Category: edci335

The article “Exploring Learning Theories: Comparing Critical Features of Cognitivism, Behaviourism, and Constructivism,” By Eertmer, P.A., and Newby, P (2013) examines the key concepts between three learning theories and its instructional design. Cognitivism, a learning theory that emphasizes the understanding of how people think, solve problems, and process information. Secondly, Constructivism, a learning theory where an individual’s experience is utilized to create meaning and learn from the situation, nowadays it is often called “lesson learned,” but precisely constructs their own understanding from personal experiences. Lastly, Behaviourism, a learning theory in which an individual learns in a certain way through actions, which stimulates the individuals thinking and mostly focuses on their observations rather than their thoughts. (Ertmer and Newby, 2013).

A personal example about the best learning experience is being taught how to ride a motorcycle. When I bought my first motorcycle, I rode it with no riding experience other than relying on my experience on balancing a bicycle and my experience from driving a manual car. Since British Columbia has the strictest law in terms of riding and driving, I booked myself a motorcycle training course, where they teach beginner riders the basics such as braking, countersteering, engine braking, and more. Instructors also taught us how to ride safely and gave us tips to pass the road test. During that time I utilized all three learning theories.

Based on the reading, I would consider my current learning style behaviourism. I am a visual learner, I like to observe everything and analyze steps or methods to deepen my understanding. For example, when I took STAT 252, I focused on looking at the examples and recalculating them to learn and understand the concept before working on practice questions.

To conclude, the article helped me understand the three learning theories in depth and myself on a deeper level. These learning theories also resulted in getting to know myself better. I love to learn as much as I can because “learning is changing your mind about something” (EDCI 335, 2025).

References

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21143 

Why is learning hard? – EDCI 335. (2013). https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/why-is-learning-hard/