Whodunnit? K. P. Cross in 1981

What is it? A fusion of Knowles' andragogy (see the index card), Rogers' experiential learning (see the index card), and lifespan psychology (see the index card). Cross came up with the Characteristics of Adults as Learners (CAL) model to describe a lifelong learning program.

I'll take CAL for $100!

CAL is a model that has 2 classes of variables:

1) Personal Characteristics- life phases, developmental stages, and aging

Aging: deals with the gradual breakdown of the sensory-motor abilities (can't see well, can't hear well, and "High five! Low five! Too slow five", but luckily Age = Wisdom (better decision making, can reason better, can explain topics well)

Life phases and Developmental Stages are a rollercoaster (peaks and valleys)- getting married, a change of career, ending a career, etc.- might be directed by age, but not directly

2) Situational Characteristics- Part time learning? Full time learning?- affects administration of learning (scheduled time for learning, places learning takes place, the way new information is taught/learned)

Forced to learn? Want to learn?- has to do with the self-directed and problem-centered nature of adult learning

CAL= guidelines for adult education programs, but there isn't research to look to for support

Yawn! Gimme the Sparknotes!

- adult learning programs should take the participants' experiences into account

- adult learning programs should also adapt to adults when it comes to aging (gradual breakdown of the senses- ex. vision and hearing)

- it's important to challenge adults so they can level up in their personal development

- adults need choices!- where to learn, how the information is being taught, how a class is conducted

Whodunnit? Malcolm Knowles (last name looks like "knowledge" kinda)

What is it? Knowles tried to develop a theory specifically about adult learning. He believed adults are able to self-direct/motivate themselves, and are ready to take responsibility for their decisions, so adult learning needs to work with these ideas!

Say what?

Assumptions that Androgogy makes:

1) Adults want to know why they need to know something

2) Adults need to experience stuff to understand it better

3) Adults want to learn as if a problem needs to be solved, and they have to learn how to solve it

4) Adults don't want to wait for the payoff! Time is ticking, and there's no good reason to learn stuff that doesn't matter

Teaching adults should focus on the process and less on the content. Case studies, role playing, simulations, and self-eval are super useful! Instructors should facillitate learning instead of preaching to the choir.

Who uses this andragogy thing?

Applies to any kind of adult learning, and is used a lot in desigining organizational training programs (best example is training managers to be better at managing)

As Knowles Sees It- The Rundown:

-adults need to be involved in how they are taught and should have say in how good the learning program is

-experiences- good and bad- are the basis for learning activities

-adults really want to know more about what they deal with everyday (ex. current job or personal life)

-adult learning is a way to solve problems, and not to choke down a ton of information

Who is responsible? Carl Rogers

Explain yourself!

Two types of learning: 1) cognitive (useless)- facts and figures, 2) experiential (Bingo!)- computer is broken, let's learn how to fix it!

Experiential deals with needs and wants of the learner- Rogers talks about personal involvement with what is being learned, self-initiated (gotta learn it to do it), this website is crap or this website is super informative and helpful!, how does learning this spread out into various aspects of the learner's life?

Experiental learning = Personal Change and Growth!

Rogers figures that all human beings have the natural urge to learn, and teachers should encourage and facilitate learning

How can teachers encourage/facilitate learning?

1) set a positive learning environment

2) make it very clear why what is being taught is being taught, how is it relevant?

3) a good skeleton helps organize learning, and learning resources should be easy for students to understand and use

4) find a balance between intellectual and emotional aspects of learning

5) share personal thoughts and feelings, but don't cram them down learners throats

Lube for learning:

1) Student is in control of the learning process- students should be fully involved and in control over how learning happens and the progression of learning

2) Put students face to face with practical, social, personal, or research problems

3) Students should judge for themselves how much progress they are making or the level of success they have achieved (or failed to achieve :-( )

ROGERS EMPHASIZES: Importance of learning is to learn, and to be open to change!

Influenced by the humanistic education movement

-psychotherapy and humanistic approach to psychology

Rogers is talking about adult learners- INFLUENCED Knowles and Cross (see index cards about Adult learning theory and Androgogy)

Has this approach been researched? Yup! Combs studied the significance of Rogers work to education in 1982, Rogers and Friedberg discussed how Rogers ideas can be used in a classroom setting

Get To the Point:

1) when the subject matter is relevant to the learner's personal interests, then that is when serious learning happens

2) learning about what is dangerous to the self (new ideas that the learner doesn't agree with) happens better when external threats are as low as they can be

3) when the self feels less threatened, then learning happens more quickly

4) self propelled learning lasts longer and assimilates into the learner's whole life more easily

Who? George A. Miller in 1956

Miller had 2 theoretical ideas that are important to cognitive psych and information processing

"Chunking"- short term memory can only handle 5-9 (+7 or -2) chunks of meaningful info (examples of a chunk- numbers, words, positions, etc.)

