{"id":14267,"date":"2021-08-10T10:04:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T02:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/?page_id=14267"},"modified":"2022-11-04T17:09:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T09:09:11","slug":"key-learning-theories-in-education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Key learning theories in education"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Key learning theories in education<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Three 20th century schools of thought have shaped today's educational landscape: behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. An understanding of the principles of these theoretical approaches can help us become better educators and implement effective learning strategies for students. The following chart summarizes the key concepts of each of these theoretical frameworks, and the ways in which they can be applied to teaching and learning.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n
\n
    \n
  • \n <\/i> Behaviourism<\/span>\n <\/li>\n
  • \n <\/i> Cognitivism<\/span>\n <\/li>\n
  • \n <\/i> Constructivism<\/span>\n <\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n
    \n \n
    \n
    Perspective on learning<\/strong><\/td>Learning is observable behavioural change that occurs in response to environmental stimuli.<\/td><\/tr>
    How it works<\/strong><\/td>Positive<\/em> or negative stimuli<\/em> (rewards and punishments) become associated with a behaviour. Through this process of conditioning<\/em>, people learn to either repeat or avoid behaviours.<\/td><\/tr>
    Strengths of the approach<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Learning can be clearly defined and carefully controlled<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Students can gain mastery\/automaticity<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr>
    Application in teaching<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Use of clearly defined learning objectives and lesson plans<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Establishing rules<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Bonus points\/participation points<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Drilling\/rote work\/repetition<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Verbal reinforcement ('Good job!')<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/div>\n \n
    \n
    Perspective on learning<\/strong><\/td>Learning is the acquisition of knowledge and the development of understanding as a result of unseen mental 'processing', i.e. thought, reflection, problem-solving, etc.<\/td><\/tr>
    How it works<\/strong><\/td>Knowledge is acquired schematically and symbolically and involves changing mental models or schemas.<\/td><\/tr>
    Strengths of the approach<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Highlights thought processes, and ways to organize and enhance them<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Provides guidance for teaching at different developmental stages<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr>
    Application in teaching<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Scaffolding: providing structure, organization, and sequences<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Classifying or 'chunking' information<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Linking concepts, e.g. concept mapping<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Drawing analogies<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Use of diagrams and infographics<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/div>\n \n
    \n
    Perspective on learning<\/strong><\/td>Learning involves creating one's own subjective knowledge by interpreting the world and restructuring one's thinking.<\/td><\/tr>
    How it works<\/strong><\/td>Learning is a natural process of discovery, where students hypothesize about their environment and test these hypotheses through social negotiations, building on previous knowledge.<\/td><\/tr>
    Strengths of the approach<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Promotes higher-order thinking, self-management, and teamwork<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Student-centred learning<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Students can tackle real-world contexts and problems<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Fosters creativity<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr>
    Application in teaching<\/strong><\/td>
    \u2022<\/td>Case studies<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Research projects<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Problem-based learning<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Brainstorming<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Collaborative learning<\/a>\/group work<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Journalling and reflection<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Discovery learning<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2022<\/td>Simulations<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Key learning theories in educationThree 20th century schools of thought have shaped today's educational landscape: behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. An understanding of the principles of these theoretical approaches can help us become better educators and implement effective learning strategies for students. The following chart summarizes the key concepts of each of these theoretical frameworks, and...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":12296,"parent":15616,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"content_default_2.php","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"yoast_head":"\nKey learning theories in education - Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Key learning theories in education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Key learning theories in educationThree 20th century schools of thought have shaped today\u2019s educational landscape: behaviourism, cognitivism and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-04T09:09:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/08\/alto_banner_\u5de5\u4f5c\u5340\u57df-1-6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1921\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"832\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Key learning theories in education - Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Key learning theories in education","og_description":"Key learning theories in educationThree 20th century schools of thought have shaped today\u2019s educational landscape: behaviourism, cognitivism and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/","og_site_name":"Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University","article_modified_time":"2022-11-04T09:09:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1921,"height":832,"url":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2021\/08\/alto_banner_\u5de5\u4f5c\u5340\u57df-1-6.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/","name":"Key learning theories in education - Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-08-10T02:04:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-04T09:09:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/key-learning-theories-in-education\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching","item":"\/alto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Best practices in teaching, learning and technology","item":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/best-practices-in-teaching-learning-and-technology\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Key learning theories in education"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/","name":"Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University","description":"Office for Advancement of Learning and Teaching - Hong Kong Metropolitan University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14267"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32151,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14267\/revisions\/32151"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/alto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}