Learning Theory Table
Julie Clay
Behaviorist
Cognitivist
Constructivist
Theory
Those who
see learning
from a
behaviorist
perspective,
view all
behavior as a
response to
external
stimuli.
Knowledge is a
constructed
element
resulting from
the learning
process.
Knowledge is
unique to the
individual who
constructs it.
Key Theorists
Ivan Pavlov
John Watson
B.F. Skinner
Focus on
learning as a
mental
operation that
takes place
when
information
enters through
the senses,
undergoes
mental
manipulation,
is stored, and
is finally used.
Jerome Bruner
David Ausubel
Jean Piaget
Summary of
Theory
According to
behaviorist,
the learner
acquires
behaviors,
skills, and
knowledge in
response to
the rewards,
punishments
, or withheld
responses
associated
with them.
Learning and
problem
solving,
according to
cognitivists,
represent
mental
processes that
are
undetectable
by mere
observation.
Learning is not
seen as just
the product of
mental
processes; it is
an entirely
unique product
for each
individual
based on the
experiences
within which
those mental
processes
occurred.
1
Jean Piaget
Seymour
Papert
Robert Gagne
Lev Vygotsky
Albert Bandura
Multiple
Intelligences
Learning
Styles
There is more
to intelligence
than what was
historically
measured by
IQ tests. There
are actually 9
different
aspects or
types of
intelligences
that every
person
possesses.
Howard
Gardner
Based on
sensory
preferences.
Learning
style refers
to those
conditions
under which
we best
learn.
Every
individual
possesses
some degree
of each of the
intelligences
but one or
more of the
intelligences
dominates
(Linguistic,
LogicalMathematical,
Musical,
SpatialKinesthetic,
Interpersonal,
Intrapersonal,
Naturalist,
Existential)
Most
learning style
theorists
identify
three
primary
modalities
for learning:
Auditory,
Visual, and
Kinesthetic.
Some
individuals
may learn by
listening;
others may
learn by
seeing; and
lastly, some
may learn
from doing.
B.A. Soloman
R.M. Felder
L. K.
Silverman
Learning Theory Table
Role technology
plays in
implementing
this theory into
the classroom
In this
theory,
responses
should be
reinforced
with
immediate
and
appropriate
feedback.
This could
include
having a
scantron so
kids know
immediately
how they
did. They
could also
take quizzes
online so
they could
have
immediate
results.
Julie Clay
Children need
to continually
build on what
they have
already
learned in a
spiral manner.
This could
mean playing
math games on
the computer
and having the
levels build up
each time, so it
continues to
get harder.
Also, general
information
should be
presented first.
In the same
math games,
you should
have the
children start
on the first
level and not
the tenth.
2
In this theory,
children need
to be
individualized.
The teacher
needs to
provide
opportunities
for the child to
develop
constructs
through
experience. To
implement this
theory into the
classroom, you
could have
each child pick
what type of
‘technology’
they want to
use. One child
may pick the
computer, and
another might
pick building
blocks.
The teacher
needs to gear
curricula and
instructional
approaches to
individual
intelligences
and their
dominant ways
of knowing.
The teacher
needs to know
how each
student learns
best and needs
to implement a
little of all
multiple
intelligences in
each lesson.
This could
mean teaching
a hands-on
lesson one day
by using
blocks, and the
next day teach
a lesson with
the smart
board for the
spatial
learners.
Since
everyone
learns
differently, a
teacher
needs to
make sure
he/she has a
fair share of
all three
primary
modalities
for learning.
The teacher
needs to do
some
lecturing
with a power
point; some
lecturing
using the
smart board
and letting
children
touch it
themselves;
and some
lecturing
using the
chalkboard
or white
board and
letting
student see
what you are
doing.