Kirsten’s E-Learning Blog

Humanist learning theorists believe that learners are persons of free will and will choose what, how and when they will learn. (Tovey & Lawlor, 2008)

It is developed from the cognitive approach, but believes that the learner is ever seeking to increase their own knowledge and to continue their learning.

In the humanist approach, learners learn by doing, and they also learn co-operatively.

* Tovey, M.D., and Lawlor, D.R., 2008, Training In Australia, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia

The cognitive approach emphasises experience, meaningfulness and insight.

Cognitivists also believe that learners will behave and learn in terms of what is real for them.

In cognitive learning, tools such as advance organisers are used to provide a scaffold to bridge the gap betweeen what they know and what they need to know before they can understand the new material.

Learning environments within a cognitive theory facilitate student activities that lead to discovery, understanding and problem solving (Burns, 2002)

Cognitivists also believe that people have an intrinsic motivation to know, and that people have a desire to learn what it is that’s going on around them. I especially like the notion that is put forward by Wortham (2007): [People] are curious, kids are curious, and adults are curious too until you beat it out of them.

I think that is true to some extent, where people have been brought up learning in behaviourist environments will not have the motivation to learn because they have been conditioned to only learn and express something new when they are given reinforcement, such as a reward.

* Burns, R., 2002, The Adult Learner at Work, 2nd edn, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest NSW Australia

* Wortham, S., 2007, Theories of Learning: Cognitivism, Learning 2007, viewed 21/05/08, www.learningwiki.com/theory

The behaviourist approach to learning thinks about human behaviour in terms of cause and effect: a stimulus prompts a certain response, which is then reinforced by continual exposure to the stimulus, changing the behaviour.

A lot of children are taught on environments that fit with the behaviourist approach. For example, if a student misbehaves at school, they are punished. If they continue to misbehave, they will continue to be punished. This cycle will continue until the student’s response is changed by the negative reinforcement they are receiving and therefore they change their behaviour, which fits with the operant conditioning theory proposed by Skinner.

Behaviourism is very limited however, and is unable to explain certain social behaviours (Mergel, 1998)

When I think about how I define learning, it is hard to pin to down as one concrete phrase.

Learning for me is the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, and then putting the new knowledge and skills into practice. It involves understanding theories but also the practical application of them.

Learning can bring about a change in behaviour, a change in attitude, a change in your way of thinking or a change in emotions.

Learning is therefore observable by things that occur overtly, such as a behaviour change. but also occurs internally, such as a change in attitude.