Learning Theories - Week 3

This week our reading assignments and morning class discussions addressed three psychologist whose theories about how learners learn vary greatly: Piaget, Vygotsky, and Skinner.

Piaget - Piaget believes that development occurs in stages: beginning with sensory motor (in infancy), then pre-operation, concrete, and then formal (which includes abstract thinking).  Learners form scaffolds of understanding and new material either needs to be assimilated (accepted into the scaffold) or accommodated (the scaffold of understanding has to readjust).  A teacher's role is to identify where a student is in terms development and understanding and differentiate one's lesson.  A learner's role is to input and work to accomodate new information.

Vygotsky - Vygotsky believes that children learn through social context.  A teacher's role is to act as a more knowledgeable other (MKO) while students learn from each other.

Skinner - Skinner believes that learning was the process of acquiring accumulative consequences of behavior.  A teacher's role is to reward behaviors that lead to skill acquisition.  Learners have an innate ability to learn and respond to the stimuli of the classroom.

Each of us were invited to create assessment questions on one of the above psychologists based on Bloom's Taxonomy.   The following are answers to three questions randomly chosen.

Q1 - Q6: What are some aspects of Piaget's theory that could cause criticism of his theory?

According to Piaget, teachers should construct lessons at the developmental level of the learner.  Considering the diverse maturity levels of a typical high school classroom, this is not very practical advice.  Also, if a learner can't progress until he/she develops towards the next stage, there is nothing for teachers to do to move a learner along towards abstract thinking.

Q2 - Q6: Recommend the kind of learning environment Vygotsky would most approve of?

Vygotsky would love the Socratic method of teaching, where the teacher asks thought provoking questions and students collaboratively work out their ideas.

Q3 - Q3: Show how Behavior Learning Theory and Social Learning Theory can work together in a lesson?

By reinforcing participation and completion of homework assignments, students will learn mind-on behavior (Behavior Learning Theory).  Using jigsaw-based discussions can lead to increased understanding and comprehension (Social Learning Theory)