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Learning Theories and Their Application to Science Education

In this module you will learn about:

meaningful learning

the selected learning theories related to science teaching

behaviourist and constructivist paradigm (behaviourism and cognitivism) Application to science education

3.1. Meaningful learning

Learning is a very important topic in psychology, and yet it is difficult to define.

The American Heritage Dictionarydefines learning as follows: to gain

knowledge, comprehension, or mastery through experience or study.

However, most psychologists would find this definition unacceptable due to

nebulous terms it has, i.e., knowledge, comprehension, and mastery. Instead,

the trend now is to accept a definition of learning that refers to changes in

observable behaviours. In other words, the outcomes of learning must always

be translated into observable behaviour, viz. after learning , a learner is

capable of doing something that he or she could not do before learning

happened. Moreover, the behvioural change is relatively permanent, the

change in behaviour need not occur immediately after the learning

experience, and as the results from experience or practice (Hergenhahn &

Olson, 2005).

Furthermore, learning is often concerned with the acquisition of information.Acquisition refers to a change in possession. At one time, the organism did

not possess a given bit of information ; at a later time it did. What caused the

acquisition?. At a minimum, something had to happen to the organism to

change its state of information. Typically, we suppose that the organism had

some specific experience that caused or was in some way related to the

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change in its information state; either the world put some sensory information

into it , or it may have tried out some action and observed the consequences.,

or it may have thought out a proof say ,of a geometry theorem, or any number

of other events. However , the accumulation of pieces of information is at the

lowest end of the spectrum of types of learning. We are in fact still learning

about teaching our students for higher form of learning, that is meaningful

understanding and reflective use of that understanding. Recent researches

have shown that the use of instructional strategies that help learners make

connections to what is being learned, the one that is interdisciplinary and

thematic , coupled with a curriculum that is integrated and connected to

students life experience, enhance higher levels of thinking and provide the

most meaningful learning. As teachers, we have to bear in mind too that the

students are egocentric, interpretive, persistent, curious , adventurous,

energetic and social. And they also have a variety of psychological needs!.

Psychologists have determined that although most students learn in different

patterns and rates, a generalized process of learning can be charted as

follows: selection and screening ofstimuli, which then become sensations;sensations produced then become percepts which then transform into

concepts; and categorization of concepts into generalizations and

principles. Diagrammatically, it can be summarized as:

stimuli sensations percepts concepts principles

Exercise 3.1

1.Based on the brief introduction of the Meaningful Learning above as animpetus, elaborate the meaning of the key-words ; percepts, ,concepts andprinciples to show their differences.

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2. What do you understand by the term meaningful learning ?. Give your opinion,complete with examples.

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3.2.Selected Learning Theories

What is learning theory? Why do we need to know learning theories?. Learning

is really a complex affair which involves a persisting change in human

performance or performance potential. Learning is a lifelong activity and it can

happen intentionally or incidentally. More often than not, ideas and concepts that

students generate are different from the views of teachers or scientists. These

differing concepts or ideas are known in the science teaching literature as

misconceptions, alternative framework, or even sometimes as prior knowledge.

Students do not come to schools with empty-headed or tabula rasa . They have

their own prior knowledge or pre-conceived ideas about anything based on their

own experiences.

Concepts develop as a function of time and maturity . Novak (1998) discovered

how learners developed the concept of relative size or magnitude over time and

maturity as summarized in table 3.1

Table 3.1. Formation of the concept of relative size or magnitude

Time Early Preschool Primary SecondaryBottle always

full of milk(large

volume)

Sand on

beach(infinite

quantity)

Water in the

lakes and

oceans ( infinite

volume)

Matter in

universe

(infinite volume)

Crib is big;

room is very big

House is big;

doll house is

Cities are large;

states are

Some stars are

much larger

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Experience

small larger than Sun

Walk to chair

(long distance)

School is close;

grandma lives

far away

New York is

closer than

London

The nearest

star is 8 light

years away

Many beads on

the string

There are

many children

in the school

There are many

shrubs and

trees in the

forest

The number of

protons and

electrons in

universe is

infinite

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Increased conceptualization

Theory of learning is then a set of laws or principles about how students learn. By

mastering the theories of learning, the teachers can make deliberate

arrangement and effort to facilitate a learners acquisition of learning goals.

