Week 4 – Assignment        

Applying Learning Theory to Life

Prior to beginning work on this activity read all of the required reading, review the content from weeks one through three, visit the website http://selfdeterminationtheory.org (Links to an external site.), and review the Instructor Guidance. This week you will be discussing the multiple perspectives about how we learn, based on your developing knowledge about learning theory, and how it affects your own ability to perform at desired levels.

Required elements:

Explain behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and humanism as applied to learning. Suggested template.

Summarizes at least two sub-theories/ideologies within each framework. 

Examples include:

From behaviorism 

associative learning, classical conditioning, operant Conditioning, conditioning, extinction, and ratio/interval schedules

• From cognitivism 

schema theory, memory development, elaboration theory (i.e. Bloom’s taxonomy), cognitive load theory, and social learning/cognitive theory.

From constructivism (conceptions of knowledge are derived from the process of constructing individual interpretations of one’s experiences) 

• cognitive constructivism, dialectical (social) constructivism, zone of proximal development, and discovery learning

From humanism 

motivational theories of learning (i.e. self-determination theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), experiential learning, and Steiner pedagogy or Waldorf education.

• List and briefly explain a minimum of two theoretically supported strategies, that we have learned about during the past weeks, that you think would most help you to increase your own learning success.
• List and briefly explain a minimum of two theoretically supported strategies, that we have learned about during the past weeks, that you think would most help someone in your personal or professional circle. 
• Apply basic methods of psychological research skills to this content by synthesizing supporting evidence from at least three scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library that defend the strategies you have chosen.