Download Learning Styles

Personal Learning Theory
Denice David
UOP-Online
August 5, 2005
Learning
knowledge or skill acquired by instruction
or study
modification of a behavioral tendency by
experience (as exposure to conditioning)
Merriam-Webster (2005)
Learning
“Bandura says that children learn by
observing the behavior of others and
imitating and modeling their behavior
(Grusec, 1992)” (Lifespan, 2002).
Learning Theories
It is important to remember that there may
not be one correct theory, that we must
combine the theories and conduct
additional research so that we can learn
more about cognitive development
(Lifespan, 2002)
Society, Culture & Learning
Society and Culture affect learning
Allow students to bring culture into the
classroom
Avoid gender typing students
Piaget’s Learning Theory
Sensorimotor stage (Birth to 2 years)
Preoperational stage (2 to 6 years)
Concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years)
Formal operational stage (12 to adulthood)
Sensorimotor Stage
Children base their learning on behavior
and perception
A child watches others around them and
learns based on the behaviors they
observe
Preoperational Stage
Children’s vocabulary is continually
increasing
Thinking can be illogically confused
between thoughts and emotions
Concrete Operational
Stage
Children begin to think logically
Their thinking is based on concrete,
observable objects and events
Formal Operational
Stage
The child develops the ability to reason
with abstract, hypothetical, and contraryto-fact information
Children also begin to examine their own
thoughts and processes and evaluate their
thinking
Vygotsky’s Learning Theory
Zone of Proximal Development
children learn best when presented with
new information at a level that is just
above their current level of performance
Vygotsky believed that children learn not
from repetition of tasks they know but by
attempting tasks within their zone of
proximal development
Operant Conditioning
our behavior operates on the environment
to produce consequences: either desirable
or undesirable
behavior is based on the environment and
the consequences that occur to the
behavior
Skinner’s Fundamental
Principals
A response followed by a reinforcing
stimulus is strengthened and therefore
more likely to occur again
a response that is not followed by a
reinforcing stimulus is weakened and
therefore less likely to occur again
Skinner’s Reinforcers
MUST follow the response
MUST follow immediately
MUST be contingent on the response
Operant Conditioning
Experiment
Study done by Gordon Hodge and Nancy
Nelson at the University of New Mexico (1991)
College age students were given reinforcers to
encourage classroom participation
Hodge and Nelson experimented with Skinner’s
theory of operant conditioning to see if there
could be a balance of student participation within
a small college
(cont.)
each student had different levels of
participation
A system was set up in which:
– some students who had not participated
before received checkmarks for any type of
participation.
– those who were in the middle group received
checkmarks on a lesser basis.
– over participators received checkmarks when
they did not participate or when they were
called on by the professor
(cont.)
After checkmarks were taken away the
participation continued
Hodge and Nelson thought that this was
because the students occurred because
the students and the professor were more
aware of their behavior
Learning Styles
Visual Learner
Auditory Learner
Kinesthetic Learner
Teacher Recommendations
Modify lessons to include all types of
learners
Remember that not all reinforcers work for
all students
Introduce a positive behavior plan to
reinforcer positive, acceptable behaviors
References
Hodge, G.K. & Nelson, N.H. (1991). Demonstrating
differential reinforcement by shaping classroom
participation. Journal Unknown, 18(4). Retrieved July 27,
2005 from ERIC database.
Merriam-Webster, 2005. Merriam-Webster Online.
Retrieved August 4, 2005 from http://www.m-w.com/cgibin/dictionary .
University of Phoenix (Ed.). (2002). Lifespan
development and learning [University of Phoenix Custom
Edition]. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.