INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING THEORIES IN EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

Learning is a fundamental process, which enables an organism to service. Learning enables the organism to acquire the fundamental skills with which it can adopt and even change its environment. Learning is one of the key concepts in education. Hence, learning has been identified as one of the focal areas of educational psychology. Furthermore, classroom implications of the theories of the learning were considered.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Define learning in various perspectives. 
•  Enumerate various theories. 
•  Explain the main tenets/principles of learning. 
•  Discuss the implications of the theories of learning within the class situation. 

 Definition of learning

Learning has been defined in several ways. A common definition used very often is as follows:

Learning is a psychological process that refers to any change of behaviour that is relatively permanent and could be attributed to a result of some particular experience, observation or training. From this definition, three things are noteworthy. They are;

• Change in behaviour; 
• Relative permanence; 
•  Consequence of experience, observation or tracing. All the three must exist before learning can take place. 

Types of Learning

Learning is complex and multifaceted in such a way that no single activity can represent it completely. The followings form types of learning:

• Classroom learning 
•  Social learning 
•  Incidental learning . 
•  Problem solving learning . 
•  Verbal learning 
•  Skill learning 

ACTIVITY I

1. List the three components of learning that must exist before learning takes place. 
2.  Give an example of each of the following forms of learning: 

a) Classroom learning

b) Social learning

c) Incidental learning

d) Problem solving learning

e) Verbal learning

f) Skill learning

Theories of Learning

A very large number of theories have been propounded by various scholars in the field of psychology to explain the nature and complexity of the learning process, A theory refers to any systematic or coherent set of ideas, principles or laws proposed to further our understanding, control and prediction of natural phenomena.

Learning theories can be broadly classified into two categories.
1. S -R Theories (behaviours) Associations/Connectionists Some examples of learning theories include the following:

• Pavlov's conditioning theory of learning 
• Thorndike's theory of learning 
• Skinner's theory of learning 
•  Watson's theory of learning 
• Guthrie's theory of learning 
•  Hall's theory of learning 

2. Cognitive field theories
Some examples of theories under this category include:

• Gestalt's theory of learning 
• Field's theory of learning (Kurt Levin) 
• Tolman's sign 

All these theories employed experiments with some kinds of animals (dogs, cats, rats, pigeons, monkeys) to observe the nature and processes of learning.

Full details of the experimental designs of these theories are not provided herein, however some principles of learning deduced from the experiments are highlighted below: