LEARNING

THEORIES
GGGE6563: STRATEGI PENGAJARAN
DR KHAIRUL JAMALUDIN
Learning?
Human learning is
effortless if the
instruction is aligned
with how human
learn.
Human learning is
effortless if the
Humans are naturally
material to be learned
inclined to learn.
is interesting/
relevant
Learning is
something humans
do from the moment
of birth to their last
any process that in days.
living organisms
leads to permanent Human learning is
capacity change and cyclical and not
which is not solely linear (Johnson,
due to biological 2019).
maturation or ageing
(Illeris 2007, p. 3).

OUTCOMES:
1. Something that is
acquired by efforts
2. Acquisition of
something
LEARNING:
1. behavioral changes-
knowledge,
understanding, attitudes
and skills
2. knowledge (cognitive),
skills (psychomotor) and
those related to values ​
and attitudes (affective).

Learning outcomes can serve as a benchmark to measure a success of a university.

Learning outcomes as ‘being something that student can do now that they could
not do previously’ are changes in people as a result of a learning experience
(Watson 2002).

encompass a wide range of student attributes and abilities, both cognitive

and affective, which are a measure of how their experiences have
supported their development as individuals (Bloom 1977).
What does learning mean to you?
schools need to develop
ways to link classroom
learning to other aspects
of students’ lives.
What’s best to enhance learning?
■ Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If
their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts
and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert
to their preconceptions outside the classroom.
■ To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation
of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual
framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.
■ A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of
their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in
achieving them. - predict outcomes, explain to oneself in order to improve
understanding

(Brandsford, Brown & Cocking, 2004)

So, what’s theory?

“First, theory supposes that one can express propositionally one’s understanding of that
which is to be researched into. Second, those propositions are expressed in such a way that
they can be hypothesized and put to the test against experience. Third, the interpretation
of those tests and that experience can be examined critically by others in the light of the
data. Fourth, although it is desirable to make one’s theories as all embracing as possible, it is
often necessary to be satisfied with small-scale and rather tentative and provisional
theoretical positions. Fifth, therefore, the growth of knowledge lies in the constant
formulation of the assumptions and beliefs and in the criticism of these in the light of
evidence or their implications”

Thomas, G. (2007). Education and Theory : Strangers in Paradigms. McGraw-Hill Education.

■ the group of predications that brings forward proposals in
order to find the reasons why events take place. In a sense, theory
is a plan that helps to realize some certain ideas in line with
previously designed plans. At the same time, theory is a path that
is taken as a basis to move and that is followed accordingly.
(Kaya, 2016).
■ A way to explain a set of facts – connecting data dots (Johnson,
p.3, 2019)
– Accepted theories connect a wide array of data dots
– These theories have been confirmed through a variety of
different types of research studies & observations
conducted over time.
 Neurological
LT

Learning
Humanistic theories Behavioural
LT LT
(LTs)

Cognitive LT
BEHAVIOU
RAL
LEARNING
THEORIES
Behavioural view of learning (Ivan Pavlov)

Learning as a relatively permanent change in

behaviour/ behavioural pptentiality that occurs as a
result of experience (Hergenhahn & Olsen, 2005).

Is based on the principle of stimulus and response.

Is rooted in the late 19th century studies - how people

behave and the emergence of the discipline of
psychology
Ivan Pavlov
■ Presented a dog with an
unconditioned stimulus (food)
would provoke an
unconditioned response
(salivating)
■ Alter: food + bell =salivate
■ Remove the food, bell =
salivate
Situation

When Karen sat for her numeracy test, she started to panic
and fled the room in tears. When the teacher asked her what
happened she explained that her mind had gone a complete
blank and she was unable to focus on the questions. When
the teacher went through the questions with Karen face-to-
face, it was clear she knew the answers and her excellent
results in other tests demonstrated she was not afraid of
exams, but she clearly have a phobia of numeracy tests.
Deal with someone’s fear of a subject by
removing their negative responses to the subject.

■ Getting them to examine the root cause of their negative feelings towards the subject
■ Making them aware of the relevance of the subject
■ Taking out the menace about failing tests by giving some easy tasks where the
individual can achieve a few successes
■ Building up the intensity of the task gradually
■ Making sure that you are generous in your praise when they complete a task
Operant conditioning (BF Skinner)
Positive reinforcement
Rat will associate
Rewarded with
Rat presses lever lever with food
food
and repeat process

Negative reinforcement

Rat will associate

Rat stands on Punished with
grid with pain &
electric grid electric shock
avoid process
■ Positive reinforcement: good behavior can be encouraged by offering
rewards
■ Negative reinforcement: the like hood of poor behavior can be
discouraged through pairing it with an unpleasant consequence.

