Principles of Learning and Learning Theory

Megan Franks

I. What is Learning?

Learning is a process - and a customizable process, at that. A number of factors go into

developing that process and what it looks like, including the state of mind of both the instructor

and the learner. Below, some of the most popular learning and teaching states of mind are

described below as theories.

a. Describe major learning theories

One of these theories is known as behaviorism. Behaviorism is a well-established theory

in the field of psychology (Behaviorism & Education). The theory applies to more than just

learning, but learning is at the core of the theory. Behaviorist theory states that all behavior is

learned. Every stimulus in the environment prompts a response, and these stimuli and responses

can be manipulated to promote the learning of a particular behavior (McLeod, 2007).

When applied to the process of learning, this manipulation happens in a number of ways.

Behaviorist theory states that desired responses to particular stimuli - also known as the process

of learning - have to be conditioned (Behaviorism & Education). This means the responses

have to be built up over time. In learning, this can be done through the process of reinforcement.

Reinforcement involves punishing undesired responses and rewarding desired responses

(Behaviorism & Education).

Behaviorism is a basic theory of learning. This theory focuses on the observable,

measurable aspects of learning and does not give much consideration to the internal processes of

learning such as memory and cognition (McLeod, 2007).

 Just as their names imply, behaviorism focuses on the behavior of learning - and

cognitivism, another learning theory, focuses on the cognition of learning. Cognition means the

internal processes happening in an individuals mind while learning (Cognitivism, 2011).

Cognitivism adds two major ideas to the theory of learning. The first is that the process of

learning involves development. Certain stages of learning must be accomplished before newer,

more complex stages are opened up to an individual. The second major addition of cognitive

theory is that because of these levels of development, learning is a unique and individual process

in every learner. People learn differently and at different rates from each other (Cognitivism,

2011). The internal processes of cognition are different in each person, and it is vital to have

awareness of these differences in a learning environment. This is the main way in which

cognitivism is a learning theory - amplifying the idea that learning takes many forms and

happens in many stages.

One final major learning theory is called constructivism. This theory takes the focus on

internal cognition found in cognitive theory to a new level. In constructivist theory, learners

construct their own knowledge through observation and reflection, rather than typical learning

behaviors - like memorization or testing - found in other theories (Educational Broadcasting

Corporation, 2004). Learners are building knowledge on their own rather than working through

one particular learning process set by a teacher. This theory allows the most room for

individualized learning styles.

b. Describe cognition and memorys role in learning process

Cognition and memory are the keys concepts behind learning as a process. Cognition and

memory are what keep that process moving and growing as learning happens. Information has to

work its way through different stages of memory in order to be remembered, or learned (Chow,
2017). Learning is not something that happens just once, like a simple stimulus-response

relationship (Behaviorism & Education). Learning happens over time - again, it is a process - and

memory is what makes it possible to build that process.

The concept of cognition simply describes the different actions happening in a learners

mind as they learn. There are different theories that describe this concept, as well. One well-

regarded theory is a hierarchy of learning developed by a man named Robert Gagne. In his

theory, Gagne describes nine teaching events that coincide with nine different cognitive

processes, each building off the process that comes before it. Gagnes cognitive processes range

from reception of a stimulus to generalization of knowledge (Culatta, 2015). When the nine

teaching events are followed in order, the theory claims that the associated cognitive processes

will also follow - and all together, this is how learning happens (Culatta, 2015).

II. What is Teaching?

Teaching is process, just like learning. The two go hand in hand. The teaching process has

to try to work with all of the different learning processes happening with each individual learner.

At its core, though, teaching is the passage and building of knowledge.

a. Describe instructional process

Because everyone learns differently, and because of the myriad of learning theories that

exist in the realm of education, the instructional process looks just as varied. How instruction

works depends on both the teachers preference as well as the needs of the particular learning

environment (Chow, 2017). One example of this need for flexibility in learning comes from

Gagnes nine events. The nine events are set up in a way that follow specific cognitive processes,

but not specific teaching styles - allowing for adjustment to suit every learners needs (Culatta,

2015). Because of this widespread variation in learning, one vital component of the instructional
process that exists in most instructional theories and designs is the concept of assessment (Chow,

2017), described below.

b. How do you know it is effective?

Teachers use assessment to gauge if their instruction is effective or not. Learning needs to

be assessed because otherwise, the teacher can never know for sure if their instruction style is

even working. Some form of assessment exists in most learning and instruction theories - and

there are different types of assessment, as well.

Formative assessment assesses learning as it is happening (Chow, 2017). Making sure

learners are on the same page as the teacher and feeling comfortable with the current stage of

learning is essential to effective instruction. If learners get lost at a certain point of learning and

that need is not assessed and addressed, they may fail to complete the rest of the hierarchy of

learning (Culatta, 2015).

Summative assessment assesses learning at its completion (Chow, 2017). Summative

assessment has its place just like formative assessment does. Eventually, learning does need to be

evaluated in whole and not just its parts. Parts of instruction could be effective while others are

not as effective and need to be tweaked, and summative assessments can show if the instructional

process was successful or not (Chow, 2017).

