define learning presentation

• Covid-19 SYL Resources
• Student Led Conference
• Presentation of Learning
• SYL Stories

What is a Presentation of Learning and Why Do We Do It?

Alec patton.

A Presentation of Learning (POL) requires students to present their learning to an audience, in order to prove that they are ready to progress. Effective POLs include both academic content and the student’s reflection on their social and personal growth.  They are important rituals – literally “rites of passage” for students.

At my school, every student gives two POLs per year – one at the end of fall semester, and one at the end of the year. They happen at the same time that most schools have their final exams, and serve a similar function. However, unlike exams, POLs happen in front of an audience that includes their teachers, parents, and peers. By requiring students to present to an audience, reflect on their learning, and answer probing questions on the spot, we are helping students build skills that they will use for the rest of their life. Taking an exam, on the other hand, is a skill that students will rarely, if ever, need to utilize after they finish college.

Every team’s POL expectations are slightly different, but they all fall into one of two broad categories: “presentation” or “discussion”.

Presentation

The presentation is the “classic” version of the POL. A student gives a prepared presentation on their own, and takes questions. Designing a POL structure is a balancing act for the teacher: require students to cover too much material, and every one of your students will march in and recite a near-identical list of assignments completed and skills learned. On the other hand, make the requirements too open-ended and the POL can become an empty facsimile of reflection – or, as students have described it to me, “BS-ing”!

I once saw a POL assignment that included the phrase “it has to have some magic”, which students were free to interpret as they saw fit. It led to unpredictable and delightful presentations, and inspired more thought and extra work than any rubric could have.

The “Discussion of Learning” trades the presentation structure for a seminar structure: a small group of students facilitates their own hour-long discussion, with the teachers initially just listening, then adding questions to enrich and drive the discussion. The parents are invited in for the final fifteen minutes, when the students summarize the discussion thus far and invite the parents to participate.

In my experience, this format tends to lead to meatier, more honest reflection than presentations. Especially when students are allowed to choose their own groups, they tend to make themselves more vulnerable than in other contexts. This format also opens up a space for students whose voices aren’t always heard in the classroom. The most memorable POL I’ve ever been a part of was a discussion by a group of girls, all  them native Spanish speakers, who talked about having been made uncomfortably aware of their accents by peers, and struggling to make their voices heard within our team. It was powerful, effective, thoughtful – everything I would have wanted from a POL, but it never would have happened if the structure had been different.

Which format should I choose, and when?

Students will be best-served by experiencing both the “presentation” and “discussion” format at some point in their academic careers.

I like to end fall semester with a presentation, because individual presentations give me the clearest sense of which skills a student has successfully developed, and what they will need more help with in the coming semester. I then end the year with a discussion, because at this point I know the students very well, and in a small-group setting we can speak frankly both about their successes, and the potential problems they will face in the coming year. I end this discussion with every student setting goals for the summer and coming year that I record and email to the student and their parents, so that they leave my class with the best possible trajectory into the future.

Related Projects

The Missing Person in Traditional Parent-Teacher Conferences by Krista Gypton

“Fish Tank” at Lake Travis High School

Trigg County Shares Their Learning, What About Your County? By Michelle Sadrena Pledger

Montgomery Middle Banner Design Exhibition

Students as Teachers: A Senior Reflects on her Final Exhibitions Evening at Meridian Academy

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

What Is Learning?

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

How Learning Works

How to improve learning.

Learning is a relatively lasting change in behavior that is the result of experience. It is the acquisition of information, knowledge, and skills. When you think of learning, it's easy to focus on formal education that takes place during childhood and early adulthood. But learning is an ongoing process that takes place throughout life and isn't confined to the classroom.

Learning became a major focus of study in psychology during the early part of the twentieth century as behaviorism rose to become a major school of thought. Today learning remains an important concept in numerous areas of psychology, including cognitive, educational, social, and developmental psychology .

Psychologists study how learning occurs but also how social, emotional, cultural, and biological variables might influence the learning process.

Learning Is an Active Process

Even if you learn something relatively quickly, it is still a multi-step process. To learn, you must encounter new information, pay attention to it, coordinate it with what you already know, store it in your memory, and apply it.

For example, say you want to fix a running toilet. You might search for a how-to video, watch it to see if it addresses your need, and then use the instructions to make the repair. Or, consider a time when you came across an unfamiliar word while reading. If you stopped to look up the meaning, then you learned a new word.

The term "active learning" is often used to describe an interactive process, such as doing a hands-on experiment to learn a concept rather than reading about it. But "passive learning" (reading a text, listening to a lecture, watching a movie) is still learning, and can be effective.

Learning Leads to Lasting Change

Learning means retaining the knowledge that you gained. If you see that new vocabulary word in another context, you will understand its meaning. If the toilet starts running again in the future, you may need to watch the video again to refresh your memory on how to fix it, but you have some knowledge of what to do.

Learning Occurs As a Result of Experience

The learning process begins when you have a new experience, whether that is reading a new word, listening to someone explain a concept, or trying a new method for solving a problem. Once you've tried a technique for boiling eggs or a different route to work, you can determine whether it works for you and then use it in the future.

Learning Can Affect Attitudes, Knowledge, or Behavior

There's far more to learning than "book learning." Yes, you can learn new words, concepts, and facts. But you can also learn how to do things and how to feel about things.

It's important to remember that learning can involve both beneficial and negative behaviors. Learning is a natural and ongoing part of life that takes place continually, both for better and for worse.

Sometimes learning means becoming more knowledgeable and leading a better life. In other instances, it means learning behaviors that are detrimental to health and well-being.

The process of learning is not always the same. Learning can happen in a wide variety of ways. To explain how and when learning occurs, psychologists have proposed a number of different theories.

Learning Through Classical Conditioning

Learning through association is one of the most fundamental ways that people learn new things. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered one method of learning during his experiments on the digestive systems of dogs . He noted that the dogs would naturally salivate at the sight of food, but that eventually the dogs also began to salivate whenever they spotted the experimenter’s white lab coat.

Later experiments involved pairing the sight of food with the sound of a bell tone. After multiple pairings, the dogs eventually began to salivate to the sound of the bell alone.

Classical conditioning is a type of learning that takes place through the formation of associations.

An unconditioned stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response is paired with an neutral stimulus. Eventually, an association forms and the previously neutral stimulus becomes known as a conditioned stimulus that then triggers a conditioned response.

Learning Through Operant Conditioning

The consequences of your actions can also play a role in determining how and what you learn. Behaviorist B.F. Skinner noted that while classical conditioning could be used to explain some types of learning, it could not account for everything. Instead, he suggested that reinforcements and punishments were responsible for some types of learning.

When something immediately follows a behavior, it can either increase or decrease the likelihood that the behavior will occur again in the future. This process is referred to as operant conditioning .

For example, imagine that you just got a new puppy, and you would like to begin training it to behave in specific ways. Whenever the puppy does what you want it to do, you reward it with a small treat or a gentle pat. When the puppy misbehaves, you scold him and do not offer affection. Eventually, the reinforcement leads to an increase in the desired behaviors and a decrease in the unwanted behaviors.

Learning Through Observation

While classical conditioning and operant conditioning can help explain many instances of learning, you can probably immediately think of situations where you have learned something without being conditioned, reinforced, or punished.

Psychologist Albert Bandura noted that many types of learning do not involve any conditioning and, in fact, evidence that learning has occurred might not even be immediately apparent.

Observational learning occurs by observing the actions and consequences of other people’s behavior (such as with latent learning ).

In a series of famous experiments, Bandura was able to demonstrate the power of this observational learning. Children watched video clips of adults interacting with a large, inflatable Bobo doll. In some instances, the adults simply ignored the doll, while in other clips the adults would hit, kick and yell at the doll.

When kids were later given the chance to play within a room with a Bobo doll present, those who had observed the adults abusing the doll were more likely to engage in similar actions.

Learning doesn't always come easily. Sometimes, you must overcome obstacles in order to gain new knowledge. These obstacles may take several different forms.

Environmental Challenges

Access to learning opportunities and aspects of the learning environment play a role in how people learn. These can be big or small challenges. If you can't find instructions or locate someone to ask about your running toilet, you don't have the opportunity to learn how to fix it. In the classroom and the workplace, you may face physical, cultural, or economic barriers that inhibit your ability to learn.

Cognitive Challenges

Cognitive factors affect the learning process, For example, the ability to memorize or attend to information can either facilitate or hinder learning. Specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia , affect the way knowledge is processed and retained.

Motivational Challenges

Motivation, including both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation . can affect how much people learn. People with a strong intrinsic motivation to learn feel compelled to learn for learning's sake. They do not need rewards, such as grades or prizes, to feel motivated to learn.

Of course, this may only apply to certain skills or subjects. Someone may need extrinsic motivators to complete math homework, for example, but be intrinsically motivated to research their family history. Challenges with motivation can stem from ADHD , depression , and other mental health conditions.

Whether you are involved in formal education or not, you are always learning throughout your life. And there are strategies you can use to improve how you learn and how well you retain and apply what you have learned.

First, keep learning. Learning is a skill that can be practiced. One study of older adults found that learning a new skill improved working memory, episodic memory, and reasoning. And the harder the new skill (participants learned quilting, digital photography, or both), the more it strengthened their brains.

Learn in multiple ways. If you want to learn a new language, you might use an app that offers lessons in various aspects: Reading, listening, and speaking. But you might also listen to a podcast in the new language while you are taking a walk, or practice writing new vocabulary words by hand. Similarly, it helps to review information frequently and to use memorization techniques .

Another smart way to promote learning: Teach. When you show how a friend how to play tennis, for example, you're reinforcing what you know by sharing it. You must revisit the basics that were once new to you and present them to your student.

Support learning and memory by getting enough sleep . Research shows that sleep helps the brain consolidate information, so make it a priority to practice good sleep hygiene for a healthy body and brain .

A Word From Verywell

Learning is not a one-dimensional process. It takes place in many different ways and there are a wide variety of factors that can influence how and what people learn. While people often focus on the observable and measurable ways that learning takes place, it is also important to remember that we cannot always immediately detect what has been learned. People are capable of learning concepts and skills that are not immediately observable.

Selbing I, Olsson A. Anxious behaviour in a demonstrator affects observational learning.   Sci Rep . 2019;9(1):9181. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45613-1

Meo SA. Basic steps in establishing effective small group teaching sessions in medical schools . Pak J Med Sci . 2013;29(4):1071-1076. doi:10.12669/pjms.294.3609

Zhang H, Zeng H, Priimagi A, Ikkala O. Viewpoint: Pavlovian materials—functional biomimetics inspired by classical conditioning . Adv Mater Weinheim . 2020;32(20):e1906619. doi:10.1002/adma.201906619

Wolff M, Evens R, Mertens LJ, et al. Learning to let go: A cognitive-behavioral model of how psychedelic therapy promotes acceptance .  Front Psychiatry . 2020;11:5. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00005

Cabus S, Ilieva-Trichkova P, Štefánik M. Multi-layered perspective on the barriers to learning participation of disadvantaged adults . ZfW . 2020;43(2):169-196. doi:10.1007/s40955-020-00162-3

Park DC, Lodi-Smith J, Drew L, et al. The impact of sustained engagement on cognitive function in older adults: The Synapse Project . Psychol Sci . 2014;25(1):103-112. doi:10.1177/0956797613499592

Cellini N, Torre J, Stegagno L, Sarlo M. Sleep before and after learning promotes the consolidation of both neutral and emotional information regardless of REM presence . Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2016;133:136-144. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2016.06.015

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

33 What Is Learning?

[latexpage]

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explain how learned behaviors are different from instincts and reflexes
• Define learning
• Recognize and define three basic forms of learning—classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning

Birds build nests and migrate as winter approaches. Infants suckle at their mother’s breast. Dogs shake water off wet fur. Salmon swim upstream to spawn, and spiders spin intricate webs. What do these seemingly unrelated behaviors have in common? They all are unlearned behaviors. Both instincts and reflexes are innate behaviors that organisms are born with. Reflexes are a motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment. They tend to be simpler than instincts, involve the activity of specific body parts and systems (e.g., the knee-jerk reflex and the contraction of the pupil in bright light), and involve more primitive centers of the central nervous system (e.g., the spinal cord and the medulla). In contrast, instincts are innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of events, such as aging and the change of seasons. They are more complex patterns of behavior, involve movement of the organism as a whole (e.g., sexual activity and migration), and involve higher brain centers.

Both reflexes and instincts help an organism adapt to its environment and do not have to be learned. For example, every healthy human baby has a sucking reflex, present at birth. Babies are born knowing how to suck on a nipple, whether artificial (from a bottle) or human. Nobody teaches the baby to suck, just as no one teaches a sea turtle hatchling to move toward the ocean. Learning, like reflexes and instincts, allows an organism to adapt to its environment. But unlike instincts and reflexes, learned behaviors involve change and experience: learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. In contrast to the innate behaviors discussed above, learning involves acquiring knowledge and skills through experience. Looking back at our surfing scenario, Julian will have to spend much more time training with his surfboard before he learns how to ride the waves like his father.

Learning to surf, as well as any complex learning process (e.g., learning about the discipline of psychology), involves a complex interaction of conscious and unconscious processes. Learning has traditionally been studied in terms of its simplest components—the associations our minds automatically make between events. Our minds have a natural tendency to connect events that occur closely together or in sequence. Associative learning occurs when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment. You will see that associative learning is central to all three basic learning processes discussed in this chapter; classical conditioning tends to involve unconscious processes, operant conditioning tends to involve conscious processes, and observational learning adds social and cognitive layers to all the basic associative processes, both conscious and unconscious. These learning processes will be discussed in detail later in the chapter, but it is helpful to have a brief overview of each as you begin to explore how learning is understood from a psychological perspective.

In classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, organisms learn to associate events—or stimuli—that repeatedly happen together. We experience this process throughout our daily lives. For example, you might see a flash of lightning in the sky during a storm and then hear a loud boom of thunder. The sound of the thunder naturally makes you jump (loud noises have that effect by reflex). Because lightning reliably predicts the impending boom of thunder, you may associate the two and jump when you see lightning. Psychological researchers study this associative process by focusing on what can be seen and measured—behaviors. Researchers ask if one stimulus triggers a reflex, can we train a different stimulus to trigger that same reflex? In operant conditioning, organisms learn, again, to associate events—a behavior and its consequence (reinforcement or punishment). A pleasant consequence encourages more of that behavior in the future, whereas a punishment deters the behavior. Imagine you are teaching your dog, Hodor, to sit. You tell Hodor to sit, and give him a treat when he does. After repeated experiences, Hodor begins to associate the act of sitting with receiving a treat. He learns that the consequence of sitting is that he gets a doggie biscuit ( [link] ). Conversely, if the dog is punished when exhibiting a behavior, it becomes conditioned to avoid that behavior (e.g., receiving a small shock when crossing the boundary of an invisible electric fence).

Observational learning extends the effective range of both classical and operant conditioning. In contrast to classical and operant conditioning, in which learning occurs only through direct experience, observational learning is the process of watching others and then imitating what they do. A lot of learning among humans and other animals comes from observational learning. To get an idea of the extra effective range that observational learning brings, consider Ben and his son Julian from the introduction. How might observation help Julian learn to surf, as opposed to learning by trial and error alone? By watching his father, he can imitate the moves that bring success and avoid the moves that lead to failure. Can you think of something you have learned how to do after watching someone else?

All of the approaches covered in this chapter are part of a particular tradition in psychology, called behaviorism, which we discuss in the next section. However, these approaches do not represent the entire study of learning. Separate traditions of learning have taken shape within different fields of psychology, such as memory and cognition, so you will find that other chapters will round out your understanding of the topic. Over time these traditions tend to converge. For example, in this chapter you will see how cognition has come to play a larger role in behaviorism, whose more extreme adherents once insisted that behaviors are triggered by the environment with no intervening thought.

Instincts and reflexes are innate behaviors—they occur naturally and do not involve learning. In contrast, learning is a change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. There are three main types of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of associative learning where associations are made between events that occur together. Observational learning is just as it sounds: learning by observing others.

Review Questions

Which of the following is an example of a reflex that occurs at some point in the development of a human being?