In classroom:
■ Only offer rewards for good behavior
■ Only threaten punishment for bad behavior
■ Positive reinforcement has a lasting effect than negative reinforcement
(Bates, 2019).
COGNITIVE
LEARNING
THEORIES
 Based on the principle that Basic understanding…
information is actively
processed inside the mind

Behaviour modification takes

place by searching for the
relationships thatexist
between the various bits of
information

Learning is a process of
gathering all of the relevant
pieces ofinformation together
until they begin to form a
complete picture

Grew from dissatifcation with

the behavioural approach –
behavioural outcomes over
developing potentials.
Piaget’s Learning Theory

■ people construct knowledge as opposed to receiving it

■ Proposed four stages of development:
– Sensorimotor: learning takes place through touch & feel
– Pre-operational: ability to arrange objects logically strats to develop
– Concrete operational: ability to think logically about objects and events starts
become more structured
– Formal operational: abstract thinking & verbal reasoning starts to develop
Schema

child develops a mental pattern to understand his or can use other templates or patterns, adapt it and use
her world it in conjunction with his or her own schema that
was constructed using their own experiences
Adaptation processes

He called these:
These allow the
Equilibrium,
transition from one
Assimilation and
stage to another.
Accommodation.
When the child uses the schema to deal with a
new thing or situation, that Schema is
in Assimilation

Accommodation happens when the existing

Schema isn’t up to the job of explaining what’s
going on and needs to be changed.
What’s your opinion?

Mr.Harvey is using football as a way of getting young people with behavioural issues to
engage in the learning process. He organized a six-a-side competition in which the winning
team has a penalty shoot-out against each other, with a prize for the individual winner.
Danny, one of the players, suffered with Asperger’s Syndrome. His cognitive development
was below that of his peers and he had difficulty in socializing with others. He was very
passionate about football. Mr Harvey put him in a team with some real hard knocks. His
team won the six-a-side competition and, as they lined up for the penalty shoot-out, the
hardest of the hard knocks whispered to Mr Harvey that they’d rigged it for Danny to win.
The sheer joy on Danny’s face when he scored the winning penalty and the emotion of his
mother telling Mr Harvey he'd never had friends who did that for him before is something
Mr Harvey will never forget.
How to apply Piaget’s theory:

■ Remember, people react differently to learning may not be as a result of their age, but at
what stage they are at in their cognitive development
■ some learners will flourish in group-working whereas others may need more one-to-one
support. So, balance your time so that you can cater all of your students’ needs
■ Encourage students to learn form each other and emphasize that everyone will have
something to offer in the respect
■ Convince them that failing at something doesn’t make them a loser! Important part is
what they learn from the experience
■ Acknowledge efforts as well as achievements
Vygotsky’s Learning Theory

■ Thinking develop from outside in

■ They internalize as they interact with others
■ We learn from other people – MKOs (More
Knowledgeable Others)
■ Scaffolding:
– Build interest & engage with people
– Break a task into smaller sub-tasks
– Use MKOs to support people
– Model possible ways of completing task which
they can imitate then eventually internalize
Critical perspective. I want to hear it
from you!
Vygotsky placed a lot of importance on the roles of
community and culture in the learning process.
What do you think about his critics who argue
that the theory does not recognize that
individuals can rise above social norms based
on their ability to bring about personal
understanding?
Bloom’s taxonomy: theoretical
framework for learning
(Cognitive)

■ Each level can be used to design questions, activities

& assignments that actively engage students during &
after the lessons.
■ Level 1-2 have fairly low levels of cognitive
engagement.
■ Level 3 and above generally have higher levels of
cognitive engagement.
AFFECTIVE
DOMAIN

The affective domain (sometimes referred to as

the feeling domain) is concerned with
feelings and emotions and also divides
objectives into hierarchical subcategories. It
was proposed by Krathwohl and Bloom in
1964.

