The main theories of Learning

Key Principles of Learning (The Main Theories of Learning)

In fact, most of the theories of learning seek to study people and behavior. Historically, there have been two perceptions of man. An idea is related to the human mind. While the ability to reason, remember, to imagine is inherent in man, another notion has seen a man as a system of power. Man uses his senses to balance other power systems.

According to the first hypothesis, the theory of learning is "Theory of Mental Discipline or Faculty Psychology."

The basic element of this theory is that human beings have different fields or faculties. Human development can be achieved by exposing these areas through education. The more this kind of training of the human mind is completed, the more it can be made successful through rigorous education. Therefore, this theory has given more emphasis on subjects like mathematics and language. Therefore, things like motivation and personal diversity are not given a place in this theory. 

 Things like practice or drill are only looked at with the help of discipline. Since the training of the human mind is done simply, the transfer of learning is considered to be an automatic and universal process. When training in one area of ​​the human mind, it also prepares for another area. Therefore, they say that it is not necessary to think differently about relocation Although this may seem like an old system, some parts of our education system still adhere to this principle/ theory.

The second hypothesis presents at least two theories:

Associationist or behaviorist theory and Gestalt or Field theory

An associationist or behaviorist theory considers a person to be just a collection of responses to a specific stimulus. Every action of a person is considered to be his response to some stimulus, this response to the stimulus becomes the basis of learning. Therefore, according to this theory, human behavior is considered to be based on specific events. But the answer to the question of how human behavior is determined by the combination of each event is very difficult to find from these theories. Later, pragmatic theories developed classical conditioning and operant conditioning. These principles do not include the abstract areas of the human mind They say that learning takes place largely by trial and error and conditioning.

Thoughts and personal differences are considered secondary in establishing feedback. Things like practice or peer are considered necessary by this theory, which is related to reward and punishment. Although learning transfer is considered necessary, it is limited. They believe that the transfer of learning is possible only under the same circumstances. They do not believe in invisible creatures. Therefore, the science of behavior is considered to be based on visible taxes. These include the learning theories formulated by Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner, and others.

There are other similar Gestalt and Field Theories. These theories consider the Machav reaction to being the product of his insight, intellect, and organization. The evaluation of human actions depends on their level of intelligence. At the same time, the human ability to understand and establish relationships is the cornerstones of human action. Human responses are driven by his cognition, purpose, and expectations ‌ and he incorporates past experiences into new ones. Each new knowledge becomes different from the other because the previous experience is refining the previous knowledge. Sometimes mate-appearing insights also create confusion in such knowledge. In such a case, a separate reality is created and knowledge takes another form. These include the learning principles formulated by Kohler, Lewin, Tolman, and others.

According to Field Theory formulated by Lewin, learning is a change in cognitive structure or a way to understand events and their meaning. (Learning is a change in the cognitive structure, or in the way of perceiving events and giving meaning to them). That is, learning is to bring about change in the cognitive organization. It is to know the meaning of another event by accepting it. Since the cultural and social environment determines what a person perceives and what it means, the notion of wholeness in learning is also determined by the SLI person's perception they bring and the culture they live in. This theory places more emphasis on the learning situation than on the learning process of the believers. The aspects that drive such a learning situation are considered to be the elements of learning. Essential elements for learning are the person, his purpose and needs, his cultural demands and his pre-learning, etc.

Third, constructivist learning theory takes learning as the active work of a learner. The learner learns based on past and present experience, that is, we work to create knowledge. There are basically two types of learning theories that take learning as a composition. One has more to do with the psychological aspect, which is related to cognitive development.

Another creative learning theory that leads to learning through social relations and interactions is Vygotsky's social creative learning. Psychological creativity emphasizes mental and cognitive aspects such as experiences, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, while social creativity emphasizes social interaction and social environment.

According to Vygotsky, every action in the process of cultural and cognitive development of children first appears at the social level, and then gradually expands to the individual level. Therefore, both the social and individual processes are important in the learning process. J. Bruner states that both social and psychological creativity in learning. Since the elements are important, there seems to be an attempt to include both sides.

Although the various theories of creative learning are mentioned, there are some common features of these theories. Such common and common features of creative learning theory are as follows:

1. As knowledge acquisition is a dynamic process, this human process is changing with experience.
2. Since learning is an active and interactive process, students learn based on prior experience.
3. The learner is an active user of knowledge creation and development, not a repetitive or passive recipient of the subject.
4. The learner learns by rehearsing his experiences and new topics.
5. Learning is the process of gradual development from previous experience or learning.

These behavioral, cohesive, field theories and the many notions of learning articulated by creative learning theory have also influenced our curriculum. Lack of knowledge of these theories leads to an imbalanced curriculum, learning experience, and even evaluation, so the theory of learning is considered as the basic basis of curriculum development. Therefore, the subject matter determined by meaningful situations, prescribed high support, or mental processes is important for learning. A particular subject matter is important when it makes sense, it helps to accomplish a purpose, and the objective specified by the mental process. So the curriculum is not important if such choices are not taken into account when choosing a subject and learning experience. Learning principles are the only way to study such things in depth.

Curriculum developers need to understand what principles need to be used in teaching many subjects. Different learning principles can be used in the teaching of mathematics and in the teaching of social studies. The purpose is to develop mental faculty in any subject and the purpose is to help social process in any subject. Therefore, the curriculum cannot be time-dependent without knowledge of learning theory. The scope of the curriculum based on mental discipline is limited. Attempts are made to look at everything in a logical sequence, in which learning experiences are not so important. In this, personal diversity, ideas, and abilities are not given much importance.

Similarly, according to the associationist theory, if the curriculum is designed, the curriculum is given more emphasis or less emphasis is given to transfer. But the subject matter is found to occupy many areas. The curriculum relates only to the knowledge or content transferred to the student, not based on any idea or theory.

Conditioning the relationship used to change one's habits, trial, and error, field theory, the theory of insight, the teaching of temptation are just some examples. There has been a great deal of research on what learning is and how it can be advanced from several learning theories, such as rewards and punishments. If such research and practical achievements are not taken into account, balanced curriculum development and successful use are not possible.

Whether it is to build an achievement-focused curriculum or to practice a process-centered curriculum, what are the relevant theories, which learning principles emphasize the process, which principles emphasize achievement, which way learning makes sense, and how to build the necessary knowledge in the current situation? things that can be done, etc should be decided at the time of curriculum development. Therefore, it is not possible to construct the objectives of the curriculum without studying the learning principles.

In short, learning theory informs the objectives to be included in the curriculum as well as clarifies the characteristics of the student which provides an important basis for determining the learning process, teaching methods, and evaluation process.