefore can be
modified or controlled by appropriately reinforcing random behavior (trial
and error) as it occurs.

This is essentially the concept of operant conditioning, a principle most
clearly developed by Skinner (1969).  He showed that pigeons could be
trained in quite complex behavior by rewarding
particular, desired response, randomly occurring, with appropriate stimuli,
such as the provision of food pellets.  He also found that intervening
stimuli to be present, thus linking an initially remote
stimulus with a complex behavior.  Furthermore, inappropriate or previously
learned behavior could be extinguished by withdrawing reinforcement.
Skinner also claimed that rewarding behavior was more effective than
punishment.

Underlying this approach is the belief that learning is governed by
invariant principles, and these principles are independent of conscious
control on the part of the learner.  Behaviorists attempt to maintain a high
degree of objectivity in how they view human activity, and they generally
reject reference to unobservable states, such as feelings, attitudes, and
consciousness.  Human behavior is above all seen as predictable and
controllable.  Behaviorism stems from a strongly objectivist epistemological
position.

Skinner's theory led to the development of teaching machines, measurable
learning objectives, computer-assisted instruction, and multiple choice
tests.  There was also a tendency until recently to see technology,
particularly computers, as being closely associated with behaviorist
approaches to learning.  Today there has been a strong movement away from
behaviorist approaches to teaching in higher education, although its
influence is still strong in corporate and military training and in some
areas of science, engineering, and medical training.

                Cognitivism

Behaviorism denies or ignores mental activity as the basis for learning.
Learning for behaviorists is determined by external environmental structures
that lead to reinforcement of behavior, rather than to mental processing or
conscious thought on the part of the learner.  Cognitivists, though, insist
that there are mental processes "internal and conscious representations of
the world" that are essential for human learning. Fontana (1981) summarizes
the cognitive approach as follows:

    "The cognitive approach holds that if we are to understand learning we
    cannot confine ourselves to observable behavior, but must also concern
    ourselves with the learner's ability mentally to reorganize his
    psychological field (i.e., his inner world of concepts, memories, etc.)
in
    response to experience.  This latter approach therefore lays stress not
    only on the environment, but upon the way in which the individual
    interprets and tries to make sense of the environment.  It sees the
    individual not as the somewhat mechanical product of his environment,
but
    as an active agent in the learning process, deliberately trying to
process
    and categorize the stream of information fed into him by the external
    world." (p. 148)

Thus the search for rules, principles, or relationships in processing new
information, and the search for meaning and consistency in reconciling new
information with previous knowledge, are key concepts in cognitive
psychology.  Cognitive psychology is concerned with identifying and
describing mental processes.  In some ways, basic mental processes are often
considered genetic or hard-wired but can be programmed or modified by
external factors, such as experience.

Cognitive approaches to learning cover a very wide range.  On the one hand,
attempts have been made through areas such as artificial intelligence to
provide mechanical, electronic, and physical representations of mental
processes, reflecting very much as objectivist epistemological position.  On
the other hand, teachers who place a strong emphasis on learners’ developing
personal meaning through reflection, analysis, and construction of knowledge
through conscious mental processing would indicate much more of a
constructivist epistemological position.  Cognitive approaches to learning
"with their focus on abstraction, generalization, and creative thinking"
seem to fit much better in higher education.

            The Social Construction of Knowledge

We have pulled together different theories of learning here under the common
theme of the social construction of knowledge.  Both behaviorist and some
elements of cognitive theories of learning are deterministic, in the sense
that behavior and learning are believed to be rule-based and operate under
predictable and constant conditions over which the individual learner has no
or little control.

However, the trend these days is to recognize the importance of
consciousness, free will, and social influences on learning.  Although
constructivism has become the "flavor of the month" in higher education in
recent years, the belief that humans are essentially active and free and
strive for meaning in personal terms has been around for a long time. Carl
Rogers (1969) stated that "every individual exists in a continually changing
world of experience in which he is the center." The external world is
interpreted within the context of that private world.

Individuals consciously strive for meaning to make sense of their
environment in terms of past experience and their present state.  It is an
attempt to create order in their minds out of disorder, resolve
incongruities, and reconcile external realities with prior experience. The
means by which this is done are complex and multifaceted, from engaging in
personal reflection to seeking new information to testing ideas through
social contact with others.  Problems are resolved, and incongruities sorted
out, through strategies such as seeking relationships between what was known
and what is new, identifying similarities and differences, and testing
hypotheses.  Reality is always tentative and dynamic.

For many educators, the social context of learning is critical. Ideals are
tested not just on the teacher but also with fellow students, friends, and
colleagues.  Furthermore, knowledge is mainly acquired through social
processes or institutions that are socially constructed: schools,
universities.  What is taken to be “valued” knowledge is also socially
constructed.  Knowledge is thus not just about content but also about
values.

One set of values comprises those around the concept of a liberal education.
According to this notion, one of the principal aims of education is to
develop a critical awareness of the values and ideologies that shape the
form of received knowledge.  This aim suggests a constant probing and
criticism of received knowledge.

One consequence of theories of social construction of knowledge is that each
individual is considered unique, because the interaction of each person's
different experiences and the search for personal meaning result in each
person being different from anyone else.  Behavior is thus not predictable
or deterministic, at least not at the individual level (although pollsters
will argue that patterns of group behavior is predictable).

The key point here is that learning is seen as essentially a social process,
requiring communication among learner, teacher, and others.  This social
process cannot effectively be replaced by technology, although technology
may facilitate it.

                References

Donovan, M., Bransford, J., & Pellegrino, J. (Eds.) (1999). How people
learn: Bridging research and practice.  Washington, DC: National Research
Council, U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and
Improvement.

Fontana, D. (1981). Psychology for teachers. London: Macmillan/British
Psychological Society.

Rogers, C. (1969). Freedom to learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Skinner, B. (1969). Contingencies of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-
Century-Crofts.