theories of learning

Lecture today basically touched on the three theories of learning
-Behaviourism, Cognitivism and the Sociocultural Approach.

To summarise VERY briefly in keywords,
Behaviourism: individualistic, reinforcement of rewards and punishments
Cognitivism: individualistic, environmental-stimulated
Sociocultural Approach: system, tools, contextual-based

Like, Stanton Wortham,
I was wondering how these theories can be assimilated together into learning programs.
(since he said that it's hard to maintain 2 of the 3 positions not to mention all three at the same time.)

Using a trial-and-error method,
I shall start with my own real life example:

The module (NM2202) I am taking currently has allocated us compulsory tutorial lessons in which we have to attend in NUS Secondlife.
(and participating tutorials in Secondlife directly translate to e-learning.)

Behaviourism can be applied in this case when the tutor wants to ensure the students' participation in Secondlife, hence (the reward which is) attendance (which ultimately translate into grades) will be noted and students who didn't attend the tutorial will be given a warning (the punishment). Then the tutor can deliberately shape the students' behaviours in order to get the dessired outcome (to attend tutorial online) more quickly.

Cognitivism can be applied in this example too as students have to learn actively and the tutor has to facilitate the learner to attempt discussions and to make sense of the whole context. In this case, the tutor setups the virtual environment and let the students learn by themselves.

(and yes, I totally agree with Stanton Wortham when he said that extrinsic reinforcement can undermine people's innate curiosity to learn and do things because if attendance is not taken, I doubt anyone will actually participate.)

Lastly, the sociocultural approach can be used when group discussions are held online. An assignment can be split up into parts which can be covered by different person and collate together to be handed up as a whole. Collation involves languages (and this can come in the form of short online slangs like gr8 = great) and the physical layout of the tasks so that communication can be done easily.


I hope I've tried successfully to apply these theories into a real life situation!