Learning Theories

Doctorate in Education

EDU 967

Breyer State University

Instructor: Catherine Moran, B.S., MS.Ed., PhD.

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to Learning Theories a doctorate level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Doctor in Education. I am pleased to instruct you in this course.

This is an upper level course that prepares you to work in the field of Special Education.  In this course you will learn learning theories in the education field.  Specifically you will study, behavioral and social cognitive theories.

I know you will enjoy this course. Please learn as much as you can as you progress through it, as it does lay down a solid foundation for the rest of the curriculum. It is my pleasure to have you in the course.

TIME FRAME: This is an (5) five-semester hour course. This course is allotted ten weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the ten-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course, or the day which you notify me that your textbook has arrived and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be cognizant of the time frame. Extensions of time are permitted if needed with my and/or departmental approval. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded five (5) semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOKS: There is (1) required textbook for this course.

Book 1: “Learning Theories – An Educational Perspective,” by Dale H Schunk.  Prentice Hall Publishers.  ISBN:  0-13-038496-8

This book may be found in your local bookstore. Your local bookstore most often will order it as a special order for you if it is not in stock. Or, you may purchase this book online from:

	» Click Here to Enter
» Additional Student Resources at StudyTactics

EXAMINATIONS: There is a cumulative final exam required for this course covering the entire textbook. The final exam must be taken by the end of the tenth week in the course.  The exam is programmed and is located in the classroom for this course. The examination is "open book" objective type. You will have one (1) day to complete your exam, once you access it from the classroom. To access the exam, you must send me an email and request to have access to the exam. Upon registration, you will receive my email address. I will then program your access in. You will receive an email back from me telling you that you are now authorized to go ahead and to access your exam. To access, you will come into the classroom, click on testing, and click on the exam you are taking. You will need your User ID and PASS WORD to access the exam. The exam will appear on your screen. Once you access the exam, you have twenty-four hours to submit your answers. The program provides me the exact date and time that you accessed the exam. The program also notifies me of the exact date and time that you submitted your answers. Thus, the program is timing you. When you are ready, go back into the classroom and click in your responses and then click submit. Shortly, you will receive the exam in your email box with your computed score. You will also know what questions, if any, that you missed, and what the correct answer is. I also receive a copy of your exam and your score.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:
90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone if you would like. Our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at any time during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me right away.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: There is a paper required for this course.  You are to write a paper on one of the learning theories discussed in the textbook. The requirements for the paper are as follows:

1). Cover page, with your name, course number and title, and title of paper.
2). A minimum of 10 pages.
3). 1-inch margins.
4). Double-spaced.
5). APA style format.
Breyer State University Approved Guidelines for Written Papers

Breyer State University requires adherence to its approved guidelines for any course that requires a written paper. Please access the link below and review the required criteria for required papers. If you have any questions, be sure to contact your instructor.

View Guidelines

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, Catherine Moran, Ph.D., currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses at Breyer State University and Canyon College. I hold Ph.D. in Education and a Master’s degree in Education from Breyer State University.  A Bachelor of Science from Kent State University with a major in Chemistry and Biology and Speech. I have worked in several hospitals as a Med. Tech. I lecture at conferences on “Assessing and Teaching Children with Learning Disabilities”. 

I am the Registrar of Breyer State University.   

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will:

1. Have an understanding of learning theories and the issues and historical perspectives.
2. Define learning and identify instances of learned and unlearned phenomena.
3. Describe the major features of different research paradigms.
4. Discuss the central features of different methods of assessing learning.
5. Distinguish between rationalism and empiricism.
6. Discuss the works of Wundt, Ebbinghaus,the Structuralists, and the Functionalists.
7. Have an understanding of the Behavioral Theories of learning
8. Explain how behaviors are learned according to connectionism theory.
9. Discuss some of Thorndike’s contributions to educational practice.
10. Describe Skinner’s three-term contingency model of operant conditioning.
11. Have an understanding of the Social Cognitive Theory.
12. Define three functions of modeling.
13. Discuss the subprocesses of observational learning.
14. Explain a social cognitive perspective of self-regulation.
15. Understand some key implications of the theory for educational practice.
16. Have an understanding of the Information Processing System and the Cognitive learning Processes.
17. Distinguish different views of attention and explain how attention affects learning.
18. Discuss the major forms of verbal learning research.
19. Explain the major factors that influence encoding, retrieval and forgetting.
20. Understand why conditional knowledge is important for learning.
21. Describe information processing methods for solving problems.
22. Have an understanding of Constructivism, Motivation and Content-Area Learning
23. Explain the major components of Gagne’s instructional theory.
24. Summarize what research has identified as effective teacher practices in planning and instruction.
25. Describe some cognitive styles of learning.
26. Discuss the major assumptions and various types of constructivism.
27. Discuss how classroom structure and TAR-GET variables affect student motivation.
28. Explain the major features in a current model of achievement motivation.
29. Distinguish between learning and performance goals.
30. Describe the novice-to-expert research methodology.
31. Explain the major components of language comprehension.
32. Define speech act.
33. Summarize the major principles of reading.
34. Explain the main processes involved in reading comprehension.
35. Describe the major influences leading to the scientific study of human development.
36. Compare and contrast structural and functional accounts of development.
37. Summarize the major processes in Piaget’s theory involved in learning.
38. List the key features of constructivist learning environments.
39. Have an understanding of Development and Learning.

COURSE CONTENT – A brief abstract of content:

1. Learning defined.
2. Functions of theory.
3. Conducting research.
4. Methods of assessing learning.
5. Critical issues in the study of learning.
6. Relation of learning and instruction.
7. Three learning scenarios.
8. Behavioral theories.
9. Social cognitive theory.
10. Conceptual framework for learning.
11. Modeling processes.
12. Instructional applications.
13. Information processing system.
14. Theories of attention.
15. Gestalt theory.
16. Two-store memory model.
17. Model of motivated learning.
18. Achievement motivation.
19. Attribution theory.
20. Intrinsic motivation.
21. Language comprehension.
22. Perspectives on human development.
23. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
24. Bruner’s theory of cognitive growth.
25. The brain and development.
26. Long-term memory – storage and retrieval.
27. Mental Imagery.
28. Cognitive learning processes.
29. Discovery learning.
30. Models of instruction.

ASSIGNMENTS: For specific assignments, please click on the link "Assignments."

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions about the assignments or the course in general please feel free to e-mail me at the address provided or contact Breyer State at: cm@breyerstate.com

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