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Theories of Learning
Day 1
TEMP
2012-03-11
08.30 – 16.00
Träff 1
Introduktion
Lärande samtal
Programme
08.30
Introduction
09.30
Break
10.00
Introduction
11.00
Critical thinking
12.00
Lunch
13.30
Group discussion: Reflections from reading the three articles
14.30
Break
15.00
Presentation of group discussions
Presentation
• Hans-Åke Scherp [email protected]
• Elisabet Olsson [email protected]
• Inger Olsson [email protected]
A short introduction to
Theories of Learning, 7.5 ECTS
What is my mission as a teacher educator?
• Reflect upon your mission as a teacher educator
• Talk in pairs about your reflections
• Simularities and differences
The mission of
the Swedish
school
1840 –1920
Goals
To raise patient,
humble and
Means
obedient
Extreme lecturing way of teaching
people
Hard drill and disciplin
By-heart learning
Behaviorism
• Pupils get knowledge from the teachers.
Teachers deliver knowledge
• Skinner, Pavlov, Ebbinghouse
• Classical conditioning and operant conditioning,
rewards and punishments
• Divide into small parts that later are put together
• Repetition is the mother of knowledge
• Extrinsic motivation
Teachers’ understanding
of the mission today
Aims
Confident and secure
Committed
Creative and curious
Lust to learn
Means?
Cognitivism and constructivism
• Cognitivism: Pupils search for knowledge that is out there
somewhere
• Constructivism: Pupils create knowledge
• Piaget, Dewey, Vygotsky, Festinger
• Intrinsic motivation
How can students understand learning?
Six different ways:
Marton, F. & Booth, S. Learning and Awereness
• Learning is to reproduce
– A. Gathering information and facts
– B. Memorizing texts
– C. Gathering information and apply it.
• Learning is to seek a meaning
– D. To understand
– E. New perspectives to look at knowledge
– F. Changing your values as a human being
Different ways when thinking of learning!
What will we accomplish and what theory will we use?
An important question to ask yourself.
Talk in pairs!
We, Hans-Åke, Elisabet and Inger, asked ourselves what
we wanted to accomplish with this course…
Important for us is that you as a student is co-creator in the learning
process (i.e we and you create knowledge together)
So this course is built on the theory of constructivism
The perspective of this course is constructivistic and that
means:
• You construct your own knowledge.
• You take responsibility for your own learning.
• You interpret the text and informationen and can argue about what
you have found
• Your experiences are important for the course and is a foundation
for both your own learning and development as well as the others.
• The advantage with this way of working is that you meet
others´perspecitves, opinions and experiences
• You learn from each other
• You have to be aware of your own learning process (The four
”questions” you got for the articles helps you in that process)
A short introduction to
understanding what we mean
with many perspecitives
[email protected]
Different models of dialogues are tools to get more
perspectives
• In this course you are going to learn about two different tools
– Conceptual maps
– Learning dialogue
Why dialogues?
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Teachers silent knowledge is called tacit knowledge. Through
dialogues you can grasp the tacit knowledge and develop new
competence together..
Problems in school often seem larger when you deal with alone.
Why philosophy?
• As a pedagogue you have to know something about
philosophical questions because they are the fundament
for a pedagogical theory
• It is good to know what learning theory you lean on as a
teacher.
• It makes a different as Hans-Åke, said in his lecture.
Ontology
• Ontology is the study of existence, and for any
domain, an ontology is a characterization of the
kinds of things that can exist in that domain.
Epistemology
• Epistemology is a study of the conditions and criteria for
gaining knowledge about anything. It would include
theories of learning. It would also include the philosophy
of science, which is the study of how scientists can
accumulate scientific knowledge.
• It is also about the validity of the knowledge.
• Epistemology is the theory of knowledge.
Epistemology –
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What is possible to know?
What do people know?
When do you know?
How do you know just that? What is knowledge?
How is knowledge acquired?
How do we know what we know?
Why do we know what we know
• It is about content and process
• It is connected to the learning theories
Connections.
