Learning Theories And Practices Of Learning

When you picture a classroom, what do you think of? You more than likely picture a chalkboard, desks for all the students and teacher. A new way of teaching has developed that removes students from the stereotypical environment and places they in a new and engaging environment. This is experiential education.

Experiential learning however is closely related to vocational education in that it relies on learner’s ability to apply knowledge to situations that they have a personal interest in. In doing this, it creates opportunity for valuable learner involvement and significant learning (Beard and Wilson, 2006)

As an experiential cognitivist I delineate the process of learning through experience, and learning through

Learning as defined by the American Heritage dictionary as “the act, process or experience of gaining knowledge or skill (ahdictionary.com, 2017). Many have tried to further define learning by describing just how one gains knowledge or skill. Malcolm Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory of Andragogy, David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and Jack Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory are three such models of the experiential learning process that will be discussed here.

Comprehension as a process is an intriguing phenomenon. The ability to understand a particular student is affected by inevitable factors such as age and intelligence of that individual. The method employed during teaching is a constant factor. The intelligence quotient varies between various individuals. It is, therefore, paramount to always employ an effective means of teaching. This entrusts a feeling of equity ascertaining that all students acquire a minimum preset level of comprehension of the subjected lesson. The forged policies and pedagogy is a by all means a basis of universal teaching that can encompass a qualitative learning process. This can be achieved by several factors such as learning some characteristics of

Teachers have an important task of translating learning theories into practice. Knowledge about learning theories allows teachers to consider different approaches and apply various techniques and valuable strategies in specific contexts and with specific learners to promote learning. This essay will provide an insight into three well-known theories of how children learn. It will examine Behaviourism, Social Constructivism and Humanism and how these learning theories underpin a range of pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning and promote inclusive practice.

Kolb states that learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes but rather all learning is actually re-learning requiring the resolution of conflicts along with a holistic process of adaptation to the world. Learning results from synergetic transactions between the person and the environment, this is the process of creating knowledge (Kozak

During this final paper, there will be a number of topics discussed. These topics will cover how I personally found a better understanding of my customized learning theory. First, I will go over the Learning Theory and its’ importance. Secondly, I will give a description of an effective teacher and learning environment. Next, I will discuss the different learning characteristics. Finally, I then will give my personal reflection on all the different things I was able to learn during this course. All of these four sections helped build a better understanding on how to be a more effective educator. Most importantly, I gained a better understanding how to build better rapport with students who have all different learning styles and ways of thinking. While managing a classroom, it is highly important to make lessons that will be appealing to the students that you are teaching interest. This will increase engagement and academic learning.

Kolb, (as cited by Marin, 2005, p. 855), defines learning as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Experiential Learning Theory is a constant development of obtaining new knowledge and skills through the accomplishment of a task, and assimilating these new skills with preceding experience resulting in a deeper level of knowledge and understanding, this later part is achieved through reflection. Boreham (1987) draws significant attention on reflection (as cited by Healey & Jenkins, 2000, p. 3) who suggest the term 'learning from experience ' really means learning from reflection on experience."

Learning is a multifaceted perception unique to each individual. In looking to address the intricacies of learning, there have been a multitude of learning theories established over the centuries. To this day new theories are developed and traditional theories continue to be developed and expanded upon. (Swinburne Online, 2016)

A learning theory is a coherent framework of integrated constructs and principles that describe, explain, or predict how people learn (Bastable,

Although this limitation can become a barrier for the experiential learning theory Rogers’ developed, it is possible for this to overcome this with patience. As the main purpose of this theory is to allow personal growth within the student, we must note that personal growth appears differently for each individual learner. The role of the facilitator is to help engage all types of students in self-motivated learning to help them improve their overall growth from significant information.

This essay will compare and contrast three key theories of learning; Behaviourism, Cognitive Learning Theory and Constructivism.

Learning theories are conceptual frameworks that describe how information is absorbed, processed and retained during learning. Theories of learning explain how people learn and can help teachers to understand the meaning of things and review effectively and confidently their practice accordingly (Wilson,2009). The main theories of learning are behaviourism, cognitivism and humanism.

In the reading Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development by David Kolb (1984), he proposed that learning is a cycle process in which individuals learn through their own experiences in life. This notion of the learning cycle in which he was influenced by the ideas of three other theorists (Piaget, Dewey, and Lewinian) called it Experiential Learning Theory. Kolb’s theory was based on how people learned by imputing information and processing the information. Within this two abilities, there are four steps in which Kolb’s believe the learning process occurs. The first one he calls “concrete experience”, in which one actually does the learning right then and now. The second one is “reflective observation” when the learner thinks about what they did as a reflection of the experience. The next step is the “abstract conceptualization”, where the learner makes a generalization of the experience. The last step is “active experimentation”, where the learner puts to practice his/her understanding and adapts to it. The learner does this by taking all the first three steps of the learning cycle and seeing the results (pg. 30). Learning is a process in which individuals learn through trial and error. This process can then be reused with our prior experience to strengthen the outcome of our first experience. It is shaped as a cycle in the way we process information cognitively. This is how I understood of the reading on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.