Goals can range from knowledge to skills to attitudes.

ince early seventies of the last century, research on the teaching and learning of

science and in the areas of cognitive psychology have enriched ourunderstanding on the students misconceptions and how it affect their learning. In

the following section, you will be exposed to cognitive (constructivist) learning

theories as well as the behaviorist learning theories.

Exercise 3.2

List at least five common misconceptions in science among secondary schoolstudents.

Types of Learning Theories

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The discussion in this section will focus on the psychological theories that are

commonly associated with teaching and learning of science. The restructuring of

science teaching appears to be focused on the paradigm of constructivism.

Hence more discussion will be on the cognitive learning theories(cognitivism) by

Piaget, Bruner , Vygotsky, and Ausubel. A modicum of behaviorist learning

theories ( behaviorism) especially by Gagn will be discussed.

Behaviorism

Basically, behaviorist learning theories see learning as a product and are more

concerned with changes in a learners behaviour after the learning takes place.

Gagn views learning as the establishment of a capability to do something that

the learner was not capable of doing previously. Notice the emphasis on the

learner doing. He postulates a hierarchy of learning capability. Learning one

particular capability usually depends upon having previously learned one or more

simpler capabilities .Observable changes in behaviourcomprise the onlycriteria

for inferring that learning has occurred. It follows , that the beginning ,or lowest,

level of a learning hierarchy would include very simple behaviours. These

behaviours would form the basis for learning more complex behaviours in the

level of hierarchy.

Gagn Learning Hierarchy

Level 8 : Problem solving

Level 7 : Principle learning

Level 6 : Concept learning

Level 5 : Multiple discrimination

Level 4 : Verbal association

Level 3 : Chaining

Level 2 : Stimulus-response

Level1 : Signal learning

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Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget ( 1896-1980) in his theory of cognitive development proposes four

main stages of cognitive development: the sensorimotor; preoperational;

concrete operational and formal operational. He believes that all individuals

proceed through the stages of intellectual development from infancy to adulthood

gradually. Learning is an individual, internal act that depends on learners

cognitive development. To him, knowledge is a process rather than a state.The

mind is considered as collection of cognitive structure- schemata. For example,

students are having difficulty understanding density when it is taught in Form

One, since students had not yet made the transition from concrete to formal

operation.

Infancy- Sensorimotor stage:

The earliest period is called the sensorimotor stage, because childs thinking

involves seeing, hearing, moving, touching, testing and so on. During this period,

infants develop object permanence, the understanding that objects exist in the

environment whether they perceive them or not. This is the beginning of the

important ability to construct a mental representation. As most parents discover,

before infants develop object permanence, it is relatively easy to take something

away from them. The trick is to distract them and remove the object while they

are not looking, out of the sight, out of mind (Moore & Meltzoff, 2004). Recent

research, however, suggests that infants as young as 3 to 4 months may know

that the object still exists, but they do not have the memory skills to hold on to

the location of the object or the motor skills to coordinate a search (Baillargeon,

1999; Flavell et al, 2002).

A second major accomplishment in the sensorimotor period is the

beginning of logical, goal-directed action. Think of the familiar clear plastic

container baby toy with a lid and several colorful items inside that can be dumped

out and replaced. A 6 month old baby is likely to become frustrated trying to

get to the toys inside. An older child who has mastered the basic of the

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sensorimotor stage will probably be able to deal with the toy in an orderly fashion

by building a container toy scheme:

1. get the lid off;

2. turn the container up-side down;

3. shake if items jam;

4. Watch the items fall.

Separate lower level schemas have been organized into a higher level

schemas to achieve a goal.

