THEORIES OF LEARNING

PEC 101 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNER AND LEARNING

CESAR, HAZEL GRACE F

OBCEMEA, JASMIN
 Theories of Learning | Cesar & Obcemea

NATURE OF LEARNING

The nature of learning stemmed from our curiosity of the things around us. It is also derived
from our needs and adaptation to changes in the environment or the situation which is necessary
for our survival. In line with this, learning is a continuous process because the environment and
situations around us constantly change. We learn through practices and our experiences and
every new learnings that we acquire may change or modify our behaviors.

THEORIES OF LEARNING

Indeed, there are a lot of theories in learning and one simply cannot fathom the entirety of
it in one sitting or in one lesson. In the photo above, we can see that these theories arose from
different theorists who existed in different time frames and each possessed their own and unique
ideals. This could explain why learning is a never-ending process because there are simply lots
of theories to explore and apply into experience.
For the sake of this report, we would present several theorists who proposed their own
principles and theories in learning. One site published that these theorists should be known by all
teachers, possibly because they are those who contributed much to the field of learning.

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 Theories of Learning | Cesar & Obcemea

Lev Vygotsky
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
This zone is the range of skills which are a little bit more difficult than what a student can do
independently and thus would require help, is the distance between the child's actual
developmental level as determined by independent problem solving, and the child’s potential
developmental level as determined through problem solving under adult guidance.
• Scaffolding
Instructional scaffolding is a process through which a teacher adds supports for students to
enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks. The process goes upward and the learning
goes higher as the teacher systematically builds on students' experiences and knowledge as
they are learning new skills.

Jean Piaget
• Schema
A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and
knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the
world. In Piaget's view, students connect new knowledge to an existing schema, the things a
child already knows.
• Constructivism
Piaget's theory of constructivism states that people produce knowledge and form meaning
based upon their experiences. They learn by doing, rather than by being told.

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 Theories of Learning | Cesar & Obcemea

B. F. Skinner
• Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a theory of learning which states all behaviors are learned through interaction
with the environment through a process called conditioning. Thus, behavior is simply a
response to environmental stimuli.
✓ positive reinforcement (praise, rewards, etc.) strengthens behavior or increases the
likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
✓ negative reinforcement (punishment) pushes a child away from behavior

Jerome Bruner
• Spiral Curriculum
Children can tackle challenging topics in age appropriate ways. These topics can be revisited
and expanded upon year after year.
Key features of the spiral curriculum based on Bruner's work are: (1) The student revisits a
topic, theme or subject several times throughout their school career; (2) The complexity of the
topic or theme increases with each revisit; and (3) New learning has a relationship with old
learning and is put in context with the old information. The benefits ascribed to the spiral
curriculum by its advocates are: (1) The information is reinforced and solidified each time the
student revisits the subject matter; (2) The spiral curriculum also allows a logical progression
from simplistic ideas to complicated ideas; and (3) Students are encouraged to apply the early
knowledge to later course objectives. Although there is no clear empirical evidence of the
overall effects of the spiral curriculum on student learning, "features" of that curriculum have
been linked to improved learning outcomes. In addition, the spiral curriculum incorporates

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many research-based approaches from cognitive science that have been linked, individually,
to improved student performance as well.

Benjamin Bloom
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
The framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major categories:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The categories
after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,” with the understanding that
knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting these skills and abilities into practice.
While each category contained subcategories, all lying along a continuum from simple to
complex and concrete to abstract, the taxonomy is popularly remembered according to the six
main categories.

Howard Gardner
• Multiple Intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligences differentiates human intelligence into specific 'modalities',
rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. To broaden this notion
of intelligence, Gardner introduced eight different types of intelligences consisting of:
Logical/Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalist,
Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal.

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References:
• Bloom’s Taxonomy retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu
• Educational Theorists and Theories retrieve from www.uscupstate.libguides.com
• Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org
• Howard, J. (2012) The Spiral Curriculum. Research into Practice. Retrieved from
www.educationpartnerships.org
• Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development Explained retrieved from www.verywellmind.com
• Piaget’s Theory on Constructivism retrieved from www.teach-nology.com
• Picture of Learning Theory by Richard Millwood licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 License retrieved from www.semanticscholar.org
• What is Instructional Scaffolding retrieved from www.iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu
• Zone of Proximal Development – an overview retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com

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