Have you ever really thought about how you learned before now?
No. However, I have always been curious about learning and how the brain works to process all the information it receives. My learning processes are due in part to reality and application learning. That is, applying what I see, read, and know to reality and what I process to application. In excerpts articles, “Learning theory”, ‘Knowing that’ and ‘knowing how’, by Gilbert Ryle (1949) in which he termed two types of learning ‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing how’. To me, the reality of learning can be categorize as “knowing that” and the application of learning can be categorize as “knowing how”. While Ramsden (1992:27), states that ‘knowing that and knowing how’ is a system categories by hierarchical where each higher conception implies all the rest beneath it. “In other words, students who conceive of learning as understanding reality are also able to see it as increasing their knowledge.” This, to me, is the epitome of learning.
When I think about my learning experiences growing up, I am reminded of the model of cognitive development by Jean Piaget. According to Piaget’s model of cognitive development, children learn through various stages of human development rather than in terms of basic types of learning.
1. Sensorimotor stage (from birth to about 2 years)
2. Pre-operational stage (roughly 2 - 7 years)
3. Concrete operational stage (roughly 7 - 11 years)
4. Formal operational stage (roughly 11 - 15 years)
Piaget's model of cognitive development
Piaget's model of Cognitive Development from lowest to highest,explained:
1. Sensorimotor stage. This is the stage when babies learn to differentiate between themselves and objects outside their bodies. They learn that external objects exist, even though they are not continuously recorded by the senses, and eventually develop awareness that a familiar object (such as a rattle) remains 'the same object' regardless of changes of location and orientation. They also start to develop basic ideas about cause and effect (e.g., that their rattle makes a pleasing noise whenever they hold it and move their hand). Piaget calls these first ideas which babies develop about how to deal with their world action schemas. Throughout the sensorimotor stage, the baby remains totally egocentric, being completely incapable of taking anyone else's needs or interests into account.
2. Pre-operational stage. During the first two years or so of this stage, the child remains highly egocentric, being intrinsically incapable of looking at situations from other people's points of view. It also tends to classify objects in terms of a single dominant feature, so that if A is like B in one respect, it must also be like B in other respects too. From about four upwards, the child starts to be able to think in terms of classes, to see relationships between objects, and to handle basic number concepts, but remains essentially intuitive, since it may not be aware of what the classification and ordering systems involve. During the later years of this stage, the child progressively develops the concepts of conservation of mass (by about 5), weight (by about 6) and volume (by about 7). The child also starts to become progressively less egocentric - a process known as decentering -and to develop a sense of right and wrong, although it tends to believe that its way of thinking what is right and what is wrong will automatically be shared by everyone else.
3. Concrete operational stage. During this stage, the child develops the ability to classify objects by several features and to think logically about objects and events. It must, however, be exposed to practical examples in order to understand the differences between such objects and classes, since it cannot yet think in abstract terms. During this stage, the child progressively acquires the ability to use logical operations such as reversibility (in arithmetic), classification (organizing objects into hierarchies of classes) and seriating (organizing objects into ordered series, such as increasing size). The child also continues to become progressively less egocentric, and to develop a progressively more sophisticated sense of right and wrong.
4. Formal operational stage. From around puberty, children become progressively more adult-like in both their behavior and their ways of thinking. They develop the ability to think conceptually and abstractly, so that they can work out things in their heads, without having to see or handle the actual objects. They also acquire the ability to formulate and test hypotheses, and develop a progressively more adult world view and sense of morals.
Because of the Piaget’s model of Cognitive development, I was able to sharpen my learning skills more effectively by utilizing the Gagné's hierarchy of learning. In 1956, the noticed American educational psychologist Robert M. Gagné proposed a system of classifying different types of learning in terms of the degree of complexity of the mental processes involved. He identified eight basic types, and arranged these in the hierarchy shown below. According to Gagné, the higher orders of learning in this hierarchy build upon the lower levels, requiring progressively greater amounts of previous learning for their success. The lowest four orders tend to focus on the more behavioral aspects of learning, while the highest four focus on the more cognitive aspects.
8: Problem solving ^
7: Rule learning ^^
6: Concept learning ^^^
5: Discrimination learning increasing
4: Verbal association complexity
3: Chaining ^^^^^^
2: Stimulus-response learning ^^^^^^^
1: Signal learning
Gagné's hierarchy of learning
Through what methods, either conventional or unconventional, do you seem to learn most productively?
Throughout my learning years, the only preferred method of learning known to me was the conventional method of learning; where I would attend classes in a centralized location, sit in front of a live person listening to him/her lecturing all day. Learning by today’s standard via the unconventional approaches has infiltrated my mind with simulated software, virtual reality and online tools, which by the way, made it possible for me to attend Walden University via virtual classes and teachers. Not only has unconventional learning method sharpened my technological skills; it has also sharpened my mind in ways that I could have never imagined. For example, using unconventional learning method gave me the ability to create blogs, response virtual to classmates, surf the web for information without going to the library, send and receive text messages, participate in eLearning, and so much more all from the comfort of my home. It is amazing how technologies continual involving.
Of the learning theories and perspectives presented this week, which do you think best describe how you learn? How so? Why do you think it is important for you to understand your own learning process?
According to the learning theories and perspectives presented in this week’s learning discussion, the best learning theories that describe how I learn is the Learning-Conscious or Formalized learning theories. As a former corporate trainer for 25 years, I believe that this learning type best describe me because I am constantly processing information and improving task performance. This type of learning is ‘educative’ and not accumulate experiences. In my opinion, this skill set of learning allows the individual to process and retain knowledge for longer period of time because of the continual engagement of the task being performed. The task is learning. According to Rogers (2003:27), “formalized learning makes learning more conscious in order to enhance it. It involves guided episode of learning.” Therefore, mastery of this learning skills allow the individual to focus on the task and object of the task is clear and concise to the learner.
It is important for me to understand and know my learning processes before I can transfer knoweledge set to others. If I do not understand me, I will not understand you.
Gagne', R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning 4e. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, first published in 1965.
Piage, J. (1926). The Child's Concept;ion of teh World. London: Routhledge and Kegan Paul.
Rogers, A. (2003). What is the Difference? A New Critique of Adult Learning and Teaching. Leicester:NIACE.
Smith, M. K. (Updeated September 3, 2009). 'Learning Theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm.
