On this page, please use the EDIT function to add names of theories, their domain (i.e., learning, psychology, sociology, etc), and any parts of the theories that you can name briefly. Also, add links if you know some. Here's an example:
Pscyhological Theories
Flow Theory - developed by M. Csikszentmihalyi. Challenge/skills balance, feedback, other variables. Idea is that intense focus in which time flies by leads to greater achievement.
Drive Theory: The terms drive theory and drive reduction theory refer to a diverse set of motivational theories in psychology. Drive theory is based on the principle that organisms are born with certain physiological needs and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied. When a need is satisfied, drive is reduced and the organism returns to a state of homeostasis and relaxation. According to the theory, drive tends to increase over time and operates on a feedback control system, much like a thermostat.
View
Social Theories
Social Reproduction--Marx, Gramsci, Durkheim, Bourdieu (and many others I might be forgetting or am unaware of). The ideas produced by these theorists suggest a variety of ways in which aspects of society--ideology, roles, norms, inequality, etc. perpetuate themselves on the micro meso and macro levels.
Social identity theory - (Tajfel)
Literacy Theories
Cognitive Learning Theory: Sociocognitive theory (bottom-up approach to literacy; emphasis at word level)
Psycholinguistic theory
Sociocultural/ Sociopolitical Theories: Reader Response theory (Louise Rosenblatt), critical multicultural analysis theory (Botelho & Rudman), feminist theory (Butler), queer theory (Foucoult), Critical race theory (bell hooks, Alice Walker): Comprehension is impacted by a person's background knowledge and experiences. Issues of power, identity and agency (who speaks/ who is silenced) are emphasized.
Schema theory
Cognitive Load Theory: Cognitive Load is a term that refers to the load onworking memory during instruction. Instruction may be aimed at teaching learners problem solving skills, thinking and reasoning skills (including perception, memory, language, etc.). Many would agree that people learn better when they can build on what they already understand (known as a schema), but the more a person has to learn in a shorter amount of time, the more difficult it is to process that information in working memory. Cognitive load theory has been designed to provide guidelines intended to assist in the presentation of information in a manner that encourages learner activities that optimize intellectual performance. This theory differentiates between three types of cognitive load: intrinsic cognitive load, germane cognitive load, and extraneous cognitive load. (ref. Cooper, Graham. 1990. Cognitive load theory as an aid for instructional deign. Australian Journal of Educational Technology.)
Other Educational (not sure how to categorize) Theories:
Curriculum theory
Learning theories (i.e. Vygotsky, Dewey, Piaget, Skinner)
Universal Design: (special education and the development of curriculum to meet the diverse needs of all learners)
Leadership theories (Bass, Burns)
Resources
Theory Into Practice Database - lists 50 major learning theories. http://tip.psychology.org
Two learning theories:
(1) Activity Theory(a branch of sociocultural theory): The following definition is an idea shared by Martin Ryder and cited from http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/act_dff.html.
“An activity is undertaken by a human agent (subject) who is motivated toward the solution of a problem or purpose (object), and mediated by tools (artifacts) in collaboration with others (community).”
(2) Component Display Theory(by M. D. Merrill) The following explanation is cited from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/cdt/index.htm.
“The theory suggests that there is a unique combination for the most effective learning experience by determining the content and desired performance then adding prescriptions to form a learning strategy.”
The following two-dimensional matrix or table illustrates the dynamics of Merrill’s Component Display Theory:
|
TYPES OF CONTENT
|
Fact
|
Concept
|
Procedure
|
Principle
|
LEVEL OF PERFOR-
MANCE
|
Find
|
|
|
|
|
Use
|
|
|
|
|
Remember
|
|
|
|
|
MORE THEORIES
Here are a few more: THESE ARE DIRECT QUOTES from the reference listed under the theory name.
Susan Moffatt
LEARNING
Funds of Knowledge
Retrieved 5-31-09 from: http://www.learner.org/workshops/readingk2/front/keyterms.html
Coined by professor and researcher Luis Moll funds of knowledge refer to those historically developed and accumulated strategies (e.g., skills, abilities, ideas, and practices) or bodies of knowledge that are essential to a household's functioning and well-being. They are the inherent cultural resources found in communities, and are grounded in the networking that communities do in order to make the best use of those resources (Conner, 2002). In their studies of bilingual literacy with Latino families in Tucson, Arizona, Moll and colleagues demonstrated the importance of communities of learners within large cultural and familial networks. They suggest that the integration of these local funds of knowledge in education forges strong links between parents, educators, and children, and the validation of this knowledge allows families to bring more to their children's education.
SOCIOCULTURAL
Borderlands Theory
Hickey, G. (2005). ‘This is American get punished’: Unpacking narratives of Southeast Asian refugees in the US. Intercultural Education, 16, 1, 25-40.
