Learning is complex and depends on what is to be learned, who is to learn, and the learning situation.

Theories and insights about learning originate from philosophy, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, and, more recently, neuroscience. Empirical research on learning throughout most of the 20th century focused on selected aspects or forms of learning, but since the 1990s, both researchers and practitioners have largely chosen to draw on the range of traditions to understand and facilitate learning (Bransford et al. 2000).

By distinguishing analytically between different forms of learning, we can consciously include relevant forms of learning in our teaching, and choose format, content, and activities based on the form of learning we find important.

Different forms of learning

Learning as changes in behaviour

At the beginning of the 1900s, empirical research on learning emerged that emphasised learning as a process whereby associations between stimuli and responses were established through reinforcement (reward), and that this learning could be observed as changes in behaviour. This approach was named behaviourism and delimited research on learning to observable behaviour, defining learning as changes in the occurrences of behaviour or responses.

The practical implications of this behaviorist research were a focus on activity, repetition, reinforcement/feedback, individualizsd progression, the role of the teacher, clear and measurable learning objectives, breaking down learning into step-by-step activities and competencies, incentives, rewards, punishment, and disciplinary measures.

Behaviourism contributed insights into learning as a process, but it also laid the foundation for an authoritarian, instrumental, teacher-centered, an outcome-oriented, and fact- and surface-oriented approach to learning, and a view of the student as a passive recipient to be filled with pre-defined knowledge (Stewart 2012, Wittek & Brandmo 2016).

Learning as active information processing

From the mid-1900s, a cognitive turn took place in psychology as a reaction to behaviourism's strictly empirical and behaviour-oriented approach to learning. One branch of cognitive psychology focused on the learner's information processing in terms of perception, memory, and recall to investigate and explain how people acquire knowledge (Pettersen 2006).

Learning as active construction of meaning

he constructivist approach within cognitive psychology was critical of reducing learning to information processing and emphasized that learning involves the individual actively constructing meaning in the encounter with subject matter. In encountering the new, existing knowledge and past experiences are actively used to understand the new and to relate it to existing understanding (Biggs 1999, Pettersen 2006).

Learning as qualitative changes in understanding (conceptual change)

This perspective is based on a constructivist understanding of learning. Some types of learning involve understanding phenomena/concepts in qualitatively new ways. There can be a big gap between our existing understanding and the understanding that is necessary to continue learning. It could be a shift from everyday concepts to scientific concepts. The term "threshold concepts" was developed by Land & Meyer (2003, 2005) to describe concepts and conceptual understanding that take the learner from existing understanding to qualitatively changed understanding. Such transformative learning often involves knowledge that seems foreign, counter-intuitive, and inconsistent. Prior understanding can stand in the way of learning, and it can be both cognitively and emotionally challenging to change one's understanding. But once this resistance is overcome, the concept serves as an entry point to new ways of understanding and acting (Cousin 2006).

Participation

In the 1990s, the socio-cultural perspective on learning emerged as a reaction to the individual-focused learning perspective in the cognitive tradition. The socio-cultural perspective emphasizes that learning is situated, meaning that it occurs in a cultural, social, and material context that affects the individual's learning. The master apprenticeship perspective was revitalized in higher education as a shift from the individual's cognition to viewing learning as participation and learning communities as important for the individual's learning (Lave & Wenger 1991, Wenger 1998, Nielsen & Kvale 1999).

Initiation into epistemological practices

In higher education, learning as participation has been studied as a process where students gradually become initiated and participate in the specific discipline's knowledge practices, meaning how knowledge is produced, validated, and used in the specific field. When students master these practices, they can also challenge and develop them, and contribute to the further development of the discipline and profession (Jensen et al 2015, Nerland 2016).

Skill learning

Skills must be practiced and traditionally this is done by the apprentice practicing with guidance and feedback from someone experienced. Recently, video technologies have also been developed to support skill learning, such as using video in clinical skill training or interactive video training in first aid (life-saver.org).

Reflection:

What forms of learning are important in your field?
How do you facilitate that type of learning?

SOURCES

Biggs, J. (1999). What the Student Does: teaching for enhanced learning. Higher Education Research & Development, 18(1), 57-75. Retrieved 10.03.23 from https://doi.org/10.1080/0729436990180105

Bransford, J.D., Brown A.L. & Rodney R. C. (Ed.). (2000). How People Learn. Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. The National Academies Press.

Cousin, G. (2006). An introduction to threshold concepts. Planet, 17(1), 4-5. Retrieved 10.03.23 from https://doi.org/10.11120/plan.2006.00170004

Jensen, K., Nerland, M. & Enqvist-Jensen, C. (2015). Enrolment of newcomers in expert cultures: an analysis of epistemic practices in a legal education introductory course. Higher Education 70, 867–880. Retrieved 10.03.23 from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9872-z

Meyer, J.H.F., & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving Student Learning: Improving Student Learning Theory and Practice – 10 Years On. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Meyer, J. H.F. & Land R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education 49, 373–388. Retrieved 10.03.23 from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5

Nerland, M. (2016). Learning to Master Profession-Specific Knowledge Practices: A Prerequisite for the Deliberate Practitioner? In F. Trede, & C. McEwen(Ed.), Educating the Deliberate Professional. Preparing for future practices (p. 127–139). Springer.

Nielsen, K. & og Kvale S. (1999). Mesterlære-Læring som sosial praksis. Gyldendal Akademisk.

Pettersen, R.C. (2006). Kvalitetslæring i høgere utdanning-Innføring i problem og praksisbasert didaktikk. Universitetsforlaget.

Stewart, M. (2021). Understanding learning: theories and critique. In L. Hunt & D. Chalmers (Ed.), Univeristy teaching in focus: a learning-centred approach (p.3-28). London, Routledge. Retrieved 26.04.23 from https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003008330

Wenger, L. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge University Press.

Wevling, A., Hjelmeland, I. & Grønlien, H.K. (2021). Bruk av video i klinisk ferdighetstrening. En kvantitativ studie. Uniped 44(1), 4-16. Hentet 10.03.23 fra https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.18261%2Fissn.1893-8981-2021-01-02

Wittek, L. & Brandmo, C. (2016). Om undervisning og læring. I H. Strømsø, K.H. Lycke & P. Lauvås (Red.), Når læring er det viktigste. Undervisning i høyere utdanning (s. 19-36). Cappelen Dam Akademisk.