Paper

LEARNING THEORY

Group 1:

Aulia Ramadhani (4171121003)

Nia Audina Sitanggang (4173121033)

Nova Vebriana Sagala (4173322001)

Rionaldo Tamba (4172121015)

Bilingual Physics Education 2017

Physics Teaching and Learning Models

Lecture: Yeni Megalina, S.Pd, M.Si

FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

2020
 Learning Theory

A. Definition of Learning Theory

Theory is a set of principles that are arranged about certain events in the real
world expressed by McKeachi in the lattice 1991: 5 (Hamzah Uno, 2006: 4) while
Hamzah (2003: 26) states that the theory is a set of propositions in which contains ideas,
concepts procedures and principles consisting of one or more variables that are
interconnected with each other and can be studied, analyzed and tested and proven true.
Of the two theories is a set of principles about events which contain ideas, concepts,
procedures and principles that can be learned, analyzed and tested for truth. While
learning is a system that helps individuals learn and interact with learning resources and
the environment.
Learning theory is a theory in which there are procedures for the application of
teaching and learning activities between teachers and students, as well as the design of
learning methods that will be carried out in class or outside the classroom.
B. The Function of Learning Theory
A learning theory has three different functions but that are closely interrelated.
First, learning theory is an approach to a field of knowledge, a way of analyzing,
discussing and researching learning. Learning theory illustrates the researcher's
perspective of the most valuable aspects of learning to be studied, the independent
variables that must be manipulated and the dependent variables that must be studied, the
research techniques to be used, and what language should be used to describe the findings
-everything. Thus the theory serves as a guide and source of stimulation for research and
scientific thought.
Second, learning theory seeks to summarize a large body of knowledge about the
laws of learning in a small enough space. In this summarizing process, some aspects of
accuracy and detail tend to be lost. In very exact and well-developed sciences such as
physics and chemistry, theories can very well summarize laws so that the predictions that
result from theories can be as accurate as laws that are far more detailed. Psychology has
so far been unsuccessful in its attempts to find such theories. Learning theories, in an
attempt to summarize large amounts of knowledge, lose accuracy and incompleteness.
All learning theories are the implications or outlines of the material they face. Thus
learning theories show achievements in terms of power, organization, and simplicity, but
also lose the accuracy of the details.
Third, learning theory creatively attempts to explain what learning is and why
learning takes place as it is. The laws show 'how' learning takes place; theories attempt to
show 'why' learning occurs. So learning theory seeks to produce this basic understanding
which is one of the goals of science and also other forms of scientific activity. Theories
represent humanity's best efforts to ascertain what structures underlie the world in which
we live.
1. Classical Learning Theory
Classical learning theory is based on philosophical thoughts that are subjective:
a. Theory of mental discipline / faculty psychology / elemental psychology
Learning through introspection of the brain consists of parts that have
different tasks (Thinking, feeling, fantasy, feeling, will) soul consists of certain
elements and these elements are called mental forces. People will be able to learn
if mentally trained hard, especially their reasoning power and then learning is
identical to sharpening the brain. The classical view: Smart people are people who
master exact science (mathematical logical and logical language).
b. Classical Humanism Theory
According to humanistic theory the aim of learning is to humanize
humans. The learning process is considered successful if students have
understood the environment and themselves. In other words, students have been
able to achieve self-actualization optimally. Humanistic theory tends to be
eclectic, meaning that this theory can utilize any theory as long as its purpose is
achieved. The application of humanistic theory in learning activities tends to
encourage students to think inductively. This theory is also very important factors
of student experience and active involvement in learning.
The theory of humanistic mental discipline, derived from the psychology
of classical humanism from Plato and Aristotle. Humanistic is divided into two
namely pschycidelic (by doing it yourself), and scientistic (by solving problems).
This theory is almost the same as the first theory that children have potentials.
 Potential needs to be trained in order to develop. The difference with the theistic
mental discipline theory, the theory emphasizes, overall, wholeness. The
education emphasizes parts, exercises sections or certain aspects. The theory of
mental humanistic discipline emphasizes more general education (general
education) if people in charge of things that are general will be easily transferred
or applied to things that are specific.
c. Theory of naturalism
The theory of naturalism (natural development) or unfoldment or self
actualization. This theory stems from the psychology of romantic naturalism, with
its main character Jean Jacques Rouseau. Same with the previous second theory
that children have a number of potential or abilities. The advantages of this
theory, assume that individuals not only have the potential or ability to do or do
various tasks, but also have the willingness and ability to learn and study on their
own. So that children can develop and actualize all the potential they have.
Educators or teachers need to create clear permissive situations. Through this
situation, he can learn by himself and achieve optimal development.
d. Apperception Theory
Apperception theory, also called herbartism, originates from the
psychology of structuralism with its main character Herbart. According to this
flow, learning is forming a period of apperception. Children have the ability to
learn something. The results of a learning act are stored and form a period of
apperception (associating old ideas with new ideas), and this period of
apperception is used to learn or master further knowledge, the higher the child's
development, the higher the period of apperception.

