Although many theories have been brought forward when it comes to human learning, there are three key theories that explain learning. These theories are the social constructivist, cognitive constructivist and the behaviorist theory (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). The first theory explained in this study is the behaviorist theory. This theory indicates that human feelings, emotions and previous experiences impact their learning progress. Behaviorists mainly look at the learning process as one that involves conditioning. As a result, the reward-punishment system may be employed in boosting learning among individuals. In particular, individuals are likely to learn better when there is a positive reinforcement. When people are rewarded for excelling, they feel motivated even to do better and get similar rewards (Leonard, 2002). When such rewards are not available, people may lose motivation to put an extra effort. When people are sad, their learning progress is hindered (Berkely Graduate Division, 2018). This theory thus plays an important role in indicating the extent to which human behavior, which occurs as a result of a response to internal or external stimuli, may impact their learning process. Motivation is triggered by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors. For instance, when a past learning experience resulted in recognition and rewards, the commitment of the person to a new learning process would be positive. On the other hand, if a past learning experience resulted in unpleasant outcomes, the learner is likely to keep off a new learning process to avoid a recurrence of the same negative challenges. The implication of this theory is that the correct behavioral responses are triggered by the teacher and conveyed to the students. When such signals are positively interpreted among the students, the learning outcomes are enhanced. Past experience influence learning. People tend to easily connect with things that they are familiar with as opposed to those that they are not familiar with. Based on this premises, it is clear that when things that people are familiar with are used in teaching, their chances of understanding what is being taught is high. It is thus clear that the behavioral learning theory plays an important role in informing the learning process. From the above assessment of the learning experience, it is clear that human behavior significantly affects their learning process. People who are positive regarding a certain learning process are likely to learn better as opposed to individuals who are opposed to such a learning process. Behaviorist theory is thus a very relevant theory in explaining the learning process of individuals.
Cognitive constructivism
In this particular case, a situation when a student was highly motivated is in this case presented. The teacher offered the student with diverse materials to experiment with on their own. As a result, the students found the experiments very entertaining something that boosted their level of motivation. The student, having been brought up in a family where academic success is highly valued grew up highly valuing education and dedicating a lot of outcome in learning. His motivation for learning was thus highly intrinsic. The most applicable learning theory, in this case, is the cognitive theory of learning. In this theory, the knowledge systems are taken as structures that are constructed by the learners based on their pre-existing cognitive structures. Their motivation did not thus come from outside but the student, in this case, was convinced that focusing on learning was the most feasible action to take. The student learning process involves the active assimilation as well as the accommodation o the new information to an already established cognitive structure. Through experimentation, the student easily related the new knowledge on what he already knew and allowed assimilation of the new knowledge by testing new ideas and comparing them with what he already knew about the subject under study. Under the cognitive theory o learning, the students intrinsically motivate themselves to learn. Their desire to learn thus comes from within as opposed to the motivation from third parties. Under the cognitive theory, the teacher is able to promote learning among the students by providing them with an environment that promotes learning (Ormrod, 2016). In this particular case, the teacher promoted such a good learning environment by giving the students an opportunity to learn and only interjected when the students seemed to be doing wrong things. The student finds learning by experimentation very interesting as they did things on their one something that significantly boosted their level of motivation in the learning process. Based on these developments it is thus clear that cognitive theory provides a clear understanding of reasons as to why people are motivated to learn new ideas. When people are curious about new knowledge and find out what they are learning interesting, they are likely to continue learning. Equally, when they are convinced that learning is the main feasible option, they are likely to remain committed to learning even if they find the subject that they are learning to be rather hard (Pritchard, 2017).
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Social constructivism
The assessment in this final paragraph is in another scenario where I was highly motivated in the learning process. This was when we were organized as a teamwork in class to discuss issues that youth which hinders them to record success in class, ion their personal duties and in the society, I noted group discussions to be most applicable in learning. Human beings are social beings. As a result, knowledge is developed and studied within a social context. In many cases, students are able to learn better when in groups as opposed to when they carry out the studies on their own. Learning is thus a social engagement where human interactions influence the efficacy of the new leaning among the students. Under this theory, the learning process among individuals is highly influenced by extrinsic rewards that people get from the people they deal with or the community where they stay (Pritchard, 2017). In this particular case, my high motivation level emanated from the fact that when we were asked to form groups in class, I selected my friends to be part of our group. I also ensured that the student who scored highest on the topic in class was part of our group. All the group members were people who liked and played together and hence nobody feared the other. Social acceptance made most of the group members very comfortable unlike in other groups where members were not socially close to each other. Increase in motivation levels is thus a clear indication that the social constructivism theory is a very applicable theory when explaining learning progress among individuals (Ormrod, 2016). According to the theory, collaborative assimilation occurs among students when they learn together as a group. Students are able to learn better in groups where they enjoy the company of each other as opposed to learning in isolation. In social constructs, the extrinsic sources of motivation emanate from where the student engages in the learning process. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is internally generated by the student. Collaborative learning, under the social construct theory, is influenced by the teacher. It is the role of the teacher in such a learning process to promote teamwork among the students. Effective communication among the student is equally critically in ensuring that the team members share information in a timely manner (Pritchard, 2017).
References
Berkely Graduate Division (2018). Overview of learning theories. Retrieved from
http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/learning-overview/
Leonard, D. C. (2002). Learning theories: A to Z . Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A
comprehensive guide . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ormrod, J. E. (2016). Human learning . New York: McGraw Hills
Pritchard, A. (2017). Ways of Learning: Learning Theories for the Classroom . New York:
McGraw Hills
