How People Learn: Introduction to Learning Theory

The first episode of The Learning Classroom introduces viewers to the main themes of the course. Interviews with teachers Fe MacLean, Kathleen Hayes-Parvin, Kendra Hearn, and Don Johnson and scenes from classrooms that will be visited in more depth later in the series describe why learning theory is at the core of good classroom instruction. Viewers will get a sense of the broad spectrum of theoretical knowledge they can use in their practice. Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond hosts the series and provides expert commentary.

Key Questions
How do people learn?
How can learning theory inform teaching practice?

Learning Objectives

• History of learning theory – Teachers will become familiar with the central debates and major concepts in the history of learning theory.
• Learning processes and teaching for learning – Teachers will begin to uncover and articulate their assumptions, understandings, and questions about how students learn and the nature of teaching. Teachers will become familiar with the main themes of the video course.
• Theory and practice – Teachers will begin to consider learning theory and its role in their teaching practice.

Session Outline

How do we learn? What helps us learn? How can teachers assist learning? In The Learning Classroom: Theory into Practice we explore how people learn through examples of teaching and learning in practice.

History of Learning Theory

How Philosophers Have Thought of Learning
People have been trying to understand learning for over 2,000 years. A debate on how people learn began at least as far back as the Greek philosophers, Socrates (469-399 B.C.), Plato (427-347 B.C.), and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). The debates that have occurred through the ages reoccur today in a variety of viewpoints about the purposes of education and about how to encourage learning.

• Plato and Aristotle asked, “Is truth and knowledge to be found within us (rationalism) or is it to be found by using our senses to discover what is outside of ourselves (empiricism)?”

Rationalism: Plato developed the belief that knowledge and truth can be discovered by self-reflection. Socrates believed that certain knowledge was only attainable through reason.

Empiricism: Aristotle suggested that we use our senses to look for truth and knowledge in the world outside ourselves.

• Romans differed from the Greeks in their concept of education. They felt that the purpose of education was to develop a citizenry that could contribute to society in a practical way.
• When the Roman Catholic Church became a strong force in European daily life (500 A.D. to 1500 A.D.), knowledge was transmitted from the priest to the people. The primary conception of the purpose of education was to transmit information.
  The Renaissance (15th to the 17th centuries) revived the Greek concept of liberal education, which stressed education as an exploration of the arts and humanities.
• Ren? Descartes (1596 – 1704) also built upon Aristotle’s empiricism with the concept that the child’s mind is a blank tablet (tabula rasa) that gets shaped and formed by his/her own experiences.
  Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) was one of the first philosophers to suggest that education should be shaped to the child.
• Kant (1724 – 1804) refined and modernized Plato’s rationalist theory when he suggested that awareness of knowledge may begin with experience, but much knowledge exists prior to experience (“a priori” knowledge). Kant was one of the first to recognize the cognitive processes of the mind.

How Psychologists Have Thought of Learning
The nineteenth century brought about the scientific study of learning. The 20th century debate on how people learn has focused largely on behaviorist vs. cognitive psychology.

• Edward Thorndike (1874–1949) believed that learning was incremental and that people learned through a trial-and-error approach.
• B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) further developed Thorndike’s behaviorist learning theory focused on stimulus and response. He considered learning to be the production of desired behaviors and denied any influence of mental processes.
• Jean Piaget ( 1896 – 1980) was the first to state that learning is a developmental cognitive process, that students create knowledge rather than receive knowledge from the teacher.
• Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) extended Piaget’s developmental theory of cognitive abilities of the individual to include the notion of social-cultural cognition – that is, the idea that all learning occurs in a cultural context and involves social interactions.

Learning Theory in Practice
In the 20th century, as schooling became compulsory, more widespread and more systematic, large-scale reforms of practice were built upon these learning theories. The debate sparked by the Progressives, which continues today, is what is the proper balance of the traditional school’s focus on teacher transmission and the progressive school’s focus on the student learning from experience with guided opportunities to explore, discover, construct, and create.

• John Dewey (1859 – 1952) believed that the teacher’s goal is to understand both the demands of the discipline and the needs of the child and to provide learning experiences to enable the student to uncover the curriculum.
• Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) introduced a more liberated concept of early childhood education that provided more opportunity for free expression, moving children away from their desks, providing them with hands-on activities, and respecting children as individuals.
• Jerome Bruner (born 1915) has further explored the notion that disciplines have certain structural elements – core ideas and approaches to knowledge and understanding – that should guide curriculum development in a manner that connects to the development of the child.

Today teachers utilize a variety of classroom practices that are based on all of these ideas of learning. Effective teachers understand that different strategies are useful for different kinds of learning. It is most production to think of these issues in terms of what kind of learning is sought in what contexts and then deliberate about what strategies may be most appropriate for those goals.