- basically short term memory can only handle so much input at a time

TOTE (Test-Operate-Test-Exit): Miller worked with Galanter and Pribram to make this in 1960

The way they see it is TOTE should be used instead of stimulus-response as the basic unit of behavior

TOTE should replace the stimulus-response as the basic unit of behavior

How does TOTE work?- a goal is tested to see if it achievement has been reached, if the answer is no then an operation is performed to reach the goal, the new operation is tested, and if the answer is yes, then the behavior works, but if not more operations are tested until the goal is reached or given up on

How can Information Processing Theory be used?

Well, info processing theory is now considered a general theory of human cognition, and chunking has been proven to exist at all levels of cognitive processing

Shorten the list:

1) Short term memory (attention span) is limited, so sizable chunks of info should be used to learn bit by bit

2) Planning learning with the use of TOTE units is a fundamental cognitive process

3) Behavior is organized into a hierarchy (i.e. chunking and TOTE)

Who? Howard Gardner

What's the big idea?

- each individual has a specific form of intelligence:

1)Linguistic

2) Musical

3) Logical-Mathematical

4) Spatial

5) Body-Kinesthetic

6) Intra-personal (understanding one's own thought processes)

7) Inter-personal (inter-actions with other people)

What was Gardner trying to say?

- Both Learning AND Teaching should focus on the form of intelligence a person posesses

-Different intelligences represent both content domains AND learning modalities

- Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical should not be the only types used

- Important to understand cultural opinions about intelligences that are championed and utilized

Similar theories?

- Cronbach & Snow, Guilford, and Sternberg have some similar ideas as Gardner

When to use it?

- so far it's mostly used in child development, but it does apply to all ages

- no direct support for this theory, but Gardner says there is evidence in biology, anthropology, and creative arts- says his Multiple Intelligence ideas can apply to school programs and creativity in general

How to use it?

1) individuals should be encouraged to use their own intelligence style to learn

2) instructors should keep all forms in mind when creating a learning plan

3) rating the learning experience should measure many forms of intelligence, because everyone differs

Who? R. Schank

What?

-central focus is structure of knowledge, especially language understanding

Contextual dependency theory- deals with the representation of meaning in sentences.

1977 (Schank and Abelson) added concepts of scripts, plans, and themes to handle story-level understanding

1982,1986 (Schank) expande the theory to encompass other aspects of cognition

KEY ELEMENT of Conceptual Dependency Theory

-All conceptualizations can be represented in terms of a small number of primative acts performed by an actor on an object.

- All memory is episodic- organized around personal experiences

Scripts: generalized episodes

-specific memories are stored as pointers to scripts plus any unique events for an episode

Scripts allow individuals to make inferences needed for understanding by filling in missing information (i.e., schema).

1986 (Schank)- used script theory as basis for a dynamic model of memory

- model suggests that events are understood by using scripts, plans, and other knowledge structures and relevent previous experiences

Explanatory processes (XPs)- important aspect of dynamic memory, represent stereotyped answers to events that involve unusual events, XPs are critical for creativity

What's the point?

Conceptualization: doing something to an object in a direction.

1. All conceptualizations can be analyzed in terms of a small number of primative acts.
2. All memory is episodic and organized in terms of scripts.
3. Scripts allow individuals to make inferences and hence understand verbal/written discourse.
4. Higher level expectations are created by goals and plans.

Who?

Lave

What?

-learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it happens-different than dry info that is out of context and abstract

-learners should interact with other learners so an environment of learning can be created- this helps them figure out what to believe and how to act about the information

-an outsider learns more and gets better acquainted, and then as they get closer to the core group members they become more active and ready to engage with the group - situated learning is not usually intentional

-Lave & Wenger call it "legitimate peripheral participation"

Who else?

Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989) used the idea of cognitive apprenticeship- students learn better when the environment supports the information they are learning, and they are able to work with other students to form a sense of community learning

- Championed active participation over learning straight information

Gibson, Vygotsky, Schoenfeld- all came

What is that?- supports learning by letting learners receive, develop and use their critical thinking skills in a situation where the information is true

How to apply it? - general theory of knowledge acquisition When has it been previously used? - tech based learning activities in schools that focus on problem-solving skills Major Points: - Knowledge needs to be presented using situations that directly relate to that knowledge....would be difficult to teach how to cook without going to the kitchen - for learning to happen interacting and collaborating with other students is crucial

Who? Bandura of course! Remember the Bobo doll experiment?

What?

- learning happens through 1) attention to a modeled event and who is doing it, 2) retaining information- remembering how to symbolically perform the modeled action, 3) Motor reproduction- doing the thing, 4) Motivation- when should the action be done?

example: That guy looks like all of the other helpful caring guys I know...He is punching that toy over and over again...I relate to that guy because I have some sort of trust or relation to him...I'm going to punch that toy since that guy does it, and I want to be like him because he is like me

- Includes attention, memory, and motivation, SO it involves both mental and behavioral processes

Who else did stuff like this?

