Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

There are many different theories of education, all of which have some merit. After studying many theories, both in class, and through personal study I have chosen four which I believe are the most applicable in today’s society. I will discuss Thorndike’s Connectionism Learning Theory, Rumelhart & Norman’s Tri Modal Learning Theory, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and finally Lave’s Situated Learning Theory. The two primary theories involve structured instruction, the final two rely upon the exposure of different elements of the environment and human nature. I will then compare the theories, highlighting their variances, whilst also focussing upon their application to life.





Connectionism Learning Theory



Connectionism, the learning theory of Thorndike, suggests that learning is the result of associations forming between stimuli and responses. He theorises that these connections, or "habits", become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency, and that certain responses may also come to dominate others due to rewards.



Thorndike’s Connectionism was meant to be a general theory of learning for animals and humans. He was especially interested in the application of his theory to education, including mathematics, spelling and reading measurement of intelligence and adult learning.



The classic example of Thorndike's stimulus-response theory was a cat learning to escape from a "puzzle box" by pressing a lever inside the box. After much trial and error behaviour, the cat learns to push the lever to open the box. This connection is established because it results in success, as the cat escapes from the box. The law of exercise specifies that the connection was established because the connection occurred many times (the law of effect) and was rewarded (law of effect) as well as forming a single sequence (law of...