Competency K

Introduction

By understanding how people acquire knowledge, an information professional can develop learning experiences that resonate with the needs and wants of the community that they serve. From a public library standpoint, these learning experiences include community outreach, connecting people to resources and organizations, literacy programming, Reader’s Advisory, and the promotion of new technologies. There are three main learning theories that influence how we structure learning opportunities in library environments- behaviourism, cognitive, and constructionism, which we will be discussing below.

Behaviourism

The roots of behaviourism are based on changes in behaviour through activities such as memorization or practice. The idea is that when a new behaviour is repeated over and over again, it will eventually become second nature.

This theory is very instructor-dependent. Instructors when developing their curriculum, create a series of short lessons that contain information followed by assigned tasks. After each lesson, students are tested for mastery of the topics of the lesson. Students who are able to complete the tasks and score well on the tests are praised, while those who struggle are given feedback that is expected to improve the student’s subsequent performance. Mastery of the subject is expected to happen when the student completes all tasks (Lamb, 2012).

Cognitivism

Cognitivism also known as Cognitive Load Theory suggests that learning happens when things align in an individual’s cognitive architecture (information processing, long and short-term memory)(Soloman, 2018). Long-term memory is composed of structures, also known as schema, that allow us to perceive, think, and solve problems by combining multiple elements together. Schema refers to the knowledge base that we create over time. Think of them as the file folder system on your computer, each folder contains specific files that address a specific topic, maybe even more files that divide the information further.

The application of this theory is most effective for the instructional design of complex or challenging material. Instructors who use cognitivism as the basis for their teachings emphasize motivation to learn and active learning. Curriculum and content should be broken up into chunks represented by well-designed instructional materials and structured around conceptual frameworks (i.e. research process models) and should rely on thinking tools (Lamb, 2012). These thinking tools aim to reduce working memory load and facilitate schema acquisition and they include:

• mind/ concept mapping

• mnemonics (systems for memorization)

• note-taking strategies

• carefully designed illustrations/ diagrams

As mentioned the design of instructional material is very important to cognitivism. Some design recommendations that aim to reduce working memory load include:

• use goal-free problems or worked examples to avoid means to ends approaches

• integrate sources of information to avoid having to mentally integrate several sources

• reduce redundancy and repetition

Constructivism

This theoretical framework, originated by Jerome Bruner in 1966, states that knowledge is constructed when new information is added to previous knowledge (Culatta & Kearsley, 2018). The process consists of the learner using their cognitive structure to select and transform information to construct hypotheses and make decisions. The cognitive structure, also known as mental models, organizes meaningful experiences.

The three main principles of constructivism are (Culatta & Kearsley, 2018):

• Instruction must be concerned with experiences and contexts that encourage learning readiness.

• Instruction must be structured for easy understanding (spiral curriculum organization).

• Instruction should be designed to facilitate going beyond the information given.

From an instructional standpoint, an individual using this theory as the basis for their teaching should use a curriculum that spirals so that from lesson to lesson students are able to build on previous learnings and discover principles on their own. They, as learning guides, are responsible for organizing the information so that it can be learned using the student’s current state of understanding (Culatta & Kearsley, 2018).

This theory also depends on activity (knowledge is embedded in activity) and the Socratic method of learning, wherein there is a dynamic and active conversion between those involved. The student is expected to ask questions (Lamb, 2012).

Why Are These Learning Theories Important to Designing Learning Experiences?

Having an understanding of the similarities and differences between these three theoretical movements empowers an information professional to identify the key ideas that users should know and also provide relevance and context for the instructional experience. They also help to create logical divisions within the content to prevent information overload.

These theories also highlight the four factors that affect learning ability- cognition, emotions, environment and past experiences ensuring that the information professionals are able to design more robust curricula that respond to individual differences in learning style and abilities. Finally, these theories enable instructors to create learning environments that are intellectual, meaningful, engaging, and supportive.

Personally, I feel like I have used and been exposed to different combinations of these key teaching movements. It wasn’t until I entered this MLIS program that I learned specifics about these theories. Having an understanding of these theories has helped me to highlight areas where I could improve my instructional design skills.