Items Description of Module

Subject Human Resource Management

Name
Paper Training & Development
Name
Module
Title Learning Theories

Module Id Module no.-7

Pre- Knowledge of Training and Development
Requisites
Objectives To understand the concept of learning and
application of learning theories in designing
effective training programs

Keywords Social Learning theory, expectancy theory, needs

theory
 Learning Objectives
 To understand the concept of learning
 To understand the impact of learning theories on instructional design
 To study the learning cycle and identify various learning styles
 To identify the important features that facilitate learning

1. Module 7: Training to Learn: Conceptual Framework for Learning

2. Learning outcome
3. Introduction
4. Defining Learning
5. Learning Theories
6. Implication of Learning for Instruction
7. Summary

1. Module 7: Training to Learn: Conceptual Framework for Learning

2.
1 Introduction

Training is the disbursal of knowledge through various means, which include verbal and non-
verbal techniques, and methods of demonstration to teach and instruct the trainee. Learning
on the other hand refers to the process of absorption of that information so as to enhance
skills and abilities and meaningfully utilize the learning for the purpose it was achieved for.
Organisations may use different types of training methods to facilitate employees to enhance
their skill set and in turn the employees tend to perform their job efficiently and successfully.
For learning to occur in an effective manner it is necessary that certain conditions must be
fulfilled like provision of practice and feedback for trainees must exist, meaningful training
content must be there, identification of prerequisites that the trainee needs to successfully
complete the program must be checked, opportunity for trainees to learn through observation
and experience must exist, thus enhancing the meaningfulness of training for the employees.

For effective learning to take place it is necessary that organisations identify what is to be
learned, i.e. the learning outcomes and furthermore, these learning outcomes must be
associated with the skills required to perform the job efficiently. It is important to focus on
the learning outcomes because they have an impact on the characteristics of the training
environment and are necessary for learning to occur. The module intricately looks into the
concept and theories of learning and highlights the ground rules necessary for learning.

2 Defining Learning

“Learning is a permanent change that is observed in human capabilities and is not related to
growth processes” (Gagne & Medsker, 1996). The learning are in relation with specific
learning outcomes namely verbal information, motor skills, cognitive strategies, intellectual
skills, attitudes, cognitive strategies wherein verbal information involves knowledge about
labels, facts and bodies of knowledge, intellectual skills involved concepts and rules, motor
skills include coordination of physical movements, attitudes conform to combination of
beliefs and feelings and cognitive strategies regulate the process of learning. It is imperative
to mention that each learning outcome asks for a distinct group of conditions for learning to
occur and as a foreground to understand the complete learning process it is necessary to
understand the learning theories which are discussed in the next section.

3 Learning Theories

Many theories exist in the learning paradigm like some theories relate to trainee’s motivation
to learn and some to other aspects. The various theories of learning are discussed below: -

3.1 Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory states that people are inspired to perform or avoid certain behaviour
due to the outcomes that have happened in the past from those behaviours. Several processes
are associated with reinforcement theory like positive reinforcement and negative
reinforcement. Positive reinforcement refers to the pleasurable outcome from behaviour and
negative reinforcement refers to removal of an unpleasant outcome. For instance, an associate
of a manager submits a report in time and the manager pats him on the back and
acknowledges his effort in completing the work on time is an example of positive
reinforcement whereas if a manager screams on his employees for being late, the employees
may tend to avoid such behaviour by being on time is an example of negative reinforcement.

If the manager withdraws either positive or negative reinforcers to end certain kind of
behaviour that is termed as extinction. From the viewpoint of training reinforcement theory
reveals that for learners to gather knowledge, change behaviour, modify skills, the trainer
must identify which outcomes the employee considers positive or negative. It is the job of the
trainer to link these outcomes to learner’s acquiring knowledge or skills or changing
behaviour. The effectiveness of learning shall depend on the pattern or schedule for providing
these reinforcers or benefits like fixed ratio schedule, continuous reinforcement, variable ratio
schedule, fixed interval schedule or variable interval schedule. It is imperative to mention that
behaviour modification is a training method, which is primarily based on the reinforcement
theory. For instance, if in a factory to avoid unsafe behaviour employees were updated about
the outcome of their unsafe work behaviour and how it was critical to their lives and was also
a factor of increased cost in the company. Furthermore, the employees were trained to follow
safe behaviour for their personal benefit as well as organizational benefit. Post the training
safety reminders were displayed and data about the safe behaviour was displayed to sustain
the behaviour modification and all these come under the umbrella of positive reinforcers in
safe work behaviour in organisations.