Classical learning theory is based on philosophical thoughts that are subjective:

 Maslow
He collected biographies of famous people from various fields. All normal
people have the potential to become great people.
Humans as a whole personality of the human soul there are three aspects,
including: Affection, Cognitive, psychomotor.
 J.J. Rousseau and Pestalozzi
The child at birth is good, if the child becomes damaged it is due to the
influence of the environment around the child. Because at that time human
morale at the level of decline.
Learn: Let the child grow naturally, don't do anything, freedom to learn:
let the child learn freely because people can actualize themselves if the person
is not disturbed.
 Apperception theory and Tabularasa / Empirism theory
The human brain is like a container that is ready to copy (filled) with
anything and the knowledge that has been entered is called Apperception
Tabularasa / Empiricism Theory by Jhon Lock "Children are like blank
paper that is ready to be written by educators and the environment that has an
influence on the child later".
 M. David Merril (Cognitive)
The lessons are classified into 4, including:
1) Facts
2) Concepts
3) Procedure
4) Principle
The highest level is finding principles. The lowest level is remembering
the facts.
 Finding concepts: Give a new name to the items found.
 Remember the procedure: Steps to do something, for example:
how to boil instant noodles.
 Using procedures: Carry out commands in remembering
procedures.
 Bearing in mind the principle: Writing again what has been
obtained, for example: writing Gosen law, Convergence theory.
 Using principles: Using law, formulas, propositions to solve
problems.
  Inventor principle: Scientists who succeeded in finding the
proposition that arrived at the results of generalizations to the
public.
2. Modern Learning Theory
a. Behaviorism Learning Theory
Behaviorism is a school of psychology that views individuals only in
terms of physical phenomena, and ignores mental aspects. In other words,
behaviorism does not recognize the intelligence, talents, interests and feelings of
individuals in a study. Learning events merely train reflexes in such a way that
they become habits that are mastered by individuals.
Some learning laws resulting from this behaviorism approach include:
1) Connectionism (S-R Bond) according to Thorndike.
From experiments conducted by Thorndike on cats produce
learning laws, including:
Law of Effect; it means that if a response produces a satisfying
effect, the Stimulus - Response relationship will be stronger.
Conversely, the more unsatisfactory the effect achieved by the
response, the weaker the relationship that occurs between the
Stimulus-Response.
a) Law of Readiness; it means that readiness refers to the
assumption that organism's satisfaction comes from the use of
conduction units, where these units give rise to tendencies that
encourage organisms to do or not do something.
b) Law of Exercise; it means that the relationship between the
stimulus with the response will be increasingly tightened, if
often trained and will be increasingly reduced if rarely or not
trained.
2) Classical Conditioning according to Ivan Pavlov
From the experiments conducted by Pavlov on a dog, he produced
learning laws, including:
 a) Law of Respondent Conditioning, namely the customary law
that is demanded. If two types of stimulus are presented
simultaneously (one of which functions as a reinforcer), then
the reflex and the other stimulus will increase.
b) Law of Respondent Extinction, namely the law of
extermination that was demanded. If the reflexes that have
been strengthened through Respondent conditioning are
brought back without the presence of a reinforcer, the strength
will decrease.
3) Operant Conditioning according to B.F. Skinner
From experiments conducted by B.F. Skinner to mice and then to
pigeons produces learning laws, including:
a) Law of operant conditioning, ie if the onset of behavior is
accompanied by a reinforcing stimulus, the strength of the
behavior will increase.
b) Law of operant extinction is that if the emergence of operant
behavior has been strengthened through the conditioning
process that is not accompanied by a booster stimulus, the
strength of the behavior will decrease and even be destroyed.

Reber (Muhibin Syah, 2003) states that what is meant by operants

is a number of behaviors that carry the same effect on the
environment. The response in operant conditioning occurs without
precedence by a stimulus, but rather by the effect caused by the
reinforce. Reinforce itself is basically a stimulus that increases the
likelihood of a certain number of responses, but is not intentionally
held as another stimulus pair as in classical conditioning.