Vygotsky and Lave, because they think social learning is the key!

What's the BIG idea?

1) Observational learning happens how? a) taking in information, making a mental plan for how the action is being performed, and then doing the thing (modeled behavior is coded into words or images or labels- when this happens learning is better)

2) individuals more likely to adopt a behavior if the result is something important to them

3) individuals more likely to adopt a modeled action if model is similar to the observer, the model is seen as a good example to learn from (authority, parent, etc.), and the behavior seems like it is important

Who? B. Weiner

What?

-concerned with how individuals interpret events, and how it relates to their thinking and behavior

- assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do

I want to know why they did that. So, 1) I gotta see the behavior, 2) They did that for a reason, 3) Was that person forced to do that? (if forced, then the cause is the situation, if not, then cause is the person acting)

Weiner focused his theory on achievements

- said ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck were most important factors affecting attributions for achievement

What's an attribution?

3 Causal Dimensions of Attribution:

a) locus of control- internal or external (talked about in my intro to psych course at SHU)

b) stability- do causes change over time? (ex. ability can be called stable/internal cause, and effor can be unstable/internal)

c) controllability- causes someone can control (skill/efficacy) and not control (mood, others actions, luck)

Attribution theory is closely associated with the concept of motivation

- has ties to Schank's work

Gimme the rundown!

Attribution is a three stage process: (1) behavior is observed, (2) behavior is determined to be deliberate, and (3) behavior is attributed to internal or external causes.

Achievement can be attributed to (1) effort, (2) ability, (3) level of task difficulty, or (4) luck.

Causal dimensions of behavior are (1) locus of control, (2) stability, and (3) controllability.

Who? Leon Festinger

What?

-tendency for individuals to look for consistency of their beliefs, opinions, etc.

-if there is an inconsistency between thoughts and actions, then the thought will change to accomodate behavior

2 Factors affecting strength of dissonance

a) number of dissonant beliefs

b) importance of each one

3 ways to get rid of dissonance

a) Reduce importance of belief

b) Add more consonant beliefs that overpower the dissonant ones

c) change beliefs so no longer inconsistent

Dissonance happens when a person needs to choose between 2 beliefs or actions that are incompatible

GREATEST dissonance= When 2 alternatives are just as agreeable

Attitude change is more likely to happen in the direction of less incentive since results in lower disonnance

Contradiction between Cognitive Dissonance and Behavioral Theories= behavioral theories predict greater attitude change with increased reinforcement

When to use it?

Dissonance theory applies to ALL situations involving attitude formation and change. It is especially relevant to decision-making and problem-solving.

Example

Give me the skinny!

Dissonance results when an individual must choose between attitudes and behaviors that are contradictory.

Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behavior.

Who? Jerome Bruner

What?

Learning is an active process- construct new ideas or concepts based on current/past knowledge, selects and transforms info, constructs educated guesses, makes decisions, and relies on their cognitive schema or mental models to do so

Cognitive structure gives meaning and organizes experiences- go beyond info given

-Instructors should:

a) try and encourage students to discover principles by themselves

b) engage with students in active dialog

c) translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding.

Curriculum should be organized so new information builds on the old information

Bruner says instruction should address 4 aspects

a) Predisposition toward learning

b) ways in which information can be structures so it can be most easily retained by learner

c) best order to present info in

c) nature and pacing of rewards and punishments

If this works...should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, increasing manipulation of info

Big idea!

-Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness).

-Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral organization).

-Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given).

Who? Jack Mezirow

What? Transformative Learning has 2 basic kinds of learning

1) Instrumental- focuses on learning through task-orientated problem solving, cause and effect relationships

2) Communicative- how individuals communicate feelings, needs, desires- so Meaning (perspectives on the information, and plans for learning) are important Meaning perspectives- "broad sets of predispositions resulting from psychocultural assumptions which determine the horizons of our expectations" (Mezirow, 1991).

3 sets of codes for Meaning perspectives

1) sociolinguistic

2) psychological

3) epistemic

Reflection is important! - reflect on problem, solving the problem, or what the problem involves Reflection let's learners understand themselves more, and then they better understand learning

4 types of learning:

1)Refining or elaborating our meaning schemes

2)Learning new meaning schemes

3)Transforming meaning schemes

4)Transforming meaning perspectives

Sum it up!

Adult exhibit two kinds of learning: instrumental (e.g., cause/effect) and communicative (e.g., feelings) Learning involves change to meaning structures (perspectives and schemes). Change to meaning structures occurs through reflection about content, process or premises. Learning can involve: refining/elaborating meaning schemes, learning new schemes, transforming schemes, or transforming perspectives.