Instructional Design and Technology:

Instructional Design Learning Theories - IDT100x

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WEEK 2 - Comparing learning Theories

Submitted: 018.08.19

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What will you learn this week?

By the end of Week 2, you will be able to:

• discuss characteristics of behaviorism,

• identify and describe Pavlov’s and Skinner’s works, and

• develop examples of Behaviorism in learning environments.

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Discussion 2: Behaviorism Pros and Cons

Please post no more than 300-400 words in your initial post.   By Monday, 11:59PM EST USA, reply to at least two colleagues using questions or adding additional resources to further the discussion. Please avoid generic feedback, such as “Great work” or “Thanks for sharing this.”

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Learning Theories -  Behaviorism 

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Learning scenario
Creating a digital collage (Photoshop image manipulation)

1. Introduce the task and minimum requirements

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2. Demonstrate the task using the required skills

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3. Guide students through the skills application in completing the exercise
This is an opportunity to observe engagement, encourage participation and skills acquisition.

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4. Provide an on-line forum for group discussions and practice exercises(Grade worth - %5)
Possible Collaboration and interaction - 
Negative outcome - they miss grades available if they don't complete.

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5. Provide feedback and guidance through the exercise and on-line forum.
(Immediate positive feedback, provide guidance)

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6. Provide non-graded on-line self assessment 
(Provides measurement of involvement if exercise is completed)

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7. Grade the task in-line with assessment outcomes(Grade worth - %20)
Submit the work incrementally to an online portfolio(Stimulus) for regular review and open to rest of class for open discussion(Response)

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8. Provide a quiz at the end of the task (Grade worth - %10)
Test for acquired skills and knowledge

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Perhaps also make a higher grade the requirement for having a choice of the following
type of project available to the student(Stimulus and provides a negative reinforcement). ie. 70% pass required if they wish to work with video animation for the following project, otherwise can only tackle illustrated animation.

In the past the more popular option has been video animation and the minimum pass rate may encourage them to gain the required grade(Response).

In designing this project, I'm encouraging students to be engaged in class and the on-line interactions, where they can collaborate with others to solve problems and accumulate grades as they progress through the exercises.

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Pro 1: It's an evidenced based process(here and now) and assessments are based on involvement, encouraging the required positive behaviour. 

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Pro 2: Many people believe that removing undesirable behaviour is more important than a persons past and shouldn't be concerned with understanding the causes for behaviour.

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Con 1: For any behaviourist aligned project there's no certainty of the behavioral outcomes, as we can't control passed experience or the external environment the student lives in.

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Con 2: Behaviorism is heavily reliant on a deterministic approach of environment and doesn't singularly suit this type of project on its' own.

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This is not a purely behaviourist approach as there are elements from other learning theories in this process, such as constructivist approach in steps 3, 4 and 7. 

The nature of the project is that it's not purely a “skill and drill” driven exercise and is part of a "creative process", which includes and aesthetic component, that needs a blended educational approach. 

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I believe that most educational design is better served by an open understanding of what the core requirements are for a given situation and use a variety of tools, theories rather than strictly adhere to a single approach or design philosophy. 
Behaviorism is well suited to a specific type of instruction, where the students acquire a narrow factual, skill or stepped information, making it but one of a number of approaches used to design and deliver educational experiences.

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References:

Post - Learning scientist
Behaviorism in the Classroom - By: Cindy Nebel
https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2017/8/10-1

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Article
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Behaviourist Approach. (2016, Jun 07). Retrieved from
https://studymoose.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-the-behaviourist-approach-essay

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Posting
Stanford University
Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning Theories
First published by Learning Matters SAGE 2014.
https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1505

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Article
How Will I Apply Behaviorist Philosophy in the Classroom?
https://education.seattlepi.com/apply-behaviorist-philosophy-classroom-3322.html

 

Article
How Will I Apply Behaviorist Philosophy in the Classroom?
https://education.seattlepi.com/apply-behaviorist-philosophy-classroom-3322.html

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Personal Learning Experiences

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Activity 1: Learning Experiences

Question 1: 
Describe in 4-5 sentences a memory you recall from when you were learning something in elementary
or middle school.

