In the world of education, the experts seem to tend to put a label on everything. While cognitivism is a good scientific explanation to how we learn, the other learning theories are valid as well. I don't think there is a blanket explanation for human learning. I think we all function using a combination if learning theories.
With regard to behaviorism, I do believe we respond to rewards and incentives, but what separates humans from animals is that at some point, our free will kicks in. When I ovserve my puppy, he always responds to rewards. When I observe my students, thay may or may not resopnd, depending on what the person sitting next to them is doing.
While it is great to have theories and explanations, we should not be stuck to them. Humans are much too complex for that. It is the combination of all the theories that makes our potential for growth endless. With young children, it may be necessary to use more behaviorist strategies to get them to respond, but as they grow and evolve, we cannot be locked into believing in only one learning theory.
I responded to Natalie Moore
http://nataliedmoore.blogspot.com/2010/06/cognitivism-as-learning-theory.html?showComment=1278095037629_AIe9_BGyh423D2STvmQ1Wf9PzzdBENCFtGR1sy3r8ooSDv_wvIMNp-TR7FEKAqUfm0yUb4YrfBWgkma9QpvV4mQ-iNJW_jqOGO42vxkaplgg51YRJcg0OEUy-cnYoR2npLM8RohXM51fn3-zT8DR95oVx_B0HCkkmIlbFCdVjNAAh9aujtxTBIIDtzGRqsdseGfjQLsQW8pcbVrWWcaU8QyhBIAZ4k0_hvpBwq3agmfuSCIJEtAzysK9zfHaZpK4PYfzSxZaofhXDoo4ibFA4VRuke7tYIJ9zNqEluedV7HYcMIKluyqMuEUzO93xY56PHXXSA8pmJ9qM7j4rCwWkStqYFtsl9qnV8okmnyxGEkmzxbhO0D15ayrZrA_g8erx4tbQ_TsSyyynmOOz2rprvLyyX9eXTOmdEKDfS1lN7Ly_ANOWB63DayKc_uEGiC1hdKPiOloyL5OsFpIWXLtmkcF41q7Y1ZltIk1O1l_E9T1DF7NypMBEXDdsZtJZJyPFM_oQUDi3yd5CeHtI0lMojvK9hQcFTP4Hyxkx6K7UJCoiNCiuCU7P93iDBGsinoWubrdIpGmIB2Z3EiTnPqPOqT-M5LduornD4fbUhp60sXIXzHqatvJEKgj9QhO-Z1dxzm6BBBOsStGNv3FVXg9lcaYH0LJMKPWNtO2i_JsxWnETXvWSmamndPVwyVwUbEQ69zzX2M_MxTf5-xwiBLdsVBSph9oXQXc-FOLtpqFjS-L1cl_FQjtvQBHJCFUjS6Ec9dWH3W9wpd87oALWGlv9DD_H0i-cVUCEw#c1926880839631408091
and
Duane Coloeman
http://jadasi.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/educ-7105-module-2-post/#comment-19href="http://">http://jadasi.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/educ-7105-module-2-post/#comment-19
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I think your reference to humans being complex is very relevant. It is important to not only remember that students learn differently but that we teach differently and sometimes the two do not align. Because we are complex by nature we can continually change to the situation to provide a successful learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI like your statement about the role of free will. I think we also have to keep in mind the role of peer pressure. Sometimes peer pressure influences free will and as educators we have to be aware of all the influencing factors. I find that a lot of times students really don't want to follow their peers, but the influence is too great for them to avoid.
ReplyDeleteIt would be very interesting to study how infants and toddlers learn. Do they only respond to stimuli and reward and what levels of cognition are occurring withing their brains? You made a very interesting distinction between animals and humans about free will. Does cognition give us our free will?
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared your students to your dog because you are right. I have had students that will not respond to external rewards but will do my work if I make it fun or interesting to them.
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