Respons to -isms in Learning Theory

I believe most of the _isms have a place.   From our text, Learning Theories and Instruction, I have developed the impression that each _ ism has validity and usefulness in certain circumstances, but not in all.  In most cases each has a place, behaviorism is effective as a means to learn facts, problem solving theories describe how facts and experiences become solutions, constructivism is appropriate particularly when we are working on projects of interest or in our careers where creativity and innovation is called for.  Each _ism is required for functional learning, but we may acquire needed building blocks for a project 10 years before they become the base to a constructivistic project.

My other observation is, although there are many ways to discuss memory, cognitive informational processes, and learning processes, they all revolve around/ depend upon particular brain processes: encoding, organization, elaboration, meaningfulness, links with schema, analysis, placing learning in broad associated networks which can be activated and require motivation with conditional procedures regulating the appropriate brain process. The –isms are highly related.

One study, “Speech Perception and Language Acquisition in the First Year of Life”

Annual Review of Psychology (1/2010) is an example of an attempt in the field of psychology to meld these _isms together to aid in applying  our knowledge of learning effectively. The purpose of this article was to weld differing theories of infant language acquisition as complimentary pieces of the whole. Their conclusion: “We have reviewed evidence suggesting that nativist and empiricist proposals are incomplete if they fail to include innate dispositions and learning in a broader, integrative, biologically anchored language acquisition theory. In addition, we have shown that a third type of mechanism, perceptual and memory constraints, needs to be evoked to provide a full account of early acquisition.”

In conclusion, it seems wise to theories but not to pontificate, to use accumulated wisdom to create multiple learning pathways and environments to meet each  learners unique abilities and providing creative challenges that motivate learners.