Planning Ideas

Behaviourism & Constructivism

What Are These Two Learning Theories?

Ask Yourself…

  • Do you want to know more about the science of education?
  • Are you wondering how you can help students become more involved in their own learning?
  • Are you tired of the same old classroom routine of lecture and homework?

Behaviourism is…“Rote-learning”

Repetition in order to build a response and Concerned with producing a desired response

The learning theory of Behaviourism (or Behaviorism) proposes that learning occurs from repetition and practice. When the student demonstrates the required response, we can say that learning has occurred. A famous example of this is Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning, or “Dogs”. By repeatedly presenting meat to dogs and chiming a bell, Pavlov was able to cause the dogs to eventually salivate by simply sounding a chime. You can do the same with your students. With the repetition of some stimulus and its re-enforcement, you can build a desired response. For example, singing the alphabet repeatedly will eventually enable students to sing it alone. Thus, without thinking, they have learned the alphabet.

This video explores the learning theory of behaviorism. Watch this light-hearted video and learn how to apply behaviorism in the classroom.

Behaviourism in the Classroom 

Behaviourism is arguably the most predominant form of instruction, but it is also the most “shallow” of approaches simply because it does not engage higher cognitive functions. This learning theory operates at the “Remember” level and might sometimes cross into “understand”, but rarely engages students’ evaluative or creative cognitive functions. While this mode of instruction can be very effective in terms psychomotor applications (i.e. learning to kick a soccer ball), it is not suggested that rote-learning be used for more academic subject matter. Knowledge is considered to be independent of the learner.

Photo from Classroom Choreography

The image shows a classroom of students all facing in the same direction, presumably looking at the instructor. This is a typical arrangement of a behavioral class. The students’ attention is directed towards the instructor while s/he is busy thinking about, explaining and modelling course content. Students are attentive and record relevant information, but do not participate in “building” knowledge.

This limits how deeply students master content and can apply it thereafter. Instructors who enjoy being the center of attention often opt for this model and feel that their efforts are best put to “explaining” course content rather than setting up learning activities. These instructors will typically prepare presentations (PowerPoint, blackboard, etc.) for in-class use and will assign engaging learning activities to be completed for homework.

Constructivism is…“Socially-constructed learning”

Experience in order to build proficiency and Concerned with producing real abilities / performances

The theory of Constructivism proposes that learning occurs through socially mediated building and sharing. The emphasis is less on producing the required response but on socially coming to a consensus on the “possible” responses, evaluating their merit in relation to course content and committing to the ideal. The focus of a class session is often on the students’ prior knowledge in relation to a proposed problem, challenge or performance. Course content is integrated into learning activities and students actively participate in “solving” them.

A brief overview of theoretical perspectives, learning theory, and instructional theory.

This RSA Animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.

Constructivism in the Classroom 

Constructivism is a very recent learning theory which receives a fair amount of criticism from the educational community. Its merits however have been supported, especially when course content calls for “deeper” cognitive abilities such as “evaluate” and/or “create”. In fact, constructivism attempts to mirror how all of us go about learning in day-to-day life. Knowledge is considered to be “dependent” on the learner, presupposing that a learner’s disposition to a subject will affect how it is learned.

This implies that learning is not as simple a developing a response, but that the quality of the response is dependent on a myriad of factors; most notably, motivation, participation, socio-economic factors, prior-knowledge, student learning style and intelligence type, and so on. Thus incorporating other students’ perspectives can broaden the comprehension of a subject.

Photo form WIKI – EDUC 6040

The image illustrates a typical constructivist classroom set-up. It is not immediately easy to identify the instructor, nor to identify each participant’s role. The students’ attention is directed towards their activity and their colleagues. All of the students are actively engaged, thus promoting deeper cognition of course content.

Students often come away from such a course feeling tired, but happy to have had the opportunity to practice the material in-depth. Instructors who are not so fond of the spotlight will often employ this learning theory; preferring to design and develop learning experiences prior-to and after class. Teachers employing this theory will often prepare engaging learning activities for in-class use and assign readings or videos as homework in order to remove presentation time from the class session.

Let’s Compare Behaviourism & Constructivism

Behaviorism (or behaviourism) is an approach to psychology that combines elements of philosophy, methodology, and theory. It emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction to “mentalistic” psychology, which often had difficulty making predictions that could be tested using rigorous experimental methods.

The primary tenet of behaviorism, as expressed in the writings of John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, and others, is that psychology should concern itself with the observable behavior of people and animals, not with unobservable events that take place in their minds. The behaviorist school of thought maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as thoughts and beliefs.” (wikipedia.org)