Approaches to learning

Approaches to learning

1. Behaviourist applications to learning

   • operant conditioning
     • says that the consequences of an action (whether it is rewarded or punished) affect whether the action is repeated or changed. This allows the formation of new behaviours.
       • Programmed learning (Skinner) (frames and feedback)
     • e.g. Skinner Box
   • classical conditioning
     • involves the association of a certain stimulus to a certain response. Pavlov's dogs are a famous example of classical conditioning.
       • unconditioned stimulus
       • unconditioned response
       • neutral stimulus
       • conditioned stimulus
       • conditioned response
   • Positives
     • useful applications to schools, aeasy to implement and easy for students and teachers to understand.
     • scientific method of analyzing behaviors, emphasizing the use of objective measuring techniques and measurable outcomes. Should be able to applied to large numbers of children in an unbiased way.
   • Negatives
     • Theories found from animal experiments are hard to applied on humans.
     • Behaviourist theories ignore other approaches such as the cognitive approach. It just a partial explanation.
     • Some behaviourist strategies create ethical issues such as protection from harm.
     • a deterministic theory, which creates a slightly depressing view of humans as creatures that simply mechanistically respond to stimuli, as well as raising ethical questions of consent.

2. humanistic applications

   • co-operative learning
     • debatable whether this is due to the techniques themselves or just the fact that the techniques require a lot of panning and organization.
     • very effective in an organised fashion
   • the open classroom
     • reduce student stress as the atmosphere will be more relaxed.
     • difficult to tell the difference between order and chaos.
     • more creative
     • tend to lead lower academic achievement in standard tests.
   • e.g. Summerhill School
     • Encourages creativity and independence. A large number of students find artistic careers.
     • Exam results tend to be worse than those of more traditional schools.
   • Strengths
     • free will
     • treat students like individuals
     • holistic approach
     • qualitative data
   • Weakness
     • highly dependent on the skill of teacher
     • unscientific approach
     • time consuming and difficult
     • hard to produce multiple lessons

3. Cognitive applications

   • thought processes
   • Piaget
   • Advantages
     • helpful if the teacher offer guidance
     • less deterministic
     • had useful applicatiolns
     • problem-based learning
   • Disadvantages
     • difficult balance between reduced teacher involvement and no teacher involvement
     • children may do with errors or misconceptions that are not being corrected.
     • some very abstract or theoretical concepts may not suitable for discovery learning.
     • time consuming
     • more direct forms of instruction may be needed.