• child riding a bike
• teen socializing
• infant sucking on a nipple
• toddler walking

Learning is best defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that ________.

• occurs as a result of experience
• is found only in humans
• occurs by observing others

Two forms of associative learning are ________ and ________.

• classical conditioning; operant conditioning
• classical conditioning; Pavlovian conditioning
• operant conditioning; observational learning
• operant conditioning; learning conditioning

In ________ the stimulus or experience occurs before the behavior and then gets paired with the behavior.

• associative learning
• observational learning
• operant conditioning
• classical conditioning

Critical Thinking Questions

Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning. How are they alike? How do they differ?

Both classical and operant conditioning involve learning by association. In classical conditioning, responses are involuntary and automatic; however, responses are voluntary and learned in operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the stimulus) comes before the behavior; in operant conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the consequence) comes after the behavior. Also, whereas classical conditioning involves an organism forming an association between an involuntary (reflexive) response and a stimulus, operant conditioning involves an organism forming an association between a voluntary behavior and a consequence.

What is the difference between a reflex and a learned behavior?

A reflex is a behavior that humans are born knowing how to do, such as sucking or blushing; these behaviors happen automatically in response to stimuli in the environment. Learned behaviors are things that humans are not born knowing how to do, such as swimming and surfing. Learned behaviors are not automatic; they occur as a result of practice or repeated experience in a situation.

Personal Application Questions

What is your personal definition of learning? How do your ideas about learning compare with the definition of learning presented in this text?

What kinds of things have you learned through the process of classical conditioning? Operant conditioning? Observational learning? How did you learn them?

Share This Book

• Increase Font Size

the process through which we acquire new information or build on information previously learnt.

Introduction

Human development, cognition, and behavior all depend on learning, a basic psychological process. It includes the processes by which people learn and hold onto their knowledge, abilities, behaviors, attitudes, and values. The psychological study of learning has major implications for education, individual development, and societal advancement.

Learning is described in psychology as an experience- or instruction-based modification of behavior or potential behavior that lasts relatively long. This entails having the capacity to modify, improve, and apply new knowledge in a variety of contexts.

Background and Context

Historical Perspective

The early days of psychology as a distinct science are where the roots of the study of learning in psychology can be found. Early theories, promoted by psychologists like John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, emphasized behaviorist viewpoints. Skinner. They looked at observable behaviors and how reinforcement and punishment affected them.

The cognitive revolution in the middle of the 20th century shifted the emphasis from observable behavior to mental processes. The concept of vicarious learning was first discussed in Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory , which emphasized the importance of imitation and observation.

Current State of Research

Cognitive, social, developmental, and neurobiological perspectives are all included in the study of learning today. The scope of research has increased to include complex phenomena like self-regulated learning, metacognition (thinking about thinking), and the influence of technology on learning processes. Additionally, current research investigates how sociocultural and individual differences impact learning.

Understanding learning is essential to many facets of the human experience. Learning process insights can guide instructional strategies in educational settings to improve student engagement and performance. Learning principles can direct training and development initiatives at work, improving output and performance. Interventions for behavioral change, from healthy habits to psychotherapy, can be informed by an understanding of learning.

Key Concepts and Terminologies

• Classical Conditioning : A type of associative learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a significant stimulus, leading to a similar response.
• Operant Conditioning : Learning through reinforcement and punishment, where behaviors are strengthened or weakened based on their consequences.
• Observational Learning : Learning by observing the behaviors of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
• Cognitive Learning : Learning based on mental processes such as perception, memory, and problem-solving.
• Metacognition : Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.
• Self-regulated Learning : An active process where learners set goals for their learning and then attempt to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation, and behavior.

Practical Applications and Implications

In educational contexts, understanding learning processes can greatly influence instructional strategies. As an illustration, implementing techniques that encourage metacognition, self-regulation , and active learning can improve student engagement and academic performance.

Effective training and development initiatives in the workplace can be guided by learning principles. These programs can be more effective if they take into account how adults learn as well as the importance of motivation and feedback.

Theoretical underpinnings of learning can guide interventions for behavior change in healthcare and therapy. For instance, cognitive-behavioral therapy frequently makes use of learning principles to assist people in changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is learning, and why is it important.

Learning is the result of experience or instruction and is characterized by a relatively long-lasting change in behavior or potential behavior. It is essential because it supports social advancement, education, personal development, and human growth.

How do psychologists conduct research and gather data on learning?

To study learning, psychologists employ a variety of techniques, such as experiments, observations, surveys, and case studies. To investigate the neural underpinnings of learning, researchers may also employ physiological techniques (such as brain imaging methods).

What are the different branches of learning psychology?

Learning psychology has various subfields that concentrate on various aspects of learning, such as cognitive learning, social learning , developmental aspects of learning, and learning disabilities. Each of these fields contributes to a thorough comprehension of how people learn and retain information, abilities, behaviors, attitudes, and values.

How do psychological theories and concepts of learning apply to daily life?

Understanding theories is important for many facets of daily life. For instance, they can influence workplace training programs, teaching strategies for classrooms, and behavior modification strategies for health and wellness. They can also serve as a guide for individual learning and skill-acquisition strategies.

Learning psychology research has important implications for how society and daily life are conducted. The use of learning principles in instructional design can improve student engagement, motivation, and academic performance. Understanding how adults learn can help create training and professional development initiatives that are successful in the workplace.

Learning principles can direct interventions for behavior change in the health sector, promoting healthier lifestyles and treatment compliance. Understanding how we learn can aid people in acquiring new knowledge and skills more efficiently and with greater enjoyment in the areas of personal growth and lifelong learning.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior . Free Press.

Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review , 20(2), 158–177. DOI: 10.1037/h0074428

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Prentice Hall.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

What Happens At An ADHD Assessment

A Quick Look at the History Behind Hypnosis

A Brief History of Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control

A Deep Dive into the Social Psychology of Leadership

Counseling Approaches to Client Care: Theories to Apply in Practice

The Future Of Education: Can You Earn A Psychology Degree Online?

Insomnia & Mental Illness: What is the Correlation?

Stop Guessing: Here Are 3 Steps to Data-Driven Psychological Decisions

Getting Help with Grief: Understanding Therapy & How It Can Help

Exploring the Psychology of Risk and Reward

Understanding ADHD in Women: Symptoms, Treatment & Support

Meeting the Milestones: A Guide to Piaget's Child Developmental Stages

Popular psychology terms, medical model, hypermnesia, affirmation, backup reinforcer, brainwashing, message-learning approach, affiliative behavior, social pressure, contrast effect, behavioral sequence.

Definition of Learning

Jan 04, 2020

210 likes | 262 Views

Definition of Learning. From a Dictionary: “To gain knowledge or understanding of, or skill in, by study, instruction, or investigation.” Problems

Share Presentation

• learning phenomena
• mental processes
• social behavior
• learning enables animals
• recent social psychology research

Presentation Transcript

Definition of Learning • From a Dictionary: “To gain knowledge or understanding of, or skill in, by study, instruction, or investigation.” • Problems • 1. Learning does not always involve a “gain” or benefit; for example, psychological disorders, prejudices, and maladaptive behaviors like procrastination. • 2. Learning is not always intentional. “Incidental learning” occurs without intent or instructions to remember the information later. For example... Remembering the location of your classrooms. • Domjan Textbook: “Learning is an enduring change in the mechanism of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with those of similar stimuli and responses.” p.14 • 1. "Enduring Changes" to rule out behavioral changes that result from • Short-term memory • Fatigue • Change in stimulus conditions – loud noise

Definition of Learning • “Learning is an enduring change in the mechanism of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with those of similar stimuli and responses.” p.14 • 2. "Mechanisms of behaviour" because behaviour is determined by many factors • learning as an internal process, a state of knowledge • learning often takes place without immediately being shown in behavior • Studies of latent learning support a distinction between learning, an internal process, and behavior or performance, an observable process. • may be changes in performance due to factors other than learning such as motivational state “hunger” (see learning performance distinction) • 3. "Resulting From Prior Experience" to rule out changes that result from • maturation (neuromuscular development) which is generally seen as preparing a species to learn a skill rapidly • examples would be the development of walking and the learning of language

Learning – Performance Distinction • Evidence of learning • Learning is inferred by change in performance • To say that learning has taken place, we must observe a change in behavior either as • a new response • suppression of previous responses • Learning is inferred from behavior but is not the same thing as behavior • Other than learning what could influence the performance of behavior? • Fatigue —"the mind is willing but the flesh is weak" • Motivation — latent learning example; • rat in a maze is not motivated to perform • adding food to the maze improves performance • Maturation — could also affect performance but would not call it learning (i.e., child reaching cookie jar on top of counter) • Change in stimulus conditions, change • “Therefore, a change in performance cannot automatically be considered to reflect learning.” p. 14

Functional Basis of Learning • The importance of learning for survival appears obvious • Learning enables animals to deal with the demands of a changing environment. • Animals learn about stimuli in their environment • serve as signals for some important outcome • a particular odor could indicate that there is food or a predator nearby. • Animals also learn about their own behavior • A certain action will produce a particular outcome • running to escape from a predator • Why is learning a central issue in psychology? • 1. "Profiting by experience" seems increasingly important as one looks at phylogenetically more complex animals. • 2. Learning is automatic and more pervasive than most people think. • 3. Almost all areas of psychology use learning principles. Developmental; Educational; Clinical; Behavioural Neuroscience

Learning and levels of Analysis • Learning can be studied at a variety of levels • function of learning at the behavioral level is to facilitate an organism’s interactions with its environment • systems level may be examined as neural mechanisms • at the level of individual neurons and synapses, with an emphasis on molecular and cellular mechanisms • developmental changes as learning as a function of age • adaptive significance related to the process of evolution

Levels of Analysis Behaviorism - focuses on an individual's behavior Neuroscience - to the entire science of the nervous system Neurobiology - the biology of the nervous system

The Unconscious Mind • Why We Behave • “Most of a person’s every day life is determined not by their conscious intentions and deliberate choices but mental processes that are put into motion by features of the environment that operate outside of the conscious awareness and guidance” (p. 462) • Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American Psychologist, 54, 462-479.

The Unconscious Mind • Contemporary psychological explanation of the unconscious mind • subliminal information processing makes the unconscious mind appear dumb • This is an unrealistic model of unconscious processing • Recent social psychology research on unconscious processes • unintentional nature and the inherent lack of awareness • People are often unaware of the reasons and causes of their own behavior • conscious decision making is not the only influences on behavior • Evidence from neurology, patients with frontal lobe damage • Evidence from priming studies • Priming is the presentation of a stimulus that activates a concept in memory • People asked about their life on sunny days reported being more satisfied than those on rainy days. Effect disappears if the weather is brought to their attention • When primed with “elderly” words like Florida, gray, wise, wrinkle, forgetful walked 20% slower than control participants

The Unconscious Mind • Unconscious control of individual social behavior • behavior produced by environmental factors and not by the individual’s conscious awareness and intentions • access to unconscious processing of information is limited • actually this is know from many examples of cognitive research on information process • a limited attentional cognitive mechanism • Yet the priming and the patient studies do complement and support each other in demonstrating the same two principles: • that an individual’s behavior can be directly caused by the current environment, without the necessity of an act of conscious choice or will; • and that this behavior can and will unfold without the person being aware of its external determinant.

The Unconscious Mind • We are predisposed to prefer certain objects and aspects of our environment over others • our tendencies to approach or avoid aspects of our environment • faster to make approach movements of the arm when responding to positive situations • faster to make avoidance movements when responding to negative situations • Social Behavior as Unconsciously Guided by the Current Context • “chameleon effect” • mimic posture and gestures of others during social interactions • priming the professor stereotype results in higher scores on a knowledge quiz • priming the elderly stereotype results in slower walking and poorer memory • Without some consideration of these issues, automatic behavior, judgment, and goal pursuit will continue to seem somewhat magical and mysterious to many people

Methodology in the Study of Learning • Analysis of learning as causes of behaviour study the effect of prior experience on behaviour • Types of Causal Mechanisms • Efficient Cause • Necessary and sufficient conditions for producing a behavioural outcome • Experience with specific stimuli that produce learning • Material Cause - (Proximal) physical changes in the nervous system that mediate learning • Formal Causes - Theories or models of learning expressed as mathematical, computational, or theoretical constructs • Final Causes - (Ultimate) explanations of learning in terms of biological function of the learning, survival and reproduction

Methodology in the Study of Learning • Experimental Approach • efficient causes inferred by experimental manipulations • experimental manipulations constitute the "training procedure" • use experimental techniques to infer causal factors • to separate actual learning from other sources of behavioral change, systematic experimentation must be performed • learning research usually done with the use of experimental (as opposed to observational or correlational) methodology • See Figure 1.7

Baseline FIGURE 1.7 Two versions of the fundamental learning experiment. In the left panel, two groups of individuals are compared. The training procedure is provided for participants in the experimental group but not for those in the control group. In the right panel, a single individual is observed before and during training. The individual’s behavior during training is compared to what we assume its behavior would have been without training.

Methodology in the Study of Learning • The General-Process Approach • General laws expressed in terms of basic or elemental processes • Assumption: learning phenomena are products of elemental processes that operate similarly in different learning situations • Applicable to many species and situations • Methodological implications of general-process assumptions • Most principles of learning elucidated with use of nonhuman animal subjects • Learning studied in convenient situation, in expectation that principles widely applicable i.e. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning See Figure 1.8 • Proof of the Generality of learning Phenomena • Confirmation of general-laws of learning requires study of diverse species across different situations

Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning • Comparison across species • Evolutionary and biological considerations • Neuroscience grounded in behavioural science • Advantages • Principles may be simpler • Practical • Control in laboratory experiments of previous experience • Some manipulations possible only with nonhuman animals • Disadvantages • Abnormal behavior in laboratory animals • Comparison to humans is difficult • Ethics of nonhuman animal research

Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning • Rationale for the Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning • experimental methods are needed to investigate learning phenomena • Experimental control of past experience • processes of learning may be simpler • in animals reared under controlled laboratory conditions • evolution and biological bases of learning

Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning • Laboratory Animals and Normal Behavior • Domesticated strains of laboratory animals • After many generations of inbreeding and long periods of captivity they have abnormal behavior • Boice (1977) put 5 male and 5 female albino rats in an outdoor enclosure • reproduced normally and reached a stable population of about 50 members. • Boice (1973) commented, “The domesticated rat may be a good model for domestic man” (p. 227). • “most human beings live in what are largely “artificial” environments.” Domjan (p. 24)

Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning • Public Debate About Research with Nonhuman Animals • The Humane Treatment of Laboratory Animals • strict federal standards • to protect welfare of laboratory animals • supervision of animal research • What Constitutes the Ethical Treatment of Animals? • Animal rights are not the same as human rights • a laboratory mouse or rat is protected • mice or rats in the walls of the building are not protected • Should Human Beings Benefit From the Use of Animals? • Alternatives to Research with Animals • Not for studies of learning processes

• More by User

DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP

DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP. Prof. Jintae Kim, PhD Alliance Theological Seminary (845) 353-2020 ext.6978 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://all4jesus.net. DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP .

1.04k views • 15 slides

DEFINITION OF HOMOPHONES

DEFINITION OF HOMOPHONES. Homophones are words which have the same pronunciation but have different spellings and different meanings . ILLUSTRATIONS OF HOMOPHONES. BLEW : To be in a state of motion. Used of the air or of wind. To expel a current of air, as from the mouth or from a bellows. .

691 views • 9 slides

DEFINITION OF AGRITOURISM

DEFINITION OF AGRITOURISM. Bohuslava Boučková. Structure. Types of definitions: alternative/sustainable tourism rural tourism agritourism Basic frame of agritourism Proposal for the AgriTourNet. Types of definitions. Basic difference: agritourism and rural tourism Mixed definitions

2.82k views • 22 slides

Definition of Productivity

Definition of Productivity. Productivity: Definition. Productivity is the relationship between the outputs generated from a system and the inputs that are used to create those outputs. Mathematically O P = I. Systems Concept. inputs. outputs. Customers.

