In this chapter, here are three theories to help us understand the science behind learning behavior: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
Behaviorists work with reinforcement and feedback to develop habits in their learners. It focuses on the importance of the consequences of those performances and contends that responses that are followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future. Behaviorists think environmental conditions are most important. What the learner needs to do in this case is to make the desired response to the behaviorist goal stimulus. What the learning designer needs to do is to determine which cues can arouse the learner’s response and arrange the environment and conditions.
Cognitivism work with the learner to help them uncover and use appropriate learning strategies and make connections to prior understandings. It more focuses on the conceptualization of students’ learning processes and addresses the issues of how information is received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the mind. It tends to impart and guide learners’ understanding methods, while also emphasizing the role of environmental conditions in promoting income. Therefore, the designer’s main task is to make the new information be effectively absorbed in the learners’ cognition and get feedback, determine the most effective way to construct new information and make use of the learners’ previous abilities and knowledge.
Constructivists believe that learners make their own meaning and interpretations based on individual experiences and interactions. Constructivists think what we know of the world stems from our own interpretations of our experiences. They more focus on creating meaning not acquiring it. Both learner and environmental factors are important. Instead of teaching learners direct facts about teaching, learning designers will specify instructional methods and strategies, and then encourage learners to construct their own understanding.
All three are very effective methods for learning, and the methods and theories used vary according to the level of the learner. Because What might be most effective for novice learners encountering a complex body of knowledge for the first time, would not be effective, it is important to formulate different strategies and use different learning theories according to the experience of the learning designer and the level of the learning learner.
