Personal Learning Theory
By Josh Crespi
12/9/2011
Throughout this semester I have spent time learning various educational theories. These
learning theories have varied from the black box theory of behaviorism to the mental approach
described in the cognitive information processing model. After reviewing the information
pertaining to each of these theories I have formed my own opinion of how people can learn the
most information. I believe that there is no definitive learning theory that is best. I feel the only
way to get the most out of your students is to create a strategy that uses different parts of
theories depending on the given situation.
When I initially entered the class, I thought that motivation was the single driving factor
influencing how people learn. I felt that in the end, no matter what the situation was, if the
proper motivation existed, the student would learn. Although I still think motivation is
important, my thoughts on this have changed. Motivation that should influence our lifestyles
everyday exists and it does not make people change. People know that in order to maintain a
healthy lifestyle they must eat properly and exercise. If one did not maintain a healthy lifestyle,
they could become ill. Illness could eventually lead to death. If death is not enough to motivate
people then it is amazing to think what else wouldn't. One of the problems with relying solely
on motivation to infuse learning into students is that not all people are interested in bettering
themselves.
I have realized that even if motivation was the only factor needed to influence a
students learning, it is ignorant to assume a teacher will always have the resources available to
provide such motivation. To use another example, if a teacher could offer one million dollars to
any student who could finish the class this could be a great motivating factor for many
students. However, this could not happen. Teachers do not have millions of dollars to give away
to students. Although there are more realistic motivational techniques teachers could use with
their students, not everything can work on every student. Different people require various
types of motivation to be successful for many reasons. This is part of what made me realize the
importance of using many different learning techniques when working with students.
This paper is hard for me to write for one specific reason, in a best case scenario (time,
money, etc.) if one wanted to get the most out of their students in the classroom, work would
need to be completed before ever teaching. In a perfect world, teachers would be able to find
out what learning strategies work best on each student and the class would be developed
based on these facts.
This of course would never be the case. This kind of information is not available to
teachers. So what do we do as educators? Where does this leave us? As I sat in the classroom
learning about each theory, none of them struck me as "wrong". Of course some theories are
better at certain situations over others. After all, you can't really teach a dog anything using
cognitive information processing (unless you could speak dog and the same principles of short
term and long term memory applied). Overall, each theory had parts of it that I found to be
useful in some situations and not in other situations. I feel that as different as these learning
theories can be, they can work together to form unity. By taking various parts of each theory
and combining them into one teaching method, you ensure that all of the students learning
styles are being addressed and each topic is being taught in the best way possible. Just because
I think it's nonsense to ignore what happens in a person's brain while learning (black box from
behaviorism) doesn't mean I can't assist a lesson with positive reinforcement.
There is a specific approach I would like to take when designing a class. I would begin at
looking at the topic and setting objectives for the class based on the topic. Next, I would use the
learning objectives I set to define what parts of the topic need to be taught. I would then take
the information section by section and think about which learning style could be applied to it in
order to create the best learning scenario. The last step would not be limited to one type of
learning theory. I would finish the process of writing the class and deliver it. Based on the
feedback received from students I would edit the lesson for future use.
There are a few parts from each theory I feel that I would frequent use of. This is based
on what I feel works best for learning and would probably change as I gain more experience
working in the field. Some examples of parts of theories I would use include:
Behaviorism: In the right situation, I feel that the four kinds of reinforcement (positive,
negative, reinforcement remove, and punishment) could fit into many learning situations. Some
people require this kind of feedback in order to feel comfortable learning.
Cognitive Information Processing: I studied theater for about 17 years of my life. This means I
learned a lot of lines based on encoding the lines from the plays into long-term memory (from
short term memory) via rote learning, rehearsal, and repetition. I also relied on encoding
specificity to trigger some of my lines (I would often create cues based on lines said before
mine).
Meaningful Learning and Social Learning: In general, when something means something to
you, whether via an episodic memory, a subsumption, anchor, etc, it is easier to remember and
learn information. Human begins are selfish by nature. Relating information back to our selves
is a great way to keep it in memory. Likewise, other people are important to us. Human beings
are also social creatures by nature. Working together to create a shared meaning I feel is
beneficial to learning as well.
Guided Discovery Learning: I have always felt that hands on work is sometimes the only way to
understand a new idea. Working directly with the material in real scenarios helps a student
goes beyond theory. I think it also goes a long way towards retaining information. It can
combine introductory learning and practice into one step which can lead to a greater
understanding.
In sum, I feel that the best way to facilitate learning in the classroom (or from a
distance) is to combine many different learning theories to create a lesson plan that can hit
various kinds of learning styles. Also to pay attention to student needs. Sticking to one specific
kind of learning leaves to many potential learning holes. The best way to teach is to be well
versed in teaching.