Peer Tutoring 12

Learning Theories

Section 1: What is Learning?

Learning is a complex process influenced by a variety of factors. People learn new
things all the time, whether it's in school, at home, or from experiences in life.
Some factors that influence learning might be external, like the environment, the
teaching methods, or the type of instruction. Others factors might be internal,
like motivation, emotions, past experiences, and even how the brain processes new
information.

Discuss a time when something helped your ability to learn. What factors influenced
your ability to learn?

Something that has helped in my ability to learn a subject has been visual
teaching. I find it easy to conceptualize something that is being taught to me if I
can see it happen. For example, I have found physical demonstrations of physics
theories very useful to my learning. Being in a school/classroom environment I have
noticed has helped me with my ability to learn compared to being at home. I feel
like home is not a place where my mind is eager to learn something. When I am
interested in a subject I get this strong feeling of motivation that pushes me and
makes me learn things better.

Discuss a time when something hindered your ability to learn. What factors
obstructed your ability to learn?

When I had online school in grade 8 during the pandemic I would always
procrastinate my work due to not being in a classroom environment where I was used
to learning in. There was also a lot of reading mindlessly boring textbooks on your
own time that I did not enjoy or take in any useful learning from. Factors such as
being at home, a lot of reading, no classroom environment with the teacher talking
face to face and students asking questions, and not being able to have hands on
materials to learn with.
Section 2: Learning Theory Notes

You will read a brief article and watch a brief video on the four learning theories
covered in this unit. Take notes from the article and the video for each learning
theory. All articles and videos can be accessed in the Classwork tab on Teams.

Theory Key Concepts

Behaviorism Theory • A school of psychology that emerged in the 20th
century
• Looks at outside observable behaviors
• Views behavior as a response to stimuli in an environment
• Behaviorists identify patterns of behavior and the environmental stimuli that
trigger them
• Behaviorism theory involves the use of interventions like reinforcement or
punishment to modify behavior. Positive reinforcement strengths a behavior with a
reward while punishment weakens a behavior by using a consequence. A behavior is
more or less likely to reoccur based on the reinforcements or consequences that
follow.
• Applied behavioral analysis is commonly used in areas like education. Ex. A
teacher may use a token system to reinforce students for completing their work.
Students can exchange tokens for rewards
• Examples: Being allowed to watch tv after finishing homework, receiving a
sticker for finishing work, students who arrive late will receive detention
Cognitivism Theory • Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on how
information is received, organized, stored, and retried by the mind. It emphasizes
retention and recall through the use of quality teaching processes
• Examples: Starting a lesson with a hook to make it interesting, breaking up
information in groups so they are smaller and easier to digest by the mind, review,
using graphic organizes to help structure content
• Teachers must know what students need to know before teaching something. For
example, if a student is excepted to learn how to do long division they should know
how to do basic multiplication, basic division, and subtraction. (Pre requisites)
• Teachers should use strategies to help students retain and remember
information such as mnemonics, visual aids, rhymes. Ect.
• Cognitive theory places significance on internal mental activites such as
thinking, problem solving, and memory. It is concerned with understanding how
indiviudals actively process information, make sense of expierences, and apply
knowledge to new situations.
• Cognitive theory puts an emphasis on the importance of prior knowledge and
experience in learning. New knowledge is squired and integrated with existing
knowledge.
• Cognitive learning has proven valuable in explaining complex human behaviors

Constructivism Theory • Constructivism is a theory that quates learning with

creating meaning from experience. In other words, learning is more meaningful to
students when they are able to interact with a problem or concept
• Students take more active roles in the learning process
• Constructivism uses interactive teaching strategies. Ex. Role playing or
simulating historical events, debating, internships
• Students partake in problem solving, higher order thinking skills, and
collaborative work
• Views learning as an active, constructive process, where the learner plays a
central role in constructing knowledge based on personal experiences, prior
knowledge, and interactions with others
• Learners interact with their environment, collaborate with others, share
perspectives, solve problems, and reflect
• Constructivism environments often incorporate hands on activities or problem
solving tasks
Social Learning Theory • A psychological framework that emphasizes the role of
observational learning, imitation, and modeling in shaping human behavior
• States that individuals learn not only through direct experiences and
reinforcement but also by observing and imitating the behaviors of others,
especially those deemed influential or significant in the learners life
• In social learning, learners are more likely to imitate behaviors they find
rewarding or those displayed by role models they admire. In social learning theory
there is an emphasis put on the importance of what influential figures shape the
learners behavior (there could be bad influences like those who do drugs and good
influences such as those who do sports)
• Reinforcement and punishment are used in this theory
• Social learning incorporates cognitive factors, emphasizing the role of
mental processes in learning.
• Learners actively process information, make judgements about the consequences
of actions, and decide whether to imitate observed behaviors based on their
evaluations

Section 3: Learning Theories in the media

Watch the clips from the course materials and briefly explain how each learning
theory is demonstrated. Use your notes to help you.

