LRNT523 Unit 2 Activity 5
As I took a dive in to the readings of activity 5, instantaneously I began to converge what was being read to what was already hard wired in my brain. The three learning theories; behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism had me rapid firing several thoughts and questions that seemed to naturally have a connection and interplay with these three theories.
Behaviorism is about what the learner’s response is to a stimulus and what they do; observable and measurable, where cognitivism is about the learner processing new information and how they organize and connect it with existing information, and finally constructivism is about the interpretation of new information and the meaning and application learners make to their own realities.
I was convinced some of the following variables listed below would help guide what theory was best suited, since I’m convinced one wasn’t necessarily better than the other and perhaps a combination of all three would better serve a more holistic learning approach for the end user.
As I reflect on my own approaches to designing, developing and implementing learning solutions many of the choices made for good instructional design are based on several considerations below and by no means is this an exhaustive list:
- Is the learner a novice or an expert?
- Is the content simple or complex?
- Is what’s being taught concrete or abstract?
- What is the domain of learning?
- What is the classification of learning objectives based on Blooms Taxonomy?
- Does the learner come with a depth and breadth of experience and tenure?
- What demographics & diversity come in to play (gender, age, location, culture, ethnicity, position)?
- What is their educational background?
- Is there a preferred modality (technological limitations)?
- Currency of time and cost?
- Is there an assumed baseline of knowledge / pre-requisite?
- Is there specific industry risks and regulations?
- Is there an alignment to any competencies?
- What is the level of expertise of facilitator / teacher?