handout1

Hand-Out 1
Applications of Learning Theories for Instructional Design Practice

Let's imagine that as a teacher you believe in behavioral learning theories. You want to plan a unit of instruction for photosynthesis. What approach would you use?

Now assume that as a teacher you believe in cognitive theories of learning, namely information processing, what approach would you use? How would your approach be different from the one that you used from behavioral perspective?

Now assume that as a teacher you believe in constructivist theory of knowledge, how would this view change your approach?

You may want to think about the following issues:

the role that you would play as a teacher;
the role that your students would have during the lesson;
the format of your instruction; and
the learning strategies that you probably would use

As a behaviorist you believe that learning take place when knowledge is broken down into smaller pieces and students are rewarded for successful responses. Direct teaching strategies dominate, based on the belief that student behavior can be measured, diagnosed and predicted. The aim in the classroom is to calibrate behavior to achieve set learning objectives. As a behaviorist you emphasize the following principles:

Contiguity;

Practice;

Reinforcement; and

Shaping & fading

Using the above principle of behavioral learning theories, as a teacher, you would focus on the following issues (applications of behavioral learning theories for instruction):

Identification of relevant stimuli and response
Identification of the learner's entry and expected behavior
Analysis of smaller skills and knowledge
Planning a reinforcement schedule (reward system)
Constant confirmations of expectation to maintain motivation and to increase the probability of appropriate response.
Development of individualized instruction and seat work exercises
Constant assessment of learning each skill before progressing to another skill.

As a behaviorist you also believe that the teacher's role is essential in providing stimulus material and prompting the correct response. The learner is the receiver of the information and his/her role is to participate in the process of practicing stimulus and practicing correct response until the change in the behavior is permanent.

Therefore, applying the above behavioral principles you will have to do the following to design your photosynthesis unit of instruction:

Define students entry behavior for the unit clearly.
Define behavioral changes (objectives) for the new unit very clearly.
Analyze each skill and knowledge to break it into smaller pieces in order to know exactly what the learner needs to learn (sub tasks or sub skills).
Provide direct explanation and examples for each sub task and sub skills.
Develop practice exercises and worksheets for each sub skills
Develop test items for each sub task to assess the learner's performance for each step.
Plan scheduled reinforcement for the appropriate response at each step

As a cognitivist (cognitive information processing) you believe that learning is defined as a change in individuals' mental structures that gives them the capacity to demonstrate changes in behavior. Your focus is on internal structures, or mechanisms "within the learner's head," in addition to observable behavior. From this perspective you emphasize the following principles:

Internal processes/conditions of learning (the learning processes that take place in the mind of the learner)

Attention
Expectancies
Reception
Perception
Short-term memory
Rehearsing
Encoding
Long-term memory
Memory strategies
Encoding strategies
Executive control
Prior knowledge and experience

External processes/conditions of learning (the environmental support for the internal processes of learning)

Attracting student attention
Setting expectation (the meaning learners attach to an object or event is affected by what they expect to experience)
Assisting learners to recall prior knowledge and experiences
Identifying types of learning outcome (memorization, conceptualization, application, problem solving, etc.)
Facilitating and support cognitive processes for learning of the identified types of learning outcomes
Assisting learners to develop learning strategies
Helping learners to control their own learning processes (metacognition)
Assisting learners to perform self assessment (executive control)
Assessing learners' performance and provide informative feedback

You also believe that the learner is active in the process of learning and you, as a teacher, can only support the internal processes of learning. You believe that different forms of information requires different internal processes (e.g., facts vs. concepts vs. problems). So, your role, as a teacher, is to facilitate and support the internal processes of different types of learning by providing different instruction (instruction that is appropriate for a specific learning outcome).

Therefore, applying the above cognitive information processing principles you will have to do the following to design your photosynthesis unit of instruction:

Know your learners and their previous knowledge and skills, cognitive strategies, learning style, learning strategies, cultural background, etc.
Define or help the learners define what they expect to learn from the unit (learning outcomes/performance)
Identify the types of learning outcomes (memorization, conceptualization, application, problem solving, etc.) identified for the unit
Identify and then provide the appropriate instructional strategies for the types of learning outcomes being addressed in the unit
Assist learners in applying the proper learning strategies
Assist learners in constant assessment of their performance
Assess learners' performance and provide informative feedback

As a constructivist you believe that learning is personal interpretation of the world. Learners construct meaning from personal values, beliefs, and experiences. Learners bring with them their own experiences and practical knowledge to the learning environment. Thus they do not encounter new information out of context, but rather they apply what they know to assimilating this information (construction of knowledge); or they accommodate or reframe what they know to form new understanding they have gained (reconstruction of knowledge). You also believe that learning is collaborative with meaning negotiated from multiple perspective (everyone brings his/her own interpretation and then these interpretations are negotiated among individuals until they come to a common understanding (common knowledge)). Thus reflection is a key component of learning and becoming as expert.

In applying constructivist view of learning to instruction, you will need to focus on the following activities:

Create a learning environment that is authentic (real), complex , and problem based
Use activities that promote collaboration, multiple perspective and higher level thinking skills
Learners participate in establishing goals, tasks, and methods of instruction and assessment
Focus the instruction on accommodating multiple perspectives (allow multiple goals, styles, and perspectives)
Provide opportunities for multiple ways to learn content
Create a non threatening setting for learning and reflection
Help students develop metacognitive awareness

Furthermore, you consider the learners as active agent in the process of learning. As a teacher, you see yourself as a designer of the learning environment not the provider of the information. You think you should create the appropriate learning environment and then let learners decide what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. Your role then is more of a coach and a guide.

Therefore, applying the above constructivist principles you will have to do the following to design your photosynthesis unit of instruction:

Design a learning environment (instead of instructional strategies/method) that requires full learner participation in the process of setting goals and identifying content
Design learning activities that focus on real world problems and higher level thinking skills
Design a collaborative learning environment
Ensure multiple presentations which also provide multiple perspectives of the knowledge to be gained through instruction
Embed assessment in the process of instruction
Embed self assessment and reflection in the design of the learning activities
Extend learners' responsibilities by allowing them to determine what they need to learn, how to manage their own learning activities, and how to contribute to each other's learning
Create conditions where teachable moments occur regularly