The child is soon able to reserve this action by refilling the container.

Learning to reverse is a basic accomplishment of the sensorimotor stage.

Early childhood to the early elementary years- The Preoperational stage:

By the end of the sensorimotor stage, the child can use many action schemes.

As long as these schemes remain tied to physical actions, however, they are no

use in recalling the past, keeping track of information, or planning. For this,

children need what Piaget called operations, or actions that are carried out and

reversed mentally rather than physically. At the preoperational stage the child

has not yet mastered these mental operations, but is moving toward mastery.

According to Piaget, the first type of thinking that is separate from action

involves making action schemes symbolic. The ability to form and use symbols

words, gestures, signs, images, and so on, thus is a major accomplishment of

the preoperational period and moves children closer to mastering the mental

operations of next stage. This ability to work with symbols is called semiotic

function. In fact, the childs earliest use of symbols is in pretending. Children who

are not yet able to talk will often use action symbols, pretending to drink from an

empty cup or touching a comb to their hair, showing that they know what each

object is for.

As the child moves through the preoperational stage, the developing ability

to think about objects in symbolic from remains somewhat limited to thinking in

one direction only or using one - way logic. It is very difficult for child to think

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backward or imagine how to reverse the steps in a task. Reversible thinking is

involved in many tasks that are difficult for the preoperational child, such as the

conservation of matter.

Conservation is the principle that the amount or number of something remains

the same even if the arrangement is changed, as long as nothing is added and

nothing is taken away. A classic example of difficulty with conservation is found

in the preoperational childs response to the following Piagetain task. Leah, a 5

year old is shown two identical glasses, both short and wide in shape. Both

have exactly the same amount of colored water in them. She agrees that the

amounts are the same. The experimenter then pours the water from one of

glasses into a taller, narrower glass and asks, Now, does one glass have more

water, or are they the same? Leah responds that the tall glass has more because

It goes up more here.

Piagets explanation for Leahs answer is that she is focusing, or centering,

attention on the dimension of height. She has difficulty considering more than

one aspect of the situation at a time, or decentering. The preoperational child can

not understand that decreased diameter compensates for increased height,

because this would require taking into account two dimensions at once. Thus,

children at the preoperational stage have trouble freeing them self from their ownimmediate perceptions of how the world appears.

On the other hand, the child is quite egocentric during this stage, that is,

he sees things pretty much from one point of view: his own! She may hold up a

picture so only she can see it and expect you to see it too. Or she may explain

that grass grows so she wont get hurt when she falls. The concept of

egocentrism, as Piaget intended it, does not men selfish; it simply means

children often assume that everyone else shares their feelings, reactions, and

perspectives. For example, if a little boy at this stage is afraid of dogs, he may

assume that all children share this fear.

Egocentrism is also evident in the childs language. You may have seen

young children happily talking about what they are doing even though no one is

listening. Piaget called this the collective monologue.

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Research has shown that young children are not totally egocentric in every

situation, however. Children as young as 2 describe more detail about a situation

to a parent who was not there compared to the descriptions they give to a parent

who experienced the situation with them. So young children do seem quite able

to take the needs and different perspectives of others into account, at least in

certain situation (Flavell et al., 2002).

Later elementary to the lower secondary school years: The Concrete

Operational stage:

Piaget coined the term concrete operational to describe this stage of hand - on

thinking. The basic characteristic of the stage are the recognition of logical

stability of the physical world, the realization that elements can be changed or

transformed and still conserve many of their original characteristic, and the

understanding that these changes can be reversed.

According to Piaget, a students ability to solve conservation problems

depends on an understanding of three basic aspects of reasoning: identity,

compensation, and reversibility. With a complete mastery of identity, the student

knows that if nothing is added or taken away, the material remain the same. With

an understanding of compensation, the student knows that an apparent changein one direction can be compensated for by a change in another direction.

