In education and psychology, learning theories help us understand the process of learning. Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos/-ology = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the mind, brain, and behavior, both human and nonhuman. ...

There are basically three main perspectives in learning theories, behaviorism, Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), constructivism and Instructivism. Behaviorism or behaviourism (not to be confused with behavioralism in political science) is an approach to psychology based on the proposition that behavior can be researched scientifically without recourse to inner mental states. ... Constructivism, an area of learning theory, is an approach to teaching, which values developmentally appropriate practices where the learning is child-initiated, child-directed and where the teacher plays a supporting role in the learning. ...

Constructivism

Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge. In other words, "learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences" (Ormrod, J. E., Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Fourth Edition. 2003, p. 227). Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context. According to Jerome Bruner and other constructivists, the teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working to solve realistic problems, usually in collaboration with others. This collaboration is also known as knowledge construction as a social process. Some benefits of this social process are, 1.) Students can work to clarify and organize their ideas so they can voice them to others. 2.) It gives them opportunities to elaborate on what they learned. 3.) They are exposed to the views of others. And 4.) It enables them to discover flaws and inconsistencies (Ormrod, J. E., Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Fourth Edition. 2003, p. 232). Cognitive theorists such as Jean Piaget and David Ausubel, and others, were concerned with the changes in a student's understanding that result from learning and with the fundamental importance of the environment. Constructivism itself has many variations, such as Generative Learning, Cognitive Apprenticeship, Problem-based learning, Discovery Learning, situated learning, and knowledge building. Regardless of the variety, constructivism promotes a student's free exploration within a given framework or structure. Constructivism is a set of assumptions about the nature of human learning that guide constructivist learning theories and teaching methods. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. ... Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. ... Cognitive The scientific study of how people obtain, retrieve, store and manipulate information. ... Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist, famous for his work with children and his theory of cognitive development. ... David Ausubel is a psychologist that was a follower of Jean Piaget. ... Constructivist approaches to human learning have led to the development of a theory of cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1987; Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). ... Problem-based learning (PBL) is a didactic concept of active learning in tertiary education, but is currently being adpted for use in K-12 education. ... Situated learning is education that takes place in a setting functionally identical to that where the learning will be applied: Workshops, kitchens, greenhouses and gardens used as classrooms Stand-up role playing in the real world setting, including most military training Field trips including archaeological digs and participant-observer studies... Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia created the phrase, Knowledge Building to describe what expert groups did when they created knowledge. ...

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is an educational theory grounded on the seminal works of B. F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov, both scientists well known for their studies in animal behavior. Behaviorists believe that organisms need reinforcements to keep them interested and that the use of stimuli can be very effective in controlling behavior. For the behaviorist, environment directly shapes behavior, and complex learning requires a series of small, progressive steps. The behaviorist theory of education is probably by far the most commonly practiced, because the behaviors of the learners can be easily viewed and therefore measured, which is itself a basic premise of the scientific method. Burrhus Frederic Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist and author. ... Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Russian: ) (September 14, 1849 – February 27, 1936) was a Russian physiologist, psychologist, and physician. ... Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour (particularly of social animals such as primates and canids), and is a branch of zoology. ... Theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on the context and their methodologies. ... The scientific method is a technique of investigation and acquisition of new knowledge, as well as the integration, elimination, and/or explanation of previous knowledge, based upon observable, measurable evidence. ...

Informal theories

Informal theories of education deal with more practical break down of the learning process. One of these deals with whether learning should take place as a building of concepts toward an overall idea, or the understanding of the overall idea with the details filled in later. Modern thinkers favour the latter.

Other concerns are the origins of the drive for learning. To this end, many have split off from the mainstream holding that learning is a primarily self taught thing, and that the ideal learning situation is one that is self taught. According to this dogma, learning at its basic level is all self taught, and class rooms should be eliminated since they do not fit the perfect model of self learning.

Informal learning theory also concerns itself with book vs real-world experience learning. Many consider most schools severely lacking in the second.

See also

About accelerating the learning process:

• mnemonic techniques: mind mapping, peg lists, loci
• formulating knowledge for learning
• spaced repetition
• incremental reading

About the mechanisms of memory and learning: A mnemonic (AmE [] or BrE []) is a memory aid. ... A mind map or mindmap is a multicoloured and image centered radial diagram that represents semantic or other connections between portions of learned material. ... A peg system is a mnemonic technique for memorizing lists. ... The word locus (plural loci) is Latin for place. In biology, a locus is the position of a gene (or other significant sequence) on a chromosome. ... Spaced repetition is a learning technique in which increasing intervals of time are used between subsequent reviews. ... Incremental reading is a newly proposed learning technique in which the student studies a substantial load of material subdivided into articles and its extracts. ... Memory is the ability of the brain to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. ...

• neural networks in the brain (see also: neural networks)
• synapse
• hippocampus versus neocortex
• sleep and learning
• memory consolidation
• short-term memory versus working memory
• long-term memory
• declarative memory versus procedural memory
• molecular mechanisms of memory
• the cerebellum and motor learning

See also: A neural network is an interconnected group of neurons. ... Illustration of the major elements in a prototypical synapse. ... The location of the hippocampus in the human brain. ... In the anatomy of animals, the neopallium or neocortex is a part of the telencephalon in the brain. ... Many competing theories have been advanced to discover the possible connections between sleep and learning in humans. ... The broad definition of memory consolidation is the process by which recent memories are crystallised into long-term memory. ... Short-term memory, sometimes referred to as primary or active memory, is that part of memory which stores a limited amount of information for a limited amount of time (roughly 15-30 seconds). ... In cognitive psychology, working memory is the collection of structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information. ... // Overview Long-term memory (LTM) is memory that can last as little as 30 seconds or as long as decades. ... Declarative memory is the aspect of memory that stores facts and events. ... Procedural memory, also known as implicit memory, is the long-term memory of skills and procedures, or how to knowledge. ... Memories are believed to be created in part by changes in the properties of particular synapses in the brain. ... Figure 1a: A human brain, with the cerebellum in purple. ... Motor learning is the process of improving the smoothness and accuracy of movements. ...

• Instructional theory
• Instructional design
• autodidactism

Instructional theory is a discipline that focuses on how to structure material for promoting the education of humans, particularly youth. ... Instructional design, also known as instructional systems design, is the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of instruction. ... Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) is self-education or self-directed learning. ...

External links

• Learning Theories
• Creating Learning Centered Classrooms. What Does Learning Theory Have To Say? ERIC Digest.
• How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC Digest.
• Critical-learning wiki
• Applied Constructivism
• About Learning 12 Learning Theories Described
• Theory Into Practice (TIP) database brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction
• Folk knowledge and academic learning. In B. J. Ellis & D. F. Bjorklund (Eds.), Origins of the social mind (pp. 493-519). New York: Guilford Publications. A paper from the perspective of evolutionary developmental psychology