Week 3 LT2

This week we focused on various Learning Theories. We learned basic information about 4 theories- Behavioral, and 3 Cognitive theories- Constructivist, Developmental and Social. The we did independent research on an assigned theorist to share with a group in the class. Then still later, in small groups we researched yet another theorist and created presentations to post on our class wiki for others to share.

In a (very small) nutshell: Behavioral Learning Theory says that people learn as a response to outside stimulus.  These theorists also stress positive and negative reinforcements to promote desired behaviors and eliminate undesirable ones. Constructivist Learning Theory says people learn by either incorporating new information into their existing knowledge base (assimilating) or adding it on (accommodating) if it is different but connected to their base. Developmental Learning Theory presents stages of development that people pass through at specific ages as they progress from very concrete thinking into more complex abstract thought. Social Learning Theory says people learn through social interaction with others.  With the assistance of a more knowledgeable helper, a person can learn to do more than he/she is capable of doing independently, thus developing into a new stage. Learning can drive development.

I was assigned to independently research Lev Vygotsky the "Father of Social Learning Theory". I appreciate this theory as I believe strongly in collaborative learning and it fits well with this theory. I will definitely be using group work in my teaching, providing opportunities for more advanced students to coach fellow students to progress in their understanding of concepts just beyond their independent capabilities.

In our group research in the afternoon, my group researched Howard Gardner, the proponent of Multiple Intelligences. These are not universally accepted although they do have a strong following. Mr Gardener was working with children of all ability levels as well as adults with brain damage and discovered that people did not fit into neat categories of intellectual ability (smart, average, etc) but rather that they had stronger "intelligences" in some ways than others. He identified eight types of intelligence- logical, musical, linguistic, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and spatial. He believed people have particular strengths in learning in some ways more than others, and it would be best to teach to people's strengths. I do think there is some validity to this idea. I doubt that I will try to label each student as having particular characteristic intelligences, but I will attempt to appeal to a number of different preferences in my lesson designs. It will make the lessons more interesting in any case, as they will have a variety of elements and not be repetitive in the same format all the time!

I did find the format of today's class to be invigorating, as well as exemplifying many of the theories we studied. With our homework in preparation, we set up a knowledge base upon which to connect more information learned in class (constructivism), and working in several small groups throughout the day (social), along with some independent research and a collaborative project (social), a number of our "intelligences" were also tapped- linguistic, spatial, kinesthetic, inter- and intra-personal for sure.  A good reinforcement of what we were learning all along.