Positive Reinforcement
Source: http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-development/reinforcement-theory/
3.2 Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory states that people tend to learn by observing other people whom they
consider to be knowledgeable and credible in nature. This theory also states that behaviour,
which is considered to be rewarded, tends to be repeated again and again by the people. The
model’s behaviour or skill that is rewarded is adopted by the observer, thus from the
fundamentals of social learning theory it can be deduced that learning new skills comes from
either experiencing the consequences of a certain behaviour or by observing others and seeing
the consequences of their behaviour. The self-efficacy of the person also has an impact on the
process of learning.

Self-efficacy is defined as the person’s judgement of self whether he can learn specific
knowledge or skills. It is one of the basis for learning. Trainees that exhibit high level of
efficacy are more eager to learn and may show persistence even if the training environment is
not conducive, on the contrary a person with low self efficacy may have self-doubts about
mastering the contents of the training program.

Self efficacy of a person can be increased by various methods like verbal persuasion which
suggests that offering motivation and words of encouragement to the trainee can convince
them to learn, modelling is another method in which those individuals who have already
learnt demonstrate it to the trainees and boost their morale as people tend to observe others
who have already succeeded. Logical verification is another method in which trainers
encourage the trainees by citing them their previous success in other tasks they have already
mastered. Past accomplishments cites employees to build a history of successful
accomplishments by placing them into tasks, which they can successfully perform and are
aware about how to perform them.

The social learning theory states that there are four processes, which are associated with
learning namely attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivational processes.

The process of attention states that a person may not be keen to learn until he is not aware of
the model’s performance. Therefore, the trainee or the learner must be aware of the important
aspect of model’s performance and the model must be credible and trustworthy. Lastly, the
learner must have the sensory capability to observe the model and a learner who has already
learnt other skills by observing the model is more likely to attend the model.

The second step is retention, which states that learner must have the capacity to remember the
behaviour or skills that they observe and they must be able to code skills in an organized
manner in their memory. This coding can be in the form of visual images or verbal
statements. Motor reproduction incorporates to try out the new behaviour and observe that the
results are similar to as they were reinforced in the model. It is imminent to mention that
reproduction will be dependent on the retention of skills or behaviour.

Learners may adopt a modelled behaviour if it results in positive outcomes and social learning
theory states that behaviour that are motivational are to be repeated by the learners. Social
learning theory is the fundamental of behaviour modelling training and has influenced the
development of multimedia training programs.

Source: http://www.appsychology.com/

3.3 Goal Setting Theory

The goal setting theory states that the behaviour of an individual is the outcome of the
individual’s goals and objectives. The goals of an individual have an influence on the
person’s action by directing energy and attention and motivating the individuals to develop
strategies for goal attainment. These objectives highlight high performance only when people
are committed to the goal and employees may be less committed to the goal if they think it is
too difficult. Goal orientation defines the goal of a trainee in a learning situation. A goal
orientation involves a learning orientation or a performance orientation. Learning orientation
refers to those trainees who are interested in trainers that adjudge how the trainees are
learning rather than performing whereas on the contrary performance oriented trainees are
those trainees who focus on performance of task and there comparison with others. The goal
orientation of a trainee shall determine the amount of effort put by a trainee in a training
program. Those possessing a learning orientation shall have a high learning orientation and
will put greater attention to performing well and less effort in learning whereas those with the
performance orientation shall have a performance orientation but put less effort on learning.
There are myriad of methods to enhance learning orientation, which involves setting goals
around learning and experimenting with newer methods of trainees performing the task
instead of trained task performance.

The goal setting theory enforces that it is an integral part of the training program design to
provide trainees challenging goals and objectives to achieve. The lesson plans prepared for
training are also goal oriented in nature as they start with some goals in mind and provide
information regarding the expected action of the learner.

Source: http://www.performancemagazine.org/

3. 4 Need Theories

Need theories are a thoughtful expression of importance individuals place on certain

outcomes. Need is defined as a deficiency that an individual is experiencing at a certain point
of time and it is the fulfilment of that need that enforces an individual to behave in a certain
manner and satiate the deficiency. Alderfer’s and Maslow’s need theories focused on
physiological needs, relatedness needs, self-actualization needs. They stresses that people
start from satisfying their lower order needs and once they are satisfied they move to higher
order needs. Although Alderfer constituted that if the higher order needs are not satisfied the
individuals may refocus on the lower order needs again but Maslow did not support this
viewpoint. On the other hand the McClelland’s need theory puts limelight on need for
achievement, affiliation and power wherein achievement refers to attaining the standards of
excellence which are self set by the individual, need for affiliation refers to developing
cordial relationship with other individuals and need for power defines the urge to gather
responsibility, influence and reputation. It can be deduced from the need theories that to
motivate trainees to actively learn the trainers must identify the unfulfilled needs of the
trainee and convince them that objectives and content of the training program shall help in
fulfilling those needs.

