Learning Frameworks

There are many learning frameworks that can guide our actions in the classroom. Following the links provided to some of the more well known or influential ones including Bloom’s Taxonomy that has been used in classrooms for over forty years, and Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Websites / Portals

• Instructional Development Timeline

Learning Concepts, Approaches and Preferences

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom

• Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Bendigo Senior Secondary College)
• Bloom's Taxonomy (an e-book University of Georgia)
• Bloom, B. (2001). Taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. L. W. Anderson, D. R. Krathwohl (Eds). New York: Longman.

Concept Mapping

• The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them
• Images for concept mapping (Google)
• Concept Mapping Resource Guide
• Concept Mapping
• Concept Maps
• Buzan, T.&Barry, B. (2003). Rev.Ed. The mind map book. London: BBC Worldwide.
• Trochim, M. K.&Trochim, William M. K. (2007). Concept mapping for planning and evaluation. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Deep and Surface Learning

Ference Marton, Roger Säljö

• Approaches to Study “Deep” and “Surface”
• Marton, F & Säljö (1976). On Qualitative Differences in Learning — 1: Outcome and Process. Brit. J. Educational Psychology. 46, 4-11.

Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman

• Emotional Intelligence in Schools
• Conference on Emotional Intelligence in Secondary Schools (Swinburne University 2006) (PDF 3.3 MB)
• Goleman, Daniel (2005). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
• Cassady, J. C. & Eissa, M. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence: Perspectives from educational and positive psychology. New York: P. Lang.

Cooperative learning

Roger T. Johnson, David W. Johnson,Spencer Kagan, Robert E. Slavin

• Cooperative Learning: Two heads learn better than one (paper by Johnson & Johnson, 1988)
• Ted Panitz and collaborative learning
• Cooperative Learning Center (University of Minnesota)
• Cooperative Learning (Education Research Consumer Guide, US Dept. Education)
• Kagan's Cooperative Learning Terms
• Johnson, D. & R. Johnson (1984). Circles of Learning. Washington, DC: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Johnson, D. &. Johnson, R. (1983). Learning Together and Alone, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
• Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T. & Smith, K. A. (1996). Academic controversy: Enriching college instruction through intellectual conflict. Prepared by ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, the George Washington University, in cooperation with ASHE, Association for the Study of Higher Education.
• Kagan, S (2007). Cooperative learning (Rev Australian Ed). Heatherton, Vic: Hawker Brownlow Education.
• Slavin, R. E. (1990) Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research and Practice. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon.

Inquiry learning

Kath Murdoch

• What makes a good inquiry unit? (Kath Murdoch / EQ Australia)
• Inquiry learning models
• Inquiry based learning (Thirteen ed online: US)
• Wilson, J. and Wing Jan, L.2004, Focus on Inquiry - A practical approach to integrated curriculum planning, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton South.

Lateral thinking

Edward De Bono

• Edward De Bono (homepage)
• De Bono, E. (2004). De Bono’s thinking course. London: BBC Books.
• De Bono, E. (1990). Lateral thinking: Creativity step by step. New York: Harper & Row.

Learning Styles and Preferences

• Learning styles
• Learning styles
• What Are Learning Styles & Why Are They Important? (Edith Cowan University)
• Learning style assessments and inventories for classroom and personal use (About.com: secondary education)
• Learning Style Survey
• Free learning styles inventory, including graphical results
• Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles Questionnaire
• Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learning Styles (VAK)
• Carl Jung and Myers Briggs Type Indicator
• Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (Felder & Soloman)

Metacognition: Thinking about thinking

• Thinking Processes
• Metacognition - Thinking about thinking - Learning to learn (Holistic Education Network of Tasmania, Australia)
• Wilson, J. & Murdoch, K. (2006). How to succeed with thinking. Carlton South, Vic.: Curriculum Corporation.

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner

• Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education
• Images/conceptual maps of Multiple Intelligences
• Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
• Gardner, H. (2006). The development and education of the mind: The selected works of Howard Gardner. New York: Routledge. (available as an e-book)
• Gardner, H. (2004). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences (20th anniversary Ed.) New York, NY: BasicBooks.

Problem Based Learning (PBL)

• Problem Based Learning (PBL)
• Problem-Based Learning (WikEd; College of Education, University of Illinois)
• Video Games: A Vehicle for Problem-based Learning
• Problem-Based Learning--A Viable Addition for Secondary School Science.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning (IJPBL)
• Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16, 235-266.
• Hmelo-Silver, C. E. & Barrows, H. S. (2006). Goals and strategies of a problem-based learning facilitator. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1. 21-39.
• Lambros, A. (2006). Problem-based learning in middle and high school classrooms: A teacher’s guide to implementation. Heatherton, Vic.: Hawker Brownlow Education.
• Ronis, D. (2005). Problem-based learning for maths and science: integrating inquiry and the Internet. Hawker Brownlow Education, Heatherton, Vic.
• Savery, J. R., and Duffy, T. M. (1995). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Educational Technology, 35, 31-38.

Situated Learning / Communities of Practice

Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger

• Communities of practice: a brief introduction (Etienne Wenger)
• Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in Practice: Mind, mathematics, and culture in everyday life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.

