4.

ENGANGEMENT WITH LITERATURE:

Application of learning theories during teaching to create an effective

learning environment.

INTRODUCTION:
In this essay, I would analyze different learning theories that are helpful to provide an
effective learning environment to learners. The key words that I selected for my
research were behaviorism, reinforcement, learning theories, cognitivism and I already
had in mind how I would map my assignment using these theories. I would like to start
with the particular learning theories that I selected; behaviorism (Watson, 1913) and
cognitivism (Piaget, 1936). I would analyze and relate them to show how a child’s overt
and internal behavior can be helpful for teachers to understand his / her nature and it
can then be used to give all the students a better learning environment in the class.

LEARNING THEORIES:
Learning can be defined in many different ways but the way I would define it is by using
Shuell’s (as interpreted by Schunk,1991) definition as he says,

“Learning is an enduring change in behavior, or in

The capacity to behave in a given fashion, which

Results from practice or other forms of experience”

(p.2)

Through history there was always considered a very little similarity between learning
and teaching (Shuell, 1988). Therefore no one ever considered one’s impact over the
other. Another thing that we saw in history was that teaching was always considered as
art and not science as Highet (1950) also wrote that it seemed very harmful to apply
methods of science to humans as a whole. As psychology is a part of science that is
related to mind so no one ever thought that it could be applied to learning or teaching
but in these modern times these psychological theories are being applied to learning as
well as teaching.

The major learning theories that I am going to explain according to my existing

knowledge that I also wrote in activity 2 while auditing my knowledge and according to
the material I studied which is given in activity 9 are;

BEHAVIORISM:
Behaviorism emerged in the late twentieth century when psychology emerged out of it’s
former and native two school of thoughts; structuralism and functionalism. That is when
behaviorism became one of the leading psychological disciplines (Rachlin, 1991). This
theory was basically given by John B. Watson (1924) who wanted to study behavior of
the people and thought that the external stimuli play a major role in causing responses.
Behavior was a proper material for psychologists to study (Watson, 1924).

Watson is said to be inspired by Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning (1890-1930)

and he developed his theory over Pavlov’s theory that Pavlov developed by conducting
his experiments on dogs. Watson was of a belief that every behavior is a learned habit
and this behavior is performed because it was learned previously or some stimulus is
causing the same behavior to occur. Watson believed that this behavior can be
unlearned and people can replace this by a new behavior.

Then came another eminent figure in the field of behaviorism named B F. Skinner. He
was of a belief that the people don’t shape the world but in turn the world shapes people
(1938). He was greatly inspired by the works of Pavlov and Watson and he also gave
his own theory known as operant conditioning (1938). He expanded the idea of
reinforcement and gave it a real explanation also he gave the fact that behaviorism is
not only related to mimicking a certain behavior only. (Skinner, 1972) According to his
view, behavior had a connection with feelings and as a person feels something it
causes the behavior to occur. For example, a person eats because he feels hungry or
we can say a student works hard because he wants to and not because he learned to
work hard.
 “Things we call pleasant have an energizing or

Strengthening effect on our behavior”

(Skinner,1972, pg.74)

REINFORCEMENT:
Skinner (1972) explained the ideas of positive and negative reinforcements and that is
what I being a professor want to apply in class. I believe that reinforcing learners
positively help to shape their behavior in a positive manner as when a student works
hard I appreciate him / her greatly and assigns them extra tasks that can be beneficial
for them. Negative reinforcement is beneficial as not behaving strangely with students if
they cannot submit their assignments but give them a lower grade but still accepting the
assignment and giving them credits for submitting the assignment even if it’s late is
what I do. That is a form of negative reinforcement too that encourages the student to
work hard next time and I consider it to be better than punishment itself.

Consequences and Cueing:

As Shaffer (2002) describe habits to be developed as a result from one’s unique
operant learning experience. Other methods that can be used in class for a better
learning experience of students are; Consequence, Cueing and modeling.

Consequences occur after a particular behavior has been performed. These

consequences can be positive or negative, immediate or long-term, material or
symbolic, expected or unexpected.