629 views • 24 slides

Definition Enabling Learning Objectives

Definition Enabling Learning Objectives. Select from a list the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s definition for prevention. State the definition of Prevention for Readiness IAW AR 600-85. Back . Next . Definition. Prevention

819 views • 3 slides

Definition and Rationale Blended/Hybrid Learning

Definition and Rationale Blended/Hybrid Learning. Dan Cabrera. Objectives. By the end of this session, you will be able to: Define ‘Blended/Hybrid’ Learning list at least three rationales for adopting Blended/hybrid learning in a higher education setting. F2F. Blended Learning.

600 views • 35 slides

Definition of a professional learning community

Professional Learning Communities: Source Materials for School Leaders and Other Leaders of Professional Learning.

278 views • 7 slides

A Definition of Learning

A Definition of Learning. Learning is: An experiential process Resulting in a relatively permanent change Not explained by temporary states. Behaviorism (Brief History).

1.26k views • 48 slides

Definition and Rationale Blended/Hybrid Learning. Dan Cabrera. Objectives. By the end of this session, you will be able to: Define ‘Blended/Hybrid’ Learning List at least three rationales for adopting Blended/hybrid learning in a higher education setting. F2F. Blended Learning.

703 views • 36 slides

Blended Learning – Definition

An Effective Blended Learning Solution Overcoming Pedagogical and Technological Challenges in a Remote Area – A Case Study Danny Glick Edusoft Ltd. Blended Learning – Definition. COMPUTER MEDIATED INSTRUCTION. FACE-TO-FACE INSTRUCTION. FACE-TO-FACE INSTRUCTION.

377 views • 18 slides

Definition of Learning Concern :

Gallaudet University Cross Learning Community Poster Session Faculty Learning Community (FLC): Closing the Loop Course for Project: COU 714-01 Adult Psychopathology Mary C. Hufnell, Psy . D. (Department of Counseling). Definition of Learning Concern :

126 views • 1 slides

Learning Disabilities - Definition

Learning Disabilities - Definition. Learning Disabilities. SLD means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to:. Learning Disabilities. Listen think

296 views • 13 slides

A definition of learning

A definition of learning. “A long term change in behaviour prompted by an experience”. From: Tim Russell. “Learning is not compulsory – neither is survival” Source: W E Deming. Two consultative styles.

2.03k views • 78 slides

Definition of MDO

Definition of MDO. People with a Mental Disorder who Come to the Attention of the CJS or Whose behaviour poses a risk of such contact. MDO Policy, MEL 5 (1999) Health, Social Work and Related Services for Mentally Disordered Offenders in Scotland. To co-ordinate care and support

271 views • 8 slides

Definition of Service-Learning

Definition of Service-Learning.

224 views • 7 slides

Definition of Learning:

Definition of Learning:. A generally accepted definition of learning is any relatively permanent change in human behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

795 views • 34 slides

What is lifelong learning?  Campaign for Learning definition

What is lifelong learning?  Campaign for Learning definition Learning is a process of active engagement with experience It is what people do when they want to make sense of the world It may involve an increase in skills, knowledge, understanding, values or the capacity to reflect

286 views • 13 slides

Last class Definition of learning Distinction between learning and performance

Psychology 2250. Last class Definition of learning Distinction between learning and performance Habituation and Sensitization Dual-Process Theory S-R system State system. Habituation and Sensitization. Characteristics of Habituation and Sensitization Time course

423 views • 26 slides

Definition of

Definition of. a creation or expression of something beautiful. free art. applied art. painting, sculpture, dance, theatre, music…. industrial /graphic /costume design…. Art also can be used in buildings . That is architecture. Unit 3. Art and architecture.

423 views • 16 slides

COBES DEFINITION OF: A LEARNING STRATEGY. SERVICE-LEARNING

COBES DEFINITION OF: A LEARNING STRATEGY. SERVICE-LEARNING. RATIONALE OF COBES PROGRAMMES IN GENERAL. Community-Based Education may contribute to the solution of the problem of inequity in service delivery.

311 views • 21 slides

273 views • 26 slides

What is Learning? Characteristics, Process, Nature, Types of learners

• Post last modified: 11 May 2023
• Reading time: 39 mins read
• Post category: Human Resource / Consumer Behaviour / Organizational Behavior

• What is Learning?

Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour or potential behaviour as a result of direct or indirect experience. Learning is thus a change in behaviour as a result of experience.

Table of Content

• 1 What is Learning?
• 2 Learning Definition
• 3 Meaning of Learning
• 4.1 Learning comes change
• 4.2 Change in knowledge or behavior has to be relatively permanent or long-lasting
• 4.3 Learning takes place as a result of practice or through experience
• 5.1 Motivation
• 5.3 Response
• 5.4 Reinforcement
• 6.1 Visual Learners
• 6.2 Auditory Learners
• 6.3 Kinesthetic Learners
• 7.1 Learning is Purposeful
• 7.2 Learning is a Result of Experience
• 7.3 Learning is Multifaceted
• 7.4 Learning is an Active Process
• 8.1 Stimuli
• 8.2 Attention
• 8.3 Recognition
• 8.4 Translation
• 8.5 Reinforcement
• 8.6 Behavior
• 8.9 Motives
• 8.10 Efforts
• 9.1 Readiness
• 9.2 Exercise
• 9.4 Primacy
• 9.5 Intensity
• 9.6 Recency
• 10 Factors Affecting Learning
• 11.1 Use of Lotteries to reduce Absenteeism
• 11.2 Work pay Vs sick pay
• 11.3 Training and Development
• 11.4 Discipline
• 11.5 Self-Management
• 12 Theories of Learning
• 13.1 Recognition and Recall
• 13.2 Brand Loyalty
• 14.1 Training
• 14.2 Education
• 14.3 Learning
• 14.4 Development

Learning Definition

Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. Stephen P. Robbins

Learning is the process of having one’s behaviour modified, more or less permanently, by what he does and the consequences of his action, or by what he observes. Munn N.L.

Learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in behaviour potentially that results from reinforced practice or experience. Steers and Porter

Meaning of Learning

There are two primary elements in meaning of learning:

• Change must be relatively permanent : This means that after “ learning ” our behavior must be different, either better or worse as compared to our behaviour prior to this learning experience. For example , you “learn” to drive a car or have learned how to use a computer.
• This change must occur due to some kind of experience or practice . This learning is not caused by biological maturation. For example , a child does not learn to walk, it is a natural biological phenomenon. We do not learn to eat or drink.

Nature of Learning

Learning is a relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that results from practice or experience. There are several key points in this definition.

Learning comes change

Change in knowledge or behavior has to be relatively permanent or long-lasting, learning takes place as a result of practice or through experience.

For example , when you learn a second language, your knowledge about how to communicate evolves, and your behavior changes when communicating with native speakers of the language.

For example , If you attempt to communicate with someone in another language by looking up words in a dictionary that you quickly forget once the interaction is complete, learning did not take place because there was no permanent change in your knowledge of the second language.

For example , Learning a second language requires much practice in pronunciation, word usage, and grammar.

Read: Motivation Definition | Types of Motivation | Importance of Motivation

Elements of Learning

Elements of learning are:

Reinforcement

Motivation is based on need and goals. Motivation acts as a spur to learning, with needs and goals serving as stimuli. Uncovering consumer motives is one of the prime task of marketers. Marketers educate motivated consumer segments why their product will best fulfill their needs.

Marketers use motivation research to unearth consumer motives and use it in developing marketing program.

Cues are the stimuli that give direction to those motives. In the market, marketing mix (place, price, packaging, styling, advertising and displays) serve as cues to help consumers fulfill their needs in product specific ways.

Cues serve to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations. Marketers must be careful to provide cues that do not upset those expectations.

For example, consumer expects high fashion stores to carry designer clothing at high prices thus; a high fashion designer should distribute his or her clothing only through exclusive stores and advertise only in quality fashion magazines..

How an individual reacts to a drive or cue constitutes his or her response. Learning can occur even if responses are not overt. The carpet manufacturer who provides consistent cues to a consumer may not always succeed in stimulating a purchase, even if that individual is motivated to buy.

Instead, the manufacturer may succeed only in forming a favorable image of the carpet in the consumer’s mind i.e. evoking a tendency to respond by buying.

Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a specific response will occur in the future as the result of particular cues or stimuli. Many marketers instinctively find that reinforcement serves to teach their customers a desired behavior. For example, telephone companies that give cash discounts to customers who pay their bill promptly are acting to ensure prompt payment in the future.

Types of Learners

There are following types of learners :

Visual Learners

Auditory learners, kinesthetic learners.

• Visual learners learn primarily through the written word.
• They tend to be readers who diligently take down every word.
• Auditory learners learn primarily through listening.
• They focus their ears and attention on your words, listening carefully to everything you say.
• They like to talk rather than write and relish the opportunity to discuss what they’ve heard.
• Kinesthetic learners learn better by doing
• This group learns best when they can practice what they’re learning
• They want to have their hands on the keyboard, the hammer, or the test tube because they think in terms of physical action.

Read: Perception Definition | Importance of Percepti on | Perception Bias

Characteristics of Learning

Characteristics of learning are:

Learning is Purposeful

Learning is a result of experience, learning is multifaceted, learning is an active process.

Each student sees a learning situation from a different viewpoint. Each student is a unique individual whose past experiences affect readiness to learn and understanding of the requirements involved.

Since learning is an individual process, the instructor cannot do it for the student. The student can learn only from personal experiences; therefore, learning and knowledge cannot exist apart from a person.

Learning is multifaceted in still another way. While learning the subject at hand, students may be learning other things as well. They may be developing attitudes about aviation-good or bad-depending on what they experience.

Students do not soak up knowledge like a sponge absorbs water. The instructor cannot assume that students remember something just because they were in the classroom, shop, or airplane when the instructor presented the material.

Learning Process

The learning process has the following steps:

Recognition

Translation.

Stimuli are any objects and language which draw the attention of people. Employees get stimuli from the actions of their superiors. Superiors tell and advice employees who pay attention to these stimuli. All the stimuli may not be fully attended to.

The degree of attention depends upon the nature of stimuli. All stimuli are not paid attention to. Technical and interesting stimuli are highly attended. Career-oriented stimuli are generally accepted by employees. The personality levels of employees influence their desires to learn, motives for need fulfilment and tension reduction.

Attention-paid stimuli are recognised as acceptable factors of improvement and new life styles. Employees paying attention to stimuli are recognising the stimuli for learning purposes. The levels of recognition depend upon the levels of values, preferences, needs and desires of the employees.

The translation and evaluation process is a crucial point for implementing the stimuli in behaviour through reinforcement. Employees behave properly through attitude changes, objectivity, mental and physical development. It is observed in better performances.

Reinforced perception is learning. The perception process includes stimuli, attention, recognition, translation and behaviour. Perception leads to learning, but perception itself is not learning unless it is reinforced.

Repeated action is reinforcement. Reinforcement may be positive, negative, punishment and extinction. Learners learn as per their perception levels. Generally positive reinforcement is more effective for making permanent changes in behaviour.

Learning changes behaviour through reinforcement of perceived knowledge. It makes permanent changes in behaviour. A temporary change in behaviour is not learning. Positive behaviour gives rewards to employees.

Employees expect rewards for learning. If the translated behaviour provides a reward, it is accepted, otherwise it is not accepted. Employees develop their behaviour into habits. Rewards may be monetary or non-monetary.

A permanent change in behaviour becomes a habit which helps continuous improvement in behaviour and performance. Employees develop the habit of selfappraisal and development. It helps to instil creativity and confidence in employees who are encouraged to behave properly again and again.

Motives depend on the level of satisfaction. Employees getting more satisfaction through learning develop high motives. Less satisfied learners have low motives. Learning is complete only when motives are fully realised and translated into efforts.

Habits help achieve good efforts and performance. This is a continuous process. Efforts are the automatic outcome of good habits which are acquired through the learning process. Self-development is possible through self-effort. Employees willing to develop themselves are self-motivated and effort-oriented.

Read: Personality Definition | Determinants of Personality | Personality Characteristics

Principles for Learning

Over the years, educational psychologists have identities several principles which seem generally applicable to the learning process. They provide additional insight into what makes people learn most effectively.

6 Most important principles for learning are:

Readiness implies a degree of single-mindedness and eagerness. When students are ready to learn, they meet the instructor at least halfway, and this simplifies the instructor’s job.

The principle of exercise states that those things most often repeated are best remembered. It is the basis of drill and practice. The human memory is fallible. The mind can rarely retain, evaluate, and apply new concepts or practices after a single exposure.

The principle of effect is based on the emotional reaction of the student. It states that learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling, and that learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling.

Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable, impression. For the instructor, this means that what is taught must be right the first time.

Intensity: A vivid, dramatic, or exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience. A student is likely to gain greater understanding of slow flight and stalls by performing them rather than merely reading about them.

The principle of recency states that things most recently learned are best remembered. Conversely, the further a student is removed time-wise from a new fact or understanding, the more difficult it is to remember.

Factors Affecting Learning

The key factors affecting learning include:

• Their resources
• Their image of learning
• The rewards associated with any learning activity
• The availability of information about learning opportunities
• The availability of appropriate learning environments, possibly virtual learning
• The climate in which learning takes place, especially that created by government and employers.

Read: What is Assessment Centre | Use of Assessment Centre | Assessment Centre Method

Application of Learning

Some of the behaviour modification techniques are given below which may be used in the organization :

Use of Lotteries to reduce Absenteeism

Work pay vs sick pay, training and development, self-management.

Attractive prizes can be included in a lottery that can be used gainfully to achieve a reduction in absenteeism.

Organizations have to leave policy. Apart from other leave, there is a provision for a few days of sick leave in a year.

Training and development programmes must be run systematically and in a preplanned manner.

Behavior modification can be achieved by laying down the minimum standard of discipline in the organization. Defence organizations are most disciplined organizations because they do not compromise on the standards, be it related to training, work, supervision, accounting or disbursement of salary and wages etc.

Learning concepts are meant for modifying the behaviour of others. These theories are also applicable for self-management. Individuals should lay down personal standards, objectives relating to personal growth, identify various courses of action to adopt and modify self-attitude and behaviour.

• Theories of Learning

Theories of learning  have been developed as models of learning which explain the learning process by which employees acquire a pattern of behavior. There are  four theories of learning  discussed below.

• Classical conditioning theory
• Operant conditioning theory
• Cognitive learning theory
• Social learning theory

Read Complete: Theories of Learning

Measures of Consumer Learning

For marketers, the dual goals of consumer learning are increased market share and brand-loyal consumers. These goals are interdependent.

Thus, it is important for marketers to measure how effectively consumers have “learned” its message. Recognition and recall tests are conducted for measureing consumer learning.

Recognition and Recall

Brand loyalty.

Recognition and Recall tests are conducted to determine whether consumers remember seeing an advertisement and the extent to which they have read it or seen it and can recall its content.

Recognition tests are based on aided recall, whereas recall tests use unaided recall. In recognition tests, the consumer is shown an ad and asked whether he or she remembers seeing it and can remember any of its salient points.

In recall tests, the consumer is asked whether he or she has read a specific magazine or watched a specific television show, and if so, can he or she recall any ads or commercials seen, the product advertised, the brand and any salient points about the product.

Brand Loyalty is the ultimate desired outcome of consumer learning. Brand loyalty consists of both attitude and actual behaviours toward a brand and that both must be measured. Attitudinal measures are concerned with the consumers’ overall feelings about the product and the brand, and their purchase intentions.

Behavioural measures are based on observable, factual behaviours regarding the brand, such as quantity purchased, purchase frequency and repeated buying.

Behavioural scientists who favour the theory of instrumental conditioning believe that brand loyalty results from an initial product trial that is reinforced through satisfaction, leading to repeat purchase.

Cognitive researchers , on the other hand, emphasize the role of mental processes in building brand loyalty. They believe that the consumers engage in extensive problem-solving behaviour involving brand and attribute comparisons, leading to a strong brand preference and repeat purchase behaviour.

Therefore, brand loyalty is the synergy among such attitudinal components as perceived product superiority, customer satisfaction, and the purchase behaviour itself.

Difference between Training, Education, Learning & Development

Training is nothing but learning by doing. It is a well-planned program aimed at developing specific skills and knowledge of the manpower. It is a common concept of human resource development where an attempt is made to improve the performance, productivity and competency of the existing and potential employees through learning. The program is specially designed by the organisation to achieve definite goals.