3.5 Expectancy Theory

Expectancy theory proposes that the behaviour of human is based on three factors namely
expectancy, instrumentality and valence. For instance in expectancy theory a belief to
perform a certain behaviour is linked to a specific program; in this case attending a training
program which may be the expectancy of the trainer may lead to better performance on the
job which is considered the outcome and valence refers to the value people attach to that
outcome. It is the value of the outcome, which will make people choose a certain kind of
behaviour. For example attending a training program may lead to salary increase and the
incumbent attaches great value to a salary increase, in such a case most learning is liable to
happen.

Model of Expectancy Theory

Source: https://wikispaces.psu.edu

3.6 Information Processing Theory

The information processing theory focuses on the internal processes that happen when the
training occurs or when the training content is analysed by the trainee. This theory states that
information gathered by the learner is subjected to variety of transformations in the human
brain. This information processing starts when a message or stimuli (sound, smell, touch,
visuals) is sent from the environment and is gathered by the receptors (eyes, ears, nose, skin).
This message is then stored in the short-term memory and furthermore coded for storage in
the long-term memory. Whenever a search process occurs in the memory during which a
response is organized and the response generator organizes the response telling them what to
do and this what to do is in terms of learning outcomes, which can be seen as a verbal
information, cognitive skills, motor skills, intellectual skills and attitudes. The last loop is the
feedback, which tells the trainee about the effectiveness and evaluates the response. A
positive reinforcement of the response leads to storage of the response in the long-term
memory and leads to repeat behaviour if required in similar situations.

Model of human information processing

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/

3.7 Adult Learning Theory

This theory emerged while analysing the need for a theory, which addressed the issue of adult
learning. It is evident from the discussion above that most of the theories and educational
institutions that have developed have the purpose of educating children or youth. Pedagogy
refers to the art and science of teaching children and has been on forefront in the theory of
education. It is the primary duty of the instructor to decide about the learning content, method
and evaluation in the case of pedagogy. The pupil is considered to be passive receiver of
directions and content and do not offer many experiences that might serve as resources in the
learning environment. Thus realising the constraints of the formal educational theories
psychologists developed andragogy, which is referred to as the theory of adult learning.
Knowles is one of the prolific contributors in the field of adult learning and his model has
various assumptions, which are listed below:-

 Adults have the need to know why they are learning something
 Adults have the need to be self-directed
 Adults may share more work related experiences into the learning situation
 The approach of adult to learning is problem-centered
  Extrinsic as well as intrinsic motivators motivate adults.

It is necessary for trainers to be aware about the adult learning theory as for training
programs the target audience is usually adults and many of them might not have spent
much time in formal educational scenario. The primary fundamental of adult learning
theory is mutuality which suggests the both the trainer and the trainee should be actively
involved in the developing and creating experience and ensuring that the learning occurs.

4 Implications of Learning Process for Instruction

Instruction refers to the trainer’s manipulation of the environment in a manner to facilitate

trainees learn. To impart meaningful learning few criteria should be fulfilled to enhance
learning and also facilitate the learning process. The first and foremost criteria is that the
employees must know the reason behind their training program, i.e. they must be aware of the
objective of the training program. The objective defines the purpose and the consequence of
the training program. A good objective statement must explicitly state what the employee is
expected to do, quality of performance and lastly must mention the conditions under which
the trainee is expected to perform.

Secondly, good instruction that facilitates training must have meaningful content, to enhance
the meaningfulness of the training content the message should be presented in terms of
concepts, terms and examples which are known to the trainees and content must be in
relevance and consonance with the work place, for instance highlighting the success of former
trainees, integrating training with the goals of the company etc.

Thirdly the employees must be provided with opportunity to perform the learned task so that
they achieve proficiency in doing that task. The practice must be relevant to the training
objective and it is necessary to have a balanced mix of practice and examples for better
results.

Fourthly, the employees must commit the training content to memory and to create long-term
memory training program must be explicit so that it becomes part of the memory, many
trainers use the idea of concept maps to establish relationship between among ideas. The
trainers in this case must remember that trainees learn through observation, experience and
social interaction.

Lastly, the trainees must be provided with feedback about how efficiently they have met the
training objectives. To be effective it is necessary that feedback should be provided early and
must focus on relevant behaviours.

However, this is not an exhaustive list of activities to facilitate training but certainly acts a
guide to facilitate and make learning meaningful.
5 Summary

This module explicitly states that for training to be efficient and effective learning must
occur. The module intensively defines learning and focuses on the capabilities that need to be
learnt. The chapter also throws light on various theories of learning like reinforcement theory,
social learning theory, and goal setting theory, adult learning theory information processing
theory. It cites the importance of learning theories and facilitates revealing the mind-set of the
learners

The next section of the module discuss the various factors that must be considered to make
the learning process more effective like trainees must be aware of the training objectives,
must be provided with meaningful training content and must be provided with the opportunity
to practice what is being learned. An effective feedback also facilitates the trainee to assess
his learning capabilities and help him focus on relevant behaviour.