Chapter 2 Four Learning Theory Perspectives

Over the past half-century, there have been several learning theories. In today's world, some of them are still used but there is technology,and it affects the learning and teaching ways. One of the learning theories is behaviorism. According to behaviorism observable behaviour is important in learning. Also, reinforcement and rewards are really important at the time of learning. For example, when I was in high school, in Turkish literature course, my teacher gave me a plus as a reward because I said the author's name when I heard the name of his book. Behaviorists don't care what happens internally when people learn. Therefore, they can only explain simple learning tasks but not teaching higher skills. In contrast, cognitivism give importance to internal process at the time of learning. Piaget explores how people think, solve problems,and make decisions. Cognitivists create a mental model of short-term and long-term memory. In cognitivist theory, students become less dependent on techer when compared with behaviorism because students can use their own cognitive strategies in learning environment. Another theory is constructivism. In this theory, learning happens according to students' own experience, interpretation and understanding. Constructivists believe that when students use authentic materials or learn by doing, they learn effectively. For example, in Public Speaking course last year, I prepared slides and I gave presentations which were really helpful for me. I learned how to give a presentation by performing. Another perspective is social psychology. Social psychologists look at how the social organization of the classroom affects learning such as group working or individual study. I think that group working is more effective and fun way of learning. For example, in my Research course, working with a partner motivates me and I can continue to work without boring. Today, thanks to the technology, collaborative work become more easier because people can access each other via the internet. I use the internet in my courses both in high school and prep. school. We watched movies and videos in class. Sometimes, my teachers used powerpoint and projector. I think the materials related to the technology makes my learning effective. I remember those films and videos. However, I don't remember hard-copy or coursebook materials. To sum up, I can say that teachers should use eclectic theories because everybody has a different way of understanding.