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Learning Theories

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           There are many theories and concepts used in designing instruction, however, there were a few that I have researched and utilized in my projects and that have influenced me throughout my academic studies. For this goal, I will focus on my understanding of the core learning theories of Behaviorism and Cognitivism, as well as other theories and concepts, and how they have helped guide and keep me grounded when designing various projects while involved with the Instructional Design and Performance Improvement Program.

           Behaviorism is commonly defined as the belief that behaviors are influenced and modified by consequences using a systematic control of positive and negative reinforcements over time through conditioning. Reinforcements are central to the concept of this theory as far as modeling and controlling behaviors or responses. Reinforcements are central to the concept of this theory as far as modeling and controlling behaviors or responses. The Radical Behaviorism theory, associated with B.F. Skinner, has been widely studied and is an accepted philosophy that even people who have not studied his works carry out his theory, often without knowing and almost as second nature. Classroom teachers have become masters of implementing elements of Behaviorism through the use of elaborate systems of positive and negative consequences to get results and to control behaviors of students. The key is that there must be an observable behavior with a measurable desired outcome.

Reinforcement Example:

Positive - Students who remain seated for the entire period receive a star

Negative - Students who do not remain seated for the entire period do not get to go out for recess

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Example of Behaviorism in Design Project: ED 506b

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           The Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook was developed as part of ED 506b to assist teachers who taught in a self-contained alternative education environment. Its intent was to examine the characteristics of an alternative education program, to assess program procedures and goals, and to suggest some innovative approaches to promote positive student behavior while increasing academic performance. It was also helped me understand the concept of time and lesson planning management as it dealt with keeping the kids on-track and engaged as they progressed through the guidebook.

           It was closely linked to Behaviorism in regards to the Student Behavior and Academic Management Program portion of the guide known as Level Incentives For Excellence (LIFE). LIFE is a level-based academic and behavior program that utilizes a series of objectives, along with positive rewards or reinforcers, and combines clear rules for when rewards or incentives will or can be lost to assist students in an alternative education program. On Page 11 of the Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook, I discussed in detail the program and how the rewards seek to academically motivate students and to decrease the likelihood of bad behaviors from occurring. The goal of LIFE is to assist students with transitioning back to the regular classroom environment over a period of time by building on both academic and behavioral successes. Compliance also is reinforced by having students sign a contract, which outlines the general and specific classroom rules. This fits with Behaviorism because it uses reinforcements as the central component of the program to modify the behavior of the students over time towards success.

           Behaviorism is meaningful to me because it was one of the very first theories I was introduced in my undergraduate studies and then reappeared as a major influence in my Master's program. It heavily influenced my classroom management style when I taught in a junior high school classroom for five years, and it still influences me today especially as a parent when I say “if you do not clean your room; you will not be able to have any friends over”.

           Also, the Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook, which I developed as a part of ED 506b, was a very important part in the start of my teaching career in 2002. The concepts contained in the guidebook actually assisted me in landing me my first full-time teaching position, which ironically in a self-contained alternative education classroom. When presented to the hiring panel as part of my academic portfolio, it was the guidebook that helped to explain what I would be doing to with my time in the classroom to assist the students in succeeding and in moving back into the regular education environment. I was hired as the Alternative Education Classroom Teacher and set about implementing the concepts contained in the Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook the next year with positive results. In addition to Behaviorism, my guidebook project incorporated theories and concepts from both Social Development Theory and Social Learning Theory.

Social Development Theory—

           Social Development Theory is associated with Lev Vygotsky and is known for his work with what is known as the zone of proximal development (ZPD). ZPD focuses on structured supports in the educational development of learners better known as scaffolding. Scaffolding occurs when either peers or adults provide supports to guide the learner within his or her ZPD as necessary and then tapers back as the learner develops.

           Social Development Theory is present in my Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook in that a contract serves as a reciprocal up front agreement that sets expectations and helps set up a collaborative learning environment. Time management is also displayed here because the teacher has to balance time spent examining student learning objectives over their behaviors and set-up the scaffolds within their ZPD. It defines what is expected from both the teacher and the student, and it lays out a clear path to success from the beginning to the end and defines a clear interaction sequence for the learner and instructor.