Another important operation mastered at this stage is classification.

Classification depends on a students ability to focus on single characteristic of

objects in a set (for example, color) and group the objects according to that

characteristic. More advanced classification at this stage involves recognizing

that one class fits into another.

Classification is also related to reversibility. The ability to reverse a process

mentally now allows the concrete operational student to see that there is more

than one way to classify a group of objects.

Seriation is the process of making an orderly arrangement from large to

small or vice versa.

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With the abilities to handle operations such a conservation, classification,

and seriation, the student at the concrete operational stage has finally

developed a complete and very logical system of thinking. The system of

thinking, however, is still tied to physical reality.

High school and college- Formal operational stage:

From around 15 onward, we enter the formal operational stage. Here we

become increasingly competent at adult-style thinking. This involves using

logical operations, and using them in the abstract, rather than the concrete. We

often call this hypothetical thinking. The formal thinker can consider a

hypothetical situation and reason deductively (form general assumption to

specific implications).

Another characteristic of this stage is adolescent egocentrism. Unlike

egocentric young children, adolescents do not deny that other people may have

different perceptions and beliefs; the adolescents just become very focused on

their own ideas. They analyze their own beliefs and attitudes. This leads to what

Elkind (1978) calls the sense of an imaginary audience, the feeling that everyone

is watching. Thus adolescents believe that others are analyzing them.

Egocentrism is a normal occurrence, more common in the lower secondaryschool than in upper secondary school years. Egocentricity leads some

adolescents to think they are invulnerable (Santrock, 2008).

Exercise 3.4

In your own groups discuss the implications of Piagetian Theory to science

education and teaching and learning practices in the classrooms . The

deliberation should include the ways to foster development of characteristics of

students mentioned in the last two stages of cognitive development. Present

your deliberations to the class.

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Caveat-Rate of Cognitive Development

Piagets four stages are general descriptions of the psychological

processes in cognitive development, but the rate of development varies

widely among children.

It is affected by individual maturation, childs health, richness of the

childs experiences and social interactions and the childs equilibrium.

Jerome Brunners Discovery Learning Model

A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active

process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their

current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information,

constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to

do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and

organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the

information given".

As far as instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage

students to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should

engage in an active dialog (i.e., Socratic learning). The task of the instructor is to

translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's

current state of understanding. Curriculum should be organized in a spiral

manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have alreadylearned.

Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction should address four major

aspects: (1) predisposition towards learning, (2) the ways in which a body of

knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the

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learner, (3) the most effective sequences in which to present material, and (4) the

nature and pacing of rewards and punishments. Good methods for structuring

knowledge should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, and

increasing the manipulation of information.

Using Piagets theory of cognitive development, Bruner developed a mode of

learning that is called discovery learning. He defined it as obtaining knowledge

for oneself by using ones own mind. Bruner (1985) maintains that each child

passes through stages that are age related and biologically determined , and

learning will depend primarily on the developmental level that the child has

attained. The basic tenets of Bruners discovery learning is active learning.

The mode of learning also shifts the teachers role as a guide and advisor in the

students search for information, rather than merely a expositor of information.

Like Piaget, he agrees with the importance of utilizing concrete materials as a

beginning of the learning process.

Remember!

Discovery is learning to learn- the increase in intellectual potency

Discovery is self rewarding- the shift from intrinsic to extrinsic motives

Discovery means active involvement of learner- learning the heuristics of

discovery

Discovery learning is more usable and long lasting- the aid to memory

processing

Exercise 3.5

In your own groups discuss the implications of Bruners Discovery LearningModel to science education and teaching and learning practices in the

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classrooms. Based on your experience, is the model being practiced now ?Present your deliberations to the class.

