Section 2: Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy addressing how we know what we know, or what it means to know.  It is needed in order to determine truth from fiction, and to use and obtain the knowledge of the world around us.  Instructional theory actually offers guidance on how to better help people learn and develop.  Instructional theory focuses more on the delivery of the content to the audience.  Whether it's through forms of technology or through lecture, by whatever means the teacher uses to get the message across. It is how a lesson is designed and carried out.  A learning model can help us deliver the content to the learner through  some sort of demonstration.  I've realized lately that as I've used the Mobi (graphics tablet) to teach, I walk around the room a lot more and it sometimes makes it harder for my students to focus on the lesson and follow me around the room.  I've decided that I will begin teaching from the front of the room in order to be able to make eye contact with all of my students.  Of course I will start my lesson at the front of the room and then as my students practice, I will move about the room to check for understanding.

Contextualist epistemology is where students are active in the learning process.  Learning should be meaningful to the students and should fit within the context.  The learner learns by constructing or making something.  Learners gain knowledge through collaboration, and participation in authentic practices and group discussions.  Learners are encouraged to reflect on their own learning and how they did learn.  Sometimes I like to let my students take what we've learned in class and create their own word problems that relate to the content that is being taught.  I recall one time that I let my students work in pairs to create word problems.  the problems had to consist of at least five steps and include the use of percents.  My students enjoyed creating the problems and they asked me to type them out so that they could work each others problems. They ended up creating their own homework and were excited about it. Radical constructivists believe that knowledge constructions do not correspond with reality in order to be meaningful to the learner. 

Behaviorisim is a theory based on the idea that all behavior is acquired through conditioning within the environment.   Behaviorists think that our responses to stimuli shape our behavior. Behaviorist theories focus on the consequences of behavior in order to determine whether a behavior is repeated or not.  The focus is on the behavior before and after an experiment.  Changes in performance are observed and if there is no change in behavior, then the intervention was not successful.   I thought the image below was a cute one to illustrate how behaviorists condition the learner to respond to certain stimuli.  Students are trained from day one when they hear a bell, it's time to switch classes.  They do not necessarily get an extrinsic reward, but i guess more of an internal reward for getting to class on time.  The punishment would be to receive a tardy and after so many there is possibly an office referral.

A behaviorist might approach problem solving methods by offering the learner some type of positive reinforcement for achieving the goal or completing a task.  In turn if the subject of the study does not perform the task at hand, the behaviorist may offer some sort of negative reinforcement.   A constructivist might approach problem solving by letting the learner take part in some sort of social activity where learners can construct meaning together.  Learning would be student centered and enjoyable for the learners.  Learning would be an active process requiring students to put in effort in order to learn.   

I believe that students are more motivated to learn when they can be partial say in what they are learning.  They are also motivated to learn when what they are learning about is relevant to them and their lives and when they believe that they can succeed in mastering whatever task that they are learning.  Students ask all the time, when will I see this in real life?  They want to learn about things that will connect and relate to them and their lifestyles.  I think that almost every teacher possesses a little of both the behaviorist and constructivist qualities. We do all train students because one of the first things that you learn is to create classroom procedures and rules that you want your students to follow.  If the student performs them correctly they normally receive some sort of praise from the teacher.  On the other hand, I would hope that most teachers also let their students explore and create their own meaning and learning as in the constructivist type of learning.  One of the best things to do is to take the best of both worlds and not to limit yourself to only one point of view.