Adult Learning Theory

(K.P. Cross - Characterisitcs of Adult Learners)

This model tries to integrate:

- Andragogy ( Knowles ),

- Experiential learning ( Rogers )

- Lifespan psychology

It is intended to provide guidelines for adult education programs. There is no known research to support the model.

CAL:

1. Personal Charac: aging, life phases, develop. stages.

2. Situational Charac: full/part-time job, voluntary/mand

Principles:

1. Programs should capitalize on the experience of participants.

2. Programs should adapt to the aging limitations of the participants.

3. Adults should be challenged to move to increasingly advanced stages of personal development.

4. Adults should have as much choice as possible in the availability and organization of learning programs.

Andragogy

(M. Knowels)

Adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for decisions.

As learners they: need to know why they need to learn something; need to learn experientially, approach learning as problem-solving, and learn best when the topic is of immediate value.

Principles:

1. They have to be involved in the planning and evaluation of the traning process.

2. Their experience provides the basis of learning

3. More interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance.

4. Learning has to be problem-centered, instead of content-oriented.

Experiential Learning Theory

(C. Rogers)

Cognitive (meaningless - academic)

Experiential (significant - applied - respond to needs)

Qualities: personal involvement, self-initiated, evaluated by learner, and pervasive effects on learner

- Student participates completely in the learning process and has control over its nature and direction

- Based on direct confrontation with practical, social, personal or research problems

Principles:

1. The subject matter has to be relevant to the personal interests of the student

2. Learning proceeds faster when the threat to the self is low

3. Self-initiated learning is the most lasting and pervasive.

Teacher: positive climate, learning resources, clear puporse, balancing emotional and intelectual components of learning, sharing feelings and thoughts without dominating 

Information Processing Theory

(G. Miller)

Chunking: short-term memory 5 to 9 (7 +-2)units of meaning

TOTE (Test - Operation - Test - Exit): unit of behavior - a goal is tested to see if it has been achieved and if not an operation is performed to achieve the goal; this cycle of test-operate is repeated until the goal is eventually achieved or abandoned

Principles:

1. Short term memory (or attention span) is limited to seven chunks of information.

2. Planning (in the form of TOTE units) is a fundamental cognitive process.

3. Behavior is hierarchically organized (e.g., chunks, TOTE units).

Mulitple Intelligences

(H. Gardner)

7 forms of intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal

- learning/teaching should focus on the particular intelligences of each person

- assessment of abilities should measure all forms of intelligence

- take into account cultural context

Principles:

1. Individuals should be encouraged to use their preferred intelligences in learning.

2. Instructional activities should appeal to different forms of intelligence.

3. Assessment of learning should measure multiple forms of intelligence.

Script Theory

(R. Schank)

- all conceptualizations can be represented in terms of a small number of primative acts performed by an actor on an object

- events are understood in terms of scripts, plans and other knowledges structures as well as relevant previous experiences

Principles:

1. Conceptualization is defined as an act or doing something to an object in a direction.

2. All conceptualizations can be analyzed in terms of a small number of primative acts.

3. All memory is episodic and organized in terms of scripts.

4. Scripts allow individuals to make inferences and hence understand verbal/written discourse.

5. Higher level expectations are created by goals and plans.

Situated Learning

(J. Lave)

- Learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs

- Social interaction is a critical component

- It is usually unintentional rather than deliberate ("legitimate peripheral participation")

It is a theory of knolwedge acquisition (focus on problem-solving skills)

Principles:

1. Knowledge needs to be presented in an authentic context, i.e., settings and applications that would normally involve that knowledge.

2. Learning requires social interaction and collaboration.

Social Learning

(A. Bandura)

- Observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others

- Understand human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental influence

The most common (and pervasive) examples of social learning situations are television commercials

Processes of observational learning: (1) Attention, including modeled events and observer characteristics, (2) Retention, including symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal, (3) Motor Reproduction, including physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback, and (4) Motivation, including external, vicarious and self reinforcement.

Principles:

1. The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it overtly.

2. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes they value.

3. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behavior has functional value.

Atribution Theory

(B. Weiner)

- Assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do.

Attributions are classified along three causal dimensions: locus of control, stability, and controllability. The locus of control dimension has two poles: internal versus external locus of control. The stability dimension captures whether causes change over time or not. Controllability contrasts causes one can control, such as skill/efficacy, from causes one cannot control, such as aptitude, mood, others' actions, and luck.

Principles:

1. Attribution is a three stage process: (1) behavior is observed, (2) behavior is determined to be deliberate, and (3) behavior is attributed to internal or external causes.

2. Achievement can be attributed to (1) effort, (2) ability, (3) level of task difficulty, or (4) luck.

3. Causal dimensions of behavior are (1) locus of control, (2) stability, and (3) controllability.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

(L. Festinger)

there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance - attitude will change to accommodate the behavior.

- Two factors affect the strength of the dissonance: the number of dissonant beliefs, and the importance attached to each belief.

The greatest dissonance is created when the two alternatives are equally attractive.

Attitude change is more likely in the direction of less incentive since this results in lower dissonance.

Principles:

1. Dissonance results when an individual must choose between attitudes and behaviors that are contradictory.

2. Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behavior.

Constructivist Theory

(J. Bruner)

- Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge.

- Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the information given".

- Linked to child development research (especially Piaget ).

Principles:

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness).

2. Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral organization).

3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given).

Phenomenography

(Marton and Entwistle)

- Learning on higher education

- Data be collected directly from learners themselves through self-reports and interviews (how learning take place), based on that teachers should be able to draw their own lessons about how to facilitate their students' learning"

Scoping/Application: studies focused on student learning experience in reading articles, attending lectures, writing essays, solving problems, and studying; work has examined the cross-cultural aspects of student learning experiences

Principles:

1. Researchers should seek an understanding of the phenomenon of learning by examining the students' experiences

2. Research about learning needs to be conducted in a naturalistic setting involving the actual content and settings people learn with.