An employee undergoing training is presumed to have had some formal education. No training program is complete without an element of education.

It is theoretical learning in classrooms. The purpose of education is to teach theoretical concepts and develop a sense of reasoning and judgment. That any training and development program must contain an element of education is well understood by HR Specialists.

Any such program has resource persons to enlighten participants about theoretical knowledge of the topics proposed to discuss. In fact, organizations depute or encourage employees to do courses on a part-time basis. CEOs are known to attend refresher courses conducted by business schools.

Education is more important for managers and executives rather than low cadre workers. Anyways education is common to all employees, their grades notwithstanding.

Learning is the process of absorbing that information in order to increase skills and abilities and make use of it under a variety of contexts. Whatever the goals, the quality of the learning will rely largely on the quality of the training, and so the role of a trainer is very important as it can have a huge effect on the outcome of a course for the learner.

In essence, learning is all about equipping a person to tackle not just today’s issues, but preparing him/her to creatively come up with ways to tackle tomorrow’s issues.

Development

Development means those learning opportunities designed to help employees to grow. Development is not primarily skills-oriented. Instead, it provides the general knowledge and attitudes, which will be helpful to employers in higher positions.

Efforts towards development often depend on personal drive and ambition. Development activities such as those supplied by management development programs are generally voluntary in nature. The development provides knowledge about the business environment, management principles and techniques, human relations, specific industry analysis and the like is useful for better management of a company.

• Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall.
• Caldwell, D.F., and C.A. O’ Reilly III, “Measuring Person-Job Fit with a profile-comparison Process,” Journal of Applied Psychology, December 1990, pp.648-57.

Go On, Share & Help your Friend

Did we miss something in Organizational Behavior Tutorial or You want something More? Come on! Tell us what you think about our post on What is Learning ? | Organisational Behavior in the comments section and Share this post with your friends.

Marketing Management

( Click on Topic to Read )

• What Is Market Segmentation?
• What Is Marketing Mix?
• Marketing Concept
• Marketing Management Process
• What Is Marketing Environment?
• What Is Consumer Behaviour?
• Business Buyer Behaviour
• Demand Forecasting
• 7 Stages Of New Product Development
• Methods Of Pricing
• What Is Public Relations?
• What Is Marketing Management?
• What Is Sales Promotion?
• Types Of Sales Promotion
• Techniques Of Sales Promotion
• What Is Personal Selling?
• What Is Advertising?
• Market Entry Strategy
• What Is Marketing Planning?
• Segmentation Targeting And Positioning
• Brand Building Process
• Kotler Five Product Level Model
• Classification Of Products
• Types Of Logistics
• What Is Consumer Research?
• What Is DAGMAR?
• Consumer Behaviour Models
• What Is Green Marketing?
• What Is Electronic Commerce?
• Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
• What Is Marketing Control?
• What Is Marketing Communication?
• What Is Pricing?
• Models Of Communication

Sales Management

• What is Sales Management?
• Objectives of Sales Management
• Responsibilities and Skills of Sales Manager
• Theories of Personal Selling
• What is Sales Forecasting?
• Methods of Sales Forecasting
• Purpose of Sales Budgeting
• Methods of Sales Budgeting
• Types of Sales Budgeting
• Sales Budgeting Process
• What is Sales Quotas?
• What is Selling by Objectives (SBO) ?
• What is Sales Organisation?
• Types of Sales Force Structure
• Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel
• Training and Development of Salesforce
• Compensating the Sales Force
• Time and Territory Management
• What Is Logistics?
• What Is Logistics System?
• Technologies in Logistics
• What Is Distribution Management?
• What Is Marketing Intermediaries?
• Conventional Distribution System
• Functions of Distribution Channels
• What is Channel Design?
• Types of Wholesalers and Retailers
• What is Vertical Marketing Systems?

Marketing Essentials

• What i s Marketing?
• What i s A BCG Matrix?
• 5 M'S Of Advertising
• What i s Direct Marketing?
• Marketing Mix For Services
• What Market Intelligence System?
• What i s Trade Union?
• What Is International Marketing?
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• What i s International Marketing Research?
• What is Exporting?
• What is Licensing?
• What is Franchising?
• What is Joint Venture?
• What is Turnkey Projects?
• What is Management Contracts?
• What is Foreign Direct Investment?
• Factors That Influence Entry Mode Choice In Foreign Markets
• What is Price Escalations?
• What is Transfer Pricing?
• Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
• What is Promotion Mix?
• Factors Affecting Promotion Mix
• Functions & Role Of Advertising
• What is Database Marketing?
• What is Advertising Budget?
• What is Advertising Agency?
• What is Market Intelligence?
• What is Industrial Marketing?
• What is Customer Value

Consumer Behaviour

• What is Consumer Behaviour?
• What Is Personality?
• What Is Perception?
• What Is Learning?
• What Is Attitude?
• What Is Motivation?
• Consumer Imagery
• Consumer Attitude Formation
• What Is Culture?
• Consumer Decision Making Process
• Applications of Consumer Behaviour in Marketing
• Motivational Research
• Theoretical Approaches to Study of Consumer Behaviour
• Consumer Involvement
• Consumer Lifestyle
• Theories of Personality
• Outlet Selection
• Organizational Buying Behaviour
• Reference Groups
• Consumer Protection Act, 1986
• Diffusion of Innovation
• Opinion Leaders

Business Communication

• What is Business Communication?
• What is Communication?
• Types of Communication
• 7 C of Communication
• Barriers To Business Communication
• Oral Communication
• Types Of Non Verbal Communication
• What is Written Communication?
• What are Soft Skills?
• Interpersonal vs Intrapersonal communication
• Barriers to Communication
• Importance of Communication Skills
• Listening in Communication
• Causes of Miscommunication
• What is Johari Window?
• What is Presentation?
• Communication Styles
• Channels of Communication
• Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Differences and Benett’s Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity
• Organisational Communication
• Horizontal C ommunication
• Grapevine Communication
• Downward Communication
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Upward Communication
• Flow of Communication
• What is Emotional Intelligence?
• What is Public Speaking?
• Upward vs Downward Communication
• Internal vs External Communication
• What is Group Discussion?
• What is Interview?
• What is Negotiation?
• What is Digital Communication?
• What is Letter Writing?
• Resume and Covering Letter
• What is Report Writing?
• What is Business Meeting?
• What is Public Relations?

Business Law

• What is Business Law?
• Indian Contract Act 1872
• Essential Elements of a Valid Contract
• Types of Contract
• What is Discharge of Contract?
• Performance of Contract
• Sales of Goods Act 1930
• Goods & Price: Contract of Sale
• Conditions and Warranties
• Doctrine of Caveat Emptor
• Transfer of Property
• Rights of Unpaid Seller
• Negotiable Instruments Act 1881
• Types of Negotiable Instruments
• Types of Endorsement
• What is Promissory Note?
• What is Cheque?
• What is Crossing of Cheque?
• What is Bill of Exchange?
• What is Offer?
• Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008
• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association
• What is Director?
• Trade Unions Act, 1926
• Industrial Disputes Act 1947
• Employee State Insurance Act 1948
• Payment of Wages Act 1936
• Payment of Bonus Act 1965
• Labour Law in India

Brand Management

• What is Brand Management?
• 4 Steps of Strategic Brand Management Process
• Customer Based Brand Equity
• What is Brand Equity?

Human Resources Tutorial

• Human Resource Management
• What is Executive Development?
• Functions of HRM
• Human Resource Planning
• What is Recruitment ?
• What is Selection ?
• Employee Induction
• Types of Training
• Importance of Training
• Training Process
• Human Resource Accounting
• Methods of Human Resource Accounting
• What is Motivation ?
• Performance Appraisal
• Performance Appraisal Process
• Performance Appraisal Problems
• Management by Objectives
• 360 Degree Performance Appraisal
• What is Compensation ?
• Employee Discipline
• What is Employee Grievance ?
• What is Collective Bargaining ?
• What is HRIS?
• What is HR Audit ?
• What is Human Resource Planning ?
• Human Resource Planning Process
• Human Resource Demand Forecasting
• What is Human Resource Development ?
• Challenges of Human Resource Development
• What is Performance Appraisal?
• What is Succession Planning?
• What is International Human Resource Planning?
• What is Job Analysis ?
• What is Job Design ?
• What is Recruitment?
• Effective Recruiting
• What is Selection?
• What is Employee Induction ?
• What is Career Planning?
• What is Knowledge Management?
• International Human Resource Management
• Cross Cultural Theories
• Dimensions of Culture
• HRM Practices
• Strategic Human Resource Management
• Difference between Global HRM and Domestic HRM
• International Selection Process
• Expatriate Training & Development in IHRM
• Process of Selecting Expatriates
• International Compensation Management
• What is Disciplinary Action?
• What is Competency Based Training?
• Human Resource Development
• Methods of Human Resource Development
• Steps for Designing HRD Intervention
• Employee Orientation

Employee Socialization

Realistic job review.

• Performance Management System
• 360 Degree Assessment

Employee Assistance Program

• What is Coaching?
• What is Mentoring ?
• Leadership Development
• Management Development
• Organisational Development
• What is Planned Change?
• What is OD Interventions?
• What is Performance Management ?
• Performance Planning
• Competency Mapping
• What is Performance Appraisal ?
• Employee Performance Monitoring
• Performance Counselling
• Performance Management and Reward
• Ethics in Performance Management
• Role of HR Professionals in Performance Management
• What is Organizational Behavior?
• What is Personality?
• What is Perception?
• What is Attitude?
• What is Motivation?
• Motivation Theories
• Mcclelland’s Needs Theory of Motivation
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Herzberg Two Factor Theory

• Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation
• What is Assessment Centre?
• What is Culture?
• What is Organisational culture?
• What is Leadership?
• What is Leader?
• Organisational Stress
• What is Organisational Culture?
• Trompenaars Model of Organisational Culture
• Organisational Culture Models
• Types of Organisational Culture
• Corporate Culture and Organisational Success
• Creation of Organisational Culture
• Sustaining Organisational Culture
• Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture
• Where Does Organizational Culture Comes From?
• Functions of Organisational Culture
• Ethical Organizational Culture
• What is Culture Assessment?
• Workplace Culture and Practice
• Changing Organisational Culture
• Innovative Culture in Organization
• Leadership in Organization Culture
• Organisational Culture and Business Strategy
• Organizational Culture and Strategic Planning
• ERP Implementation
• Business Process Management
• What is Competency Modeling?
• Kirkpatrick Training Evaluation
• What is Industrial Relations?
• Organisational Change
• What is Sales Budget?
• What is Sales Control?
• What is Sales Analysis?
• What is Sales Territories?
• What is Group ?
• Group Dynamics
• Organisational Culture
• Group Decision Making
• Group Conflict
• Diversity in the Workplace
• Types of Powers
• Factors Affecting Communication in Organisation
• How to Create Training Program

You Might Also Like

Organisational stress: meaning, causes and consequences, symptoms, types, and approaches to stress management.

What is Executive Development? Definition, Objectives, Importance, Methods, Process, Factors Influencing

Type of problems in performance appraisal, what is competency based training advantages, limitations.

What is Human Resource Management? (HRM) Nature, Scope, Objectives

What is HR Audit? Definition, Objective, Process, Benefits

5 step of training process & systematic approach, what is mentoring objectives, types, importance, leave a reply cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

World's Best Online Courses at One Place

We’ve spent the time in finding, so you can spend your time in learning

Digital Marketing

Personal growth.

community, pedagogy and informal education

What is learning? A definition and discussion

What is learning a definition and discussion. is learning a change in behaviour or understanding is it a process mark k smith surveys some key dimensions and ideas., a definition for starters : learning is a process that is often not under our control and is wrapped up with the environments we inhabit and the relationships we make. it involves encountering signals from the senses; attending to them; looking for connections and meanings; and framing them so that we may act., contents : introduction · definition ·  what do people think learning is ·   learning as a product · learning as a process · experience · reflective thinking · making connections · committing and acting ·  task-conscious or acquisition learning, and learning-conscious or formalized learning · learning theory · further reading · references · acknowledgements  · how to cite this article  see, also, what is education.

Over the last thirty years or so, ‘learning’ has become one of the most used words in the field of education. Adult education became lifelong learning; students became learners, teachers facilitators of learning; schools are now learning environments; and learning outcomes are carefully monitored. This learnification of the language and practice of education (Biesta 2009, 2018: 245) is in part due to the rise of individualizing neoliberal policies. Developments in learning theory have also contributed.

Yet, for all the talk of ‘learning’, there has been little questioning about what it is, and what it entails. As Jan De Hower et. al. (2013) noted, ‘questions about learning are addressed in virtually all areas of psychology. It is therefore surprising to see that researchers are rarely explicit about what they mean by the term’. There has been a similar situation in the field of education. It is almost as if ‘learning’ is something unproblematic and can be taken for granted. Get the instructional regime right, the message seems to be, and learning (as measured by tests and assessment regimes) will follow.

The reality is that learning, as Lynda Kelly (2002) put it, ‘is a very individual, complex, and, to some degree, an indescribable process: something we just do, without ever thinking too much about it’. It is also a complex social activity. Perhaps the most striking result of recent research around learning in childhood and adolescence is that very little comes through conscious and deliberate teaching (Gopnik 2016: 60). It comes from participation in life.

[O]ther kinds of social learning are more sophisticated, and more fundamental. They are evolutionarily deeper, developmentally earlier, and more pervasive than schooling. They have been much more important across a wide range of historical periods and cultural traditions. Children learn by watching and imitating the people around them. Psychologists call this observational learning. And they learn by listening to what other people say about how the world works—what psychologists call learning from testimony. (Gopnik 2016: 89)

In this article we go back to basics – and begin by examining learning as a product and as a process. We also look at Alan Roger’s (2003) helpful discussion of task-conscious or acquisition learning, and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

From there we turn to competing learning theories – ideas about how learning may happen.

What do people think learning is?

Some years ago, Säljö (1979) carried out a simple, but very useful piece of research. He asked adult students what they understood by learning. Their responses fell into five main categories:

• Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge . Learning is acquiring information or ‘knowing a lot’.
• Learning as memorising . Learning is storing information that can be reproduced.
• Learning as acquiring facts, skills, and methods that can be retained and used as necessary.
• Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning . Learning involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world.
• Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way . Learning involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. (quoted in Ramsden 1992: 26)

As Paul Ramsden (1992) pointed out, we can see immediately that conceptions 4 and 5 are qualitatively different from the first three. Conceptions 1 to 3 imply a less complex view of learning. Learning is something external to the learner. It may even be something that just happens or is done to you by teachers (as in conception 1). In a way, learning becomes a bit like shopping. People go out and buy knowledge – it becomes their possession. The last two conceptions look to the ‘internal’ or personal aspect of learning. Learning is seen as something that you do to understand the real world.

In some ways, the difference here involves what Gilbert Ryle (1949, 1990) termed ‘knowing that , and ‘knowing how’. The first two categories mostly involve ‘knowing that’. As we move through the third we see that alongside ‘knowing that’ there is growing emphasis on ‘knowing how’.  This system of categories is hierarchical – each higher conception implies all the rest beneath it. ‘In other words, students who conceive of learning as understanding reality are also able to see it as increasing their knowledge’ (Ramsden 1992: 27). There is also a difference between answer 1 and answers 2-5. The former has a stronger focus on learning as a learning as a thing or product. Learning is more of a noun here. The other answers look to learning only as a process.