Learning Theories & Theorists

Theory underpins all that we do in the classroom! There are many theories that offer to explain ‘learning’ and some are more influential than others. From this site you can access some of the common theories and theorists that underpin current practice in schools or have had a strong influence in the past.

General Websites and Portals

• Index of Learning Theories and Models
• Theories of Learning
• The Brain (Enchanted Learning)
• Neuroscience for Kids (University of Washington)
• A Forum for Student and Beginning Teachers
• Learning Theories and Instructional Strategies Matrix

Learning theories and theorists

Activity Theory

Lev Vygotsky (based on)

• Activity Theory (University of Tasmania)
• What is Activity Theory? (Central Queensland University)
• Engeström, Y., Miettinen, R.&Punamaki, R.L (Eds). (1999). Perspectives on Activity Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press
• Jonassen, D. H.&Rohrer-Murphy, L. (1999). Activity theory as a framework for designing constructivist learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(1), 62-79.

Behaviourism

Stimulus Response (S-R) theorists :

Clark L. Hull, B. F. Skinner, Edward L. Thorndike

Behaviouristic theorists :

James B. Watson

Associationism theorists :

Ivan P. Pavlov, Edwin R. Guthrie

• Behaviourism including application in schools (scroll down the page)
• Behaviourism (NSW HSC Online)
• Behaviorist theory of learning (Skinner)
• Standridge, M.. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved October, 2008
• Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundation of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Brain Theory

• Tools for Teachers: Resources for Brain Theory Research (North Carolina Teacher Education)
• 12 Design Principles Based on Brain-based Learning Research
• Brain-Based Learning Highlights (CELT Center, University of Wisconsin)
• Caine, R. N. (2005). 12 brain/mind learning principles in action: The fieldbook for making connections, teaching, and the human brain. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Classical Conditioning (see behaviourism)

Pavlov

• Ivan Pavlov
• Classical conditioning (YouTube vids)

Cognitive Learning Theory

Jerome Bruner (also Constructivism)

• Jerome Bruner A Web Overview
• Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Bruner, J. (1977). The Process of Education, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Bruner, J. (1991). Acts of Meaning, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Bruner, J, (1987). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J.&Austin, G. (1965/1986). A study of thinking. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books

Cognitive Development Theory

Jean Piaget

• Piaget
• Piaget’s Developmental Theory (video)
• Piagetian Thinking or Information Processing Task Analysis? (developmental psychology.org)

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

L. Festinger

• Cognitive Dissonance
• Festinger, L (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Evanston, Ill; Row Peterson.

Conditions of Learning

Robert Gagne

• Conditions of Learning
• Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction: An Introduction
• Gagné, R. M. (1985). The conditions of learning and theory of instruction 4th ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Constructivism

Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget

• Constructivist Theory
• Online Teachers’ Resource Network (OTRN) (Australia) Links to Information on Constructivism
• Constructivism, Instructivism, and Related Sites
• Constructivism
• Constructivism in the Classroom (Mathematics Education) (Drexel University)

Constructivism - Social

Lev Vygotsky

• Social Constructivism and the World Wide Web - A Paradigm for Learning
• Social Constructivism
• Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.

Dual-Coding Theory

Allan Paivio

• Dual-coding theory
• Dual coding theory and education (Paivio) (PDF 250 KB)
• Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Experiential Learning Theory

David Kolb, Carl Rogers, John Dewey

• Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Model
• Carl Rogers’ homepage
• John Dewey, the Modern Father of Experiential Education
• Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
• Kolb, D. (1999). The Kolb Learning Style Inventory, Version 3. Boston: Hay Group.
• Rogers, C. R. (1969). Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
• Rogers, C. R.&Freiberg, H.J. (1994). Freedom to Learn (3rd Ed). Columbus, OH: Merrill/Macmillan.

Gestalt Theory

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)

• The life of Max Wertheimer
• Gestalt and learning
• Atherton, J. (2005). Learning and Teaching: Gestalt and learning [On-line] UK: Accessed: 14 October 2008

Holistic Learning Theory

Ron Miller

• A brief introduction to holistic education
• Miller, Ron (1997). What Are Schools For? Holistic Education in American Culture, 3rd Edition. Brandon, VT:

Information Processing Theory

George A. Miller

• The Information Processing Approach to Cognition

Instrumentalism (also pragmatism)

John Dewey (also Experiential Learning)

• John Dewey
• John Dewey, American Pragmatist
• Dewwy, J. (1963). Experience and Education, Collier: The Kappa Felta Lecture Series.

Operant Conditioning (see also Behaviourism)

B. F. Skinner

• B.F. Skinner
• Operant conditioning (YouTube)
• An Introduction to Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning

Paulo Freire's Educational Theory

Paulo Freire

• Paulo Freire's Educational Theory
• Freire, P. (1987). Pedagogy of the Oppressed, (Trans. M. B. Ramos). New York, NY: The Continuum Publishing Corporation,
• Freire, P. (1985). The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation, (Trans D. Macedo) London: Macmillan.

Schema theory of learning

Richard C. Anderson

• Schema theory of learning

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) / Scaffolding

Lev. S. Vygotsky (1896-1934)

• Scaffolding Learning (My Read, DEST, 2002)
• Scaffolding (University of Tasmania)
• Vygotsky, L. (1934/1986). Thought and Language, (Trans. A. Kozulin) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.