There have been several experiences that influenced my own style and approach to teaching.

Senior secondary Biology class with our teacher David Ninde. Very informal classes conducted with a combination of lab exercises, elaborate outdoor investigative presentations and field tests, which made the subject engaging wanderous.
This was a very different experience from the more traditional chalk and talk teaching I had experienced until this time. In retrospect I was experiencing "Learning by doing" or a Constructivist approach to the learning. This experience highlighted my prefered learning style and how topics can be made more interesting to the learner.

Question 2: 
Describe in 4-5 sentences a memory you recall from when you were learning something in high school
or college.

The opposite to the previous example was my undergraduate Art History lecturer(Dr Alan Day), which delivered the classes with an enthusiastic and enlivened approach that connected the past to the present. Making it a relevant experience not just for my interest in the Art History, but also how history has shaped our current lives and possible futures.
Creating these connections and the research rigour demanded by the course also shaped the possibilities and approach to my teaching practices. 

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Informal Experience
Question 3: 
Describe in 4-5 sentences a memory you recall from when you were learning in a professional for formal (non-school) setting (first job, current career, etc.).

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Another significant moment was my first teaching experience with the Victorian Government Office of Corrections, working with offending youth as a photography teacher. This meant dealing with young people between the ages of fourteen to eighteen years of age in a semi-custodial arrangement with tightly controlled agreements between the school and individual students and parents/custodians.

 
This experience taught me the importance of flexibility of approach, the value of forward planning for groups and individual students needs and most importantly developing an open, approachable and inclusive interpersonal attitude in order to reach and engage the varied personalities in my student group. 
This was followed by working with adults within the prison correctional services undertaking self development courses as part of their custodial sentencing periods.

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Learning theories - Brief outline

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Behaviorism 
Behaviorism is a worldview that operates on a principle of “stimulus-response.” All behaviour caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All behaviour can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness.

Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e. tabula rasa) and behaviour is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behaviour will happen again. In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behaviour will happen again.

 

Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behaviour in the learner. Lots of (early) behaviorist work was done with animals (e.g. Pavlov’s dogs) and generalised to humans.

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Resource:

Learning Theories - 
https://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html

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 Constructivism 

Constructivism is a learning theory found in psychology which explains how people might acquire knowledge and learn. It therefore has direct application to education. The theory suggests that humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Constructivism is not a specific pedagogy. Piaget's theory of Constructivist learning has had wide ranging impact on learning theories and teaching methods in education and is an underlying theme of many education reform movements. Research support for constructivist teaching techniques has been mixed, with some research supporting these techniques and other research contradicting those results.

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Reference:

The University of Sydney School

https://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/learning_teaching/ict/theory/constructivism.shtml

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 Cognitivism 

The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box" of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer).

The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box" of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata.

 

Resource:

Learning Theories - Educational Psychology

https://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html#references

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 Andragogy (Malcolm Knowles)

Knowles’ theory of andragogy is an attempt to develop a theory specifically for adult learning. Knowles emphasises that adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for decisions. Adult learning programs must accommodate this fundamental aspect.

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Andragogy makes the following assumptions about the design of learning: 
1) Adults need to know why they need to learn something 
2) Adults need to learn experientially, 
3) Adults approach learning as problem-solving, and 
4) Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.

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In practical terms, andragogy means that instruction for adults needs to focus more on the process and less on the content being taught. Strategies such as case studies, role playing, simulations, and self-evaluation are most useful. Instructors adopt a role of facilitator or resource rather than lecturer or grader.

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Resources:

InstructionalDesign.org
https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/andragogy/

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Related Website
For Malcolm Knowles and his work, see:
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm

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