4) Social Learning according to Albert Bandura

Social learning theory or also called observational learning theory
is a learning theory that is relatively new compared to other learning
theories. Unlike other adherents of Behaviorism, Bandura views
 individual behavior not merely as an automatic reflex of stimulus (S-R
Bond), but also as a result of reactions that arise as a result of
interactions between the environment and the individual's cognitive
scheme itself. The basic principle of learning according to this theory,
that what individuals learn, especially in social and moral learning
occurs through imitation (modeling) and the presentation of examples
of behavior (modeling). This theory still considers the importance of
conditioning. Through the provision of reward and punishment, an
individual will think and decide which social behavior needs to be
done.
Actually there are still many other figures who develop this
behavioristic learning theory, such as: Watson who produced the
principle of frequency and novelty, Guthrie with his theory called
Contiguity Theory which produced the Threshold Method, the Fatigue
Method and The Fatigue Method and The Incompatible Response
Method, Miller and Dollard's method of impulse reduction theory.
b. Piaget's Cognitive Learning Theory
Piaget was one of the figures touted as a pioneer of the flow of
constructivism [see: Learning Theories of Constructivism]. One contribution of
his thought which is widely used as a reference for understanding individual
cognitive development is the theory of the stages of individual development.
According to Piaget that individual cognitive development includes four stages,
namely: (1) sensory motor; (2) pre operational; (3) concrete operational and (4)
formal operational. Another thought of Piaget about the process of reconstruction
of individual knowledge is assimilation and accommodation. James Atherton
(2005) states that assimilation is "the process by which a person takes material
into their mind from the environment, which may mean changing the evidence of
their senses to make it fit" and accommodation is "the difference made to one's
mind or concepts by the process of assimilation"
He also stated, that learning will be more successful if it is adjusted to the
stages of cognitive development of students. Students should be given the
 opportunity to experiment with physical objects, which are supported by
interactions with peers and assisted by questions from the teacher. Teachers
should provide a lot of stimulation to students to want to interact actively with the
environment, seek and find various things from the environment.
The implications of Piaget's theory of cognitive development in learning
are:
1) Language and way of thinking of children is different from adults.
Therefore the teacher teaches using language that is appropriate to the
way of thinking of children.
2) Children will learn better if they can deal with the environment well.
The teacher must help the child to interact with the environment as
well as possible.
3) Materials that children must learn should be felt new but familiar.
4) Provide opportunities for children to learn according to their
developmental stages.
5) In the classroom, children should be given the opportunity to talk to
each other and discuss with their friends.
c. Robert Gagne's Information Processing Learning Theory
The assumption underlying this theory is that learning is a very important
factor in development. The development is the cumulative result of learning.
According to Gagne that in learning there is a process of receiving information,
and then it is processed so that it produces output in the form of learning
outcomes. In processing information there is an interaction between internal
conditions and external conditions of individuals. Internal conditions are
conditions in the individual that are needed to achieve learning outcomes and
cognitive processes that occur in individuals. While external conditions are
stimuli from the environment that affect individuals in the learning process.
According to Gagne the stages of the learning process include eight phases
namely, (1) motivation; (2) understanding; (3) acquisition; (4) storage; (5)
recollection; (6) generalization; (7) treatment and (8) feedback.
d. Gestalt Learning Theory
 Gestalt comes from German which has the equivalent meaning as "form or
configuration". The point of the Gestalt view is that a particular object or event
will be seen as something organized as a whole. According to Koffka and Kohler,
there are seven important organizational principles, namely:
1) Shape and background relationships (figure and gound relationship);
which is to assume that each field of observation can be divided into
two namely figure (shape) and background. The appearance of an
object such as size, cut, color and so on distinguishes the figure from
the background. If the figure and setting are vague, there will be a blur
of interpretation between the background and the figure.
2) Proximity (proxmity); that the elements which are close together (both
time and space) in the field of observation will be seen as one
particular form.
3) Similarity (similarity); that something that has something in common
tends to be seen as an object of mutual ownership.
4) Common direction (common direction); that elements of the field of
observation in the same direction tend to be perceived as a particular
figure or form.
5) Simplicity; that people tend to arrange their field of observation in a
simple form, regular appearance and tend to form a good whole based
on symmetrical and orderly arrangement; and
6) Closure (closure) that people tend to fill the void of an object pattern
or an incomplete observation.

There are four assumptions that underlie the Gestalt view, namely:

