Although psychologists have been interested in studying the process of learning since the late 1800s, their views of learning have evolved over the years. Early definitions primarily focus on a change due to certain external conditions as indicated by Hilgard (1956) who states that "learning is the process by which an activity originates or is changed through reacting to an encountered situation ...". Building on early definitions, Mayer (1982) acknowledges experience as a key ingredient in learning. A central element in current definitions of learning focus on the changes in behavior. Although all of these components in learning are significant, we believe that Mayer's (1982) definition of learning is still relevant today:
"Learning" is the relatively permanent change in a person's knowledge or behavior due to experience. this definition has three components:
(1) the duration of the change is long term rather than short term; (2) the locus of the change is the content and structure of knowledge in memory or the behavior of the learner; (3) the cause of the change is the learner's experience in the environment rather then fatigue, motivation, drugs, physical condition, or psychological intervention.
While there are definitions of learning thet reflect other points of view, in this chapter we will explore behavioral, cognitive, and social learning theories within the framework of the Mayer definition. In addition we will discuses ID applications stemming from each of these theories.
Behaviorial Learning Theory
Behviorial psychologists view learning as the ability to perform new behaviors, they focus on a stimulus-response approach to learning. Actions may be established by a researcher or, in applied situations, by a facilitator, teacher, or instructional materials. in these learning situations, there is an effort to create conditions which will enable the learner to demonstrate desired behaviors and perfom them over a periode of time.
connectionism
one of the original stimulus-response theories was developed by Edward L. Thorndike. His timents dealt with hungry heory was a type of bond psychology, typically called connectionism. he saw learning as a trial and error process. one learns by making a response, receiving reinforcements if it is correct, and there by making a connection.
Thorndike's most famous experiments dealt with hungry cats. the cats were placed in a closed box with food outside. the objective was for the cat to discover howto open the door in the box and find the food. At first, the cat's behavior was random and time consuming; however, after accidentally finding the solution, later trials were much shorter (Guthrie, 1960). Results from these studies formed the basis of Thorndike's theory of connectionism.
there are three major laws in this theory: the laws of effect, readiness, and exercise. the law of effect basically indicates that once a connection is made, the strength of that connection is dependent on what follows. A reward will strengthen the behavior, making it habitual, and a punishment will weaken the behavior. Thorndike thought that rewards were much more important than punishments (Mowrer, 1960).
The law of readiness indicates that if an organism is prepared for action, it will behave in a manner that maintains the connection. thus, making a connection will be satisfying. but if the organism is not ready, the connection will become annoying, and the organism will do things to eliminate it. this is not like reading readiness, because it has nothing to do with having the necessary prerequisite skills or being mature enough. rather, it is a physical readiness for action (Bower & Hilgard, 1981).
finally, there is the law of exercise. this relates to strengthening connections through practice and weakening other connections through disuse. the law of exercise has implications for the use of practice and the concept of forgetting. thorndike emphasized the importance of practice followed by rewards for a correct response. thus, his laws of effect and exercise are related. Thorndike put no emphasis on the role of meaning or understanding. His work concentrated on ways of increasing the occurrence of certain behaviors, and understanding how they occured (Bower & Hilgard, 1981).
List of literature
Richey, Rita C, dkk. 2011. The Instructional Design Knowledge Base. Newyork: Routledge.
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