           On Page 13 of the Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook you will see that I clearly illustrate how the contract utilizes not only positive collaborative feedback and management protocols between the teacher and learner, but also incorporated charts, checklists, and transitions sheets which served as the scaffolding to accommodate the different learning modalities and placement of learners in program.

Social Learning Theory—

           Albert Bandura proposed Social Learning Theory which believes that learning and development is best accomplished by watching others or through a modeled observational process. Bandura's theory incorporates attention, memory and motivation; therefore, it spans of both behaviorism and cognitivism.

           On Page 10 of the Alternative Education Behavior and Academic Guidebook you will see that I incorporated the Social Learning Theory when I discussed how students were taught social skill development while in the program and how appropriate classroom behavior and pro-social skills are modeled. This fits with the social development theory because students only had a small group of other students in the classroom to act out their behaviors in front of unlike that of a regular classroom where they had a larger audience. Therefore, the alternative classroom typically caused them not to have as many behaviors as they did not have many others to interact with. When a student did have one, the behavior did not have as much of an impact as it would have had in a regular classroom and overtime the behaviors became somewhat self-correcting and lessoned throughout the entire population.

           This is another example of the concept of interaction. Effective interaction became especially true for those students who began to progress through the LIFE program in order to achieve success and return to the regular classroom. Each student who embraced the LIFE program and began working toward his/her transition back into the regular classroom environment became a motivator and model for other students to do the same. Students learned by observing the appropriate modeled behaviors of their peers and seeing them work through the levels of LIFE and ultimately graduating from alternative education classroom. Any new students who are brought into the alternative classroom are quickly educated about the LIFE program by the other students who have been in the program for a while. This is because those students at higher levels do not want new students messing up their opportunity to achieve success and return to the regular classroom.

Cognitivism:

           The belief in learning that explores how information is processed. The theory explores how learning comes about from human thought or mental processes. Cognitive development is largely based on stages which correspond to age ranges from infancy to adult-hood. Rapidly grew in response to Behaviorism in that it took into account human participation in learning and thinking.

           Cognitive development is often associated with Jean Piaget, and his theories have been widely accepted as trusted research in early childhood development, as well as for use within the classroom environment. The key is that learning is achieved over time through a series of assimilation and accommodation in our schemas, based on the maturation of the learner.

Schema Example:

           A child has always been told by his/her parents that fire trucks are red when going by with sirens. The child begins to build the schema that all fire trucks are red. When a yellow and black fire truck comes blazing by and the parents say, “Look at the fire truck,” the child may be confused. He/she has to accommodate the new information that not all fire trucks are red. In other words, the child must build a new schema for the information.

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Example of Cognitivism in Design Project: IT 510

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           My IT 510 design project Managing Terminal Service Features within a Classroom Environment is connected to Cognitivism in that new information is assimilated into the learner’s schema through a very detailed, self-paced instructional guide that incorporates the use of visual and audio aids, practical exercises, and testing. The goal of the guide was to instruct teachers on the use of the Terminal Services Software, in order to overcome the initial intimidation experienced when incorporating the use of this new technology within the school’s computer lab into the curriculum.

           By working through my instructional guide, I introduced classroom teachers to some new concepts specifically computer networks and networking. Both of which were easily assimilated into their schemas, as well as incorporated into their knowledge of computers. Throughout my guide, I also introduced some new concepts where they could better manage their time spent in the lab and within a networked environment. I always try to incorporate time management and efficiency concepts into my design as that is a principle concept that always stuck out in all my courses. How to do good work and do it quicker seems to be a driving force for all students, especially design students when you are actually trying to deliver a product on time.

           This fits into Cognitivism nicely, as it heavily relies on the learner being able to assimilate and to accommodate new information into his/her thought processes. In order to introduce these new concepts to the teachers, as well as to develop a new schema to accommodate the information, plenty of scaffolding was provided throughout the instructional guide. On Pages 28-30 of the Managing Terminal Service Features Within a Classroom Environment design project, a Glossary of Terms and Definitions was provided to introduce new words and concepts; and on Pages 23-27, Self-Guided Practice Worksheets and Check Your Practice Worksheets allowed for self practice, reflection and evaluation. Self practice, reflection and evaluation were key as they allowed the learner to more easily assimilate information with which he/she was familiar (e.g., Working with Microsoft Windows and the computer lab at the same time helped the learner to accommodate and to create new schemas for never-before-seen information, such as networked computers and terminal services).

