Maryam Fischer Assignment 12

Three learning theorists are John Brown, Jerome Bruner, and John Dewey. John Brown is known as an
adult learning theorist who is most well-known for his study of situated learning and informational
learning. His research focused on digital culture and individual learning. This is something that is a
common theme in all of our EDIT classes. I am sure his works have been reviewed by our instructors to
not only create content from, but to model as well to make a successful online course. Jerome Bruner is
known as an organizational learning theorist who is most well-known for his studies on how to improve
education which started back in the 1960’s which began a shift away from just memorizing facts and to
apply concepts to real world situations. He encouraged collaboration within an educational setting.
John Dewey is known as humanist learning theorist most well-known for founding pragmatism and
progressive education. He pushed for education to teach students how to be life-long learners, to use
critical thinking and problem solving skills. I feel he is extremely important in the way we are urged to
teach today. We are encouraged to use outcome based education which is one thing he researched.

Three learning theories are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism is the thought
that knowledge exists outside of people. The learner is a blank slate that must be introduced to things.
Learning occurs when changes are acquired through associations between stimuli and responses. This
would be achieved through implementing practices such as repetition, bonus points, participation points
and verbal reinforcement. Cognitivism is based on learning though the thought process behind the
behavior. We need to process information and not just react. This can be achieved through chunking
information, linking concepts, real world examples, discussions, and mnemonics. Constructivism is
based on learning though finding your own meaning and application of information based on personal
experiences. This can be achieved through case studies, research projects, problem based learning,
collaboration, and simulations.

These theories are great for first year teachers to keep in mind to better reach every student. One
should not be the sole method of instruction throughout the course. There needs to be a balance of the
three and new teachers need to figure out which type of content would be better suited for each
theory. Technology can be a great tool for each of these theories. If students needed to memorize
vocabulary or steps, behaviorism may be best and the teacher can implement something like Quizlet or
a game that only test on recall. Students could watch a video of actors creating a scenario (such as
professionalism in the workplace) and students must critique what is considered professional and
unprofessional to fit the cognitive theory. Students could create a 3D model of something they create
to solve a problem presented (such as a way to decrease pollution) to follow the theory of
constructivism.