• Ontological assumptions give rise to
epistemological assumptions; these in turn, give
rise to methodological considerations; and
these, in turn, give rise to issues of
instrumentation and data collection
• You can also say that ontological assumptions
give rise to epistemological assumptions; these
in turn, give rise to learning theories; and these,
in turn, give rise to how organize education.
Different ways to look upon learning
• To give and receive knowledge as a
student (behaviorism)
• To seek knowledge as a student
(cognitivism)
• To create knowledge as a student
(constructivism)
[email protected]
Actions
Experiences
Planning
Reflections
Conceptions
Conclusions
Learnings
Research and
other’s conceptions
Three dimensions of learning
EMOTIONAL
COGNITIVE
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To create
meaning
To understand
To master
To mobilize
mental
energy
Motivation
Feelings
Will
Konwledge
Understanding
Skills
SOCIAL
Act
Communication
Cooperation
Knud Illeris:
• Three Dimensions of Learning: Contemporary learning theory in the
tension field between the cognitive, the emotional and the social by
Knud Illeris intends to “present a generally accessible, coherent
understanding of human learning...and attempts to cover the whole
subject area in accordance with current knowledge in this field” (p.
21). With this ambitious intention, Illeris provides a comprehensive
review of learning theory. Initially, Illeris examines each dimension
of cognitive, emotional and social learning separately. Later, Illeris
integrates the separate dimensions to explain the complex learning
process as one whole.
Course guide
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course participants are expected to:
- Distinguish between major theories of learning.
- Identify perspectives within major theories of learning.
- Explain with practical examples theories presented in the course.
- Present written assignments which could describe, analyze and
criticize the major learning theories with the help of the given literature.
- Based on learning theories understand and explain learning
obstacles.
Literature
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Apple, M. Ideology and Curriculum. London: Taylor & Francis, (2004). Pages: 250.
Boghossian, P. "Behaviorism, Constructivism and Socratic Pedagogy". Educational
Philosophy and Theory. (2006) 38 (6). 713-722 . Pages: 16.
Giota, J., Lundborg, O. and Emanuelsson, I. Special Education in Comprehensive
Schools: Extent, Forms and Effects. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.
(2009) 53:6. 557 - 578. Pages: 21.
Schunk, D.H. Learning Theories. An Educational Perspective (six th ed. An
International Edition). Boston: Pearson Education, (2011). With a focus on Chapter 1,
2, 3, 4, 6 & 7. Pages: 330.
Wang, L. Sociocultural Learning Theories and Information Literacy Teaching
Activities in Higher Education. "Reference and user Services Quarterly". (2007).
47(2). 149-158. Pages: 10.
Wood, D. How children think and learn. The social context of cognitive development.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, (1998). Chapters 1-4. Pages: 108 .
Yilmaz, K. The Cognitive Perspective on Learning: Its Theoretical underpinnings and
implications for classroom practices. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational
Strategies, issues and Ideas. (2011) 84(5). 204-212. Pages: 9.
Schedule
Critical thinking
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What is critical thinking?
Why critical thinking?
How to develop critical thinking?
The Swedish Higher Education Act.
… courses and study programmes shall develop:
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the ability of students to make independent and critical assessments
the ability of students to identify, formulate and solve problems autonomously,
and
the preparedness of students to deal with changes in working life.
In addition to knowledge and skills in their field of study, students shall develop
the ability to:
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gather and interpret information at a scholarly level
stay abreast of the development of knowledge, and
communicate their knowledge to others, including those who lack specialist
knowledge in the field. Ordinance (2009:1037).
The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education
The Swedish word BILDNING
English:education/culture/manners/refinement/be well-read/liberal education)
’Bildning’ can be understood as critical thinking, ethics, communication, and the
ability to gather information, but also ability to valuate and attitude. It is about
the ability to think in an independent and critical way. Education has a limited
aim and a beginning and an end. ’Bildning’ , however, is lifelong and life wide.
What is critical thinking?
No generally accepted definition.