Multiple Intelligences Theory:

           Based on eight abilities of the learner and is not commonly associated with the intelligence of the learner, rather on how the learner thinks and learns. The theory is not widely accepted as evidenced based; however, it has garnered the support of classroom teachers and educators as a means to ensure that all the abilities of the learner are included in lesson designs and in classroom instruction.

           The Multiple Intelligences Theory was proposed by Howard Gardner, and it focused on a broad range of intelligences, rather than the typical standard traditional intelligences, to evaluate cognitive processes. The first two of Gardner's intelligence types are heavily measured in academia through standardized testing, while the others are more subjective and are not as easily measured by a test.

Gardner's 7 Intelligence Types

1. Linguistic - Involves written and spoken language
   
2. Logical - Mathematical - Logically analyzes problems, solves mathematical equations, and investigates matters scientifically
   
3. Musical - Recognizes abilities in the performance, the production, the composition, and the appreciation of music and associated patterns
   
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic - Uses one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems or a problem through a combination of mind/body control to gain focus and attention
   
5. Spatial - Identifies ability to recognize and to use patterns of space
   
6. Interpersonal - Identifies ability to understand the motivations and feelings of others
   
7. Intrapersonal - Identifies ability to understand one's thoughts and feelings

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Example of Multiple Intelligences Theory in Design Projects: IT 435 and IT 590

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           For both IT 435 and IT 590, numerous elements of Garder's Multiple Intelligences Theory are demonstrated in my designs. Both of these designs were created while I was a classroom teacher. As a teacher, I liked to ensure that I always included as many ways as possible to spark interest and to excite my students with my lessons. This was done, appealing to a variety of intelligence types, as proposed by Gardner peak the curiosity of the students and to keep the students motivated to learn.

           I have always been a fan of instruction that is more interactive and based on other intelligences outside of the typical realm of Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical standardized lesson plan templates. My educational and instructional design skills, as well as the broad range of media production tools, have allowed me to be very creative when designing units and lesson plans. This, in turn, has allowed for what I feel to be a more immersive and interactive experience for my students. For a more detailed analysis of my use of media production tools and how they have influenced my designs and instruction, please see Goal 2: Producing under IT 500: United States Army's Common Access Card (CAC) project I created using the EDPE Model.

IT 435 - Virtual Field Trip Design Project:

           For my IT 435 Virtual Field Trip Design Project, Ancient City of Ur (Mesopotamian Civilization), I utilized a variety of Gardner's intelligences to create an interactive PowerPoint Presentation to stimulate learning outside of the typical Logical-Mathematical standardized lesson plan. The Virtual Field Trip PowerPoint connects six out of the seven intelligences. See below IT 590 Creating a Geocache and Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory chart for Virtual Field Trip PowerPoint Slide Numbers that correspond to associated intelligence type.

IT 590 - Creating a Geocache:

           In IT 590, I designed an entire Creating a Geocache Unit Plan over the exciting outdoor recreational treasure-hunting activity game known as Geocaching. The Unit Plan consisted of several lesson plans that incorporated various pieces of media production tools to include Personal Data Assistants (PDA), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), various pieces of software (e.g., Inspiration and Flingit), and Internet Web sites. These media production tools were used engage the learners into the Geocache Unit Plan and to introduce them to this exciting activity game.

          On the Unit Plan Homepage, there is a listing of all the media production tools that were incorporated into the Unit Plan, in addition to the PDA and the GPS, that were required as part of the course and to successfully teach the lessons. Some of the more notable production tools utilized were Google Earth and Adobe Reader. This also connects nicely to Goal 1: Producing a variety of design projects using design Life Cycle and my ability to use and to incorporate a broad range of media production tools into my designs in order excite others to use production tools in their daily lives.

           The Creating a Geocache design project incorporated six out of the seven of Gardner's Intelligences, and Geocaching can be enjoyed by all. It was my intent for learners to learn about handheld devices and the basics of Geocaching, to create their own cache, and to use available software to assist them in learning more about Geocaching. I had previously learned and utilized this theory when I completed my IT 435 project; since I was already familiar with it I felt that it was best served as a foundation for my IT 590 as well. The below chart depicts the various connections to Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory throughout my project.

           Throughout the unit, I desired that students create their own learning experiences by collecting and collaborate on data from various sources in order to find answers to newly formed questions. The handheld devices were there to help foster independent learning and to build student interest in exploring the world around them and the technology within it.

