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Theory Reflection Paper

Elizabeth Busch

ED 632-02

January 15, 2024

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After reading the articles and PowerPoint on the different learning theories, I thought

deeply about what theories are present in my classroom. I will be using my experience teaching

Algebra and Geometry from last year for this assignment. While all these learning theories

influenced my classroom to some degree, I believe that cognitivism had the strongest presence.

Cognitivism is the learning theory I saw most in my classroom from this previous year.

Because I teach math courses, repetition and memorizing is a crucial part of the learning process.

Many of my students last year were behind in their math abilities, so I relied heavily on direct

instruction as a teacher-centered approach. I believe that without using the principals of

cognitivism in my classroom, students would not have been as successful; they benefited from

clear and precise instruction and direction every day. According to the Learning Theories

PowerPoint, one way to describe cognitivism is “Learning is attained through rehearsal and

consistent use of the information.” One way I attained this is my classroom was implementing a

bell ringer every day. After the students got settled in their seats at the beginning of class, they

had 5 minutes to complete a question of the day. At the beginning of the year, I chose questions

related to what they were currently learning. By second semester, I would include questions

related to the previous semester to make sure they still had the skills mastered. Cognitivism is

also defined in the PowerPoint as “Learning is the process of connecting symbols in a

meaningful and memorable way.” In my classroom, students were asked to relate new concepts

we were learning to equations, mathematical symbols, and geometric shapes.

The learning theories of behaviorism and experiential learning were somewhat present in

my classroom. Behaviorism is similar to cognitivism in the sense that there is repetition of

information. According to the PowerPoint, behaviorism in the classroom looks highly structured

and lecture based. This was present in my classroom every day because of my routine I had in
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place. All students knew that we started each day with a bell ringer, moved to the lecture, and

concluded with homework and work time. I also believed in rewards and praise in my classroom,

which is another characteristic of behaviorism. I often praised my students, both verbally and

through written feedback on their assignments and quizzes, believing that frequent

encouragement would motivate them. Similarly, having rewards and punishments put in place

helped my students to stay on track with their learning and behaviors in my classroom.

Experiential learning was somewhat present in my classroom as well. When reading

about experiential learning, there was one proposition that really stuck out to me; “Learning is

best facilitated by a process that draws out the students' beliefs and ideas about a topic so that

they can be examined, tested, and integrated with new, more refined ideas” (Alice Y. Kolb and

David A. Kolb, 2005, p. 194). At the beginning of each unit, I would give my students a pretest

of around 5-10 questions. Then, as a whole class, students and I would discuss their thoughts and

feelings about the questions related to the upcoming unit. After discussing as a group, I would

take note of the content that students were least confident about. Becoming aware of students’

initial beliefs allowed me to target and shift those beliefs throughout the chapter.

The two theories that were least present in my classroom were connectivism and

constructivism. Connectivism consists of the idea that “Learning (defined as actionable

knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database)” (Siemens,

2004). This theory suggests that correct solutions today may become incorrect in the future.

However, the math I was teaching resulted in my students always having some concrete, right,

answer most of the time. To cultivate students' curiosity about what they were learning, I

supplied online tools and websites that helped to deepen their comprehension of mathematical

concepts.
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Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner constructs knowledge

based on their past experiences. I did encourage students to reflect on past experiences and

learnings when in my classroom, enabling them to make their own decisions regarding their

progress and learning. However, this theory is student-centered, which was not part of instruction

in my classroom most of the year. At the end of the school year, students in my Geometry course

got the experience to delve into and review the material they learned over the previous months

with an individual project. For the project, students designed their “dream building” - whether it

was a house, skate park, restaurant, or something else. They had to calculate the areas, volumes,

perimeters, and other measurements. I really enjoyed watching my students with this project;

students would bounce ideas off each other and really got to be imaginative.

After reflecting on theories present in my classroom, I have a better understanding of

myself as an educator. Although I do believe the theory of cognitivism is the basis of basic math

courses, I do see myself attempting to incorporate more theories in my classroom in the future. I

hope to incorporate more project-based and student-centered learning approaches so students can

gain hands-on experience with concepts that will benefit them in the future.
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References

Burklund, Andrew. (2024). Learning Theories: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism

[PowerPoint slides]. Course material.

Kivinen, O., & Ristelä, P. (2003). From Constructivism to a Pragmatist Conception of Learning.

Oxford Review of Education, 29(3), 363–375. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3595447

Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning Styles and Learning Spaces: Enhancing

Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Academy of Management Learning &

Education, 4(2), 193–212. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40214287

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from

http://www.connectivism.ca/.