In a classroom setting if a student misbehaves there can be different consequences to

his behavior. Either a teacher can punish him or her right away all the teacher can
assign him or her extra work as a consequence of his/ her behavior. This is a practice
that I follow in my class while teaching and I think that is more effective than
punishment. If the student is on the spot punished and after the teacher leaves the class
the punishment is over the student would learn nothing. But if extra work is assigned to
student then he would take it as a burden and would not continue the practice in the
class by the teacher is present. That is why I feel that negative reinforcement allows to
shape the student’s behavior without being strict or punishing the learner. The
punishment is an immediate response of the teacher and the student has no effect and
will not change his behavior. But as far as negative reinforcement is concerned, it would
have a long-term effect on the student and he would most likely change his behavior.
CUEING:

              Cueing is also a method of shaping students’ behavior. The students who are
weak in the class and are likely to practice the same behavior or repeat the same
mistake that they are told many times to avoid can be held by the teacher through this
process. Teacher may give a cue before assigning the task. For example, in my class if
I would like a student to read something from the book and I know that student read the
punctuation marks too I cue the student to not read the punctuation marks. This practice
allows the student to brainstorm his mistakes before making them and in that way we
can learn the behavior that's to be expected of him.

MODELING:
This theory was presented by Albert Bandura (1986). He described it to be as a form of
observational learning. He believed that mimicking actions of others is the most
common form of learning and that is what children do to learn their behavior.

“Of the many cues that influence behavior, at any point in time, none is more common
than the actions of others”

(Bandura, 1986, p.45)

COGNITIVISM:
During 1950s the focus of scientists and psychologists shifted from the study of
behavior to the study of mind and thoughts itself and that is what they called as
cognitivism.

They took up the concepts of thinking, problem solving, language, concept formation
and information processing for the psychological studies (Snelbecker, 1983). Whether
we view it as a revolution against the behaviorist theories or we see it as a gradual
process of evolution in the field of psychology there seemed to be great appreciation by
other psychologists and the people for these cognitive theories and this started to
believe that these theories have moved  to the forefront of the learning theories that are
present (Bednar et al., 1991).
Cognitive theories stress on the fact that the acquisition of knowledge and internal
mental structures are closer to the rationalist end of the epistemology continuum (Bower
& Hilgard, 1981). This shift from the behavioral learning theories to the cognitive
learning theories had a major impact on teaching as well. The impact of physical and
material teaching evolved and shifted two kind of teaching in which students were
involved action with students started being carried out (Merrill, Kowalis, & Wilson,
1981).

Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) was one of the early scientists who gave the theory of
cognitivism. According to his research the child has four stages of mental growth and he
described these theories as;

SENSORIMOTOR:

According to Piaget this is the stage that ranged from birth to when the child becomes 2
years old. He described that during this age a child gains motor control and also starts
to learn about the physical objects that are present around him.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE:

Piaget believe that this stage was from 2 - 7 years old. This is the stage of child's growth
when he becomes fluent in the verbal skills and starts to know more about the use of
language. Child also become aware of the time as what has passed and what is yet to
come. This awareness of past and future is also evolved during this stage. This may
also be called the age where the child starts schooling and has an active interaction
with teachers and class fellows.

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE:

This stage of child’s growth ranges from 7 to 11 years old. During this stage the child
starts to learn about the abstract concepts. In short, we can say that he evolves his
thinking gradually and starts to learn that there are other things present apart from the
material things that are visible. The child also learns about numbers and the
relationships that he has with family and friends.
FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE:

This stage can be said to range from adolescence to adulthood. Piaget was of the belief
that the learning never stops. During this stage the child begins to reason logically and
systematically.

The reason of explaining these theories and how child's mental growth occurs is that it
is not only the behavior that helps in child's mental growth. But also the psychologists
suggest that child create and construct his own knowledge and ideas. Learners are
more likely to be engaged in learning when these ideas that are being taught are
personally relevant and meaningful to him or her (constructivism, n.d.).