III. ADDIE Model

The ADDIE model is one such instructional process model as described above. The

model is a framework for instruction that a number of different teaching and learning styles can

be applied to (Chow, 2017).

a. Describe and discuss each phase of the ADDIE model

 The first phase of the ADDIE model is to analyze. Because no learning has happened at

this stage, the objects of analyzation are the learners themselves - what do they need from this

learning process? Knowing the learners and their needs allows the teacher to determine what the

outcomes of their instruction need to be. Outcomes are necessary to establish at the beginning of

instruction because they provide the main framework on which to build the instructional process,

along with the individual needs of the learners (Chow, 2017).

After analyzing comes design. Where the analyzing stage leans more toward the learners

and what they need, the design stage allows teachers to focus on their needs, as well, through

examination of their preferences and style. The teacher essentially establishes what learning will

look like in this stage (Chow, 2017).

Development comes after design, and this stage essentially delves further into the actual

crafting of the instructional process. In the design stage, the process is laid out in the order it

needs to happen. In the development stage, that process comes to life. Actual materials are

created that actual learners will use in the coming instructional process (Chow, 2017).

By this point, learning is ready to happen. The next stage is the implementation stage.

Teaching begins at this point - and, hopefully, learning follows (Chow, 2017).

The final stage is the evaluation stage. This is where assessment takes place, both of the

formative and summative kind. The entire instructional process needs to be assessed - these

assessments will help when the other stages of the ADDIE model are revisited and changes are

made (Culatta, 2013).

IV. Instructional and Learning Environments

a. Describe the learning and instructional environments you most likely will face in your

current/future career.
 I hope to work in the instructional field in the future, as well as the instructional design

field. I have done an instructional practicum with first-year students on the topic of information

literacy, and I have enjoyed the experience immensely. In the future, I can see myself in the same

type of environment. I really enjoy working with college-age learners who come into the library

as part of their courses to learn how to use our resources as well as how to evaluate the sources

they find. I would be very interested in the design aspect of this as well. I have developed my

own lesson plans and assessment tools and would really enjoy doing more of this in the future.

I also believe that, no matter where I work in a library, instruction will be a part of my

responsibilities. Even in the reference and access services departments, instruction and learning

happen all the time on a one-to-one basis.

V. Develop Instruction using ADDIE model

a. Select a basic skill you want to teach us

The skill I want to teach is how to evaluate a source for credibility.

b. Establish clear learning objectives

Because I have taught this skill many times before, I am heavily influenced by the

learning objectives outlined by University of North Carolina - Greensboros Jackson Library

(University of North Carolina at Greensboro University Libraries, 2012). I want to give credit to

them for their influence on my own learning objectives.

The learning objectives I desire for my instructional process are: the learner is able to

evaluate a source on levels of accuracy, bias, and currency of the information, the sources

author, and the location of the source.

c. Design instruction to meet each objective

 I want to follow Gagnes nine events (Culatta, 2015) in order to design this instructional

process. First, I will gain attention by showing a political advertisement video from the recent

presidential election and give the learners a brief glance at the politicians website. I will then

identify my learning objectives from above by generating discussion on the video and if they

think the provided information is accurate, biased, current, and/or a mixture of the three. After

this discussion, I will recall prior learning. Before this session, the students should have viewed a

website describing a model called the ABC Test (Dale, 2017). We will very briefly discuss these

tenets of source evaluation - mainly, what they learned from the reading - before moving into

further discussion. This discussion will be led by the presenting of various stimuli and combined

with the next step in the instructional process of guiding learning. We will go back to the political

advertisement and website and discuss each tenet of the ABC Test in more detail. After our

discussion, I will elicit performance from the students. I will ask them to find a source on a topic

of their choice and apply the ABC Test to the source, recording their results in a Google Form

that is sent to me. I will provide feedback and assess performance by walking around and

answering questions while the students are researching, as well as later on when they are finished

by looking over the Google Form and their answers. I will enhance retention at the end of the

instructional process by showing and discussing other neutral and biased sources on the

politician from the beginning, and asking them to apply the ABC Test to these sources as well, to

see the differences between the sources.

 References

Behaviorism & Education [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jlnietfe/EDP304_Notes_files/Behaviorism%20Notes.pdf

Chow, A. (2017). Course introductions and what is learning? What is teaching? [PowerPoint

slides]. Retrieved from canvas.uncg.edu

Chow, A. (2017). Lecture 3: The teaching and learning process. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved

from canvas. uncg.edu

Chow, A. (2017). Lecture 5: Assessing Learning. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

canvas.uncg.edu

Chow, A. (2017). Week 3 lecture: Learning and teaching [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

canvas.uncg.edu

Cognitivism. (2011). Retrieved February 24, 2017 from the Teaching and Learning Resources

wiki:

http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/31012664/Cognitivism

Culatta, R. (2013). ADDIE model. Retrieved from:

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/addie.html

Culatta, R. (2015). Conditions of learning (Robert Gagne). Retrieved from:

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/conditions-learning.html

Dale, J. (2017). English 101: Evaluating sources. Retrieved from:

http://uncg.libguides.com/c.php?g=83076&p=535364

Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2004). Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and

learning. Retrieved from

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/
McLeod, S. (2007). Behaviorist approach. Retrieved from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html

University of North Carolina at Greensboro University Libraries (2012). Learning outcomes for

information literacy [PDF document]. Retrieved from:

https://library.uncg.edu/info/help/Information_Literacy_learning_outcomes.pdf