Learning as a product

Pick up a standard psychology textbook – especially from the 1960s and 1970s and you will probably find ‘learning’ defined as a change in behaviour. Sometimes it was also defined as a permanent change. By the 1980s less crude definitions gained in popularity. For example, Robert Gagne defined learning as a ‘change in human disposition or capacity that persists over a period of time, and is not simply ascribable to processes of growth (1982: 2). In the 1990s learning was often described as the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behaviour due to experience:

{This] change may be deliberate or unintentional, for better or for worse. To qualify as learning, this change must be brought about by experience – by the interaction of a person with his or her environment. … the changes resulting from learning are in the individual’s knowledge or behaviour’ (Woolsfolk 1998: 204-205)

In these examples, learning is approached as an outcome – the product of some process. It can be recognized or seen. ‘Learning’, wrote De Hower et. al. (2013) is seen as a function that maps experience onto behaviour. In other words, here learning is defined as ‘an effect of experience on behaviour’

Viewing learning as a product, a thing, has the virtue of highlighting a crucial aspect of learning – change. Its apparent clarity may also make some sense when conducting experiments. However, it is a blunt instrument. For example:

• Does a person need to perform for learning to have happened?
• Are there other factors that may cause behaviour to change?
• Can the change involved include the potential for change? (Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124)

Not all changes in behaviour resulting from experience involve learning, and not all changes in behaviours are down to experience. It would seem fair to expect that if we are to say that learning has taken place, experience could have been used in some way. For example, while conditioning may result in a behaviour change, the change may not involve drawing upon experience to generate new knowledge. Not surprisingly, many theorists have, thus, been less concerned with overt behaviour than with changes in how people ‘understand, or experience, or conceptualize the world around them’ (Ramsden 1992: 4) (see cognitivism below). The focus for them is gaining knowledge or ability using experience.

There have been attempts to redefine product or functional definitions of learning. For example, Domjan (2010: 17) discusses learning as an enduring change in the mechanisms of behaviour. De Houer et. al (2013) look at the adaptation of individual organisms to their environment during the lifetime of the individuals (after Skinner 1938).

There have also been attempts to group outcomes. The best known of these is Benjamin S. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956) (Bloom chaired a group of members of the American Psychological Association (APA) exploring educational objectives – and edited the first volume of their work). The APA group identified three key areas or domains of educational objectives or learning:

• Cognitive: mental skills (knowledge).
• Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (attitude or self).
• Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (skills).

These domains (knowledge, attitudes and skills) have become part of the fabric of the field of education – both formal and informal. Each domain has then been split into different categories to analyse the nature of learning and to create a hierarchy of objectives.

Most attention, not surprisingly, has been given to the cognitive domain . A recent version of the taxonomy (Anderson et. al. 2001) had six categories –  remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create. It then broke these down according to the type of knowledge involved: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive.

Attention was also paid to the affective domain in the second volume of the taxonomy (Kraftwohl et. al. 1964). Its categories were: receiving ideas; responding to ideas, phenomena; valuing ideas, materials; organization of ideas, values; characterisation by value set (or to act consistently in accordance with values internalised) (O’Neill and Murphy 2010). In this model, as O’Neill and Murphy comment, ‘The learner moves from being aware of what they are learning to a stage of having internalised the learning so that it plays a role in guiding their actions’.

The original taxonomy of the psychomotor domain has also been updated by Dave (1970). This mapping has several levels: perception /observing; guided response /imitation; mechanism; complex response; adaptation; and origination

Use of Blooms taxonomy faded during the late 1960s and 1970s but became a standard feature of practice again with the rise of national curriculums in places like the United Kingdom, and the concern with learning objectives and learnification that Biesta (2009) discusses (see above).

Gardeners or carpenters

The attraction of approaching learning as a product is that it provides us with something relatively clear to look for and measure. The danger is that it may not obvious what we are measuring – and that the infatuation with discrete learning objectives pushes people down a path that takes people away from the purpose and processes of education. It turns educators into ‘woodworkers’ rather than ‘gardeners’ (Gopnik 2016). As carpenters:

… essentially your job is to shape that material into a final product that will fit the scheme you had in mind to begin with. And you can assess how good a job you’ve done by looking at the finished product. Are the doors true? Are the chairs steady? Messiness and variability are a carpenter’s enemies; precision and control are her allies. Measure twice, cut once…. When we garden, on the other hand, we create a protected and nurturing space for plants to flourish. It takes hard labor and the sweat of our brows, with a lot of exhausted digging and wallowing in manure. And as any gardener knows, our specific plans are always thwarted…. And yet the compensation is that our greatest horticultural triumphs and joys also come when the garden escapes our control. (Gopnik 2016: 22)

Learning as a process

In Säljö’s categories two to five we see learning appearing as processes – memorizing, acquiring, making sense, and comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. In his first category we find both process – acquiring – and product – a quantitative increase in knowledge. As might be expected, educationalists often look to process definitions of learning. They are interested in how activities interact to achieve different results. Similarly, researchers concerned with cognition are drawn to uncovering the ‘mental mechanisms’ that drive behaviour (Bechtel 2008).

Exploring learning as a process is attractive in many ways. It takes us to the ways we make sense of our thoughts, feelings and experiences, appreciate what might be going on for others, and understand the world in which we live. For us as educators, the attraction is obvious. The more we know about what activities are involved in ‘making sense’ and if, and how, they can be sequenced, the better we can help learners.

Given the role that ‘experience’ has in definitions of learning within psychology, it is not surprising that probably the most influential discussion of learning as a process is David Kolb’s exploration of experiential learning .

Kolb on experiential learning

Kolb (with Roger Fry) created his model out of four elements:

• concrete experience,
• observation and reflection,
• the formation of abstract concepts, and
• testing in new situations.

He represented these in the famous experiential learning circle  that involves (1) concrete experience followed by (2) observation and experience followed by (3) forming abstract concepts followed by (4) testing in new situations (after Kurt Lewin ).

Kolb and Fry (1975) argue that the learning cycle can begin at any one of the four points – and that it should really be approached as a continuous spiral.

There are a number of problems with this view of the learning process (see: https://infed.org/mobi/david-a-kolb-on-experiential-learning/ ) but it does provide a helpful starting point for practitioners.

Kolb claims that he based his model on the work of Piaget, Lewin and Dewey. As Reijo Miettinen (2000) has shown it was a rather loose relationship. To approach learning as a process it is best to go back to Dewey – both because of his concern with experience, and his exploration of the nature of thinking/reflection. As a result we are going to look at:

• The nature of experience.
• Reflective thought.
• Making connections.
• Committing and acting (or rejecting and not acting).

So far, we have not looked at ‘experience’ in detail. It is a well-worn term often used with little attention to meaning. In the twentieth century it was, arguably, the work of John Dewey that did much to help rescue the notion – although even he gave up on it after a long struggle (Campbell 1995: 68). Experience, for him, was the ‘complex of all which it is distinctively human’ (Dewey 1929). It is ‘not a rigid and closed thing; it is vital, and hence growing’ (Dewey 1933) and stands at the centre of educational endeavour. The business of education, he wrote, ‘might be defined as an emancipation and enlargement of experience’ (1933: 340).

Dewey distinguished between two senses of the word: ‘having an experience’ and ‘knowing an experience’. The ‘having points to the immediacy of contact with the events of life; ‘knowing’ to the interpretation of the event (Boud et al 1993: 6). Sometimes experience can be seen just in the former sense – as a sensation. However, perhaps the most helpful way of viewing ‘experience’ is as an act of consciousness, an encounter with signals from the senses (see Gupta 2006: 223-236) for a discussion of experience as an act of consciousness).

Experience : Sometimes experience can be seen as a sensation. Perhaps the most helpful way of viewing it is as an act of consciousness, an encounter with signals from the senses.

Towards the end of his life, however, John Dewey regretted using the term ‘experience’ – partly because it was often misunderstood as an individual experience. He had long believed experience had a strong social dimension. In Experience and Nature, he argued:

Experience is already overlaid and saturated with the products of the reflection of past generations and by-gone ages. It is filled with interpretations, classifications, due to sophisticated thought, which have become incorporated (Dewey 1925: 40)

Subsequently, this concern with culture and the social nature of thinking became expressed in the work of influential educators such as Jerome Bruner (1996) and cognitive researchers interested in the ‘social brain’ (see Liberman 2013). Interestingly, cognitive researchers have generally held on to the idea of experience as part of the way of making sense of the process of learning while incorporating the social.

Reflective thinking

John Dewey took as his starting point practical, material life, activity. He saw non-reflective experience based on habits as a dominant form of experience. Reflection occurred when people sense or see a ‘forked road’ – contradictions or inadequacies in their habitual experience and ways of acting (Miettinen 2000).

Dewey defined reflective thought as ‘active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends’ (Dewey 1933: 118). He set out five phases or aspects.

• Suggestions, in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution.
• An intellectualization of the difficulty or perplexity that has been felt (directly experienced) into a problem to be solved.
• The use of one suggestion after another as a leading idea, or hypothesis, to initiate and guide observation and other operations in collection of factual material.
• The mental elaboration of the idea, or supposition as an idea or supposition (reasoning, in the sense in which reasoning is a part, not the whole, of inference).
• Testing the hypothesis by overt, or imaginative action. (See Dewey 1933: 199-209) (For a discussion of these see Reflection, learning and education ).

Later writers such as Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) made emotions more central. For them reflection is an activity in which people ‘recapture their experience, think about it, mull it over and evaluate it’ (ibid: 19). They reworked Dewey’s five aspects into three.

• Returning to experience – that is to say recalling or detailing salient events.
• Attending to (or connecting with) feelings – this has two aspects: using helpful feelings and removing or containing obstructive ones.
• Evaluating experience – this involves re-examining experience in the light of one’s intent and existing knowledge etc. It also involves integrating this new knowledge into one’s conceptual framework. (ibid: 26-31)

This way of approaching reflection has the advantage of connecting with common modes of working e.g. we are often encouraged to attend to these domains in the process of supervision and journal writing. However, it is still a normative model, a process that the writers think should happen. It does not describe what may actually be happening when learning. For example, as Cinnamond and Zimpher (1990: 67) put it, ‘they constrain reflection by turning it into a mental activity that excludes both the behavioural element and dialogue with others involved in the situation’. Furthermore, do things happen in neat phases or steps?

Making connections

To be fair to John Dewey, he did appreciate that thinking may not proceed in nice, clear steps, and that the elements he identified in reflective thought are interconnected. As we have already seen, he talked about ‘suggestions, in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution’. While Dewey talked of phases it is more helpful to think of these as processes that are, in effect, occurring concurrently. Nearly a hundred year later, thanks to advances in cognitive science, we have a better understanding of what might be going on.

It is becoming quite clear that the brain learns and changes as it learns. This process, called neuroplasticity or just plasticity, refers to the brain’s ability to rewire or expand its neural networks… New information enters the brain in the form of electrical impulses; these impulses form neural networks, connecting with other networks and the stronger and more numerous the networks the greater the learning. The brain learns when challenged. (Merriam and Bierema 2014: 171-2)

Alison Gopnik (2016) has highlighted the difference between children’s and adult’s brains around these processes.

Young brains are much more “plastic” than older brains; they make more new connections, and they’re much more flexible… A young brain makes many more links than an older one; there are many more possible connections, and the connections change more quickly and easily in the light of new experiences. But each of those links is relatively weak. Young brains can rearrange themselves effortlessly as new experiences pour in. As we grow older, the brain connections that we use a lot become swifter and more efficient, and they cover longer distances. But connections that we don’t use get “pruned” and disappear. Older brains are much less flexible. Their structure has changed from meandering, narrow pathways to straight-ahead, long-distance information superhighways. As we get older our brains can still change, but they are more likely to change only under pressure, and with effort and attention. (Gopnik 2016: 31)

Young brains are designed to explore, to generate alternatives and to experiment. Older brains are designed to exploit – to move quickly to what works. We need both of course, but the danger is that we push children away from discovery learning and into making the ‘correct’ connections (what could be called mastery learning). A further problem is that in times of significant change these connections are difficult to undo – we need the ‘messiness’ of exploration and discovery. There is a basic tension between exploration and exploitation (Cohen et. al. 2007) and what John Dewey was attempting to do was to hold onto both.

Framing and acting (or not acting)

One of the important aspects of the taxonomies of outcomes we explored earlier is that they take us beyond the cognitive domain (knowledge). To function well in the world, we must attend to the affective (attitudes and feelings), psychomotor (manual or physical skills), and relational. If learning is fully about change we have to connect reflection with acting – and with our mindset or frame of reference (what social pedagogues describe as haltung ).

Also, once we have appreciated that experience cannot be approached without taking into account the social nature of learning, and of how our brains work, then it becomes clear that we need to look at what Aristotle described as the ‘practical’ (see what is praxis ). We must frame our reflection and action.

Framing . As we have already seen, for John Dewey, thinking begins with a ‘forked-road’ – a question or situation that requires making choices. Within ‘practical’ orientation we must think about this situation in the light of our understanding of what is good or what makes for human flourishing. For Aristotle, this meant being guided by a moral disposition to act truly and rightly; a concern to further human well-being and the good life. This is what the ancient Greeks called phronesis and requires an understanding of other people. It also involves moving between the particular and the general.

The mark of a prudent man [is] to be able to deliberate rightly about what is good and what is advantageous for himself; not in particular respects, e.g. what is good for health or physical strength, but what is conducive to the good life generally. (Aristotle 2004: 209)

This process involves interpretation, understanding and application in ‘one unified process’ (Gadamer 1979: 275). It is something we engage in as human beings and it is directed at other human beings.

Acting . As can be seen from the diagram above, the outcome of the process of making judgements is a further process – interaction with others, tools etc. In traditional product definitions of learning this could be called behaviour. It might be that people decide not to change their behaviour or thinking – they carry on as they were. Alternatively, there could be a decision to change something. This might involve:

Planning . Classically this process involves developing pathways and strategies to meet goals; and deciding what might work best.

Trying out . Putting the plan into action.

Evaluating and try again . Here we go back to where we began – return to experience; reflect and building understandings; frame; and act. (Smith forthcoming)

Elsewhere, we have explored the nature and process of pedagogy – and the orientation to action (see what is pedagogy?) In Aristotle’s terms pedagogy comprises a leading idea ( eidos ); what we are calling haltung or disposition ( phronesis – a moral disposition to act truly and rightly); dialogue and learning ( interaction ) and action ( praxis – informed, committed action) (Carr and Kemmis 1986; Grundy 1987). In the following summary, we can see where learning sits from the perspectice of the educator/pedagogue.

Consciousness of learning

One of the significant questions that arises is the extent to which people are conscious of what is going on. Are they aware that they are engaged in learning – and what significance does it have if they are? Such questions have appeared in various guises over the years – and have surfaced, for example, in debates around the rather confusing notion of ‘ informal learning ‘.

One particularly helpful way of approaching the area has been formulated by Alan Rogers (2003). Drawing especially on the work of those who study the learning of language (for example, Krashen 1982), Rogers sets out two contrasting approaches: task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

Task-conscious or acquisition learning . Acquisition learning is seen as going on all the time. It is ‘concrete, immediate and confined to a specific activity; it is not concerned with general principles’ (Rogers 2003: 18). Examples include much of the learning involved in parenting or with running a home. Some have referred to this kind of learning as unconscious or implicit. Rogers (2003: 21), however, suggests that it might be better to speak of it as having a consciousness of the task. In other words, whilst the learner may not be conscious of learning, they are usually aware of the specific task in hand.

Learning-conscious or formalized learning . Formalized learning arises from the process of facilitating learning. It is ‘educative learning’ rather than the accumulation of experience. To this extent there is a consciousness of learning – people are aware that the task they are engaged in entails learning. ‘Learning itself is the task. What formalized learning does is to make learning more conscious to enhance it’ (Rogers 2003: 27). It involves guided episodes of learning.

When approached in this way it becomes clear that these contrasting ways of learning can appear in the same context. Both are present in schools. Both are present in families. It is possible to think of the mix of acquisition and formalized learning as forming a continuum.

At one extreme lie those unintentional and usually accidental learning events which occur continuously as we walk through life. Next comes incidental learning – unconscious learning through acquisition methods which occurs during some other activity… Then there are various activities in which we are somewhat more conscious of learning, experiential activities arising from immediate life-related concerns, though even here the focus is still on the task… Then come more purposeful activities – occasions where we set out to learn something in a more systematic way, using whatever comes to hand for that purpose, but often deliberately disregarding engagement with teachers and formal institutions of learning… Further along the continuum lie the self-directed learning projects on which there is so much literature… More formalized and generalized (and consequently less contextualized) forms of learning are the distance and open education programmes, where some elements of acquisition learning are often built into the designed learning programme. Towards the further extreme lie more formalized learning programmes of highly decontextualized learning, using material common to all the learners without paying any regard to their individual preferences, agendas or needs. There are of course no clear boundaries between each of these categories. (Rogers 2003: 41-2)

This distinction is echoed in different ways in the writings of many educationalists – but in particular in key theorists such as Kurt Lewin , Chris Argyris , Donald Schön , or Michael Polanyi .

