What is learning?

Almost every action we take is the result of past learning yet, for some people,
learning still remains an activity undertaken in, or associated with, an educational
context.
As babies we learn to eat, to gain attention, to crawl, to walk, etc. and as we
develop into children, and our bodies become more functional, we learn an
inordinate range of skills.
Traditionally, research and studies around learning focused primarily on early-years
learning through childhood and adolescence. However, it is now recognised that
learning is a continuous process that commences at birth and continues until death;
it is the process through which we use our experience to deal with new situations
and to develop relationships.
Teaching, training and other structured learning opportunities are activities that one
person does to another, while learning is something we can only do for ourselves.
Learning involves far more than thinking: it involves the whole personality - senses,
feelings, intuition, beliefs, values and will. If we do not have the will to learn, we will
not learn and if we have learned, we are actually changed in some way. If the
learning makes no difference it can have very little significance beyond being
random ideas that float through our consciousness.

How Organism Learn: Classical and Operant Conditioning

There are two main explanations of how organisms learn. The first explanation is
known as classical conditioning. The second explanation is known as operant
conditioning. These two types of learning are exhibited in our everyday lives
through our home, work, and school.
Classical conditioning was discovered by Iran Petrovich Pavlov. He was originally a
physiologist whose main focus was the digestive system (Gazzaniga230). His
discovery was made during a study on the salivation of dogs when given food.
Pavlov observed that the dogs began salivating at the sound of the scientists
footsteps and at their appearance into the room (231). This led Pavlov to study the
phenomenon further.
Classical conditioning can be exemplified in the home, school, and school. In the
home a child could smell brownies baking in the kitchen which makes her mouth
water. The brownies are the unconditioned stimulus, the smell is the conditioned
stimulus, and the watering of the mouth is the conditioned response (Myers 26768). In work a man may be waiting to be fired. When he sees his boss he begins to
sweat. The unconditioned stimulus is getting fired, the conditioned stimulus is the
sight of the boss, and the conditioned response is the sweating. In school a boy may
be in class when suddenly the fire alarm goes off at which time the boy walks to exit
the building. The unconditioned stimulus is fear of a fire, the conditioned stimulus is
the sound of the alarm, and the conditioned response is the exiting of the building.

Operant conditioning is an organism's learning an association between how it

behaves and what happens as a result of that behavior (Gazzaniga 244). There are
some differences between classical and operant conditioning. First, the operant
response has to occur completely spontaneously. In classical conditioning the
conditioned response is drawn from an organism. In operant conditioning the
response is delivered by the organism which then awaits the consequences. Second,
in classical conditioning the conditioned response is usually a "very well-defined
muscular movement or glandular response" (244). In operant conditioning the
response is a set of actions that bring about an essentially equal result. Third, in
classical conditioning reinforcement is dictated by the scientist or instructor. In
operant conditioning reinforcement is dictated by the organism (245). Edward L.
Thorndike was the first person to formally address the effects of reward and
punishment in learning. He came up with the positive law of effect which stated that
when a behavior is rewarded that behavior will be more likely to be repeated (Myers
269). F. B. Skinner later elaborated on this theory. Skinner observed there are
different types of operant conditioning. There is punishment which decreases the
probability of a behavior being repeated. There is positive reinforcement which the
giving of a reward for a behaviour (Myers 270). An example of this in the home
would be the giving of a cookie to a child for picking up all his toys. There is
negative reinforcement which is the taking away of something undesirable (Myers
270). An example of this in work would be a man at work who is allergic to flowers,
but must sit near them since his boss likes them. The boss says that she will take
away the flowers if he gets his report done early.

The Types of Learning Styles

The Linguistic Learner
The linguistic learner is one who learns best through linguistic skills including
reading, writing, listening, or speaking.
Sometimes, its a combination of these methods. So, for example, if a linguistic
learner wanted to tackle a new skill, their best method of learning would be to read
about it, then listen to an audio recording and take notes on it. Finally, concretizing
it would require speaking about it and, possibly, writing about it extensively.
Not surprisingly, some of the best teachers and professors are linguistic learners.
Its in the nature of the profession.
The Naturalist
The naturalist learns by working with, and experiencing, nature.
If this sounds a lot like a scientist, its because thats how scientists learn. The
naturalist loves experiences, loves observing the world around them, and captures
the best information or knowledge through experimentation.
The Musical or Rhythmic Learner

