2.5.1.1 Behavioural learning theory and PSA
Behaviourists’ understanding of teaching and learning is based on cause and effect. In this conceptualization, behaviour was followed by reinforcement. If the behaviour was followed by positive reinforcement, then the behaviour was more likely to be repeated; if there was negative reinforcement, the behaviour was less likely to be repeated.
There are two problem-solving methodologies explain the problem-solving process within the framework of behaviourist learning theory. One such method is trial and error it involves attacking the mathematical problem by various methods until a solution is found. For instant learners solving a jigsaw puzzle exhibit this type of problem-solving behaviour. Learners …show more content…
These early conceptions of learning and problem solving described the observable characteristics of the process and did not seek to elaborate on the cognitive mechanisms of the subject (Gagné ,Yekovich & Yekovich ,1993).
2.5.2 Cognitive Learning Theory
The cognitive learning theory is a prominent school of thought that appeared as a complement to the behaviourist theory of learning. The current cognitive view of learning has its antecedents in Gestalt theory (which emphasised learning through insight) and the work of Piaget (as cited in Sternberg, 1999:20-22). Gestalt theory, which is otherwise known as purposive behaviourism, is the most important cognitive theory relevant to training. The gestalt psychologists explain that learning is neither a matter of adding new traces nor subtracting old ones but of changing one gestalt into another. Learning for cognitive theorists is considered as a purposive, exploratory, imaginative and creative process of developing new insights or modifying old ones (Mayer, 2005:45-46; Pressley & Hilden, 2006: …show more content…
Unlike behaviourism, cognitive learning theory emphasises mental events rather than overt, observable behaviours (Hening, 2004: 143-168; Lewandowsky, Little & Kalish, 2007:98)
Therefore, in cognitive theory, the focus is on the formation of concepts or on the formation of cognitive structure and the acquisition, processing, organisation, and storing of information. Cognitive theory is often associated with schema theory, information processing theory and considers the mind as an information processing computer. It focuses on a student’s schema as an organised knowledge structure and on the promotion of mental processing; how students think through problems. The central attention is on how students interact with the world and process it (Aleven & Koedinger, 2002:177-180).
For cognitivism, the learning environment or the classroom condition is only part of the learning process. It is the most immediate, but it does not and cannot account for individual students ' interaction with the content and the connections that they build between existing concepts and new concepts. These interactions here are iterative and accumulative resulting in increasingly complex understandings (Healey & Roberts, 2004:34-39; Kozma,
Behaviourists’ understanding of teaching and learning is based on cause and effect. In this conceptualization, behaviour was followed by reinforcement. If the behaviour was followed by positive reinforcement, then the behaviour was more likely to be repeated; if there was negative reinforcement, the behaviour was less likely to be repeated.
There are two problem-solving methodologies explain the problem-solving process within the framework of behaviourist learning theory. One such method is trial and error it involves attacking the mathematical problem by various methods until a solution is found. For instant learners solving a jigsaw puzzle exhibit this type of problem-solving behaviour. Learners …show more content…
These early conceptions of learning and problem solving described the observable characteristics of the process and did not seek to elaborate on the cognitive mechanisms of the subject (Gagné ,Yekovich & Yekovich ,1993).
2.5.2 Cognitive Learning Theory
The cognitive learning theory is a prominent school of thought that appeared as a complement to the behaviourist theory of learning. The current cognitive view of learning has its antecedents in Gestalt theory (which emphasised learning through insight) and the work of Piaget (as cited in Sternberg, 1999:20-22). Gestalt theory, which is otherwise known as purposive behaviourism, is the most important cognitive theory relevant to training. The gestalt psychologists explain that learning is neither a matter of adding new traces nor subtracting old ones but of changing one gestalt into another. Learning for cognitive theorists is considered as a purposive, exploratory, imaginative and creative process of developing new insights or modifying old ones (Mayer, 2005:45-46; Pressley & Hilden, 2006: …show more content…
Unlike behaviourism, cognitive learning theory emphasises mental events rather than overt, observable behaviours (Hening, 2004: 143-168; Lewandowsky, Little & Kalish, 2007:98)
Therefore, in cognitive theory, the focus is on the formation of concepts or on the formation of cognitive structure and the acquisition, processing, organisation, and storing of information. Cognitive theory is often associated with schema theory, information processing theory and considers the mind as an information processing computer. It focuses on a student’s schema as an organised knowledge structure and on the promotion of mental processing; how students think through problems. The central attention is on how students interact with the world and process it (Aleven & Koedinger, 2002:177-180).
For cognitivism, the learning environment or the classroom condition is only part of the learning process. It is the most immediate, but it does not and cannot account for individual students ' interaction with the content and the connections that they build between existing concepts and new concepts. These interactions here are iterative and accumulative resulting in increasingly complex understandings (Healey & Roberts, 2004:34-39; Kozma,