Theory How is the theory demonstrated?

Behaviorism Theory
• In the behaviorism clip, there are two coworkers who sit across from each
other. When coworker 1 restarts his computer it makes a sound, after the sound is
made, he offers coworker 2 a mint. He repeats this over time until every time his
computer restarts and makes a sound coworker 2 puts his hand out to accept the mint
from coworker 1 without coworker 1 asking if he wants one. Behaviorists identify
patterns of behavior and the environmental stimuli that trigger them. In this case
the environmental stimuli of the computer making a sound has shown a pattern of
behavior from coworker 2. It uses the reward system to repeat as behavior. The
reward is a mint for every time the sound is made.

Cognitivism Theory • Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on how

information is received, organized, stored, and retried by the mind. It emphasizes
retention and recall through the use of quality teaching processes. In this clip
the man that is trying to help with the business offers her easy ways to improve
her business however he is aware of what her learning style is and is able to adapt
the information he is giving to her in a way she can understand. He makes it clear
how he is going to teach her. Cognitivism theory is concerned with understanding
how individuals actively process information, make sense of experiences, and apply
knowledge to new situations.

Constructivism Theory • Constructivism is a theory that quates learning with

creating meaning from experience. In other words, learning is more meaningful to
students when they are able to interact with a problem or concept. In
constructivism theory learning is done by collaborating with others and in this
clip they are all collaborating to fix the business. There is also debate about
which fix is the best for the business which is a core foundation of constructivism
theory.

Section 4: Learning Theories in The Classroom

Find an example of how each learning theory (behaviourism, cognitivism,
constructivism, and social learning) can be used in education from the articles and
videos you watched. Then either research an additional example or come up with your
example of how each theory can be used in your peer tutoring class.

Theory Example from Article or Video Own Example

Behaviorism Theory In the behaviorism video there is reward for a behavior,
the behavior being the coworker putting his hand out every time he hears the
computer sound for a mint and the reward being the mint given to him. Applied
behavioral analysis is commonly used in areas like education. Ex. A teacher may use
a token system to reinforce students for completing their work. Students can
exchange tokens for rewards. In music there can be a reward system for tiding up
after class. Every student who stays and tidies up the instruments gets a piece of
candy as a reward.
Cognitivism Theory In the cognitivism video the man helping the woman makes it
clear how he is going to teach her. Cognitive theory puts an emphasis on the
importance of prior knowledge and experience in learning. New knowledge is squired
and integrated with existing knowledge. The man also doesn’t overwhelm her with
knowledge she doesn’t know about. In music class there can be the use of a
mnemonic which is a part of cognitivism theory, the mnemonic Every Amateur Does Get
Better Eventually can be used to help students remember the string notes of a
guitar.
Constructivism Theory There is a open discussion about which answer is the best
for the problem of the business in the constructivism video. Constructivism uses
interactive teaching strategies such as a debate or open discussion which was seen
in the video. Students partake in problem solving together, higher order thinking
skills, and collaborative work to learn. You can ask students open-ended questions
relating to what they are being taught to encourage them to explain their reasoning
and help better their own understanding. You can have students debate amongst each
other about a prompt such as “what is the hardest instrument to learn and why”,
“what is the best genre of music and why”.
Social Learning Theory Social learning theory states that individuals learn not
only through direct experiences and reinforcement but also by observing and
imitating the behaviors of others, especially those deemed influential or
significant in the learner’s life. In the social learning clip the father of the
children tells them “your my goddamn children too” and his daughter repeats to her
mom “we are his goddamn kids too” and in social learning, learners are more likely
to imitate behaviors they find rewarding or those displayed by role models they
admire such as the daughter and her father who she most likely admires. In
music class someone who is trying to learn something can sit down with someone and
observe how they play the part or the instrument. A learner can sit down with a
teacher and watch a chord progression or lead part played and then try to replicate
the technique.
Section 5: Reflection
Respond to the following questions. The depth and detail of your response is up to
you; however, I encourage you to review the assessment criteria prior to handing in
your response.

How has studying different learning theories changed your perspective on tutoring?

Which theory do you think will influence your tutoring style the most? Why?

Which learning theory do you find most challenging to understand or apply? Why?