More information on Bruners ideas can be accessed by browsing :

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm

Vygotsky: Cooperative Learning in a Supportive Environment

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), agreed with Piaget on most points, but he differed

with him on the importance of a childs social interactions. Vygotsky argued that

learning is most effective when students cooperate with one another in a

supportive learning environment under the guidance of a teacher. He believed

that at the lowest level students can do activities by themselves. As the activities

become more complex, students need to be aided by teachers, peers and others

to perform the tasks. Learners in fact , can reach the higher ground in a particular

knowledge domain. See Diagram 3.1 for further understanding. Cooperative

learning, group problem solving, and cross-age tutoring used today as

instructional strategies have grown in popularity as a result of research evolving

from Vygotskys early works. In summary,

Learning is a social and collaborative/cooperative activity. Learners must utilise the input of others.

The others- peers, parents, friends, internet, books, videos.

The teacher is a facilitator

Learners can reach the higher ground in a particular knowledge domain.

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The zone is known as Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), where it is

the distance the learners existing level and the target level

The level can achieved through expert-novice relationship or through

scaffolding.

Diagram 3.1. Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Ausubels Meaningful Learning

David Ausubel ( 1963) is an advocate of reception learning , the receipt of

information through transmission not through discovery. His contribution to the

cognitive approach to learning focused on the conceptual rather than the

operative form of knowledge. According to him, reception learning was important

means to acquire certain disciplined-based concepts ( such as science) as long

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as that learning made meaningful connections between new information

procured and the learners pre-existing information. Principally, in Ausubels

view, in order to learn meaningfully, students must relate new information

(concepts, etc.) to what they already know. He proposed the usage of advance

organizer or learning tools (concept map, diagrams, graphic organizer,

illustrations) as a way to help students link their ideas with new materials or

concepts. He also urge teachers to use learning situations and example that are

familiar o the students, but he cautions against learning by rote memorization.

Exercise3.6

a). In your own groups, choose a topic and suggest the usage of an advance

organiser in order to help students understand the concepts related.

b). In your own groups, compare and contrast between the Piagets Stages of

Cognitive Development and Vygotskys ZPD with Ausubels Meaningful

Learning and present your ideas to the class.

c). Since there are several theories pertaining to learning, then which one to be

applied in our quest to conduct the best instruction?. there are suggestions to

it: (i). one theory might complement the other; and (ii).eclectic approach.

Elaborate these suggestions.

References

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Bruner, J. (1973). Going beyond the information given. New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.

Chiappetta, E.L., Koballa , T.R., and Collete, A.T . (1998). Science Instruction inthe Middle and Secondary Schools. New Jersey: Simon and Schuster.

Elkind, D.(1978). Understanding the young adolescent.Adolescence,13,127-134.

Flavell, J. H., Miller, P. H., & Miller, S. A. (2002). Cognitive development(4th ed.).

Upper Saddle River,NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Hergenhahn , B.R. & Olson, M.H. ( 2005). An introduction to theories of learning.New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Kellough, R.D. et.al.,( 2000). Integrating Mathematics and Science forKindergarten and Primary Children. New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Minzes, J.J. Wandersee , J.H. and Novak , J.D. ( 1998). Teaching Science forUnderstanding: A Human Constructivist View. London: Academic Press.

Mukherjee, T.K. (editor) (2004 ). Methodology of Science Teaching. Kuala

Lumpur: Open University Malaysia.

Novak,J.D.( 1998). Learning, creating, and using knowledge. Mahwah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.Piaget, J. (1970a). Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen, Handbook of child

psychology (3rded.) (vol. 1, pp. 703-732). New York: Wiley.

Piaget, J. (1970b). The science of education and psychology of yhe child. New

York: Orient Press.

Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum. (1999). Kemahiran Berfikir dan Strategi Berfikirdalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains. Kuala Lumpur: KementerianPelajaran Malaysia

Santrock, J.W.(2008). Educational psychology( third edit.). Boston: McGraw Hill.

Soukhanov, A.H. (edit.) (1996). The american heritage dictionary of the englishlanguage , third edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

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