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Dr Adrian Brockett
HEA Senior Fellow and Associate
September 2015
Theory and practice
Theory and practice
1. By considering various theoretical approaches to
learning, to explore when and why a theory might be
useful to our practice as lecturers.
2. To explore the relevance of metaphor in our approach
to teaching and learning.
Aims of this session
Evaluate the interdependency of educational theory and
practice
Enquire into, question and theorise professional practice
Session learning outcomes
Habitual or usual action
Music: ―Have you done your practice today?‖
Law/Medicine: Exercise of a profession
PCAP: Academic Practice
Practitioner
Someone involved in the practice
GP
Professional
Practice
A systematic statement of the general principles of
something known or observed, or of rules or principles to
be followed
A hypothesis or individual speculation
Theory
1. Make a list of theories of learning and teaching that
inform your own practice.
Activity
1. Make a list of theories of learning and teaching that
inform your own practice.
2. Make a list of theories that you know of or about but
have not taken into account in your own teaching. And
why not?
Activity
Many highly-skilled teachers would find it difficult to explain
what makes them successful.
Intimate knowledge of current theories about learning is no
guarantee of competence, let alone expertise, in the
classroom.
Don‘t worry!
1. Behaviourist Theories (4)
2. Cognitive Theories (3)
3. Constructivist Theories (5)
4. Descriptive Theories (3)
5. Design Theories & Models (3)
6. Humanist Theories (3)
7. Identity Theories (2)
8. Learning Theories & Models (9)
9. Motivation Theories (2)
10. Paradigms and Perspectives (5)
11. Social Learning Theories (2)
12. …
Theories of learning
http://www.learning-theories.com\
11
‘I hear and I forget, I
see and I remember,
I do and I
understand.’
Confucius
551-479 BC
Degree of Structure
Tutor
Control
High
High
Low
Low
A
C
B
D
SEDA Special 2, p 25
13 Engaging the Active Learner
14
Theory and practice
Practice and theory?
1. Theory and practice. ―I think therefore I am‖
(Descartes 1641)
If knowledge is the basis of all understanding, then every
human action is the outward sign of an inner theoretical
world view.
Reason = reckoning (computing) (Hobbes Leviathan 1651);
Leibniz.
A great philosophical divide
1. Theory and practice. ―I think therefore I am‖
(Descartes 1641)
If knowledge is the basis of all understanding, then every
human action is the outward sign of an inner theoretical
world view.
2. Practice and theory. Action is the foundation of theory
(Heidegger 1927).
Compare Schön‘s ‗Reflection in action‘.
A great philosophical divide
Nature and nurture
Another great philosophical divide
1. the blank slate (the mind has no innate traits)—
empiricism
2. the noble savage (people are born good and corrupted
by society)—romanticism
3. the ghost in the machine (each of us has a soul that
makes choices free from biology)
20
Nature and nurture
International Consultancy - February 2015
1. the blank slate (the mind has no innate traits)—
empiricism
2. the noble savage (people are born good and corrupted
by society)—romanticism
3. the ghost in the machine (each of us has a soul that
makes choices free from biology)
21
Nature and nurture
International Consultancy - February 2015
A few examples of theories of learning
Classical conditioning (Pavlov), Operant
conditioning (Skinner), Stimulus-response
A learner is essentially passive, responding to
environmental stimuli.
Learning is defined as a change in behaviour in the
learner.
Positive and negative reinforcement increase the
probability that the behaviour will happen again.
Punishment decreases the probability.
Behaviourist theories of learning
Vygotsky, Piaget, Dewey, Rorty, Wenger
A learner is an information constructor.
Learning is an active, constructive process.
Learning as experience, activity and dialogical process; Problem Based Learning (PBL); cognitive apprenticeship (scaffolding); Enquiry and Discovery Learning; Communities of Practice
Constructivist theories of learning
Biggs J & Tang C (2011) Teaching for Quality Learning at
University, 4th edition. Open University Press
The twin principles of:
Constructivism in learning
Alignment in teaching
Constructive Alignment
Carl Rogers; Abraham Maslow
Learning is student-centred and personalised, and
the educator‘s role is that of a facilitator.
The goal is to develop self-actualised people in a
cooperative, supportive environment.
Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs
―A Theory of Human Motivation‖ (1943): human actions are
directed toward goal attainment.
Humanist theories of learning
A holistic perspective that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behaviour.
Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.
