How People Learn

From my own perspective and experience, I have come to believe that people learn based off of their past experiences and prior knowledge. These factors help develop a meaningful understanding of new information. This belief can best be associated with the constructivism theory. From a constructivist perspective, the human brain is no longer considered as a blank slate or an empty vessel but rather storage where pre-existing knowledge is housed.

The best way to accommodate your students’ learning and understanding is to create a learner-centered environment by identifying the various learner characteristics that can help or harm instructional interventions such as lesson plans. This can be done by analyzing the target audience to gather information that plays an important role in learning such as age, gender, identification of the challenged, average and gifted/talented learners, and verification that the basic human needs are met. This helps an instructor to know the students’ learning levels and can assist with setting the pace of the intervention. Another way to accommodate your students’ learning and understanding of the subject matter is to conduct an inventory of the learning styles to determine the best method to present information (e.g., charts and graphs for a visual learner).

Considering the three major learning theories, the theory that I feel most comfortable with is constructivism because it best relates to the way I learn. My learning and understanding of new concepts is shaped from my environment (the world around me), things of the past (past experiences), and what I already know (prior knowledge). These aspects help me to make sense of it all. Though I can best relate to the constructivist perspective, I still have great respect for the researchers and scholars involved with the other two major theories, behaviorism and cognitivism.

Brown, A. , & Green, T. (2006). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practices. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2007). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.