Learning theory

The focus on process obviously takes us into the realm of learning theories – ideas about how or why change occurs. On these pages we focus on five different orientations (taken from Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner  2007).

• The behaviourist orientation to learning
• The cognitive orientation to learning
• The humanistic orientation to learning
• The social/situational orientation to learning
• The constructivist/social constructivist orientation to learning

As with any categorization of this sort the divisions are a bit arbitrary: there could be further additions and sub-divisions to the scheme, and there are  various ways in which the orientations overlap and draw upon each other.

The five orientations can be summed up in the following figure:

Five orientations to learning (after Merriam and Bierema 2012)

As can seen from the above schematic presentation and the discussion on the linked pages, these approaches involve contrasting ideas as to the purpose and process of learning and education – and the role that educators may take. It is also important to recognize that the theories may apply to different sectors of the acquisition-formalized learning continuum outlined above. For example, the work of Lave and Wenger is broadly a form of acquisition learning that can involve some more formal interludes.

Further reading

Gopnik, A. (2016). The Carpenter and the Gardener. What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children . London: Boadley Head.  This is an excellent critique of the contemporary concern with ‘parenting’ and provides an accessible overview of recent research into the ways children learn from each other, and adults.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social. Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect . Oxford: Oxford University Press. A good introduction to the development of thinking around the social brain. It includes some discussion of the relevance for educators.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2012). Learning in adulthood: a comprehensive guide . 3e. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Pretty much  the standard text for those concerned with adult education and lifelong learning. It is, as it states in the title, a comprehensive guide.

Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R., & Bloom, B. S. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives . New York: Longman.

Aristotle (2004). The Nicomachean Ethics . Trans. J. A. K. Thomson. London: Penguin.

Bates, B. (2016). Learning Theories Simplified …and how to apply them to teaching . London: Sage.

Bechtel, W. (2008). Mental mechanisms: Philosophical perspectives on cognitive neuroscience . London: Routledge.

Biesta, G. J. J. (2009). Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability 21(1), 33–46.

Biesta, G. J. J. (2018) ‘Interrupting the politics of learning’ in K. Illeris (ed). (2018). Contemporary Theories of Learning: Learning Theorists … In Their Own Words . Abingdon: Routledge.

Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., and Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals . New York: New York.

Boden, M. A.  (1979). Piaget. London: Fontana.

Boud. D. and Miller, N. (eds.) (1997). Working with Experience: animating learning .  London: Routledge.

Bruner, J. S. (1960, 1977). The Process of Education , Cambridge Ma.: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction , Cambridge, Mass.: Belkapp Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1971). The Relevance of Education , New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. S. (1973). Going Beyond the Information Given. New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. S. (1996). The Culture of Education . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Carr, W. and Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming Critical. Education, knowledge and action research. Lewes: Falmer.

Cinnamond, J. H. and Zimpher, N. L. (1990). ‘Reflectivity as a function of community’ in R. T. Clift, W. R. Houston and M. C. Pugach (eds.) Encouraging Reflective Practice in Education. An analysis of issues and programs . New York: Teachers College Press.

Cohen, J. D., McClure, S. M., and Yu, A. J. (2007). “Should I Stay or Should I Go? How the Human Brain Manages the Trade-off Between Exploitation and Exploration.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 362, no. 1481933–42. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2007.2098.

Dave, R. H. (1970). Psychomotor Levels in Armstrong, R. (ed.) Developing and Writing Behavioral Objectives. Tucson AZ: Educational Innovators Press.

De Houwer, J., Barnes-Holmes, D. and Moors, A. (2013). What is learning? On the nature and merits of a functional definition of learning, Psychon Bull Rev. DOI 10.3758/s13423-013-0386-3. [ https://ppw.kuleuven.be/okp/_pdf/DeHouwer2013WILOT.pdf . Retrieved June 8, 2018].

Dewey, J. (1915) The School and Society , 2e., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Dewey, J. (1925, 1988). Experience and nature. The Later Works of John Dewey Vol. 1. Edited by Jo Ann Boydston. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press).

Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think 2e. New York: D. C. Heath.

Dewey, J. (1934). Art as Experience . New York: Perigee Books.

Dewey, J. (1939). Education and Experience . New York: Collier Books.

Domjan, M. (2010). Principles of learning and behaviour . 6e. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage.

Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed , Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Freire, P. and Faundez, A. (1989) Learning to Question. A pedagogy of liberation , Geneva: World Council of Churches.

Gagné, R. M. (1985) The Conditions of Learning 4e, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Gopnip, A. (2016). The Carpenter and the Gardener. What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children . London: Boadley Head.

Gravett, S. (2001). Adult learning . Pretoria, SA: Van Schaik Publishers.

Gruber, H. E. and Voneche, J. J. (1995). The Essential Piaget: an interpretative reference and guide. London: Northvale.

Grundy, S. (1987). Curriculum: Product or praxis . Lewes: Falmer.

Gupta, A. (2006). Empiricism and Experience . New York: Oxford University Press.

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective. London: Routledge.

Hergenhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1997). An Introduction to Theories of Learning 5e. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Illeris, K. (2002). The Three Dimensions of Learning. Contemporary learning theory in the tension field between the cognitive, the emotional and the social , Frederiksberg: Roskilde University Press.

Illeris, K. (2016). How We Learn: Learning and non-learning in school and beyond . Abingdon: Taylor and Francis.

Illeris, K. (ed). (2018). Contemporary Theories of Learning: Learning Theorists … In Their Own Words . Abingdon: Routledge.

Joyce, B., Calhoun, E. and Hopkins, D. (1997). Models of Learning – tools for teaching. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Jarvis, P. (1987). Adult Learning in the Social Context . London: Routledge.

Kelly, L. (2002). What is learning … and why do museums need to do something about it? A paper presented at the Why Learning? Seminar , Australian Museum/University of Technology Sydney, 22 November. [ https://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9293/what%20is%20learning.pdf . Retrieved June 7, 2018].

Kirschenbaum, H. and Henderson, V. L.  (eds.) (1990). The Carl Rogers Reader. London: Constable.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning . Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall.

Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom, B.S., and Masia, B.B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook II: Affective domain. New York: David McKay Co..

Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition . Oxford: Pergamon.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation . Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Leach, J. and Moon, B. (eds.) (1999). Learners and Pedagogy . London: Paul Chapman.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social. Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Maslow, A. (1968). Towards a Psychology of Being 2e. New York: Van Nostrand.

Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and Personality 2e. New York: Harper and Row.

McCormick, R. and Paetcher, C. (eds.) (1999). Learning and Knowledge. London: Paul Chapman.

Mellanby, J. and Theobald, K. (2014). Education and Learning: An Evidence-based Approach . Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

Merriam, S. B. (2008). Third Update on Adult Learning Theory: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Number 119 (J-B ACE Single Issue Adult & Continuing Education). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Merriam, S., and Bierema, Laura L. (2014). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice . San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Merriam, S. B.  and Caffarella (1991, 1998). Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2012). Learning in adulthood: a comprehensive guide . 3e. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Miettinen, R. (2000). The concept of experiential learning and John Dewey’s theory of reflective thought and action, International Journal of Lifelong Education , 19:1, 54-72, DOI: 10.1080/026013700293458. [ https://doi.org/10.1080/026013700293458 . Retrieved: June8, 2018].

Murphy, P. (ed.) (1999). Learners, Learning and Assessment. London: Paul Chapman.

Newman, F. and Holzman, L. (1997). The End of Knowing. A new developmental way of learning. London: Routledge.

O’Neill, G. and Murphy, F. (2010). Assessment. Guides to taxonomies of learning . Dublin: University College Dublin. [ http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/ucdtla0034.pdf . Retrieved: June 10, 2018].

Piaget, J. (1926). The Child’s Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Piaget, J. (1953). The Origin of Intelligence in Children . New York: International Universities Press.

Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London: Routledge.

Rogers, A. (2003). What is the Difference? A new critique of adult learning and teaching. Leicester: NIACE.

Rogers, C. and Freiberg, H. J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd edn.), New York: Merrill.

Ryle, G.  (1949, 1990) The Concept of the Mind . London: Penguin Books.

Säljö, R. (1979). ‘Learning in the learner’s perspective. I. Some common-sense conceptions’, Reports from the Institute of Education, University of Gothenburg , 76.

Salomon, G. (ed.). Distributed Cognitions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Salzberger-Wittenberg, I., Henry, G. and Osborne, E. (1983). The Emotional Experience of Learning and Teaching. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis . New York: Appleton-Century.

Skinner, B. F. (1973). Beyond Freedom and Dignity. London: Penguin.

Smith, M. K. (1994). Local Education. Community, conversation, action. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Smith, M. K. (forthcoming). Working with young people in difficult times. Offering sanctuary, community and hope .

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997). Psychology and Adult Learning. London: Routledge.

Tennant, M. and Pogson, P. (1995). Learning and Change in the Adult Years. A developmental perspective. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Retallick, J., Cocklin, B. and Coombe, K. (1998). Learning Communities in Education. London: Cassell.

Wenger, E. (1999) Communities of Practice. Learning, meaning and identity , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Witkin, H. and Goodenough, D. (1981). Cognitive Styles, Essence and Origins: Field dependence and field independence. New York: International Universities Press.

Woolsfolk, A. 1998). Educational Psychology . 7e. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Zull, J. E. (2006). Key aspects of how the brain learns. In S. Johnson & K. Taylor (Eds .), The neuroscience of adult learning (pp. 3–10). New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , No. 110, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database – TIP is a tool intended to make learning and instructional theory more accessible to educators. The database contains brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction. These theories can also be accessed by learning domains and concepts.

University of Southampton What do the learning theories say about how we learn? https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/0/steps/24637

https://study.com/academy/lesson/learning-theory-in-the-classroom-application-trends.html

Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

How to cite this article : Smith, M. K. (1999-2020). ‘Learning theory’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [https://infed.org/mobi/learning-theory-models-product-and-process/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K. Smith 1999, 2003, 2018, 2020

SlideModel.com is down for scheduled maintenance. Shouldn't be long. Please check back in a few minutes.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings
• Browse Titles

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

Learning theories.

Mustafa H. Gandhi ; Pinaki Mukherji .

Affiliations

Last Update: July 17, 2023 .

• Definition/Introduction

Learning is the change in the behavior of an organism that is a result of prior experience. [1]  Learning theory seeks to explain how individuals acquire, process, retain, and recall knowledge during the process of learning. Environmental, cognitive, and emotional influences, along with prior experiences, play a vital role in comprehending, acquiring, and retaining skills or knowledge. Motivation plays an important role in enabling the process of learning and is said to be the driving force where activity is started and sustained to achieve a target. [2]

It was Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher who first pondered about how an individual learns new information when the subject is brand new to him. According to Plato, learning is a passive process where knowledge is already innately in an individual at birth, and any information acquired is merely a recollection of knowledge the soul already holds. John Locke later offered a contrasting ‘blank slate’ theory where humans are born without any innate knowledge and which is gained from the environment. Since then, there have been numerous different theories proposed about the process of learning.

• Issues of Concern

Currently, there are five widely accepted theories of learning.

Behaviorism: According to the theory of behaviorism, learning occurs by linking stimuli and responses. Knowledge is independent, and it becomes cemented by way of punishments and rewards. These ideas of positive and negative reinforcement, which may be natural consequences or implemented by another, are effective tools for learning and behavior modification. Behaviorism focuses on observed actions, the conditions under which they are performed, and the reinforcement of desired behaviors. A change in performance is evident after the learning process, and the outcome is measured in terms of being able to demonstrate a specific new behavior. [3]

Cognitivism: This theory of learning is grounded in the work of Jean Piaget, which states that learning occurs through the processing of information internally rather than merely responding to an external stimulus. Learning is a result of processing and reorganizing information within a matrix of previously acquired information. Cognitivism places the focus on the individual's thought processes and has the teacher emphasize reflecting on experiences with metacognition, thinking about their thinking. The behavioral change seen here is a result of learning which occurs after the inner workings of thinking based on the new information or knowledge received. The learning process encompasses both acquisition and reorganization of cognitive entities. [4]

Constructivism: It is based on the premise that individuals learn by constructing new ideas, and an understanding of the world is based on prior knowledge and experiences. Knowledge is built by adapting new information through the lens of previous experience. Constructivism focuses on the internal thinking of an individual, like cognitivism, but makes no assumptions on how concepts will be manipulated or what links will be made. Since the basis of learning is placed on making connections and creating ideas from prior knowledge, these mental representations are very subjective, and each individual will have a unique construction of knowledge.

Connectivism: This newer educational learning theory is grounded in the notion that learning is through the formation of connections between each other as well as their roles, hobbies, and other aspects of life. Therefore learning is the ability to traverse and construct these networks. Connectivism builds on the ideas of cognitivism, but in this theory, learning does not reside only within an individual, but rather also within and across a network of individuals. A "community of practice" has connectivism as its theoretical underpinning. Knowledge can reside outside the individual, but learning focuses on organizing and locating specialized information that may be decentralized from an individual. [5]

Humanism: This theory is closely related to constructivism and adult learning theory, and states that learning is a natural desire with the ultimate goal of achieving self-actualization. [6]  Individuals function under needs that begin from those basic physiological needs of survival and culminate at self-actualization, which rests at the pinnacle of this hierarchy. All humans strive for self-actualization, which refers to a state wherein one feels that all their emotional, physical, and cognitive needs have been fulfilled. Humanistic learning theory emphasizes the freedom and autonomy of learners. It connects the ability to learn with the fulfillment of other needs (building on Maslow's hierarchy) and the perceived utility of the knowledge by the learner.

A learning style, on the other hand, refers to the way an individual prefers to absorb, process, comprehend and retain a new piece of information. While a learning theory explains how learning takes place, a learning style describes the preferred method of learning. Learning styles fall into seven basic categories, namely, physical, logical, social, solitary, visual, aural, and verbal. While descriptions of learning styles exist, catering to a preferred "learning style" leads to no improved outcomes in learning and may guide learners to avoid material presented in a manner that they feel is more uncomfortable. [7]

• Clinical Significance

The advances in cognitive and learning sciences theories inform educators about best learning and teaching practices and their impact on the process of evaluation under differing circumstances. An understanding of these theories provides a sound rationale for choosing specific instructional and assessment strategies that measure that the curricular objectives. [8]  In recent times, educators have started using social media as a means of instruction, and the sound application of social media in education is traceable to the learning theories. [9]

Implications for Teachers

In behaviorism, the teacher needs to be active and have a good knowledge base to set up the appropriate learning environment and elicit the correct responses from the learners. On the other hand, in cognitivism, the role of the teacher is to structure the content of the learning material. Under the structure of constructivism, the role of a facilitator is played by the teacher, who acts as a guide to the students, each of whom brings a unique set of previous experiences to approach the knowledge they are acquiring. Connectivism requires teachers to guide learners to related areas of knowledge outside their focus. Humanism focuses on learner autonomy and potential, having where teachers encourage learners to be self-directed. Thus we see how behaviorism is teacher-centered, whereas constructivism, connectivism, humanism, and cognitivism are learner-centered approaches.

Curriculum Design and Delivery

Behaviorism: It can be very useful in the sphere of clinical and communication skills because as students are provided feedback over a while, they learn the correct responses while performing skills. Their learning can occur in small chunks with repetition that help learn the intended behavior over some time. Behaviourism also enforces the mastery of prerequisite steps before moving onto other further modules, which ensures reinforcement of the correct skills. While teaching certain skills, the teacher can first demonstrate the technique or manner in which a particular skill is to be performed, after which the students try to imitate the same technique. They would then be assessed based on the perfectly they were able to perform the skill-based on what was demonstrated and receive positive or negative reinforcement. [10]

Cognitivism: Conventional basic science courses that occur in isolation to the clinical course make can use of cognitivism, as new information and knowledge are given and then processed internally to come to new ideas and improve the schemata of knowledge.

