Principles of Learning

"...we need a domain theory to explain what is easy, what is somewhere between easy and hard, and what is hard. When we understand these things, we can measure, give meaningful feedback, and can teach people who desire to do so how to rapidly progress from lower to higher levels in either type of domain. These lead to the construction of learning maps that reflect progress up the domain scales, or reveal standing on a map of individual difference variables." (Bunderson, 2003, p. unknown --- pdf available online at http://www.edumetrics.org/papers/How_to_build_a_Domain_Theor.pdf )

Landa (1983) states that "prescriptive instructional theories cannot be automatically derived from descriptive instructional theories." He gives an example to illustrate why this isn't so: "Suppose we have a descriptive proposition: 'If a student repeats a statement many times, he or she memorizes it better." This is a 100 percent true proposition. Let us convert it into a prescriptive proposition: 'In order to memorize a statement better, one has to repeat it many times.' This proposition is not as true as the first one because the state of 'memorized' is determined by many factors, not just repetition. For example, for a particular student to memorize a statement, it may be more important to understand it rather than just mechanically repeat it. Some students, due to the specific characteristics of their memory, the personal significance of the proposition for them, and some other factors, may not need to repeat it at all." [p. 60] He ...

From Landa (1983): "in order to teach effectively (and to teach at all), a teacher should be provided either ith a set of programs for solving particular instructional problems or with a method as to how to independently develop an instructional program (algorithmic or nonalgorithmic) on the basis of known descriptive and prescriptive instructional theories" [p. 61] "A necessity to pass from a theory (even prescriptive) to a program for solving individual problems explains why the knowledge of an instructional theory in itself (even if it were comprehensive and coherent) does not provide a teacher with an ability to teacher. The latter ability is based on a knowledge of programs for solving particular problems (or classes of problems) or the ability to pass from theoretical propositions to programs and be guided by them." [p. 61, footnote]

I believe that chaos theory is helpful in understanding the complexity, and apparent but not actual lack of predictability, in learning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory

"A frequently cited desideratum for a theory of instruction is its compatibility with a theory of learning. If the proposed metatheory [referring to Gropper's theory presented in this section] is on target in its emphasis on learning requirements and obstacles to their being met , then 'compatibility' is the wrong word. An instructional theory needs to build on a theory of learning." (Gropper, 1983) desideratum - "something needed or wanted" diserata - a want list; a list of wants

"There has been some controversy over the useful breadth of instructional-design theory. Richard Snow is well known for his work on individual differences under the rubric of ATI, or aptitude-treatment interactions...ATI is a metatheory that in effect states that theories of instruction should prescribe methods (called treatments ) on the basis of student characteristics (called aptitudes ), because the effectiveness of those methods varies depending on student characteristics. Snow (1977) has stated that ATI (aptitude-treatment interaction) 'makes general theory impossible [p. 12]'---that instructional-design theories must be narrow and local to be of value. On the other hand, Scandura (1977) represented the view of many when he stated that instructional-design theories must be broad and comprehensive to be useful." (Reigeluth, 1983, p. 31-32) Reigeluth sias the different of opinion can be traced to a focus on management vs organizational strategies.

"Practically all classification schemes will improve our understanding of instructional phenomena, but concepts are not the kind of knowledge for which instructioal scientists are looking, except as a stepping stone. Instructional scientists want to determine when different methods should be used--- they want to discover principles of instruction ---so that they can prescribe optimal methods. But not all classification schemes are equally useful for forming highly reliable and broadly applicable principles." (Reigeluth, 1983, p. 12)

"Because our methods of instruction are generally ineffective, educators have not been able to devote much time and effort to the whole child. If we can develop highly effective instructional resources (whether in books or in computers), then we can free some (more) of the teacher's time to work on the social, psychological, emotional, and moral development of our children." "Rather than having primary responsibility for a subject, the future teacher will have primary responsibility for a number of children. The teacher will become an advisor, a motivator, and someone whose major interest is the child---the whole child. The teacher will be liberated from the more routine, boring aspects of his or her profession by well-designed instructional resoureces...by better testing methods, and by better record-keeping systems. But such improvements in education cannot occur before we improve our knowledge about how to design more effective, efficient, and appealing methods of...

"One can envision a time when there will be a variety of different models of instruction, each prescribing the best available methods for achieving a different kind of learning goal under different kinds of conditions. One can also envision researchers all over the world building upon this common knowledge base, continually improving and refining those models. it is my hope that this book will contribute in some small way to forming that common knowledge base." (Reigeluth, 1983, p. xii)

"This book is dedicated to increasing our knowledge about how to improve instruction. It is founded on the premise that the process of learning can be made easier and more enjoyable." (Reigeluth, 1983, p. xi)

Questions to answer: What is it? What are the major theories? How are the theories similar and different? Can they be unified in one model? What themes emerge in the literature? What's missing from the theories?