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[Abstract]
Learning theories deal with the ways people learn. There are a number of different learning theories in our society. For example, there are behaviorist, cognitivist, social and experiential learning theories. All learning theories strive to lead to change in basically three domains: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Some theorists list more domains and others divide learning theories into different categories. According to this article, all learning theories may contain a general model that can be derived from existing learning theories if special attention is paid to observing these theories. Good learning theories determine the roles for learners and teachers and the relationships between learners and educators. Learning theory fundamentals help users of theories implement effective strategies.
[Keywords] learning theory; behaviorist; cognitivist; social learning; experiential learning
Introduction
Humans have different interpretations of learning theories and different beliefs about how people learn. All these beliefs may come from personal experience, self-reflection, observation of others, research, and through the experience of trying to teach or persuade someone else to one's own way of thinking. In a nutshell, everyone keeps learning every waking minute, using different learning theories. Theories guide one's action in terms how one goes about learning new skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Without learning theories, one's learning may lead to mindless activism. In other words, one's time is spent trying to learn something, but the end result is ineffective. In democratic cultures, people may prefer critical thinking as an effective learning theory, whereas in authoritarian cultures, people may see rote learning or memorization as an effective learning theory. Many journal articles highlight the abovementioned two schools of thought on learning theories. Some scholars may argue that critical thinking, as a theory, may lead to creativity and innovation, whereas rote learning may stifle creativity. The debate has been going on for decades, and no definitive conclusions have been reached. It is extremely difficult to determine which learning theories are better than others because people are engaged in informal or formal learning to change the way they see themselves, change the way they see other people, and change the way they see situations (Cramer & Wasiak, 2006). It is likely that there is no one best way of promoting learning.
One strong piece of evidence is the...