Constructivism: For basic science courses that occur integrated with clinical science courses, the theory of constructivism would be more appropriate as the student needs to grasp the concepts of the basic sciences and then be able to construct connections to the clinical aspect of it. Any area that requires knowledge to be acquired and then applied to a different sphere would benefit significantly from constructivism.

Connectivism: The learning process in connectivism is similar to that seen with constructivism. Since learning is through the process of forming connections between previous knowledge and an individual’s innate qualities, this approach is appropriate for areas that require the application of knowledge between different disciplines. It has a particular application for learning and teaching in this digital age. [5]

Humanistic: In the humanistic approach, a teacher would allow students to learn by their own free will and desire for knowledge. Since humanists believe that the desire to learn is innate and aimed towards the ultimate goal of self-actualization, the motivation must come from the learner. Although there is often a clear minimal structure for the teaching, the responsibility is on the students to learn as they wish to. [11]

• Nursing, Allied Health, and Interprofessional Team Interventions

The most salient or easily applied strategums from the aforementioned learning theories can be administered when educating patients. Understanding the nuances of learning can help improve patient compliance, leading to an improved prognosis. Thus, it is imperative for interprofessional teams to understand which teaching modalities may engender the best compliance.

• Review Questions
• Access free multiple choice questions on this topic.
• Comment on this article.

Disclosure: Mustafa Gandhi declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Pinaki Mukherji declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

• Cite this Page Gandhi MH, Mukherji P. Learning Theories. [Updated 2023 Jul 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

In this Page

Bulk download.

• Bulk download StatPearls data from FTP

Related information

• PMC PubMed Central citations
• PubMed Links to PubMed

Similar articles in PubMed

• Review Looking through goal theories in language learning: A review on goal setting and achievement goal theory. [Front Psychol. 2022] Review Looking through goal theories in language learning: A review on goal setting and achievement goal theory. Cheng X. Front Psychol. 2022; 13:1035223. Epub 2023 Jan 5.
• Review [Role of the implicit theories of intelligence in learning situations]. [Encephale. 2004] Review [Role of the implicit theories of intelligence in learning situations]. Da Fonseca D, Cury F, Bailly D, Rufo M. Encephale. 2004 Sep-Oct; 30(5):456-63.
• Motivation in medical education: how theory can inform our practice. [Acad Med. 1999] Motivation in medical education: how theory can inform our practice. Mann KV. Acad Med. 1999 Mar; 74(3):237-9.
• Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories. [Med Educ. 2016] Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories. Cook DA, Artino AR Jr. Med Educ. 2016 Oct; 50(10):997-1014.
• The effectiveness of internet-based e-learning on clinician behavior and patient outcomes: a systematic review protocol. [JBI Database System Rev Implem...] The effectiveness of internet-based e-learning on clinician behavior and patient outcomes: a systematic review protocol. Sinclair P, Kable A, Levett-Jones T. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2015 Jan; 13(1):52-64.

Recent Activity

• Learning Theories - StatPearls Learning Theories - StatPearls

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

Connect with NLM

National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894

Web Policies FOIA HHS Vulnerability Disclosure

Help Accessibility Careers

What is an Oral Presentation? Types, Planning, Writing, and More

• By Judhajit Sen
• November 3, 2024

An oral presentation, often called public speaking, involves a person or group speaking to an audience about a specific topic. The main goals are to educate, inform, entertain, or make a point. You can find oral presentations in various settings, such as workplaces, classrooms, and social events like weddings. In universities, these presentations are used to evaluate how well a student can convey important information in an engaging way.

In essence, an oral presentation is a way to share information verbally, often enhanced by images, visual aids, or technology. This format can include group discussions, speeches, debates, and class presentations. Presentations can be made individually or in groups.

Effective oral presentations usually incorporate slides, but it’s important not to read directly from them. Slides should support your message, not replace your spoken words. Avoid putting excess text on your slides, as this can reduce audience engagement. If you’re constantly looking at your slides or laptop, you risk losing connection with your audience. 

Remember, delivering an oral speech is more than just reading a paper or a set of slides. How you present your material is just as crucial as the content itself. Engaging delivery can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your communication.

What does oral presentation mean? Let’s explore!

Key Takeaways

• Definition and Purpose: An oral presentation, or public speaking, involves sharing information verbally to educate, inform, entertain, or persuade an audience in various settings like workplaces and classrooms.
• Effective Use of Visual Elements: Slides should enhance the presentation, not replace spoken content. Keep text minimal and use visuals like images and graphs to support key points.
• Preparation and Practice: Successful presentations require thorough planning and practice. Knowing your material well, rehearsing delivery, and managing nerves are essential for an engaging presentation.
• Audience Engagement: Use natural gestures and connect with your audience. An engaging delivery is just as important as the content itself to keep listeners interested and involved.

Types of Oral Presentations

Individual Presentations

Everyone feels nervous when oral speaking in public. 

Be sure to know your content well. The best way to have a smooth presentation is to be clear about what you want to say and how you want to say it. Write down your key pointers and practice until you feel relaxed and confident enough to rely less on your notes.

Try to eliminate filler words like “um” and “ah” from your speech. Speak slowly and with clarity, and don’t hesitate to pause when needed. Remember, this isn’t a race to finish as quickly as possible. The average person speaks about 125 words every minute. So, if your presentation is 10 minutes long, you should aim to prepare around 1,250 words. Make sure to time yourself to get this right.

Be mindful of the marking criteria, which include non-verbal communication skills. Make good eye contact with your audience, maintain good posture, and avoid fidgeting.

Also, know the language requirements for your presentation. Find out if you can use a casual, conversational tone and first-person pronouns or if you need to maintain a more formal, academic style.

Group Presentations

If you haven’t been made part of a group, choose your team members based on who is available and easy to reach. If you can’t meet in person, consider setting up online meetings.

It’s important to get to know each other. Working with friends is often easier than with strangers. Discuss everyone’s strengths and weaknesses; this conversation will help you divide tasks fairly. Everyone should contribute equally to the workload.

Some group members might focus on writing the script, assigning different parts for each person to present. Others may have experience with presentation software and can help create and refine PowerPoint slides for the group. Use one set of slides for the entire presentation, and take turns sharing your ideas.

Presenters must be understanding and patient of each other’s learning styles and personalities. Avoid judging your teammates based on their appearance, sexual orientation, gender, age, or cultural background.

Practice together several times. Rehearse until your transitions between speakers feel smooth. Make sure to thank the previous speaker and introduce the next one. If you’re practicing online but need to present in person, try to set aside some time to meet face-to-face. This will help you get comfortable with the technology and the classroom space.

Planning and Writing an Oral Presentation

An oral slideshow requires careful planning, practice, and audience engagement to succeed. Begin by reviewing your oral presentation outline to understand the task requirements, including due dates and assessment criteria. Determine the purpose of your presentation and consider what your audience expects in terms of content and delivery.

Start by brainstorming your ideas about the topic. Map out everything you know, and think about how to involve the audience with questions or discussions. Conduct detailed research to gather relevant information and take notes, making sure to keep track of your sources.

Organize your thoughts logically, creating a clear flow of information. An effective presentation is written in spoken language, which is easier for the audience to follow than written language. Aim for conversational phrasing, and ensure that your speech aligns with any visual aids you plan to use.

Begin with a strong opening to capture your audience’s attention. Consider starting with an open-ended question or a surprising fact. Clearly define any complex terms early in your presentation to avoid losing your audience’s interest.

When designing PowerPoint slides, focus on simplicity. Use minimal text and incorporate visuals like graphs and charts to illustrate your key points. Follow the 6-6-6 rule : no more than six words per bullet point , six bullet points per slide, and six text slides in a row. High-contrast fonts that are easy to read should be your go-to, avoiding all caps and excessive decorations.

Finally, end your presentation with a powerful conclusion that highlights the significance of your research. Summarize how your findings contribute to a greater understanding of the topic, leaving the audience with a lasting impression.

Using PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a great tool for presentations, but it’s not always used well. If you plan to use PPT, follow these tips to improve your presentation:

– Pick a large font. Keep your text at 24 points or larger to ensure it’s readable.

– Choose a clean typeface. Sans serif fonts like Arial are easier to read on screens compared to serif fonts like Times New Roman.

– Use bullet points instead of full sentences. Your slides should provide a guide for what you’re saying. If you write everything on the slides, the audience may not pay attention to you. A good rule to follow is the 6/7 rule: limit each slide to six bullet points and no more than seven words per point.

– Select contrasting colors. Use dark text on a light background and vice versa. Avoid color combinations that are hard to distinguish, especially red and green, as many people have color blindness.

– Limit special effects. While animations and transitions can catch attention, they can also distract the audience from your message. Use these effects only when they help make your point clearer.

Using Visual Aids

Visual aids can greatly enhance your oral presentation by keeping the audience interested throughout your presentation and helping them remember your key points. Slides are a popular choice, but creating effective slides requires some careful thought.

When designing your slides, keep the following tips in mind – 

Keep Text Brief: Use short, clear sentences. Aim for bullet points instead of long paragraphs, and ensure the font size is large enough to read easily, ideally between 18 and 20 points.

Choose a Simple Color Theme: Select a background color that contrasts well with your text. Avoid dark slides with light-colored fonts, as they can strain the eyes.

Use Images and Graphs Wisely: While images and graphs can convey information quickly and effectively, make sure they support your main points rather than serving as mere decorations. Use high-quality visuals that are relevant to your message. However, be mindful of file sizes, as high-definition images can make your presentation file too large for submission through platforms like Turnitin. Always ensure you have the right to use any images, whether they are Creative Commons licensed, royalty-free, or your own.

By following these guidelines, you can create visual aids that complement your presentation and make your message clearer for your audience.

Presenting Effectively

When it comes to delivering an oral presentation, preparation and practice are key. Your presentation should sound like spoken language, not written text. Here’s how to ensure you’re presenting effectively:

Practice Makes Perfect 

Rehearse your presentation multiple times. Practice speaking slowly and clearly, maintaining good posture, and using natural gestures. Familiarize yourself with difficult words by breaking them into syllables. Time yourself to ensure you stay within your time limits.

Engage with Visual Aids

Rehearse with your PowerPoint or any visual aids you plan to use. Remember to keep your slides synchronized with your speech, and refer to them during your presentation. Make notes in your script to indicate when to change slides and ensure you spend an appropriate amount of time on each.

Nonverbal Communication 

Confidence is key. Stand up straight and move naturally within your space. Use hand gestures sparingly to emphasize points, but avoid overdoing it. Maintain a cheerful and engaging tone, and avoid monotonous speech.

Manage Nervous Habits

Be mindful of nervous habits such as fidgeting or voice fidgets. If you need to cough or clear your throat, do so discreetly and have water on hand. Keep distractions to a minimum and ensure your phone is turned off.

Audience Engagement

Make eye contact with the audience to keep them focused. Let your eyes settle on one person for a few seconds before moving on. Avoid reading from the screen or your notes; instead, internalize your script and present it confidently.

Pacing and Timing 

Plan your presentation to allow for a few minutes of questions within the allotted time. Pause occasionally to let your points sink in and to give your audience time to catch up. Use pauses effectively to create structure and emphasize important information.

Answering Questions

If you don’t know the answer to a question, it’s okay to admit it. Offer to look into it further or refer the question to someone more knowledgeable.

Relax and Breathe 

Nervousness is natural. Deep breathing can help keep your nerves in check. Remember, even seasoned presenters get nervous. Practice deep breathing throughout your presentation to stay calm.

By following these tips, you can speak with confidence and deliver an engaging oral presentation that will captivate your audience. Practice thoroughly, stay confident, and make sure your nonverbal cues align with your message. slideshow

Wrap-up: What is an Oral Presentation?

An oral presentation, commonly known as public speaking, is a way to share information verbally with an audience. The purpose can be to educate, inform, entertain, or present an argument. Whether in workplaces, classrooms, or social events, oral presentations are a valuable tool for conveying important information.

Oral presentation skills require careful planning, practice, and audience engagement. They often include visual elements like slides, but these should support rather than overshadow the spoken content. It’s important to avoid overloading slides with text to maintain audience interest.

Delivering an effective presentation involves more than just reading from notes or slides. A clear, engaging delivery is crucial. This includes making eye contact, using natural gestures, and maintaining a confident tone. A lot of practice beforehand helps ensure smooth delivery and helps manage nervous habits.

An oral presentation is a powerful method of communication , enhanced by good preparation and an engaging delivery style.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1: What are the types of oral presentations?

Oral presentations can be individual or group efforts. They include speeches, debates, and class presentations, often supported by visual aids like slides.

2: How do I plan and write an effective oral presentation?

Start by understanding your topic and audience. Organize your content logically, use simple slides with minimal text, and practice your delivery to ensure clarity and engagement.

3. What should I include on my PowerPoint slides?

Keep your slides simple by using bullet points and minimal text. Aim for large fonts and high-contrast colors, and ensure any visuals directly support your message without being distracting.

4: What oral presentation tips can help me deliver a successful slideshow?

Practice thoroughly, maintain good posture, make eye contact, and use natural gestures. Avoid reading directly from slides and manage nervous habits to keep your audience engaged.

Transform Your Oral Presentations with Prezentium

Ready to elevate your oral presentations? Prezentium is here to help. Our customer-first approach ensures you receive top-notch support tailored to your needs. Whether you need a stunning presentation by the next morning, expert assistance in transforming your ideas into professional slides, or comprehensive training in communication skills, we’ve got you covered.

Our Overnight Presentations service guarantees a winning slide deck delivered to your inbox by 9:30 am PST the next day. With Accelerators, our team of experts helps you create exquisite presentations from your ideas and notes, ensuring they stand out. Through Zenith Learning , we offer interactive workshops that blend structured problem-solving with visual storytelling, perfect for honing your presentation skills.

Partner with Prezentium and take your oral presentations to the next level. Contact us today to experience the difference and impress your audience with confidence.

Why wait? Avail a complimentary 1-on-1 session with our presentation expert. See how other enterprise leaders are creating impactful presentations with us.

Effective Communication C’s: The 7 Cs of Communication Checklist

One-pager examples: key elements of a one pager template.

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Publications
• Account settings
• Advanced Search
• Journal List

How to Write Well-Defined Learning Objectives

Debnath chatterjee , md, faap, janet corral , phd.

• Author information
• Article notes
• Copyright and License information

The authors are at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado. Debnath Chatterjee is Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Children's Hospital Colorado; Janet Corral is in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Corresponding Author: Debnath Chatterjee, MD, FAAP, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 13123 East 16th Ave, B090, Aurora, CO, 80045. Telephone (720) 777-4825, Fax: (720) 777-7266. Email address: [email protected]

Corresponding author.

Collection date 2017 Oct-Dec.

Writing effective learning objectives is a necessary skill in academic medicine. Learning objectives are clearly written, specific statements of observable learner behavior or action that can be measured upon completion of an educational activity. They are the foundation for instructional alignment whereby the learning objectives, assessment tools, and instructional methods mutually support the desired learning outcome. This review article describes the essential components of a learning objective and provides practical tips on writing well-defined learning objectives.

Keywords: learning objectives, goals, Bloom's Taxonomy

Introduction

An anesthesiologist starts his grand rounds presentation on the topic of malignant hyperthermia (MH) with the following learning objectives:

Understand the pathophysiology of MH.

Review the clinical presentation of MH.

Discuss the treatment of MH.

Become familiar with caffeine-halothane contracture testing for MH.

This list informs the attendees about the topics covered during the presentation. However, do they know what is expected of them when they apply this content in their own clinical practice?

We have all seen learning “objectives” mentioned, such as the ones above, at the beginning of a presentation or workshop. But is what we see actually a learning objective ? Learning objectives are often confused with learning goals; the example above is such a case in point. Learning goals are related to—but different from—learning objectives. A learning goal is a broad statement of an expected learning outcome of a course or curriculum. Learning goals provide a vision for the future and often summarize the intention or topic area of several related learning objectives. Learning objectives are drawn from the learning goals. They are guiding statements for each learning encounter, and they connect intention with reality within the learning experience as well as to the assessment planned. In keeping with the Roman philosopher Lucius Seneca, who said, “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable,” this review article describes the essential components of learning objectives and provides practical tips on writing well-defined learning objectives.

