WEBVTT 00:00:00.590 --> 00:00:04.788 - [Instructor] Welcome to the theory primer. 00:00:04.788 --> 00:00:07.205 Theories give us perspective. 00:00:08.175 --> 00:00:11.175 Theories are like windows in a house 00:00:12.061 --> 00:00:14.105 where you can look though multiple windows 00:00:14.105 --> 00:00:16.263 into the same room 00:00:16.263 --> 00:00:19.433 and get a different view point from each window. 00:00:19.433 --> 00:00:21.087 We talk about learning instruction, 00:00:21.087 --> 00:00:23.735 we have three different perspectives. 00:00:23.735 --> 00:00:26.355 The first is behaviorism. 00:00:26.355 --> 00:00:29.850 Behaviorism views the mind as black box. 00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:31.130 According to behaviorism, 00:00:31.130 --> 00:00:34.354 learning is regular, expected responses. 00:00:34.354 --> 00:00:36.265 We know learning has occurred 00:00:36.265 --> 00:00:39.483 when we receive regular, expected responses. 00:00:39.483 --> 00:00:41.628 Instruction, according to behaviorism, 00:00:41.628 --> 00:00:44.516 is repetition and reinforcement, 00:00:44.516 --> 00:00:47.932 and that is how we help people learn and develop. 00:00:47.932 --> 00:00:50.997 The second perspective is cognitivism, 00:00:50.997 --> 00:00:54.111 and it views the mind as a computer. 00:00:54.111 --> 00:00:55.650 According to cognitivism, 00:00:55.650 --> 00:00:59.458 learning is recall of stored information. 00:00:59.458 --> 00:01:01.277 If we can recall stored information, 00:01:01.277 --> 00:01:03.652 we know that learning has occurred. 00:01:03.652 --> 00:01:06.950 Instruction, according to cognitivism, is helping 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:09.098 to grab someone's attention 00:01:09.098 --> 00:01:11.101 and then help make sense of information 00:01:11.101 --> 00:01:13.601 and store it for later recall. 00:01:14.555 --> 00:01:17.092 The third perspective is of constructivism. 00:01:17.092 --> 00:01:20.965 And constructivism views the mind as a rhizome. 00:01:20.965 --> 00:01:23.325 That is, all the different skills and knowledge 00:01:23.325 --> 00:01:26.066 are nodules that are interconnected 00:01:26.066 --> 00:01:28.483 to be drawn off of as needed. 00:01:30.237 --> 00:01:31.369 According to constructivism, 00:01:31.369 --> 00:01:34.702 learning is building knowledge by doing. 00:01:36.050 --> 00:01:38.380 Instruction, according to constructivism, 00:01:38.380 --> 00:01:41.043 is guiding problem solving. 00:01:41.043 --> 00:01:43.569 We're responsible for guiding our learners 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:46.652 solving new and ill-defined problems. 00:01:48.514 --> 00:01:50.139 Now based on those perspectives, 00:01:50.139 --> 00:01:53.644 we come up two different types of theories. 00:01:53.644 --> 00:01:55.982 We have what is called descriptive theory, 00:01:55.982 --> 00:01:58.003 and descriptive theory in education 00:01:58.003 --> 00:02:00.604 helps us to answer the question, what is learning? 00:02:00.604 --> 00:02:03.870 Learning theory, which is the outcome of that, 00:02:03.870 --> 00:02:07.016 attempts to describe what learning is. 00:02:07.016 --> 00:02:08.020 The second type of theory 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:10.697 that we have is prescriptive theory, 00:02:10.697 --> 00:02:14.574 which answers the question, how do we help people learn? 00:02:14.574 --> 00:02:17.676 The outcome of that is instructional theory, 00:02:17.676 --> 00:02:21.601 which give us methods for how to foster learning. 00:02:21.601 --> 00:02:25.072 In summary, we have three different perspectives, 00:02:25.072 --> 00:02:28.822 behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.535 From those perspective we have two theory types, 00:02:33.535 --> 00:02:35.679 descriptive theories, 00:02:35.679 --> 00:02:38.766 which are learning theories which try to explain 00:02:38.766 --> 00:02:42.496 what learning is and how it happens, 00:02:42.496 --> 00:02:45.086 and prescriptive theories, 00:02:45.086 --> 00:02:48.276 instructional theories which try to prescribe ways 00:02:48.276 --> 00:02:51.026 to help people learn and develop.