Who am I as a learner?​​

Before beginning my DLL courses at Lamar University, I was a “just tell me what to do” learner.  I just wanted someone to tell me what I needed to know and how I needed to show what I had learned.  This is the way I preferred to learn because it was what I knew, and it felt safe. My time in college was my first glimpse into what active learning can mean, but my first course with Lamar pushed me out of that comfort zone.  Four courses later, I cannot imagine learning what I am learning in a different format. While the “just tell me what to do” model still has its appeal, I no longer mind being an active participant in my learning, provided that what I am doing is authentic and has value for me personally.

 

Teaching and learning have to go hand in hand. One must also be willing and receptive to learning from one's surroundings. This includes learning from the students and allowing students to learn from each other. In the past, I looked at myself as having a specific visual “learning style,” however as I begin to understand the concepts of learning theories, I have become more attuned to the fact that there aren’t learning styles, but instead, there is the process of learning which looks different for each person (Bates, 2014). It looks different because what is attained/retained will differ for each of us.

 

This realization leads me to my philosophy of learning, which has begun to intertwine with that of my philosophy of teaching. A

learning philosophy places much of its emphasis on learning and knowledge. In contrast, a teaching philosophy outlines the tools and beliefs that one utilizes when serving as a facilitator for learning to take place. However, one should essentially overlap the other.

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What makes me a behaviorist?

Behaviorism equates learning with change in either the form or frequency of observable performance.

-Peggy A. Ertmer and Timothy J. Newby (1993, p. 55)

 

My behaviorist tendencies are most evident when it comes to classroom management.  For most of my career, I have been teaching students using the central governing principle of having “respect” in this fundamental cause-and-effect attempt to understand the consequences of their behavior. This behaviorist view is the epitome of Pavlov’s classical conditioning. Ten years later, my teenage students continue to respond to this stimulus.​​

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Behaviorism is evident in my instructional techniques, including the drills and practice activities that I use to reinforce the tools and design software skills needed to complete a specific task.  Behaviorism lends itself to the memorization of facts (Bates, 2014). While the end goal of my students’ learning experiences is always to employ effective communication and authentic experiences, behaviorism is an effective tool for rote memorization when students see new concepts for the first time.

 

What makes me a cognitivist?

At the center of cognitivism sits the concept of cognition, which Britannica.com defines as “all conscious and unconscious processes by which knowledge is accumulated, such as perceiving, recognizing, conceiving and reasoning.”

-Feder (2024)

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My whole class's instructional techniques are cognitivist in nature.  I provide an introduction and explanation of new material, and I give examples of how to use the new structures (Ertmer and Newby, 1993, p. 58).  I provide tutorials for when the students are introduced to new skills or concepts. Then, they show their learning through extension projects, in which the students create their own examples using the skills or concepts covered in the tutorial, and then I provide feedback. In visual design, the breaking down of knowledge into simpler building blocks is vital to understanding how different software skills fit into the overall design. 

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One of my goals each year is to encourage each student to think about how they learn best.  I spoke earlier about the need for more personalized learning experiences, but that is only possible if students know how they learn, which is an essential element of cognitivism (Ertmer and Newby, 1993, p. 58).  I encourage students to think about how they learn best and to develop new learning strategies when the old ones are no longer working (Smith, 2018).

 

What makes me a constructivist?

…constructivist learning encourages the learner to engage in the active process of meaning – construction

in real-authentic problems and situations, and where learners are able to socially construct knowledge with others.

-Seng Chee Tan and David Hung (2003)

 

Constructivism is rooted in authentic experiences (Tan and Hung, 2003).  In my current position at a CTE Center, our mission statement is “To inspire and empower students through a collaborative effort focused on innovative technology and authentic experiences, preparing them for success in the world of industry.”  If the primary goal of Career and Technical Education is to empower students, provide authentic experiences, and prepare them for success, assessments should be used to solve the simulated problems they will face in today’s industries.  In the above scenario about using tutorials and extension projects, the final step is to create what I call a personal expression project in which the students are given a problem and have to determine and create their own solution or answer to the question.  For example, my introduction graphic design class has to answer as a personal expression project, “Who is a hero to you?” and create a written paper and visual design to convey that idea.  Finally, when the entire class presents and critiques their design, they revisit it and begin to understand why they made the choices they did and what they can do to improve.

 

While acquiring design skills has always been part of my student’s learning experiences, I have allowed them to be overshadowed by traditional tests and quizzes.  In the future, through informal observation, I will employ more problems that mimic real problems and enable the student to utilize a more authentic solution.  In the ICEV blog, Witherspoon points out, "By using the proper approaches to instruction, educators are able to move students from simple forms of thinking like memorization and comprehension to more complex thinking including evaluation and creation.” (Whiterspoon, 2022)

 

As part of my implementation plan for creating an e-portfolio revolution, I will put less emphasis on the conventional standardized assessments that are more behaviorist in favor of cumulative assessments where students can create a platform that showcases their work, review, and criticism process.

