Critical Analysis of the Three Main Theories of Learning and Their Relevance to Adults in Higher Education
Over the years of teaching practice, scholars and researchers from different areas of pedagogy, psychology, and philosophy have revealed the most effective theories and methods of teaching. Behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivist theories are considered to be the most efficient and productive learning approaches. The use of these theories in education helps teaching experience to gain the important ideas that fully meet the objectives of education of an active and mature personality. Hence, the selection of the optimal theory, or their mixing, aims at improving the learning process, making it more effective. This efficiency is due to the received result, which manifests itself in the ability to plan the educational work and independently engage in the research activities. Each of the three main theories of learning has its disadvantages; therefore, they are often combined. For example, the relevance of these theories in the process of higher education of adults has a number of contradictory aspects. These contradictions consist in the transformation of the learning that occurs due to age-related changes. Consequently, not all of the three main theories can be used in adult learning that can reduce their relevance ipso facto.
One should start the analysis of the main theories of learning with the behavioral theory, which dates back to pragmatism (West & Anderson 2007, p. 28). However, if pragmatism is the subject of research for something specific and observed, behaviorism observes the human behavior itself. Behaviorism originated through the study of the conditioned reflexes in psychology and animal psychology, as the establishment of a branch of experimental psychology: "it concentrates on behavioural changes in organisms; thus, behaviourists define learning as a relatively permanent change in behaviour as the result of experience" (Jordan, Carlile & Stack 2008, p. 21). In contrast to the psychological schools, which consider a person in the light of the internal factors of consciousness and thinking, behavioral theory of personality and the nature of its behavior is based on the idea of the individual's "mechanicalness" (Jordan, Carlile & Stack 2008, p. 29). With regard to the learning process, this means that the individual analyzes information and acquires certain skills. As a result, it is attached to the desired behavioral standards - and all this is achieved by means of "the consistent manipulation by the external influences" (Johnson & Erneling 1997, p. 49). For example, there is an impact of the certain incentives on a child which aim at achieving the automation of the certain skills. Hence, in the framework of the behavioral system installations, a tight external control appears as the main background development of students' skills and abilities. There is an assimilation of the specific data collection, which is related to the upcoming public responsibilities, in the process of learning based on the behavioral systems (Johnson & Erneling 1997, p. 191). The main condition here is an introduction to a specific behavioral code of a person. Behavioral sets indicated a possibility to control the formation of a personality in school learning and behavior modification. The basic installation of behaviorism is the assertion that a man is "immature biological organism, which should produce an adequate response to certain stimuli" (Harker 2009, p. 156). The idea of the positive or negative reinforcement of a response of the individual as a powerful driver of behavior has gained a particular importance in the behaviorist school, i.e., "genuine learning implied a subjective and positive connection between the learner’s objective interests and subjective motivation and the learning content, which always includes a cognitive, an emotional and a social dimension" (Illeris 2015, p. 32).
In addition, Ivan Pavlov's assertion that any stimulus can act as a kind of conditioned stimulus, thereby forming a conditioned reflex, was refuted (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 22). In consequence, it has been proven that the evolutionary laid behavior always dominates the acquired behavior (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 22). However, there are some contradictions regarding the application of this theory to the Higher education for adults. "Lifelong learning as it is now conceived requires a kind of paradigm shift in the organization of learning - not in adulthood, but in the very first forms of schooling" (West, Alheit & Anderson 2007, p. 61). For instance, not every adult is able to devote sufficient attention to their training, which can reduce its efficiency and performance: "the goals for orientation are no longer the efficiency of learning, effective didactic strategies and the consistency of formal curricula, but rather the situation and the prerequisites on the part of learners" (West, Alheit & Anderson 2007, p. 61). Adults experience a higher social burden, which can affect the concentration and intensity of training. In addition, people are more prone to learning at an earlier stage of development of an individual (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 10). The human brain has "neuroplasticity", which indicates its capacity for the continuous learning as a consequence of changes in neural connections (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 172). However, the speed with which these changes occur reduces with age. This does not mean that the behavioral learning theory is irrelevant in the case of higher education for adults. It is also necessary to analyze the other two theories, which will help to penetrate into the issue in detail.
According the behaviorist theory, the student acts as a programmable external body, who passively absorbs information and shows some behavioral style; however, cognitivists defend a different perspective on the nature of learning. Based on the basic principles of this theory, a child is not a passive recipient; s/he did not just acquire knowledge and skills, but also acts as an explorer of the world and as an active subject of a cognitive activity: the very evidence of human cognition came from "contested theories of language acquisition" (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 37). These sets contribute to self-development and pay more attention to the personal qualities of an individual. This allows expanding the search of the required individual strategies, making the learning process more efficient in most cases. The purpose of this approach is determined by the need to identify as many potential students as possible (Harker 2009, p. 158). That is, the cognitive theory focuses on the intellectual property, which has a direct link with the brain activity: "cognitive learning theory is about how the brain processes information; social cognitive theory includes learning through observing, modeling, and mentoring" (Merriam & Bierema 2013, p. 41). In this case, the behavioral reactions and automatism have less importance. Behavior as such ceases to be an object of observation and study. The cognitive activity of an individual and his/her intellectual capacity are of paramount importance. Cognitive approaches to learning are aimed at developing the critical thinking; in addition, this approach contributes to the development of abilities to distinguish between factual knowledge and value judgments, as well as between facts and assumptions (Giustini 2009, pp. 20-21).