Borderlands Theory exposes the fluidity within cultures and between borders (Anzaldua et al., 1997). When applied to educational research, Border Theory acts as a critical lens, allowing researchers to view home life and schooling experiences from marginalized students such as refugees and immigrants.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Cultural Broker Theory (Jezewski & Sotnick, 2001)
Michie, M. (2003). The role of culture brokers in intercultural science education: A research proposal. Paper presented at the 34th annual conference of the Australasian Science Education Research Association held in Melbourne.
The term “culture broker” or “cultural broker” is not particularly
defined in the literature but is defined through common usage as a
person who facilitates the border crossing of another person or group of
people from one culture to another culture[2]. Jezewski (in Jezewski &
Sotnik, 2001) defined culture broking as “the act of bridging, linking or
mediating between groups or persons of differing cultural backgrounds
for the purpose of reducing conflict or producing change”. Usually the
culture broker is from one or other of the cultures but could be from a
third group. Often they are capable of acting in both directions. The
role is covers more than being an interpreter, although this is an
important attribute in cross-cultural situations where language is part of
the role.
A broker is usually defined as a middleman (sic) and emphasises the
commercial aspect such as in stockbroker. In terms of cultural broker,
the use of the term broker is most in accord with “middleman,
intermediary, or agent generally; an interpreter, messenger,
commissioner” from the Oxford English Dictionary and the idea of
reward is not necessarily financial (e.g. Szasz, 2001). (The Oxford
English Dictionary does not give a specific definition for cultural
broker.)
The origin of the term is in the field of anthropology in the mid-1900s,
when several anthropologists wrote about native people whose role in
their society was as a cultural intermediary or cultural broker, usually
with the western society. The term ‘cultural intermediary’ was used in
some of the literature, with ‘culture broker’ and ‘cultural broker’ as
alternatives. Other terms used include ‘innovator’ and ‘marginal man’ (sic). The genre was given an historical perspective and the field of ethnohistory came into existence. The background to this can be found in the introduction to Margaret Connell Szasz’s Between Indian and White Worlds: The Cultural Broker (Szasz, 2001).In the literature, the role of a culture broker has been discussed in a number of areas:
* anthropology and ethnohistory
* health education, including Indigenous health education; nursing education: rehabilitation of foreign born persons
* education: multicultural schooling, Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL), science education
* business; museums; tourism; justice
Following theories were retrieved and edited by Tanya Yi Chen on May 31, 2009
Main sources
Critical theory
Critical theory is the examination and critique of society and literature, drawing from knowledge across social sciences and humanities disciplines.
More information on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
Critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is a theory and practice of helping students achieve critical consciousness. It is a continuous process of unlearning, learning and relearning, reflection, evaluation and the impact that these actions have on the students.
More information on Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy
Reader Response Theory
Reader-response theory recognizes the reader as an active agent who imparts "real existence" to the work and completes its meaning through interpretation.
More information on
Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_response_theory
VoS (Voice of the Shuttle)http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2142
Constructivist Theory (J. Bruner)
Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so.
More about Bruner can be found at:
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/bruner
For an overview of other Constructivist frameworks,
see http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/constructivism.html.
Multiple Intelligences (H. Gardner)
Gardner proposes seven primary and distinct forms of intelligence that each individual possesses in varying degrees. The implication of the theory is that learning/teaching should focus on the particular intelligences of each person.
For more information, check out the following links:
http://tip.psychology.org/gardner.html
http://pzweb.harvard.edu/PIs/HG.htm
http://www.howardgardner.com/
Situated Learning (J. Lave)
Lave argues that learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs (i.e., it is situated). Social interaction is a critical component of situated learning.
For more about Lave and situated learning, see
http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html
http://homepage.mac.com/scottlab/situated.html
http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm
Schema Theory
A schema (pl. schemata), in psychology and cognitive science, is a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world. People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding.
Informative links:
http://tip.psychology.org/schema.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_(psychology)
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/ImplementALiteracyProgram/SchemaTheoryOfLearning.htm
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gipej/teaparty.pdf
See also Cognitive theories of learning
See the following portions of online books for more information: Cognition and Learning,Schema theory
See the following online article for more information:Schema theory, reading, shell books, and curriculum development
Computational theory of vocabulary acquisition by
William J. Rapaoprt and Karen Ehrlich
For more details about this theory visit the links:
http://biblioteca.universia.net/ficha.do?id=41481962
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/Papers/krnlp.tr.pdf
Here's a site I found that has an extensive list with descriptions of a variety of theories, paradigms, etc.: www.learning-theories.com
Learning Theory by M. K. Smith: an article outlining some common learning theory models
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.