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Learning paradigms
Learning theories are usually divided into several paradigms which represent different perspectives on the learning process. Theories within the same paradigm share the same point of view. Currently, the most commonly accepted learning paradigms are behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, connectivism, social learning and humanism but there are others as well.
Here we will refer to named learning paradigms and their related learning and instructional design theories. A brief overview of the paradigms follows, and more information can be obtained by clicking on each paradigm name.
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Time line: Since 1910s
What is learning: Development of desired behavior
Control locus: Environment
Learner role: Passive
Learning process: Support of desired or punishing undesired behavior
Critics: Ignores learner and his mental processes, depends exclusively on overt behavior
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Time line: Since 1950s
What is learning: Acquisition of new models of behavior or social competences
Control locus: Split between both learner and environment (reciprocal determinism)
Learner role: Acquisition and interpretation of new knowledge through social interaction
Learning process: Prerequisite for meaningful learning is learners engagement in social activities
Critics: Offers no insight into complex cognitive processes (later improved by social/cognitive theory)
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Time line: Since 1960s
What is learning: Acquisition of new knowledge and developing adequate mental constructions
Control locus: Learner
Learner role: Active and central to the process, he learns objective knowledge from external world
Learning process: An active process of acquiring and processing new information using prior knowledge and experience
Critics: Views knowledge as objective and external to the learner
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Time line: Since 1960s
What is learning: A mean which should help learner in self-actualization and development of personal potentials
Control locus: Learner
Learner role: Active and discovery
Learning process: Active learning through experience
Critics: More psychologically then experimentally grounded approach based on assumptions of free will and a system of human values which are generally believed to be true, yet impossible to prove and sometimes discredited through counterexamples.
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Time line: Since 1990s
What is learning: Construction of new knowledge
Control locus: Learner
Learner role: Active, constructing his representation of knowledge using preferred learning styles
Learning process: Construction of subjective representation of knowledge based on prior knowledge and experience
Critics: There is little evidence for some constructivist views, and some even contradict known findings
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Time line: Since 1990s
What is learning: Process of network-forming
Control locus: Learner
Learner role:
Learning process: The act of encoding and organizing nodes to facilitate data, information, and knowledge flow
Critics:
Authors:
Instructional design theories
We will also refer to some instructional design principles:
Some theories that are not directly orientated on explaining of the learning process, but are also worth mentioning can be found here: