For Week 2, I have learnt about 3 particular theories that are related to the field of e-learning. Three videos discussing about these 3 theories were shown to us during lecture. This is what I have learnt from the lecture and the reading of the lengthy notes.
The 3 major theories are behaviorism, cognitivism and socioculturalism.
1st point: Behaviorism
As the word has suggested, behaviorism is related to behavior and environment. Many people use the Skinner’s experiment to describe an example of behaviorism. What exactly is behaviorism? Behaviorism is a process whereby people are being motivated or forced to learn something that the educators or someone of a superior status who want a desired outcome for the learners/workers. Also, people are given rewards or punishment based on their behavior, this is part of the learning process of behaviorism.
This type of practice is commonly used in primary school, secondary school and perhaps in high school too. The teachers (who are someone of a superior status) will instruct students to complete assignments and homework and the desired outcome of what teachers want from the students will be the complete understanding of the things they taught in class. And if students who disobey the teachers, punishments such as detention and deduction of CCA points are one of the common punishment practices executed in local schools. This vicious cycle of punishments and rewards integrated into the lives of students will be an excellent example of what behaviorism is about.
I have observed that such punishments and rewards system does not really play a huge role in the curriculum of tertiary educational institutions. I believe that so because people mature over time and eventually will know what is good or bad for them. This is where the selfish nature of human play a part in behaviorism. It is perfectly normal for humans to always want the best or at least good things in their life. Hence, the ideas of having rewards or punishment do not really apply right now because of the increase of self-awareness of what is good or bad to us. It can be seen in the way that people would not delibrately think of the rewards or punishment they will get if they do something.
For example, not paying attention during lecture or not handing in assignments on time might result you in getting a low CAP score and in turn, one will know that having a low CAP score will not secure a good job position when one graduates. The punishment of not paying attention during lecture and not handing in assignments on time will just result you in deduction of your grade and no detention or deduction of CCA points will take place. Hence, I believe that is why universities do not place much importance in giving punishments or rewards to students who behaves or misbehaves because the selfish nature of humans is more likely to emerge fully in the later years of a student’s education.
2nd point: Cognitivism
Cognitivism is a process whereby constructions of meaning and ideas are formed by the learners themselves rather than adapting the ideas from the point of views of the educators. However, for cognitivism to occur, there must be the presence of intrinsic motivation to learn and understand the concept of an issue. Without this, the development of ideas and meaning will be hindered by this important factor. Learners should NOT be forced by the educators to learn something or rather the educators would hope that the learners could pick up the right cues during the learning process.
The drawback of this theory is that learners might not get the correct cues from the educators, hence the process of learning might not be completed and errors may arise during this point of learning process.
In relation of the example given in the reading, children are paid to do the drawing and this shows that there is a presence of extrinsic motivation which might hinder the intrinsic motivation to surface. Therefore, cognitivism will not take place. Cognitivism usually happens within an individual who is able to conjure theories that make sense to the world and make their own inferences through using concepts, theories and procedures.
An example of cognitivism is that forensic scientists involve in the investigation of crime scenes or accident scenes to make a re-enactment of the whole situation so as to understand more about the cause and effect of certain forces. Thus, this goes on par with the concept of cognitivism given in the reading whereby cognitivism involves someone who really isnt interested in gaining self interest or rather just to make sense of the world.
3rd and last point: Socioculturalism
Socioculturalism is a process whereby people learn things from their social environment and their various cultures. It is crucial that the interaction between these two elements because they are the determining factor if one can learn. I do see the parallel between socioculturalism and behaviorism as there is a stimuli for the learners to react to. The experience gained from their social environment will play a major role in the learning process of the learners. For example, teamwork can be seen as a socioculturalism practice as people gather to share their knowledge and information. This can be paralleled to an organization whereby people have their own role to play in order to assure that the company is running smoothly.
Lastly, I have to say socioculturalism may be the better thinking tool for the 21st century because right now, the world is getting ’smaller’ with the convenience of Internet, it is easier for people to exchange knowledge and also communication will not hinder the learning process because of the intensive improvement and usage of the communication channel, Internet.
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