Week 7 - Fitting the Pieces Together

Here is what I wrote on Week # 1 pertaining to what learning theories best suited me:

“First, my learning process is most associated with that of Constructivism, which is defined as “Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge or experience. In other words, "learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences."” (Learning Theory) The Instructional Designer builds upon what a learner knows already. Words that are closely associated with Constructivism are “Aspects of constructivism can be found in self-directed learning, transformational learning, experiential learning, situated cognition, and reflective practice.” (Learning Theory) I feel that because I have been taking online classes since 2005, I have adopted this learning theory. For example, in order to take online classes a person needs to adopt some form of self-directed learning, because an individual in this environment takes charge of their own learning experience. If an individual is taking a sit-down class, then of course, the Instructor is in charge of their learning experience.

Second, my learning process shows some signs of Cognitivism, which is defined as, “Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning.” (Learning Theory) There are many instances when I have to rely on my memory to learn a concept. An example, learning all of those passwords, which I have memorized to get into my e-mail, my class, my employee timesheet and work related programs, etc.”

I have learned that each learning theory consists of the following concepts, which can be broken down into questions:

1. How does learning occur?
2. What factors influence learning?
3. What is the role of the memory?
4. How does transfer occur?
5. What types of learning are best explained?
6. How does technology play a role?

Quite honestly, I have never really studied the different learning theories and would have never thought to attach the above questions to each one. I thought that each learning theory was cut and dry, for instance, all theories could not intertwine with one another, you had to be constructivist only or connectivist only, and not mixed with a behaviorist.

Before learning this information, I had no idea that each theory had its own set of factors, which I provided numbered above. I learned each learning theory intimately, I know what makes each one of them tick. For instance, during Week # 1, I called myself a constructivist and a cognitivist. I based the information on how I felt that learned the best, without taking the numbered factors that I provided into consideration.

The role of memory for a constructivist is if information is meaningful to the learner. When I took the statistics class, I did not find this class meaningful, because I knew that I would never use this information for anything in my personal or my professional life. Now, the social learning theory, the words associated with the role of the memory is mental images and rehearsal. The social learning theory would have worked best for me in relation to my statistics class not constructivism.

Let’s see the role of technology has served many purposes in relation to my learning. I predominantly take online classes only, so this a huge part of the role of technology in my instance. Most of everything related to the class has do with technology in some aspect, for instance, the online library, the discussions, online reading assignments, applications (actual assignments), and looking up grades for assignments just to name a few. As you can see, technology plays a huge role in learning new concepts and information for me. If technology was taken away from me for some reason, I am not sure that my learning would be up to par, as I depend and take for granted this method of delivery.



References:
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50–71.

Instructional Design (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_design


Learning Theory (Education) (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_theory_(education)
Schunk, D.H. (1991) Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective. New York: Macmillian