           As a result of completing this unit, I also hoped for students to learn responsibility when using technological devices in the classroom. In addition to becoming more responsible, I believe student collaboration increased because they shared their research, their concept maps, and their cache with their peers outside the classroom and with others throughout the community. I believe they may actually be cache hunting today as a result of this lesson. At the very least, students were introduced to the concept of Geocaching, so they can relate to it should they ever hear about it in the future or decide to participate.

Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI):

           CRI is based on the use of clearly defined objectives designed to drive instruction. The objectives are utilized as a means of to both measure and evaluate. CRI is research based, widely accepted and heavily used as the basis for Military training and doctrine as well as heavily applied in areas of instruction involving troubleshooting.

           The theoretical basis for Robert Mager’s (CRI) is behaviorism which was created using the teachings of Harvard University psychologist B.F. Skinner and his associates. The influence of Skinner and his associates can easily be noticed in the way that Mager's instruction is broken down into small sequenced tasks or behavioral performance objectives in which correct answers reinforce the subsequent actions leading to results or as the Army would say Mission Accomplishment.

Robert Mager’s “Criterion Referenced Instruction” (CRI)

1. Identify what needs to be learned - Goal/Task Analysis
   
2. Performance objectives - Criterion
   
3. Criterion referenced testing - Evaluation
   
4. Development of learning modules tied to specific objectives

           I mention this theory not for how much it influenced any specific project, but more so in how much it had influenced me throughout the last 18 years of my life. It was not until IT 510 with Dr. David Knowlton was I able to make the connection and truly appreciate it in its entirety.

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Example of CRI in Design Projects: IT 510 and Military

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           I came to appreciate Robert Mager’s CRI and its impact on instruction and learning as it is heavily utilized when conducting Military training. This appreciation for Robert Mager and CRI began during IT 510: Instructional Design and Learning Technologies with Dr. Knowlton where I completed a model comparison paper and I learned about Robert Mager and CRI for the first time. It was as if a light bulb came on in my brain because I suddenly asking myself where I had seen this theory and these concepts before. It was one of the most memorable “ah ha” moments I remember in the program and it happened while completing various required assigned course journal readings.

           While reading the required course journals, I realized that I had actually been introduced to Mager and CRI over 18 years ago when I was a new recruit in the Army. Throughout my career, I the military had been using Mager’s theory and concepts to instruct and train me however; it was not until IT 510 that I connected the dots. Because of the assigned readings, I truly understand the importance of CRI and the influence Robert Mager had in my life and I never even knew it. Mager not only had influenced much of my leadership training and development but also the development of countless solders that I have had the pleasure of leading and developing both in garrison and in combat. This was because when I was put into a position where I was the instructor and had to develop some coursework, I followed Mager’s CRI and I did not even know it. Both individual and collective instruction in the Army is based off the instructional method of Task, Conditions, and Standards, which directly correlates to Mager’s CRI. The below chart depicts the correlation between the steps in Mager CRI and those used by the Army in their Training and Instruction Doctrine.

           Although CRI was not a primary theory used when designing my IT 510 design project Managing Terminal Service Features within a Classroom Environment it did however contain some clear connections to it. Looking back now I can see where I did incorporated all four steps of Mager's CRI to develop my step-by-step instructional project.

           Mager's CRI is the backbone for Army training and Soldier development and has influenced the way I was trained and the way I created and developed training as moved up through the ranks over years. Mager's CRI is still being utilized across our Military everyday to train our Nation's finest and that is powerful testimony and says allot about the instructions simplicity and effectiveness. It is truly hard to imagine how this four step instructional process was such an influencing factor in my life and it was it took so many years for me to truly understand its worth and benefit to me as a designer.

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Image Source:

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Reference List:

Fry, E. B. (1963). Teaching machines and programmed instruction. Madison, WI: McGraw-Hill.

Gagne, R. M. (1968). Contributions of learning to human development. American Psychological Association, 75 (3), 37-60. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=5sZnvklPtvkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

Gerlach, V. S., & Ely, D. P. (1980). Teaching and media: A systematic approach (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Incorporated.

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kemp, J. E., & Kalman, H. (2004). Designing effective instruction. (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Richey, R. C. (2000). The legacy of robert m. gagne. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology Syracuse University

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