Constructivist theory contains some aspects of behaviorism and cognitivism, which makes it more versatile. According to Merriam & Bierema (2013), "constructivist learning theory is not only about how we mechanically process information, but how we make meaning of that information, meaning which is shaped by our sociocultural context" (p. 41). Constructivism is evident in a number of views on the human experience. Constructivist themes are found in Asian and Western philosophy. The representatives of this movement criticized the empirical approach, which showed a student as an empty vessel (Taylor & Cranton 2012, p. 408).
There are two main aspects of constructivism: i.e. the psychological and sociocultural aspects; i.e. "the sociocultural context shows how people construct meaning from experience", as "this process is a social process mediated through a culture’s symbols and language" (Merriam & Bierema 2013, p. 36). Researchers believe that the training activity consists in an active research of the issues and a mutual cooperation of people (Jordan, Carlile, & Stack 2008, p. 55). If the representatives of behaviorism training activities aim at addressing the predefined tasks only, then the representatives of the more advanced theories consider it to be more spontaneous. Constructivist approach implies a departure from the ideas of pragmatism. From the standpoint of the theory, the forms of organization of education should correspond to the logical structure of knowledge (Merriam & Bierema 2013, p. 245). More specifically, the representatives of this theory believe that the learning process should be close to the practice. The main argument of this approach lies in the fact that the knowledge acquired in the education with a certain difficulty is poorly tolerated in the practice (Giustini 2009, p. 22). Using this approach involves the acquisition of socio-constructivist experience in the cooperation of the teacher and the student.
As for the relevance of each of these theories in relation to the Higher education for adults, each of them can be used in a certain way. Of course, the applicability of theories is different in one degree or another. For example, behavioral theory and its approaches promote the automation of the most important and basic aspects of learning. However, some approaches of this theory are irrelevant because of the integrity of an individual's personal level, which is caused by the age categories. Basically, the cognitive approach implies the importance of individual abilities of students, which can be very different as well; and these differences are also due to the age. Finally, if one analyzes the relevance of constructivist learning theory, it can be assumed with certainty that it is the most relevant theory, since it fully operates with the individual experience of each student. Precisely, these learning theories are the main pedagogical basis of today's education, hence, each of them retains its relevance, although not equally. The analysis of the three main theories of learning provides an understanding of the importance of each of them separately. In this case, it is clear that the use of their symbiosis would be effective than their separate use. Constructivist theory is the most versatile for the use in adult education, as it combines the most important aspects of teaching.
The evolution of the ideas of the philosophical and psychological sciences has led to the realization of the leading role of human in all social processes including education. The advances in information technology have allowed reorganizing the learning process, which significantly have altered the role of the teacher and the student in the education process. These changes are also reflected in the learning theories. To date, the most effective approaches are considered the mixed theories, as they address the growing number of variations and include more types of behaviors. The evolution of pedagogical concepts has led to the realization of the need to provide a greater freedom to the student in the learning process. Moreover, it is necessary to clearly separate the principles of psychological and pedagogical models of learning because of the different leading activities for children and adults. Finally, physiology and psychology have shown that people are able to successfully train and learn throughout adult life too (Merriam & Bierema 2013, p. 170). From this one can conclude that there is a need for the right strategy in the Higher Education of adults, which will combine the three theories of learning. An adult learner tends to self-realization, self-reliance, and self-management (West, Alheit & Anderson 2007, p. 60). Therefore, the first two learning theories are not fully able to satisfy the desire of an adult student, as the Higher Education of adults implies a more creative and unique approach. Adults have life experiences that can be used as an important source of learning both for them and their colleagues. In this case, any experience is important: everyday, social, or professional. It is crucial to use the basic aspects of the constructivist learning theory that adequately takes into account the experience gained. An adult is trained to solve important life problems and achieve a specific goals, making learning more conscious. There can be used some theses of the cognitive and behaviorist theories. Knowing the specific objectives of their training, adults can focus on one thing, understanding that it is important for them in the process of learning.
In conclusions, the analysis of the three main theories of learning shows that each of them has its own unique features and advantages. At the same time, taking into their relevance today, it is important to point out the fact that each of them is a part of the pedagogical process. Thus, the application of the behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivist theories in the Higher Education of adults is to ensure that the best learning option should be considered as a symbiosis of all theories. Constructivist theory and its approaches is the most suitable and relevant for the adult education, as it involves the use of personal experience that can be very useful in the process of education. To summarize, the most effective approach in the Higher Education of adults is a mix that consists of the main theories of learning. Therefore, the most effective training system should include the elements of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
Reference List
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