The affective domain is not usually used when

planning for maths and sciences as feelings
and emotion are not relevant for those
subjects. However, for educators of arts and
language, the inclusion of the affective
domain is imperative wherever possible.
Source: https://teacherofsci.com/learning-theories-in-
education/#3_Blooms_Domains_of_Learning
 PSYCHOMOTOR
DOMAIN

•Psychomotor learning refers to how

we use our bodies and senses to
interact with the world around us, such
as learning how to move our bodies in
dance or gymnastics.
Bloom’s digital
taxonomy
(Andrew
Churches)
SOURCE:
https://teachonline.asu.edu/2016/05/i
ntegrating-technology-blooms-
taxonomy/
HUMANIS
TIC
LEARNING
THEORIES
■ Humanistic LT recognize that humans have a natural tendency to evolve, grow, learn &
develop fully (Johnson, p.107,2019)

instinctive Self-
inner core actualization:
that moves human’s
people innate,
Rogers (1969) toward natural Maslow (1968)
reaching their progression
full potential toward their
higher state
Humanistic learning seems to share 3
overriding tenets
Human are by their very nature evolving, self-
developing creatures – we have a natural
inclination to learn

Learning is enhanced when education experiences

alighn with these natural desires

The goal of education should be toenable each

person to develop his/her full potential
Does our education practice
“dehumanize” students?

Manipulation is applied to
Students are passive learners get students to learn and
behave in an acceptable way

Lack of focus on creativity,

imagination, curiousity, Quantification of learning
social nature and emotional achievements
dimensions
 Carl Rogers: facilitation
Teacher’s role: authority/expertise to
facilitate the process of individuals
arriving at their own solutions.
Being true to yourself & not
being afraid to express your

congruence feelings in an effort to

establish a rapport with others

Accepting others for what

they are in a non-critical & facilitation
non-judgemental manner
Being willing to consider
issues from the other person’s
respect empathy standpoint
A good facilitation should:
(Bates, 2019)
■ Start by setting the mood and climate for the session
■ Find out what others are expecting from the session
■ Have a range of learning resources avalaible
■ Act as a flexible resource to be utilized by learners
■ Find out what learners gained
■ Be receptive to criticism and never be afraid to accept your own limitations
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

self-fulfillment Reaching full potential

esteem Self-belief & satisfaction

(reputation, respect)

affiliation Sense of belonging (affection &

love)

psychological freedom from fear (certainty,

stability, organization)

physical Basic survival needs (food,

warmth, rest)

Source: Bates, 2019)

Supporting principles for Humanistic Learning
(Johnson,2019)

The full spectrum of

the human
experience should be
The subject matter to Schools should
included in the
Students’ learning belearned should be produce students Students learn best
educational
should be as self- relevant to the lives who want tolearn in a non-threatening
experience
directed as possible or personalinterests and now how to environment
(emotions, creativity,
of the students learn
relationships,
imaginations & real-
life problems)
What do you think?

Maslow claimed that people can’t be motivated to learn

unless they have an inner desire to do so. Do you agree
with this?
NEUROLOGIC
AL LEARNING
THEORIES
Brainstem: regulate our life
support systems; do not take
conscious thought.

Cerebellum: motor control;

to coordinate movements of
the muscles and skeleton.

Cerebrum: responsible for

higher cognitive functions -
thinking, reasoning,
imagination, decision
making and problem
solving.
 Associative Learning (Donald Hebb)
Baby hears footsteps Baby sees a face Baby feels hands picking him up
assemblies
(audio assembles) (visual assembles) (tactile assembles)

Baby connects hearing with seeing and feeling

(synapses) connections

Friendly face + warm touch = no Unfriendly face + cold touch = fear associations
fear of footsteps of footsteps
How to apply? (Bates, 2019)

■ Accept that people learn differently; some will have a greater capacity to organize the
knowledge and thus be able to make the associations easier than others.
■ Develop a strategy for dealing with different levels of learners in a class.
■ Use teaching resources/aids to support learning – develop meaningful connections, see
patterns and make sense of new data.
 According to Gardner…
■ Human beings have several types of intelligence that form the potential to process
information in a range of different context
■ An individual’s capacity in a particular intelligence will have a direct bearing on the
way they learn.

Therefore….
■ Be aware that students have different strengths and will react differently according to the nature of the
tasks set
■ Allow students the opportunity to tackle assignments in different ways
■ Consider taking students out their comfort zones and approach problems in ways that might not be
compatible with their preferred intelligences.
Multiple intelligences

■ Linguistic : the capacity to understand and use spoken & written language
■ Logical-mathematical : the capacity to analyze problems logically
■ Musical : the capacity to compose, perform & appreciate musical patterns
■ Bodily-kinaesthetic : the capacity to use & interpret expressive movements
■ Visual-spatial : the capacity to recognize patterns and dimensions
■ Interpersonal : the capacity to understand the intentions and desires of others
■ Intrapersonal : the capacity to one’s own feelings, fears and needs
■ Naturalistic : the capacity to recognize and categorize objects in nature
■ Existential : the capacity to tackle deep questions about meaning of life
THANK YOU