 

Tan and Hung tells us, “…responsibility and ownership for learning must be on the learner” (2003).  As I incorporate an e-portfolio in my classes, students will choose how to accomplish the design goals and document their design process.  Ertmer and Newby state it clearly, “To be successful, meaningful, and lasting learning must be all three of these crucial factors:  activity (practice), concept (knowledge), and culture (context)” (1993, p. 64).  The new activities that I am developing will encourage students to transfer the knowledge and skills in design that they have learned to new situations to communicate their ideas effectively in a visual format.

 

What makes me a social constructivist?

…one learns first through a social setting of person to person interactions

and then personally through an internalization process that leads to deep understanding

-Interpretation of Lev Vigotsky by Robin Fogarty (1999, p. 6)

 

As Ertmer and Newby explain, “If learning is decontextualized, there is little hope for transfer to occur” (1993, p. 64). “  Previously, a standard methodology for teaching career and technical skills emphasized memorization and did not allow for the myriad ways that students could express their ideas.  In today’s world “the demand for high-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs continues to rise as the need for skilled and knowledgeable employees increases each year across every industry.” (Whiterspoon, 2022) With the introduction of online learning Bates explains that, “

With online collaborative learning, the aim is not to replace the teacher but to use the technology primarily to increase and improve communication between teacher and learners, with a particular approach to the development of learning based on knowledge construction assisted and developed through social discourse. This social discourse, furthermore is not random in online collaborative learning (OCL) but managed in such a way as to ‘scaffold’ learning by assisting with the construction of knowledge in ways that the instructor guides, that reflect the norms or values of the discipline, and that also respect or take into consideration the prior knowledge within the discipline. (Bates, 2014)

 

Conclusion

When I completed my undergraduate program in the late nineties, the Internet was only beginning to take hold of society.  There were no smartphones or tablets. In fact, when I graduated, the university I attended implemented the first course-specific content directly accessed through a school-issued device.  Thus, it is not surprising that the use of technology did not play a significant role in my pre-service education courses.

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Researching learning theories and reflecting on my own learning philosophy has led me to conclude that a social constructivist in which strategies for facilitating learning and creating significant learning environments must be provided to give the learner authentic opportunities and agency to inspire and empower learners through a collaborative effort to prepare them for success in the job market of today and even tomorrow.
 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Bates, T. (2014, July 29). Learning theories and online learning [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/07/29/learning-theories-and-online-learning/

• Tony Bates discusses the predominant learning theories in the context of technology. While it is essential to be knowledgeable about the learning theories developed over the last century, it is equally essential to be aware of how the use of technology in learning has transformed these theories. This is what Bates provides as a foundation for this blog post.

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Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50-The 72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-8327.1993.tb00605

• Although this article dates from the 1990s, it provides a firm foundation on behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. The authors do not advocate one particular learning theory. Instead, they favor a combination of various learning theories based on what is to be learned and the learners themselves.

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Feder, M. (2024, April, 8). What is the cognitivism learning theory? https://www.phoenix.edu/blog/what-is-cognitive-learning-theory.html

• Michael Feder provides a very simple explanation of cognitivism and constructivism. He also points out some very important factors that differentiate the learning theories.

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Fogarty, R. (1999). Architects of the intellect. Annual Conference and Exhibit Show of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

• Fogarty's article offers definitions of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky's theories. Additionally, the author cites examples of their theories at work in the classroom, thus providing the classroom teacher with a clearer understanding of what each theory looks like in practice.

 

Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

• As I continue my research and application of learning theories, Schunk's work will be a useful resource. I foresee returning to his ideas repeatedly as I develop and adapt my learning philosophy over the course of my career.

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Smith, M. K. (2018). Learning theory. Retrieved June 15, 2019, from The Encyclopedia of Informal Education website: http://infed.org/mobi/learning-theory-models-product-and-process/

• In addition to the information offered in the prose section of this article, Mark K. Smith offers a very useful chart that compares and contrasts various learning theories. I referenced this chart often as I researched.

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Tan, S. C., & Hung, D. (2003). Beyond information pumping: Creating a constructivist e-learning environment. Educational Technology, 42(5), 48-54.

• Tan and Hung provide an informative article on constructivist learning theory in the context of today's digital learning environment. Their discussion of the social nature of learning and how the Internet can be a powerful tool in creating a social learning environment is particularly helpful.

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Witherspoon, J. (2022, September 26) The Ultimate Guide to Pedagogy in CTE. ICEV.
https://www.icevonline.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-pedagogy-in-cte

• Joshua Witherspoon provides and informative blog for ICEV in which he points out the demand for high-quality programs continues to rise as the need for skilled and knowledgeable employees increases each year across every industry.  Whitherspoon also points out the value of having well-thought-out pedagogy and sharing types of pedagogy and strategies to develop your skills as a CTE educator.