Defining “Learning Objective”

A learning objective is a description of what the learner must be able to do upon completion of an educational activity. A well-written learning objective outlines the knowledge, skills and/or attitude the learners will gain from the educational activity and does so in a measurable way.

An effective learning objective should include the following 5 elements: who, will do, how much or how well, of what, by when. 1 The mnemonic SMART—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can be used to describe the elements of a well-written learning objective. 2 One example of a SMART objective for an airway conference is: “Upon completion of the difficult airway workshop, participants should be able to formulate an accurate algorithm for the management of an obese adult patient with inadequate face mask ventilation, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists difficult airway algorithm.”

Practical tips for writing learning objectives are summarized in Table 1 . Since the point of a learning objective is to describe the intended outcome for learning, begin the learning objective with: “Upon completion of this educational activity, learners should be able to . . . .” The next step is to identify the concepts the learners need to learn and how they will demonstrate their understanding. It is recommended that the instructor choose one action verb that is measurable and observable. Verbs such as understand , know , learn , appreciate , believe , be familiar with , comprehend , and so on, are not observable or measurable and should be avoided. Each learning objective must be separate; two actions (such as diagnosis and management ) or topics (such as bronchospasm and hypotension ) must not be combined. It is also important that the action verb identify the level and cognitive domain at which the learner is expected to perform. Bloom's Taxonomy connects the depth of learning with action verbs that may be used when writing learning objectives.

Practical tips for writing effective learning objectives.

Blooms' Taxonomy and Action Verbs

When writing learning objectives, educators leverage Bloom's Taxonomy 3 ( Table 2 ). Bloom's Taxonomy describes 6 levels of hierarchy in the cognitive domain: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This taxonomy was revised in 2001 4 ( Figure 1 ). Each level of the hierarchy correlates to action verbs that educators use within learning objectives. To help anesthesia educators apply Bloom's Taxonomy more readily to their own learning, we will briefly review what each level of the hierarchy means to learning.

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

(Adapted from http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/education/degree_programs/MDProgram/administration/curriculumoffice/Documents/CUSOM_Learning-Objectives-Guidelines.pdf )

Original and revised versions of Bloom's Taxonomy (Reprinted with permission from Wilson LO. http://thesecondprinciple.com )

Knowledge “involves the recall of specifics and universals, the recall of methods and processes, or the recall of a pattern, structure, or setting.” 3 This category appreciates and distinguishes factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge as separate elements of “knowledge.” In anesthesia teaching, we frequently use the first 3 types. For example, we provide factual knowledge (eg, lecture to undergraduate medical learners), procedural knowledge (eg, teaching in simulation or during an operation), and conceptual knowledge (eg, case-based learning, principles of anesthesia). Metacognitive knowledge is often applicable when giving feedback to learners; for example, when helping learners understand their competency in communication with patients and families.

Comprehension “refers to a type of understanding or apprehension such that the individual knows what is being communicated and can make use of the material or idea being communicated without necessarily relating it to other material or seeing its fullest implications.” 3 Application refers to the “use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations.” 3 Analysis represents the “breakdown of a communication into its constituent elements or parts such that relative hierarchy of ideas is made clear and/or the relations between ideas expressed are made explicit.” 3 Synthesis involves “putting together of elements and parts so as to form a whole,” 3 and evaluation includes “judgments about the value of material and methods for given purposes.” 3

All educators should make the important connection between the intended learning depth (eg, comprehension) and the action verbs that reflect that intended learning outcome within the learning objective. Action verbs guide the learner about the intended outcome; for example, “critically appraise the evidence related to rapid sequence induction for airway management in pregnant patients.”

Incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART for Effective Learning Objectives

Both Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART are necessary for writing effective learning objectives that communicate the intention for the learner with the intended learning outcomes. Examples of weak learning objectives and suggestions for better wording, based on incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART, are listed in Table 3 .

Examples of weak learning objectives and suggestions for SMARTer learning objectives. All of the learning objectives are written for an hour-long grand rounds presentation and begin with “Upon completion of the grand rounds presentation, participants should be able to:”

When faculty are leading sessions on writing SMART objectives, the authors often hear participants challenge that SMART objectives are longer and very detailed—consequently, will learners even follow them? The counterargument is that any objective worded too broadly, with no measurable standard that is attainable and repeatable for the learner in the given time frame, leads to confusion about “what to study” or “what performance is expected.” The value in writing SMART objectives includes helping educators focus and specify what they intend to teach, assess, and offer as feedback for the learner. This shapes the learning session's scope, the method of instruction, and the type and quality of the assessment.

Do Learning Objectives Add Value to Curriculum and Assessment?

For many, writing out the learning objectives appears to be an effort to its own end. However, learning objectives are the foundation for instructional alignment. Instructional alignment means that learning objectives, assessment tools, and instructional methods mutually support the same educational outcome. 5 This is known as the Golden Triangle 5 ( Figure 2 ). Well-defined learning objectives outline the desired outcome for learners, which will help specify the instructional method. For example, if we want the learners to demonstrate correct intubation procedure in a normal adult 100% of the time, we need the instructional method to involve some sort of hands-on experience so that learners can demonstrate their skills. In contrast, if the teacher lectures about correct intubation without the opportunity for learners to complete hands-on skills, the learning activity is not aligned with the stated learning objective.

Instructional alignment of learning objectives, assessment and instructional methods.

Likewise, learning objectives guide the assessment method. Taking the above example: If the objective is for learners to be 100% successful in normal adult intubation, assessing their skill using a written exam would misalign the objective and assessment method. As educators, we would miss the accuracy of the skill! Instead, the assessment method needs hands-on performance.

Constructive alignment underscores what learning objectives contribute towards achieving the intended educational outcomes. Learning objectives also contribute to shaping expectations, preparing learners for the educational activity and the standard by which their performance will be measured; the objectives also define faculty and learner responsibilities towards achieving the intended learning outcomes. Learning objectives may also guide teaching, by defining and limiting content or activities.

Are SMART Learning Objectives a Required Component of Medical Education?

Learning objectives are a required component in the planning of all medical education curricula. At the undergraduate level, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) requires that “the faculty of a medical school define its medical education program objectives in outcome-based terms that allow the assessment of medical student's progress in developing the competencies that the profession and the public expect of a physician.” 6 At the graduate medical education level, one of the common program requirements from the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) states that each program must distribute competency-based goals and objectives for each assignment at every educational level. 7 Even for continuing medical education (CME), both the American Medical Association (AMA) and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) require that a CME activity has learning objectives to qualify for category 1 credit. 8 Consequently, writing effective learning objectives is a core skill that every academic anesthesiologist should master.

Writing effective learning objectives is a necessary skill in academic medicine. Well-defined learning objectives describe what the learner must be able to achieve upon completion of the educational activity. Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART are two tools that educators may leverage towards writing learning objectives that effectively relate the intended outcomes to the learners, simultaneously setting up the educators to successfully attain the learning outcomes within the time and resources provided. The successful academic anesthesiologist can align the instructional method, assessment, and intended learning outcome by using SMART learning objectives rather than learning goals. In closing, we revisit the learning goals in the opening anecdote of this review article.

Upon completion of the grand rounds presentation, participants will be able to:

Describe at least 3 intracellular mechanisms within the muscle cells during an episode of malignant hyperthermia (MH). The description must include: unregulated calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum, sustained muscle contractures, and the resulting hypermetabolic response.

Relate the 4 most common clinical signs of MH (hypercarbia, tachycardia/tachypnea, generalized muscle rigidity, and hyperthermia) to the underlying physiological mechanisms in the muscle cells.

Summarize, in order, the critical steps in the intraoperative management of an MH crisis according to recommendations from the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States.

Formulate an anesthetic plan for management of a MH-susceptible patient that must include the use of: non-triggering anesthetic agents, monitoring for signs of MH, and preparedness to treat acute MH.

Critically appraise the role of caffeinehalothane testing for MH including indications, location, sensitivity, and specificity.

rrh: Learning Objectives

Financial Disclosures: None.

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Author Contributions: Debnath Chatterjee, MD, wrote the manuscript and reviewed the final draft before submission. Janet Corral, PhD, reviewed the initial and final draft and contributed to the content.

• 1. Thomas PA. Goals and objectives, : Thomas PA, Kern DE, Hughes MT Chen BY. (Eds.) Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six Step Approach , 3rd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2016; 50– 64. [ Google Scholar ]
• 2. Skrbic N, Burrows J.. Specifying Learning Objectives, : Ashmore L, Robinson D. (Eds.) Learning, Teaching and Development: Strategies for Action . London: Sage Publications; 2014; 54– 87. [ Google Scholar ]
• 3. Bloom BS. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive Domain . New York: Longman; 1984; 201– 7 [Appendix]. [ Google Scholar ]
• 4. Anderson LW, Krathwohl DR.. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . New York: Addison Wesley Longman; 2001. [ Google Scholar ]
• 5. Cohen SA. Instructional alignment: Searching for a magic bullet. Educ Res . 1987; 16 8: 16– 20. [ Google Scholar ]
• 6. Liaison Committee on Medical Education Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree. http://www.lcme.org/publications/#Standards . Published March 2016. Accessed May 10, 2017.
• 7. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Common Program Requirements. http://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/PFAssets/ProgramRequirements/CPRs_07012016.pdf . Published February 11, 2007. Accessed May 10, 2017.
• 8. American Medical Association Guidance on New Procedure for CME. www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/continuing-medical-education/physicians-recognition-award-credit-system/cme-help/guidance-new-procedure-cme.page . Accessed May 10, 2017.
• PDF (150.8 KB)
• Collections

Similar articles

Cited by other articles, links to ncbi databases.

• Download .nbib .nbib
• Format: AMA APA MLA NLM

Add to Collections

How to Create a Standout Company Overview Presentation

In the business world, a company overview presentation serves as a powerful introduction, providing stakeholders with a snapshot of an organization's identity, mission, and achievements. Crafting a standout company overview presentation is not only about sharing information but also about creating a lasting impression. In this article, we will explore the definition of a company overview presentation, discuss how to present one effectively, highlight the importance of well-crafted PowerPoint slides for the presentation, and conclude with key insights.

1. The Definition of a Company Overview Presentation

A company overview presentation is a strategic communication tool designed to introduce and familiarize stakeholders, potential clients, investors, and employees with the key aspects of a company. This presentation typically covers fundamental information, including the company's history, mission and values, core competencies, achievements, and future goals. The objective is to offer a comprehensive understanding of the company's identity, capabilities, and strategic direction.

Key Components of a Company Overview Presentation:

1. Introduction and History: A brief overview of the company's founding, history, and evolution.

2. Mission and Values: Articulation of the company's mission statement and core values that guide its operations.

3. Products or Services: Overview of the products or services offered, highlighting key features and benefits.

4. Market Positioning: Description of the company's position in the market and its competitive advantages.

5. Achievements and Milestones: Showcasing significant achievements, awards, and milestones that reflect the company's success.

6. Team and Leadership: Introduction of key team members and leadership, emphasizing their expertise and contributions.

7. Financial Overview: High-level financial information, such as revenue, growth, and profitability.

8. Future Vision and Goals: Articulation of the company's vision for the future and strategic goals.

2. How Should a Good Company Overview Presentation be Presented?

Creating a compelling company overview presentation involves a thoughtful approach to both content and delivery. Here's how to ensure a standout presentation:

Audience-Centric Approach:

1. Understand Your Audience: Tailor the presentation to resonate with the interests and expectations of your audience, whether they are potential clients, investors, or employees.

2. Engage with Stories: Integrate relevant anecdotes, success stories, and examples to make the presentation more relatable and engaging.

Clear and Concise Messaging:

1. Avoid Jargon: Use clear and straightforward language, avoiding industry jargon that may be confusing to a diverse audience.

2. Focus on Key Messages: Emphasize the most critical points and messages that define the essence of your company.

Visual Appeal:

1. Professional Design: Invest in a professional and consistent design that aligns with your brand identity.

2. Visual Elements: Use visuals, such as images, infographics, and charts, to enhance the visual appeal and convey information more effectively.

Structured Presentation:

1. Logical Flow: Organize the presentation with a logical flow, ensuring that information is presented in a sequence that makes sense to the audience.

2. Use Headings and Bullets: Break down content into clear headings and bullet points for easy comprehension.

Engaging Delivery:

1. Dynamic Presentation Style: Be dynamic and enthusiastic in your delivery to keep the audience engaged.

2. Interaction: Encourage interaction, questions, and discussions to foster engagement and address specific audience interests.

Storytelling:

1. Craft a Narrative: Weave a compelling narrative about the company's journey, emphasizing key turning points, challenges, and successes.

2. Humanize the Company: Highlight the human side of the company by sharing stories about employees, values, and community involvement.

Consistent Branding:

1. Brand Representation: Ensure that the presentation is a true representation of your brand, with consistent colors, fonts, and logo usage.

2. Reflect Company Culture: Showcase elements of your company culture, emphasizing values and principles.

3. The Importance of Well-Crafted PowerPoint Slides for the Company Overview Presentation

While the content of a company overview presentation is crucial, the manner in which it is presented can significantly impact the audience's perception. Here's why well-crafted PowerPoint slides are essential for a company overview presentation:

Visual Representation:

1. Enhanced Comprehension: Visuals aid in conveying complex information more comprehensively and memorably.

2. Branding Consistency: PowerPoint slides enable consistent branding, reinforcing the company's professional image.

Organized Information Delivery:

1. Logical Sequence: Slides provide a structured framework for presenting information in a logical sequence, facilitating better understanding.

2. Easy Navigation: A well-organized slide deck allows for easy navigation between topics and sections during the presentation.

Flexibility and Adaptability:

1. Last-Minute Edits: PowerPoint allows for last-minute edits and updates, ensuring the presentation remains current and relevant.

2. Adapt to Audience Feedback: The flexibility to adapt the presentation based on audience reactions and feedback during the pitch.

Engagement:

1. Interactive Elements: Incorporate dynamic elements, such as clickable links or embedded videos, to make the presentation more interactive.

2. Audience Focus: Well-crafted slides keep the audience focused on key messages and prevent information overload.

Accessibility:

1. Handouts: Use PowerPoint slides to create handouts or supplementary materials for the audience to take away and reference later.

2. Accessibility to All Learners: Slides accommodate various learning styles, ensuring the information is accessible to both visual and auditory learners.

4.The Introduction of Smallppt’s AI PowerPoint

Smallppt's AI PowerPoint is a transformative tool, serving as an advanced solution for professionals seeking an efficient AI PPT maker and AI PPT generator. With cutting-edge capabilities in Artificial Intelligence presentation PowerPoint, Smallppt caters to diverse AI for ppt needs. The seamless PowerPoint ai functionality automates the generation of extensive outlines and over 20 slides with a straightforward input of the presentation topic.

This versatile tool operates as an efficient AI PowerPoint and a reliable ppt maker AI, providing users with an intuitive platform for customization. Ai PowerPoint slides allow for the effortless insertion of text, images, charts, and multimedia elements, fostering dynamic content creation. The adaptability extends to individual pages, enabling users to tailor content dynamically. Post-customization, users can conveniently export their presentations in various formats, including pptx, images, or PDFs, solidifying Smallppt's role as a comprehensive ppt ai maker.

Positioned as an efficient online AI PPT maker, Smallppt seamlessly integrates AI prowess with user-friendly design, presenting a game-changing solution for professionals seeking streamlined AI for presentations. Embrace the future of presentation creation with Smallppt's AI PowerPoint, where innovation converges seamlessly with efficiency.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, a standout company overview presentation is a powerful tool for shaping the perception of your organization. It goes beyond the facts and figures, aiming to connect with the audience on a personal and emotional level. By combining a well-structured narrative with visually appealing and consistent PowerPoint slides, companies can create presentations that leave a lasting impact on stakeholders.

As technology continues to evolve, leveraging digital tools like PowerPoint becomes increasingly essential in delivering polished and impactful presentations. A carefully crafted company overview presentation, when presented with enthusiasm and authenticity, can serve as a gateway to building lasting relationships, attracting clients, investors, and top talent, and ultimately positioning the company for success in a competitive business landscape.