1) "Molar" behavior should be learned more compared to "Molecular"

behavior. "Molecular" behavior is behavior in the form of muscle
contraction or glandular discharge, whereas "Molar" behavior is
behavior in relation to the external environment. Running, walking,
attending college, playing football are some of the behaviors of
 "Molar". "Molar" behavior has more meaning than "Molecular"
behavior.
2) The important thing in studying behavior is to distinguish between the
geographical environments with the behavioral environment.
Geographical environment is the environment that actually exists,
while the behavioral environment refers to something that is visible.
For example, a mountain that appears from afar as if something
beautiful. (behavioral environment), when in fact it is an environment
full of dense forests (geographical environment).
3) Organisms do not react to local stimuli or elements or parts of an
event, but react to whole objects or events. For example, the naming of
a collection of stars, such as: Sagittarius, Virgo, Pisces, Gemini and so
on are examples of this principle. Another example, the cloud looks
like a mountain or a certain animal.
4) Giving meaning to a sensory stimulation is a dynamic process and not
as a static reaction. The observation process is a dynamic process in
providing interpretation of the stimuli received.
The application of Gestalt theory in the learning process includes:
1) Watching experience (insight); that insight plays an important role in
behavior. In the learning process, students should have the ability to
view the ability to recognize the interrelation of elements in an object
or event.
2) Meaningful learning; the meaningfulness of the related elements will
support the formation of insights in the learning process. The more
clear the meaning of the relationship of an element will be more
effective something that is learned. This is very important in problem
solving activities, especially in identifying problems and developing
alternative solutions. The things that learners should have clear and
logical meanings with their life processes.
3) Purposeful behavior (pusposive behavior); that behavior is directed at
the goal. Behavior does not only occur due to stimulus-response
 relationships, but there is a relationship with the goals to be achieved.
The learning process will be effective if the students know the goals
they want to achieve. Therefore, the teacher should realize the goal as
the direction of teaching activities and help students understand their
goals.
4) The principle of living space (life space); that individual behavior has
a relationship with the environment in which it is located. Therefore,
the material taught should be related to the situation and environmental
conditions of students' lives.
5) Transfer in Learning; namely the transfer of patterns of behavior in
certain learning situations to other situations. According to the Gestalt
view, transfer of learning takes place by releasing the notion of an
object from a configuration in a particular situation and then placing it
in another configuration situation in the proper arrangement. Judd
stressed the importance of capturing broad core principles in learning
and then drawing up general provisions (generalizations). Transfer of
learning will occur if students have grasped the main principles of a
problem and found generalizations to then be used in solving problems
in other situations. Therefore, teachers should be able to help students
to master the main principles of the material being taught.
C. Differences in Classical and Modern Learning
The new paradigm of learning in Indonesia as stated in Chapter IV, Article 19
paragraph (1) Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19 of 2005
concerning National Standards of Education is a learning process that is carried out
interactively, inspiratively is fun, challenging, motivates students to participate actively,
provide sufficient space for initiative, creativity, and independence in accordance with
the talents, interests and development of the talents, interests and psychology of students.
The learning process will be effective if it is known the true essence of learning
activities. In this section, we will discuss the differences between traditional learning
(behavioristic) and modern learning (constructivistic).
 Learning activities that have been taking place, which are based on behavioristic
theory, are dominated by teachers. The teacher conveys the subject matter through
lectures, with the hope that students can understand it and respond according to the
material presented. In learning, many teachers rely on textbooks. The material presented
in accordance with the order of the contents of the textbook. It is expected that students
will have the same views as the textbook. Alternative differences in interpretation among
students of complex social phenomena are not considered. Students learn in isolation,
which learns low-level skills by completing their workbooks every day.
Unlike the form of learning above, constructivistic learning helps students
internalize and transform new information. Transformation occurs by producing new
knowledge which will then form a new cognitive structure. The constructivist approach is
broader and difficult to understand. This view does not look at what can be re-expressed
or what can be repeated by students to the lessons that have been taught by answering test
questions (as imitation behavior), but rather on what students can produce, demonstrate
and demonstrate.
D. Learning Concepts
The thing to realize now is the importance of learning concepts about something.
The concept referred to here is none other than the categories we give from stimuli or
stimuli in our environment. The concept that is in the cognitive structure of an individual
is the result of the experience he gained. If this is the case, some of the concepts
possessed by individuals are the result of the learning process which results from the
learning process will become the foundation (building blocks) in the structure of
individual thought. This concept is used as a basis by someone in solving problems,
knowing the relevant rules, and other things that are related to what must be done by
individuals.
In interpreting the concept it will be related to the theory, while the theory will be
related to something that is considered scientifically. If the theory is related to the
concept then in the description of the basic concepts of learning will be directed to the
scientific foundation of learning. In learning there is what is called the learning process.
The learning process is an effort made by a teacher or educator to teach students who are
learning. Therefore, the teacher should play a role in facilitating the emotional mental
process of the student so that learning progress can be achieved in the learning process.
After experiencing the learning process there is what is called learning outcomes
as something determined by the efforts of someone in carrying out learning activities.
Basically, this learning outcome is characterized by changes in overall behavior both in
terms of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. And learning outcomes are influenced by
several factors in achieving their goals both internal factors and external factors. In the
learning process there must be things that can be used as motivation or encouragement
that arises in a person consciously or unconsciously to take an action to achieve a certain
goal.