3 học thuyết về Việc học
Đó là 3 lý thuyết
- Hành vi
- Nhận thức
- Chủ nghĩa Kiến tạo
“Học tập (learning)” là gì? Chúng ta học tập như thế nào?
Là giáo viên, nhà giáo dục và nhà thiết kế môi trường học tập, chúng ta rất cần phải hiểu về quá trình học tập (the learning process). Vì vậy, hãy bắt đầu bằng việc xem xét một số học thuyết về học tập (learning theories) đương đại.
Sau đây là ba lý thuyết học tập đã cung cấp các chiến lược và kỹ thuật cho các nhà thiết kế giảng dạy để xây dựng điều kiện học tập.
Trong nửa đầu thế kỷ 20, các lý thuyết hành vi (Behaviorism) đã thống trị cách người ta hiểu về việc học. Những lý thuyết này giải thích việc học dưới góc độ môi trường xung quanh người học. Behaviorism coi việc học là những thay đổi được nhìn thấy dưới dạng các hành vi có thể quan sát được.
Ví dụ, khi một đứa trẻ được đưa cho một câu hỏi, 2 cộng 1, và trả lời là 3, câu hỏi là tác nhân kích thích và câu trả lời là phản hồi. Các nhà khoa học như Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson và Godfrey đều giải thích rằng học là phản ứng với các kích thích bên ngoài.
Behaviorism focuses on the importance of the consequence of the performance, and considers the need for reinforcements required so that the responses are more likely to reoccur in the future.
Therefore, an important factor in a learning environment is the arrangement of the stimuli, and its consequences.
A classroom based on behavioral instructional design would use technology tools for programmed instruction, rote learning, drill, and practice.
While stimuli and reinforcement can explain some of the human learning, later research showed that in order to really understand learning, we must take into account the way people think, their beliefs, and their feelings.
In the 1950s and ’60s, behavioral theories were challenged by studies on observational learning done by researchers like Albert Bandura. This research showed that people can learn new actions by observing others doing them, and did not have to do them at the time of learning. In this case, reinforcement was not necessary for the learning to occur. Thus, there came a shift from behavioral orientation, to a more cognitive orientation where the emphasis on the mental processing, on the part of the learner, was considered important.
These were the cognitive theories that stress that learning leads to discrete changes between states of knowledge, rather than changes in the learner response. The cognitive theories emphasized the active involvement of the learner in the learning process, and emphasized the structure, organization, and sequencing of information to facilitate optimal learning. This also meant that the learning environments need to encourage students to make connections with previously learned material in order to make sense of the new material. In other words, cognitive theories emphasize making knowledge meaningful to the learner, and helping them organize, and relate to new information based on what they already know. Both the behavioral and cognitive theories consider the world as external to the learner, and the goal of instruction as the need to map the structure of this world onto the learner.
Several theorists began to question this assumption, and to adopt a more constructivist approach to learning. That is, understanding knowledge bases on how individuals create meaning from their own experiences.
Constructivism is a theory that equates learning with creating meaning from experience. Though constructivism is similar to cognitivism in as much as both understand learning as a mental process, it is inherently different.
Constructivists do not consider the world as being mapped on the learner, but instead consider learners as creating meaning rather than acquiring it. In other words, learning is not a process of transferring knowledge from the outside world to the learners’ memory, but a process through which learners create personal interpretations of the world based on their interactions and experiences.
This interpretation is constantly open to change, and there is no one external reality that the learner needs to know. What is key here is the interaction between the learner, and the environment. And, this is where knowledge is created.
An instructional designer who subscribes to a constructivist view would design learning methods, and strategies that would help the learners actively explore complex topics, and different environments. And that will help them get thinking about a different content area in the same way that an expert user of that domain may think.
Pedagogical approaches, such as problem based learning, inquiry based learning, and self-directed learning used by educators, are all based on a constructivist understanding of learning. In such an environment learners are encouraged to construct their own understanding, and then, through social negotiation, validate this new understanding that they developed.
Using technology in such a learning environment would mean using tools to help the learner navigate data and information, make sense of available resources, connect with other participants, and create meaning and understanding.
For the 21st century we need a learning theory that emphasizes knowledge work, knowledge creation, and knowledge community. We need to build a bridge between the needs of the 21st century, and classroom environments that were largely designed for the past century. Using online resources instructional designers need to create online collaborative learning spaces which encourage online discussions, group learning, learner independence, use of multimedia, and promote discourses that can help students engage in 21st century practices, and develop 21st century knowledge and skills.
SUMMARY
For much of the 20th and early 21st century, three learning theories have helped guide instruction.
- Behaviorism characterizes learning as acquiring responses to stimuli in the environment, emphasizing the consequences of performance and the need for reinforcement.
- Cognitivism describes learning as discrete changes that occur in stages between mental states of knowledge and prioritizes the structure, organization, and sequencing of information to optimize learning.
- Constructivism modifies this stance, calling attention to how learners construct meaning from their experiences rather than acquiring knowledge presented to them. Therefore, constructivists emphasize how interactions and experiences help learners construct personal interpretations and knowledge of the world.