Characteristics of a critical thinker. He/she must be able to:
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seek for alternatives
argue for or against something
identify faultiness
analyze other people’s arguments
examine the credibility of sources
look upon the whole situation
be well informed
has an open mind
venture to take a stand
venture to change his/her mind
A wider understanding of critical thinking is presented by Barnett (1997). He
argues that too many definitions of critical thinking describe skills that do not
include the freeing of the mind which ought to be the aim. His definition entails:
• fostering critical thought so that students move beyond the practice of
‘intellectual games’ and are liberated, to realize that ‘they are free to build
their own cognitive universe’
• modifying the pedagogical relationship, so that teachers becomes a
participant in joint inquiry after truth
• empowering students to understand themselves critically and to act critically,
so that they are ‘not subject to the world’ but are able to ‘act autonomously
and purposively within it.’
Are there Cultural Differences?
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Ideas about critical thinking are to a smaller or larger extent political, originating from
values about human society and individuality that perhaps people from different
cultures do not share
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Many different definitions even within a culture
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Language problems
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Do students in different countries practice critical thinking?
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Is critical thinking threatening the society?
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Higher order thinking is a universal innate ability that will flourish anywhere under the
right conditions (Dahl, 2010)
What about Afghanistan?
Why critical thinking?
• New problems need new solutions
• Problem solving is needed to reach progress
• Critical thinking is an important part of democracy
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Critical thinking is a means to seek and construct new knowledge and has always
been an important part of science
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Arguments need evaluation if they are to be worthy of respect.
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Brookfield (1997 in 3) means that critical thinking is a part of a process of reflections
that will lead to new ways of thinking and acting. Critical thinking challenge what is
taken for granted and therefore important in the process of learning.
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Dewey (1933 in 3) claimed that critical thinking is needed for problem solving,
reflective thinking, and affective judgement. The reflective thinking is what is needed
to throw light on doubts about something which will lead to understanding.
• To have the ability to make critical reflections contribute to a democratic
society and therefore higher education has a large responsibility to give
the students the opportunity to practice that. Critical reflection is the
essence in the learning process in both understanding the subject and
oneself. Through critical reflections the students get the opportunity to
develop their thinking in a way that in one way or another change their
lives, from ingrained opinions in the personal frame of references to new
conceptions. This is called transformative learning. (Mezirov)
Due to Willner (1986) critical thinking is useful in three areas:
 To control how it is instead of passively accept influence
 To reconsider and look for alternatives instead of being independent
of authorities
 To use methods to reject weak statements instead of being credulous
and ignorant
How to Develop Critical Thinking?
• A classroom climate where critical thinking is encouraged and where
students feel safe
• Comprehension (Critical thinking must be well-founded and not just
built on opinions)
• Frequent questions (What if …? Why?
• Reflections and evaluations
• Time
• Assignments that provide opportunities for emotional engagement
and require critical thinking
• Presenting conflicting perspectives (perhaps provocation)
• Environment
• Modeling (e.g. a critical thinking teacher)
• Dialogues, collaboration, group work
• Lectures on critical thinking, clear aims, instructions (scaffolding)
and expectations
An example
Is it necessary for everyone in the world to
learn and accept what the West has deemed
to be important knowledge, and adopt the
Western worldview?
Dialogue
A dialogue has to be well planned:
• a suitable room where it is possible for all groups to sit without
disturbing each other too much. For all to sit in the same room is
important for the spirit of community, to keep focus, and to save
time.
• A clear structure and a groupleader
• Rules that make sure that all participants will get the opportunity to
talk, that everyone contribute with their thoughts and opinions and
about listening to others.
• The subject for the question has to be relevant and complex with no
correct answer.
It is important that the participants can use their own experiences
Group discussions about the articles by Boghossian,
Wang and Yilmas
Reflect on the following
• Pick out something from the text you agree with.
• Pick out something in the text you don’t agree with.
• Pick out something in the text that you want/need to know more
about.
• What consequences may the knowledge you have gained from
reading these texts have on your work as a teacher educator?
13.30 – 14.30 Presentation of group discussions – a short summary