LEARNING
THEORY
SESSION 7
LEARNING
Learning is indexed by a change in behaviour, which must be translated
into observable behaviour. After learning, learners are capable of
performing something that they could not do before the learning
experience.
• This change is relatively permanent, it is neither transitory nor fixed.
• The change in behaviour need not occur immediately following the
learning experience but there a potential to act differently immediately.
• The change in behaviour results from experience or practice.
• The practice must be reinforced
3 SIMULTANEOUS PROCESSES
1. Acquisition of new information - often information that
runs counter to or is a replacement for what the person
has previously known.
2. Transformation - the process of manipulating knowledge
to make it fit new tasks. Transformation comprises the
ways we deal with information in order to go beyond it.
3. Evaluation - checking whether the way we have
manipulated information is adequate to the task.
LEARNING PROCESS
If the learning process is not in place, it makes that subject almost
unachievable.
A badly conceived training program would run the risk of wastage
of money, time and other resources without delivering tangible
results.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Type of Learning
Outcome Description of Capability Example
Verbal Inform ation State, tell, or describe previously State three reasons for follow ing
stored inform ation com pany safety procedures
Intellectual Skills A pply generalizable concepts and rules D esign and code a com puter program
to solve problem s and generate novel that m eets custom er requirem ents
products
M otor Skills Execute a physical action w ith precision Shoot a gun and consistently hit a
and tim ing sm all m oving target
A ttitudes C hoose a personal course of action Choose to respond to all incoming
mail within 24 hours
Cognitive Strategies M anage one’s ow n thinking and Selectively use three different strategies
learning processes to diagnose engine malfunctions
REINFORCEMENT THEORY
• Processes in reinforcement theory
1. Positive reinforcement
2. Negative reinforcement
3. Extinction
4. Punishment
Emphasizes that people are motivated to perform or
avoid certain behaviours because of past outcomes
that have resulted from those behaviours.
REINFORCEMENT THEORY
• The trainer needs to identify what outcomes the
learner finds most positive and negative
• Trainers then need to link these outcomes to learners
acquiring knowledge, skills, or changing behaviours
• Trainers can withhold or provide job-related, personal,
and career-related benefits to learners who master
program content.
• Behaviour modification is a training method based on
reinforcement theory.
• Employees were encouraged to increase the number
of safe behaviours they demonstrated on the job
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Emphasizes that people learn by observing other persons
(models) whom they believe are credible and knowledgeable
1. The theory recognizes that behaviour that is reinforced or
rewarded tends to be repeated
Learning new skills or behaviour comes from:
2. Directly experiencing the consequences of using a
behaviour or skill
3. The process of observing others and seeing the
consequences of their behaviour
Person’s self-efficacy can be increased by
Logical
Verbal
verification
persuasion
Observatio Past
n of others accomplish
(modeling) ments
PROCESS OF SOCIAL LEARNING
THEORY
GOAL THEORIES
Goal setting theory: Behavior results from a person’s conscious goals
and intentions.
Goals influence a person’s behavior by:
• Directing energy and attention
• Sustaining effort over time
• Motivating the person to develop strategies for goal attainment
• Learning facilitated with specific challenging goals and objectives
Goal orientation Theory:
• High Learning orientation: Attention to Task
• High Performance orientation ; Attention to performing well
NEED THEORIES
Need: A deficiency that a person is experiencing at any point in time
Maslow’s and Alderfer’s need theories focused on
• Physiological needs
• Relatedness needs
• Growth needs
Need Theories suggest that to motivate learning,
• trainers should identify trainees’ needs
• communicate how training program content relates to fulfilling these
needs
• If certain basic needs of trainees are not met, they are unlikely to be
motivated to learn
• Implication of need theory relates to providing employees with a choice
of training programs to attend.
EXPECTANCY THEORY OF MOTIVATION
EXPECTANCY THEORY
From a training perspective, expectancy theory suggests that learning is most
likely to occur
• when employees believe they can learn the content of the program
(expectancy)
• learning is linked to outcomes such as better job performance, a salary
increase, or peer recognition (instrumentality)
• employees value these outcomes (valence).
ADULT LEARNING THEORY
. Assumptions of the theory
• Need to know why they are learning something
• Need to be self-directed
• More work-related experiences into the learning situation
• Problem-centered approach to learning
• Motivated to learn by both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators
• Design Issues - Implications
• Self-concept - Mutual planning and collaboration in instruction
• Experience- Use learner experience as basis for examples and applications
• Readiness- Develop instruction based on the learner’s interests and
competencies
• Time Perspective -Immediate application of content
• Orientation to learning- Problem-centered instead of subject centered
INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
These theories propose that information or messages taken in by the learner
undergo several transformations in the human brain.
• Information processing begins when a message or stimuli (which could be sound,
smell, touch, or pictures) from the environment is received by receptors (ears,
nose, skin, eyes).
• The message is registered in the senses and stored in short-term memory.
• The message is then transformed or coded for storage in long-term memory.
• A search process occurs in memory during which time a response to the
message or stimulus is organized.
• The response generator organizes the teamers response and tells the effectors
(muscles) what to do.
The “what to do” relates to one of the five learning outcomes:
• Verbal information
• Cognitive skills
• Motor skills
• Intellectual skills
• Attitudes
MODEL OF HUMAN INFORMATION
PROCESSING
The final link in the model is feedback from the environment. This feedback
provides the learner with an evaluation of the response given.