The musical or rhythmic learner is one who learns using melody or rhythm.
This would be like a musician learning how to play by listening to a piece of music or
a drummer who hears beats in his head and on the street from arbitrary sources
before putting it together in the studio. But it can also be a person who learns best
while humming, whistling, toe-tapping, tapping their pencil on the desk, wiggling, or
listening to music in the background. For this person, music isnt a distraction but
instead actually helps the learning process.
Some people also think better with background noise, so you may often notice that
some people think best when they hum, whistle, bounce a ball off the wall, or make
some other noise or move (pace) while thinking.
The Kinesthetic Learner
The Kinesthetic learner is a person that learns best by actually doing something.
These people are also scientific in nature and must interact with objects in order to
learn about them (or learn about them in the best way possible).
According to FamilyEducation.com, some of the most common kinesthetic-based
jobs are those in the arts, manufacturing or creative fields like physical therapy,
dancing, acting, farming, carpentry, surgery, and jewelry-making.
None of these careers could be done without hands-on experience. Many of these
jobs, with rare exception, are also trade professions that require an apprenticeship
or shadowing.
The Visual or Spatial Learner
A visual or spatial learner is a person who learns best if there are visual aids around
to guide the learning process.
For example, someone who can learn best from diagrams, pictures, graphs would be
a visual or spatial learner. These people tend to be technically-oriented and enter
engineering fields.
An example of this type of learner would be a person who becomes a computer
engineer or programmer. In fact, according to the educational organization
Simplilearn, there are over 20,000 professionals who have been trained in programs
like the CompTIA Stratatraining program.
But, the best students are those that are visual or spatial learners. Why? Because
being proficient in programming and IT requires that you be a strong visual or
spatial learner.
Almost everything having to do with computers is conceptual and so it relies on
graphical or visual representations of components that cant actually be seen (e.g.
bytes).
The Logical or Mathematical Learner
The logical or mathematical learner must classify or categorize things.

They also tend to understand relationships or patterns, numbers and equations,

better than others. These are obviously engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and
other technical professions.
The Interpersonal Learner
The interpersonal learner is someone who learns by relating to others.
Often, these people share stories, work best in teams, and compare their ideas to
the ideas of others. In a sense, others help them think of new ideas of their own.
They are often naturally good leaders as well as team players. You often see these
people in various fields of psychology or social sciences.
The Intrapersonal Learner
The intrapersonal, as opposed to interpersonal, learner is someone who works and
learns best when they are alone.
They set individual goals that are challenging, but not impossible. They are also
motivated by internal forces, rather than external ones. They are often introverted
individuals, but not always. These people often enter creative fields, become
entrepreneurs, and sometimes small business owners. But, they are usually in fields
or industries that allow them to work without direct supervision.

Behaviourist Learning Theory

Behaviorism is an approach to psychology based on the proposition that behavior
can be researched scientifically without recourse to inner mental states. It is a form
of materialism, denying any independent significance for mind. Its significance for
psychological treatment has been profound, making it one of the pillars of
pharmacological therapy.
One of the assumptions of behaviorist thought is that free will is illusory, and that all
behavior is determined by the environment either through association or
reinforcement.
The behaviorist school of thought ran concurrent with the psychoanalysis
movement in psychology in the 20th century. Its main influences were Ivan Pavlov,
who investigated classical conditioning, John B. Watson (1878-1958) who rejected
introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to experimental laboratory
methods. B.F. Skinner, sought to give ethical grounding to behaviorism, relating it to
pragmatism.
Within that broad approach, there are different emphases. Some behaviorists argue
simply that the observation of behavior is the best or most convenient way of
investigating psychological and mental processes. Others believe that it is in fact
the only way of investigating such processes, while still others argue that behavior
itself is the only appropriate subject of psychology, and that common psychological
terms (belief, goals, etc.) have no referents and/or only refer to behavior. Those

taking this point of view sometimes refer to their field of study as behavior analysis
or behavioral science rather than psychology.
Constructivism Learning Theory
It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world,
through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we
encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and
experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new
information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge.
To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.
In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of
different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means
encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem
solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they
are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she
understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to
address them and then build on them.
Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is
helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies,
students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives
them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom
environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN.
For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in
physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on
helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student
to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students
comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the
group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and
perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what
they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not
help) them to better understand the concept.
The best way for you to really understand what constructivism is and what it means
in your classroom is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it,
and trying it yourself. As you progress through each segment of this workshop, keep
in mind questions or ideas to share with your colleagues. John Dewey (1933/1998) is
often cited as the philosophical founder of this approach. Bruner (1990) and Piaget
(1972) are considered the chief theorists among the cognitive constructivists, while
Vygotsky (1978) is the major theorist among the social constructivists.
Cognitivism Learning Theory
Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities opening the black box of the
human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental
processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be

explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions.

Learning is defined as change in a learners schemata.
Cognitivism is a theoretical framework for understanding the mind that gained
credence in the 1950s. The movement was a response to behaviorism, which
cognitivists said neglected to explain cognition. Cognitive psychology derived its
name from the Latin cognoscere, referring to knowing and information, thus
cognitive psychology is an information-processing psychology derived in part from
earlier traditions of the investigation of thought and problem solving.
Cognitive theory defines learning as "a semi-permanent change in mental processes
or associations." Cognitivists do not require an outward exibition of learning but
focus more on the internal processes and connections that take place during
learning.