Traditional Learning Theories

My elementary school, based in Bronx, New York, the lessons were in both English and Spanish. The students were encouraged to freely learn both languages through whatever method best suited the. Most of the students during that time were from Puerto Rico. Some of the students would focus on key phrases and sentences to assist them; others would just learn the words and piece them together when they needed to. Over time, all the students in my class had developed the basics of Spanish and were able to communicate effectively to others in English and Spanish. "Learning as a process (rather than an end product) focuses on what happens when the learning takes place." (Merriam, Caffarella & Baumgartner, 2007) There are many different theories of how learning takes place. These include behavioral, constructivism, and cognitive theories. In this paper I will outline what makes each of these behaviors unique and how each contributes of the learning process.

Behaviorism can be defined as the careful assessment changes in the learners' behavior. For a true behavioral shift to occur, consistency must be present. "An effective reinforcement schedule requires consistent repetition of the material; small, progressive sequences of tasks; and continuous positive reinforcement." ("Theories of Learning") During the learning process the teacher can apply different methods of motivation for the behaviors to be reinforced. For example, many first grade teachers may use the good star method as reinforcement for positive behavior; consistently awarding a child a good star for responding to the request of the teacher. "Without positive reinforcement; learned responses will quickly become extinct. This is because learners will continue to modify their behavior until they receive some positive reinforcement." ("Theories of Learning") For adult learners, this behavioral shift typically comes in the form of an exam or test.