TRIAL AND ERROR:

Psychologist suggested the early learning of a child occurs through the concept of trial
and error (C. Lloyd Morgan, 1852–1936). The concept was initially practiced in
laboratories on animals but later all these behaviorist and cognitive theories were
applied to learning. Student also learn through trial and error. As human beings we all
make mistakes and learn from them. same is the case with the classroom environment
and the students. Student makes mistakes in when the teacher corrects it he learns the
same mistake is not to be repeated. But still consciously or unconsciously the student
can make the same mistake and that is the responsibility of the teacher to correct that
mistake over and over until the child learns not to make it again. that is how the trial and
error concept can be applied to the classroom environment. While teaching the child for
the learner to not repeat the mistake, strategic a news positive or negative
reinforcement, cueing or punishment. What I prefer is to give negative reinforcement
that can be in the form of staying late after the class for taking extra lectures so that the
ambiguity is being cleared.

APPLICATION AND ANALYSIS:

Being a professor and as well as an administrator when I analyzed both of these

theories; behaviorism (Watson, 1924) and cognitivism (Piaget, 1936) I came to know
that none of these separately make a good theory to be practiced as a professor but if
both of them are considered together during a class I can give learners an environment
where not only their behavior is being monitored and controlled but also their own
thoughts and ideas are taken into consideration. What our learners need is a positive
role model as a teacher; who understands them and that is where cognitivism come into
action. Through active interaction and guiding the students to learn or analyze and
brainstorm their own ideas the process of cognition is being practiced that make the
students creative and provide them with room for their own ideas. This also develops
the interests of the students in the class.

On the other hand if we come towards the control of behavior and managing students
efficiently we can use the techniques of consequence (Skinner, 1972), extinction or
reinforcement (Skinner, 1972). These techniques not only shape the students to behave
in right manner but also give other students an effective learning environment so that
they are able to learn. I myself prefer positive reinforcement over negative one. Its not
the case that I misunderstand negative reinforcement but according to my observation
positive reinforcement has a greater impact on students’ behavior and they become
more eager to behave and learn as I give extra marks for class behavior and in want of
those marks all the students behave accordingly and class is managed easily.

Modeling (Bandura, 1986) is a significant theory as students do mimic behavior of

adults and negative behavior is more likely to be replicated by the students than the
positive one. This negative behavior needs to go away and the ides of learners behind
behaving in a particular manner must be understood by the teachers and according to
research students spend 15,000 hours in school over their lifetime or we may say 30
percent of their waking time is spent in school where they are left to teachers to teach
them and to improve them from their former selves (Hattie, 2009).

I’ve been in this teaching field since the last two decades almost and I am eager to
understand my students but behavior cannot be ignored. So, I merge both the theories
and put them in practice during my class and administrative work in that way I can
manage the students easily by not only the processes of trial and error and
reinforcement alone but by intermingling them at the same time. I do not have to follow
a single theory at a time but a mixture of both.

There are times when these theories fail and I know that we cannot rely on them
altogether and I have to use my own methods to manage the students and provide a
learning environment that is effective. But most of the time these theories come in
handy and are very helpful for me. While studying theoretical knowledge I keep in mind
that practicing is going to be difficult and it is important that we have sufficient
knowledge of theories to apply it practically in the class. So , I not only studied theories
but I applied the knowledge in my class to be sure that they worked and the results
were mostly positive.

CONCLUSION:

Understanding of the learning theories and their implications in the class environment to
provide an effective learning environment to students was the main focus of my
portfolio. For engagement with literature I studied the articles and book relating to these
theories that formed the foundation of my study and these theories made me realize
how I can manage my students in class more effectively. I followed these researches
done on learning theories that gave me an insight to what actually student psychology is
and made me realize what mistakes I have been making in past and the things I learnt
from these researches would help me a lot in my teaching career and as a learner these
theories helped me to be better and I had a deeper insight of my own self and how my
thought process works while learning. This really helped me with my professional as
well as my personal life as I’m a learner as well as a professor myself so my benefit was
doubled because I saw both sides of the coin (teaching side and the learning side).