The Learning Process
Learning theorists have provided us with a set of ideas about how people learn that have practical implications for teaching. Research has found that:

• The brain plays a role in learning,
• The way the learning environment is constructed makes a difference,
• Learning is based on the associations and connections we make,
• Learning occurs in particular social and cultural environments, and, finally,
• The different ways people think and feel about their own learning affects their development as learners.

What Teachers Can Do To Assist Learning
Teachers can be more effective in their work if they teach in ways that are compatible with the process of learning.

How can what we know about the learning process help us to think about effective teaching practices? The following points about teaching and learning are emphasized throughout the course. Effective teaching involves:

• Organizing the environment,
• Organizing knowledge, information, and activities, and
• Organizing people.

The Relation of Theory to Practice
This course addresses the relationship among three fundamental aspects of the educational process: the subject matter of the curriculum, the diverse capabilities of students, and the teacher’s responsibilities to design and implement instruction. While general principles about learning can be drawn from many disciplines–such as psychology, sociology, linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy–at a practical level, no two teaching situations are quite comparable. Learning to teach thus demands that we understand both the general and the particular, seek theoretical insights that give meaning to what we do, and raise skeptical questions about what we think we know.

Definition of a Theory
A theory is both an explanation and a model of how things work. Learning theories attempt to answer key questions:

• How does learning happen?
• What influences students’ development?
• What motivates students to learn?

A theory is not just an idea. It is an idea that explains a set of relationships that can be tested. If the idea is supported through rigorous research, that theory is said to have empirical grounding.

• A theory is developed from research as well as practical experience and systematic observation.
• A theory is modified overtime on the basis of practioners’ insights as well as the work of researchers.
• Theories are interconnected.

Applying Theory to Practice
To apply learning theories to instructional practices, we need to understand theories as principles that have been tested and that have some power to explain how things work across different situations and contexts. There is, however, no one-to-one correspondence between theory and practice. Integrating theory and practice is a process of connecting what teachers know about their own students with what they know about learning, motivation, development, cultures, and social contexts, as well as teaching. Excellent teachers use their storehouse of intersecting theories, research, and personal as well as professional knowledge to solve problems of practice that emerge in the classroom.

The Teacher as a Theorist
The teacher has the job of bringing together what the profession, researchers, and other professionals have come to know about what matters and what works under different situations. The teacher must apply theories judiciously using careful decision making informed by her own inquiry and her own understanding of the situation at hand. The theories illustrated in this course represent a sampling of what we know about learning theory today, which is constantly evolving. Teachers play an important role in building on and expanding what we know about how people learn.

1. Advance Organizers – ideas or strategies used at the beginning of a lesson or activity to prepare students for new material.
2. Behaviorist – a description  of theories that   suggest learning is based on practicing specific skills and receiving positive reinforcement.
3. Constructivist – a description of theories that suggest that learning is based on making meaningful connections with the world, as well as interacting with other people.
4. Theory – an idea that is a coherent explanation of a set of relationships. If the idea survives rigorous testing and research, that theory is said to have empirical grounding.
   • A theory is developed from practical experience as well as research.
   • A theory is modified over time based on the insights of practioners as well as the work of researchers.
   • Theories are interconnected.

Step 1. The video segments in The Learning Classroom were taped as teachers worked in their own classrooms. As you watch, jot down the questions you have about what you see the teacher do and how the students respond.

Step 2. When you’re done, click on the episode title from the list and compare your questions with the Questions for Reflection and responses that our project team has anticipated.

Step 3. Review the responses we have prepared to questions that match the ones you have asked. The expert responses are not “final answers,” they are provided to give you a starting point for your own reflection. What else might you add to the response you read?

Question 1: Everyone in my school is talking about “brain-based” education. Where is that explored in this course?

Response 1: All learning is based on the brain and the central nervous system, so in that respect the topic is explored throughout the course. The phrase “brain-based” has received popular attention because of recent developments in brain biological research. This research holds great promise, but the hypothetical connections between the most recent discoveries in biology and classroom practices are just being tested now. Although we know that educational practices change the structure and chemistry of the brain the educational research has not progressed to a point where there is a consistent body of theory connecting it all. The topic is covered in session three, “Building on What We Know – Cognitive Processing” and mentioned elsewhere.

Question 2: With so many different theories to consider, how do I choose which one I should try to implement in my lesson plans?

Response 2: Good teaching isn’t created by having a single theory or technique that would work in every situation. Human beings are much too complicated for that, and teachers are trying to do many things at once. Well-tested theories provide a map of the territory through which teachers must chart their own course. If it seems to you that some of these ideas seem to overlap with other topics we’ve considered, you are absolutely right. These learning theories don’t stand in isolation. They look at different aspects of the learning puzzle, serving as a prism that allows you to sort of look through different lenses and see another dimension each time. The best practices in the classroom are usually supported by more than one theory. The assignments in the Learning Challenges section of this Web site are designed to help you analyze how different theories interact.