A four-stage cyclical theory of learning
concrete experience (or ―DO‖)
reflective observation (or ―OBSERVE‖)
abstract conceptualization (or ―THINK‖)
active experimentation (or ―PLAN‖)
Experiential Learning (Kolb
1984)
1. Gregorc's 4 thinking styles (1982)
Concrete Sequential
Concrete Random
Abstract Random
Abstract Sequential
2. Gardner‘s Multiple Intelligences Theory or 'MI Theory' (1983)
7 ways people understand in the world: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Visual-Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic, Musical-Rhythmic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal.
Learning Styles
3. Visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning (Alistair Smith
1996; neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)):
29% of learners prefer to learn by seeing (V)
34% by sound including the spoken word (A)
37% by physical experience (K)
4. Race, P (2005). Making Learning Happen, Ch.3 Beyond
learning styles
Learning Styles cont
When might a theory be useful
to my practice as a lecturer?
When:
1. things are not going well.
2. I am new to the profession.
3. I try to explain myself to colleagues.
4. I reflect on my action.
When might a theory be useful
to my practice as a lecturer?
Why might a theory be useful to
my practice as a lecturer?
Why might a theory be useful to
my practice as a lecturer?
If it:
• clarifies - offers insight (and control?)
• delimits - the range of options
• inspires - stimulates imagination
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences is an example of a
metaphor dressed up as science.
• 'The neurological basis of Gardner's theory may be questioned… but if it
results in a model that works for the teacher in the classroom, who cares?'
(Schmit, 2005)
The importance of metaphor in theory-building shouldn‘t be
overestimated.
Metaphor
Acquisition / Participation
Accumulating possessions / Taking part in something larger
Learning and metaphor (Sfard 1997)
Teaching and Metaphor
http://www.msu.edu/~sfard/two%20metaphors.pdf
Acquisition and participation metaphors: useful article by
Sfard
http://www.msu.edu/~sfard/two%20metaphors.pdf
Reflective Task
Biggs, J B & C.Tang (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 3rd ed. Open University Press/McGraw Hill Educational.
Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Fontana
Gregorc, A. F. (1982) An Adult's Guide to Style. Maynard, MA: Gabriel Systems.
Heidegger, M. (1996) Being & Time. Translated from the German by J. Stambaugh. New York: State University of New York Press. (Originally published as Sein und Zeit, in 1927).
Kolb, David A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Race, P (2005). Making Learning Happen: A Guide for Post-Compulsory Education. Sage Publications Ltd
Schön, D A (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. United States: Basic Books, Inc.
Sfard, A. (1998) ‗On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one.‘ Educational Researcher, 27(2), pp. 4-13.
Smith, A. (1996) Accelerated learning in the classroom. Network Educational Press
References
Thank You for listening – any questions?
39
www.d.umn.edu
Questions and Discussion
Comments ?
Questions ?
Thank you
Research by Rosalind Picard and colleagues (MIT‘s Media
Lab) suggests that students‘ brain activity is nearly non-
existent during lectures – even lower than when they are
asleep!‘
Professor Eric Mazur (Havard University Physics Dept):
students ‗are more asleep during lectures than when they
are in bed!‘ (http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/twilight-of-the-lecture )
Gibbs G. (2014) Students have limited attention, SEDA
Powerful Ideas. Available at: http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_173_24%20Students%20have%20limited%20attention.pdf
41
Lectures
42
http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_173_24%20Students%20hav
e%20limited%20attention.pdf
43
http://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_169_20%20Lectures%20are%20used%
20far%20too%20often.pdf
In theory there is no difference between theory and
practice, but in practice there is.
Attributed to Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut,
Yogi Berra and Chuck Reid.
In theory there is no difference between theory and
practice, but in practice there is.
Theory is that domain where: everything is clear, but nothing
works.
Attributed to Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut,
Yogi Berra and Chuck Reid.
In theory there is no difference between theory and
practice, but in practice there is.
Theory is that domain where: everything is clear, but nothing
works.
Practice is that domain where: everything works, but nothing
is clear.
Attributed to Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut,
Yogi Berra and Chuck Reid.
In theory there is no difference between theory and
practice, but in practice there is.
Theory is that domain where: everything is clear, but nothing
works.
Practice is that domain where: everything works, but nothing
is clear.
Sometimes theory meets practice: nothing works and
nothing is clear.
Attributed to Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut,
Yogi Berra and Chuck Reid.
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