Educational Theories
The Role of Learning
There are a myriad of methods teachers have in their toolbox to pique the interest of their students. With the research of Piaget, Vygotsky, Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner, at their disposal, teachers should be able to develop lesson plans which enthrall students and help them process information at a deeper level. With a learning perspective in mind, teacher’s can utilize the theories of social constructivism, individual constructivism, and behaviorism to enhance learning in the classroom. Upon observing the different methods of constructivism and behaviorism, notable differences are revealed. For example, one theory holds cognitive structures in high esteem, while the other disregards their importance completely. It appears that there are more differences than similarities between the three theories, and it bodes well for teachers to employ the most useful aspects of them to create a valuable learning atmosphere for their students. To begin, behaviorism is understood as the study of learning in humans and animals through the analysis of behavior, as opposed to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions (Martinez 2010). From the behaviorist perspective, to learn is to be conditioned, and according to Martinez, conditioning is defined as a change in behavior (Martinez 2010). There are two kinds of behaviorism in existence, classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Pavlov’s classical conditioning demonstrates how an unconditioned stimulus, a trigger which elicits a natural response, produces an unconditioned response, or an unlearned response, such as smelling one’s favorite food and then becoming hungry. He demonstrated this by conditioning dogs to salivate to a conditioned stimulus, which was the ringing of a bell. John B. Watson furthered this theory by conditioning a baby named Albert to fear white rats, and then extending that fear to other white objects such as fur coats and rabbits (Martinez 2010). On the other side of
There are a myriad of methods teachers have in their toolbox to pique the interest of their students. With the research of Piaget, Vygotsky, Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner, at their disposal, teachers should be able to develop lesson plans which enthrall students and help them process information at a deeper level. With a learning perspective in mind, teacher’s can utilize the theories of social constructivism, individual constructivism, and behaviorism to enhance learning in the classroom. Upon observing the different methods of constructivism and behaviorism, notable differences are revealed. For example, one theory holds cognitive structures in high esteem, while the other disregards their importance completely. It appears that there are more differences than similarities between the three theories, and it bodes well for teachers to employ the most useful aspects of them to create a valuable learning atmosphere for their students. To begin, behaviorism is understood as the study of learning in humans and animals through the analysis of behavior, as opposed to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions (Martinez 2010). From the behaviorist perspective, to learn is to be conditioned, and according to Martinez, conditioning is defined as a change in behavior (Martinez 2010). There are two kinds of behaviorism in existence, classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Pavlov’s classical conditioning demonstrates how an unconditioned stimulus, a trigger which elicits a natural response, produces an unconditioned response, or an unlearned response, such as smelling one’s favorite food and then becoming hungry. He demonstrated this by conditioning dogs to salivate to a conditioned stimulus, which was the ringing of a bell. John B. Watson furthered this theory by conditioning a baby named Albert to fear white rats, and then extending that fear to other white objects such as fur coats and rabbits (Martinez 2010). On the other side of
References: Martinez, Michael E. (2010). Learning and cognition: the design of the mind. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Peklaj, C., Kalin, J., Pecjak, S., Valencic Zuljan, M., & Puklek Levpuscek, M. (2012). Perceptions of teachers’ goals in classroom, students’ motivation and their maladaptive behavior as predictors of high school math achievement. Studia Psychologica, 54(4), 329-344. Powell, K.C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for am effective classroom. Education. 130(2). 241-250.