Question 3: Dr. Darling-Hammond noted Fe MacLean’s ability to use students’ prior-knowledge of sledding to gain their interest and build a conceptual framework for the ramp activity? What if students do not seem to have any prior knowledge regarding a planned activity?

Response 3: All students have some prior knowledge. While it may not be directly linked to the planned activity, it is likely that everyone has at least some broader relative experience that can be linked to a concept that the teacher has planned to teach. It is important to allow students an opportunity to discuss any interests, experience, or knowledge they may have about a concept before they are immersed in the activity. This will give the teacher an idea as to the level at which students will enter the learning experience knowing that will help her plan for scaffolding and for making more connections as students continue to engage in the learning task.

Question 4. Fe mentioned that she tries to visualize herself as a kid and consider their developmental level when planning learning activities. How does a teacher know where to place children on a developmental continuum, especially when they are all so different?

Response 4: Education has largely relied on Jean Piaget’s theories of developmental psychology, which describes stages of mental attributes of children through their years of growth. Teachers can identify those stages by watching their students carefully, especially since students reach developmental benchmarks at different rates. Through careful observation it becomes clear what students can do easily on their own, the types of tasks they need assistance with, and those that are long stretches. This information should then be used to devise lessons in which students can experience success, but also feel comfortably challenged.

Question 5: Dr. Darling-Hammond mentioned that after the ramp, ball, and can experiment in Fe’s class that the students then did writing, drawing, and oral presentations based on their multiple intelligences? What exactly are multiple intelligences and how does a teacher incorporate them into instruction?

Response 5: Multiple intelligences is Howard Gardner’s theory of learning which posits the idea that there is not a single way to learn, but that students have a variety of intelligences or modes of learning. According to Gardner, individuals possess varying degrees of the following eight forms of intelligence:

• linguistic intelligence
• musical intelligence
• logical-mathematical intelligence
• spatial intelligence
• bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
• interpersonal intelligence
• intrapersonal intelligence
• naturalistic intelligence

The fourth session of this course explores these concepts in depth. In brief, multiple intelligence theory suggests that more students will understand concepts and retain information if they are presented in a variety of ways, and if students have choices in the way they exhibit their understanding. The teacher needs to have clearly defined learning goals, but also acknowledge and allow for the fact that students may reach these goals in various ways. This may be accomplished by allowing students choices that appeal to the various intelligences throughout the learning activity and/or as a culminating display of understanding.

Question 6: While eliciting the students’ prior-knowledge about ramps and speeds of decline, Fe MacLean’s students came up with a variety of hypotheses and she did not correct those that seemed wrong. Why not?

Response 6: This example occurred at the onset of the lesson, when Fe was generating interest, excitement, and activating students’ prior knowledge and conceptions. During this phase of a constructivist (students constructing their own knowledge) approach, it is not necessary to tell students that they have reached the wrong conclusion, as they have not fully engaged in the learning process. In fact, it is important to give them an opportunity to divulge what should later be recognized as misconceptions. By carefully crafting the lesson, the teacher can allow them to discover on their own the most appropriate solution to the problem or answer to the question. This discovery can be emphasized by revisiting their original suppositions at the end of the learning activity and exposing to them the differences in their initial ideas and the new knowledge that they will have gained.

Question 7: Kathleen strived to use parents as models of literacy, but it was evident in her culturally diverse classroom that many of the parents have different literacy backgrounds, accomplishments, and possibly expectations. How can parental or cultural literacy be used as an example for students when it does not seem to be perfectly aligned with the school’s definition of literacy?

Response 7: Home or cultural literacy models will always vary, what is most important is that students see that literacy and learning are valued in their homes. There will always be a difference between the culture of each student’s home and the culture of the classroom. By bridging the gap that often exists between home and school, parents and students benefit by learning from each other. Likewise, it is important to honor students’ cultural traditions and literate behaviors in the classroom, when possible, to build self-esteem and motivation – fundamental elements to achieve successful classroom teaching and learning.

Question 8: How are parents and guests included seamlessly in the classroom, as it appears they are in Kathleen’s?

Response 8: In authentic learning environments, students need a variety of resources to construct their knowledge, solve problems, and complete authentic tasks. These resources, as Kathleen indicated, must be more than an anthology or textbook, if for no other reason than to truly put the learning experience into a context and authenticate it. While a great deal of planning goes into selecting, organizing, and managing human, print, and digital resources in the classroom, including parents can help teachers create a true community of learners. The parental participation also encourages access to concepts through multiple intelligences when they involve presentations, storytelling, sharing artifacts, music or performance. Certainly, it decentralizes the teacher as the primary or only source of knowledge or assistance in the learning process.

