Name: John Broadus Watson
Birthdate: January 9, 1878
Died: September 25, 1958
Description: 1878 is the
birthdate for John B. Watson. He
is considered the father of
Behaviorism – a dominant
learning theory.
Learning Theorist
Learning Theorist
Name: Jean Piaget
Birthdate: August 9, 1896
Died: September 17, 1980
Description: His theories of
cognitive development and
knowledge would give rise to
Constructivism. Piaget work placed
great importance on the education
of children.
Name: Stereoscope
Date: 1905
Description: Keystone View
Company marketed these
stereoscopes to schools and created
hundreds of images that were
meant to be used to illustrate points
made during lectures.
Learning Innovation
Learning Theorist
Name: Burrhus Frederic "B. F." Skinner
Birthdate: March 20, 1904
Died: August 18, 1990
Description: Burrhus Frederic "B. F."
Skinner was an American psychologist,
behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher. Skinner called his
particular brand of behaviorism
"Radical" behaviorism .
Name: Psychology as the Behaviorist
Views it, John Broadus Watson
Date: Published and Public Address,
1913
Description: John B. Watson, who
established the psychological school
of behaviorism, promoted this
change in psychology through his
address, also an article, Psychology
as the Behaviorist Views it, given at
Columbia University and published in
the Psychological Review in 1913.
Learning Theory
Learning Theory
Name: The Behavior of Organisms, B.
F. Skinner
Date: Published May, 1938
Description: Skinner’s book set the
bounds for the discipline that would
come to be called the Experimental
Analysis of Behavior (EAB) and
Behavior Analysis.
Name: First large scale use of
Educational Technology
Date: 1940’s
Description: The first large scale
usage of new educational
technologies can be traced to the
United States WWII training of
soldiers through training films and
other facilitated materials.
Learning Innovation
Name: Programmed Instruction in
Educational Technology.
Date: 1950’s
Description: Skinner’s work in
behaviorism led to "programmed
instruction" focusing on the
formulation of behavioral objectives,
breaking instructional content into
small units and rewarding correct
responses early and often.
Learning Theory
and Innovation
Learning Theory
Name: The Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives
Date: Published 1956
Description: Bloom’s Taxonomy
divides the cognitive domain into six
levels: knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation.
Learning Theory
Name: The Cognitive Revolution
Date: 1960s and 1970s
Description: Since the very early
beginning of the Cognitive Revolution of
the 1960s and 1970s, Cognitive theories
look beyond behavior to explain brainbased learning. Cognitivists consider
how human memory works to promote
learning. Cognitive science has also
changed how educators view learning.
Learning Theory
Name: Science of Education and the
Psychology of the Child, Jean Piaget
Date: Published 1970
Description: Piaget's book, The Science
of Education, is published. His Learning
Cycle model helps to popularize
discovery-based teaching approaches.
Learning Theory
Name: About Behaviorism, B. F. Skinner
Date: Published 1974
Description: B. F. Skinner called his
particular brand of behaviorism "Radical"
behaviorism. Radical behaviorism is the
philosophy of the science of behavior. It
seeks to understand behavior as a
function of environmental histories of
reinforcing consequences.
Learning Innovation
Name: Computer-based learning
(CBL)
Date: 1980’s – 1990’s
Description: Frequently based
on constructivist and cognitivist
learning theories, these
environments focused on
teaching both abstract and
domain-specific problem solving.
Learning Theory
Name: In Search of Understanding: The
Case for Constructivist Classrooms,
Jacqueline and Martin Brooks
Date: Published 1993
Description: The Brooks describe
constructivism, a view that learning
best occurs through active construction
of knowledge rather than its passive
reception. This learning theory becomes
very popular in the 90’s.
Learning Innovation
Name: The World-Wide Web
Date: Mid-80s to Mid-90's
Description: Digitized communication
and networking in education started
at this time. The speed at which
learning and collaboration could
commence among teachers and
students increases dramatically.