Theories in learning

Course goals

Upon completion of the course with a successful grade, you have demonstrated, both orally and in writing:
• mastery of basic concepts for describing and comparing learning theories;
• ability to determine the historical roots and the contemporary value of a learning theory;
• ability to draw implications of learning theories for analysing educational situations;
• ability to identify and describe the learning theories advanced by a single educational scholar given his or her scholarly work.

Content

Many theories of learning exist at different levels of explanation. There are grand theories making paradigmatic claims about learning as representing the course of social life, theoretical approaches making claims on how to understand learning best, and theoretical models making empirical claims on how learning occurs or is best facilitated. Learning theories, moreover, are not static as contemporary theories extend and update traditional ones.

This course – Theories in Learning – discusses various smaller and more comprehensive theories of learning, placing them in their historical contexts, in relation to each other, as well as in the context of current society and educational practice. There will be discussion about the similarities and differences between various theories, making course participants aware of different understandings and discourses that are reflected in educational literature. The course will work towards an elaborate framework by means of which learning theories can be described, compared and debated on a more abstract level. Your understanding of this framework is put to the test in a final analysis of a scholar’s work.