As far as managing the classroom when parents arrive, Kathleen has made it appear easy by providing a structure for the sessions that lets everyone know what to expect when the day comes. She is familiar with the family stories from the students’ work on memoirs, and has given parents positive feedback through their children, so parents know that their stories are valued. As she noted, she does as much as she can to make everyone comfortable physically and emotionally, to make the parent participation successful.

Question 9: Mind mapping is mentioned as a strategy in Kendra’s classroom example. What is it, exactly?

Response 9: Mind mapping is one of a variety of visual, graphic ways that students and teachers can brainstorm and organize ideas. This strategy uses as combination of sketches, words, colors, symbols, and codes. Unlike outlining or listing, mind mapping is a way to generate and organize ideas in a non-linear fashion. Instead, ideas are mapped as they emerge from a central idea. It is noted for being a fun way to learn, especially to those who learn best visually, spatially, and linguistically.

Question 10: Kendra mentioned it’s crucial to her that her students make conscious choices in the strategies that they employ? How does a teacher facilitate and monitor these choices?

Response 10: Often, teachers mandate a strategy, forgetting the intended learning goal or result. In these instances, the teacher takes complete control over what should eventually be the learner’s responsibility – to attend to their own learning processes. In the early stages of a new learning task it may be necessary for the teacher to make choices on behalf of students. Ideally, however, the teacher should reveal her thinking to her students while making these choices and gradually relinquish these choices to her students. Of course, there must be real alternatives available. While these strategies of choice are being learned the teacher observes students carefully and talks with them to elicit their thought processes while engaging the strategy. That prepares the student for subsequent lessons, when the student, in consultation with the teacher, can decide which strategy may be most effective, given the student’s learning style and the learning task at hand.

Question 11: The toothpick bridge lesson showed students actively engaged in creating, but how is Donald certain that each of them learned the intended concepts, especially if they are working in groups?

Response 11: Cooperative learning groups are different than mere work groups. In carefully crafted cooperative learning situations, students require the contribution of each other to successfully complete a learning task. Moreover, in the toothpick bridge activity students needed to work together to employ engineering and scientific concepts they had previously learned. While the students obviously delighted in the authenticity and hands-on nature of building their bridges, Donald was observing their participation and contributions to their groups and whether or not their group decisions were aligned with previously learned scientific concepts.

Building the bridges was a learning activity and assessment at the same time – when Donald could still redirect and reaffirm students’ conceptions individually or as whole groups.

Question 12: Why did Donald add the problematic situations of war and inflation to the toothpick bridge activity – an engineering and science lesson?

Response 12: Building the bridge was a problem-based, authentic task in and of itself. By adding additional environmental factors, Donald further authenticated situations under which real engineers often work. These additional problems also further develop students’ interdisciplinary problem-solving skills and pose more challenges for those who are cognitively ready.

Linda Darling-Hammond
Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education, Stanford University

Kendra Hearn
Former Teacher, West Bloomfield High School, Michigan. Currently professional development consultant Macomb Intermediate School District, Michigan

Don Johnson
Eighth Grade Teacher, Columbus Middle School, Detroit. Michigan

Fe MacLean
First Grade Teacher, Paddock Elementary School, Milan, Michigan

Kathleen Hayes-Parvin
Sixth Grade Teacher, Birney Middle School, Southfield, Michigan

Web-based readings

Berliner, D. (1993). The 100-year journey of educational psychology: From interest, to disdain, to respect for practice. In T. Fagan and VandenBos (Eds.), Exploring applied psychology: Origins and critical analysis (Master Lectures in Psychology). Washington, DC; American Psychological Association. Retrieved 2/22/03.

http://courses.ed.asu.edu/berliner/readings/journey.htm
This lengthy history of educational psychology describes the work of key figures such as Hall, Thorndike, and Dewey. The article is somewhat opinionated and not specifically written for a teacher audience, but it is reader-friendly.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). Learning: From speculation to science (Chapter 1). In How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

http://bob.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/ch1.html

Related links

Center for Dewey Studies
http://deweycenter.siu.edu/
Based at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, this center provides extensive information and history about John Dewey’s life and research. Discussion groups and links are included.

Explorations in learning and instruction: The Theory into Practice Database
http://www.instructionaldesign.org/about.html
Entries from the learning theory sections of the online JSU Encyclopedia of Psychology. Organized by theories, domains, and concepts. Provides resources to other web sites.

About Learning
http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/19919565/Learning%20Theories
This site provides an overview of major learning theories from Funderstanding. Includes information about constructivism, behaviorism, Piaget, Vygotsky, and others.

Issues and debates: Educational theory links
http://www.und.ac.za/users/murrell/classrm/theoryed.html
A collection of links to Web sites that cover a number of topics in educational theory and history from Interactive Instructional Material Research and Resources.