1

MALT Reviewer
Glenda Obre

Area

Author

Theories

Main Idea

LCT

Barbara McCombs

Personalized
Learning Theory

Personalized Learning is Learner-Centred

First, each learner learns through a unique combination of factors,
including heredity; temperament; experiential history; beliefs,
values, and perspectives; talents; interests; capacities; and needs
(McCombs & Miller, 2007, p. 15).
First, each learner learns through a unique combination of factors,
including heredity; temperament; experiential history; beliefs, values,
and perspectives; talents; interests; capacities; and needs (McCombs
& Miller, 2007, p. 15).
Second, being learner-centred means focusing on the best available
evidence about learning, how it occurs, and which teaching practices
are most likely to result in the highest levels of student motivation and
achievement (McCombs & Whisler, 1997).
What we know is that the most highly motivated learning of all
is self-motivated learning, which occurs only when learners
possess (1) choice and control about how, what, and when to
learn, and (2) choice and control over what they want to
achieve (McCombs & Miller, 2007, p. 16).

LCP

Christie (2005);
Kruse (n.d.)

LCT

Phyllis Blumberg

Constructivism

Learning is an active process

Knowledge is constructed from (and shaped by) experience
Learning is a personal interpretation of the world
The more engaged a person is with the content, the better the
person learns it because (s)he adds his own meaning and
associations to it

The more connections people have to a concept, the more likely

LCP

David Kolb

Curriculum
Development

John Dewey

that person will be able to retrieve it later and in another context

Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the
transformation of experience (David Kolb, 1984, p. 38).
Effective learning is seen when a person progresses through a
cycle of four stages: of
(1) having a concrete experience followed by
(2) observation of and reflection on that experience which leads to
(3) the formation of abstract concepts (analysis) and
generalizations (conclusions) which are then
(4) used to test hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new
experiences.
Kolb's learning theory (1974)
Kolb (1974) views learning as an integrated process with each stage
being mutually supportive of and feeding into the next. It is possible
to enter the cycle at any stage and follow it through its logical
sequence.
However, effective learning only occurs when a learner is able to
execute all four stages of the model. Therefore, no one stage of the
cycle is an effective as a learning procedure on its own.
Curriculum Theory

Curriculum
Development

John Dewey,
Rouseau,
Pestallozi, and
Froebel

Child-centered
Design

Curriculum should ultimately produce students who would be able to deal effectively
with the modern world.
Curriculum should not be presented as finished abstractions, but should include the
childs preconceptions and should incorporate how the child views his or her own
world.
The four instincts according to Dewey are social, constructive, expressive, and artistic.
Curriculum should build an orderly sense of the world where the child lives. Dewey
hoped to use occupations to connect miniature versions of fundamental activities of
life classroom activities
Dewey is credited for the development of the progressive schools some of which are
still in existence today.

Anchored on the needs and and desires of the child

The learner is not considered as passive individuals but as one who
engages with his/her environment. One learns by doing. One
interacts with the teachers and environment

3
Curriculum
Development

Tylers 1949

Linear Product
Model

The assumption underpinning this model is that there is an agreed body of knowledge
that students need to learn.

The model is based on four questions:

1. What educational purposes should the institution seek to attain [objectives]?

2. What educational experiences are likely to attain these objectives [instructional
strategies and content]?
3. How can these educational experiences be organized effectively [organization of
learning experiences?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained [assessment
and evaluation]?

Curriculum
Development

Hilda Taba

Taba Model :
Inductive approach

Curriculum
Development

Peter Oliva

Oliva Model :
Deductive model

She believed that the curriculum should be designed by the

teachers rather than handed down by higher authority.
Further, she felt that teachers should begin the process by creating
specific teaching-learning units for their students in their schools
rather than by engaging initially in creating a general curriculum
design.
She introduce the inductive approach where curriculum workers
start with the specifics and build up to a general design as
opposed to the more traditional deductive approach of starting
with the general design and working down to the specifics.
Offers a faculty a process for the complete development of a
schools curriculum.
Oliva recognized the needs of students in particular communities
are not always the same as the general needs of students
throughout our society.

In the Oliva Model a faculty can fashion a plan:

for the curriculum of an area and design ways in which it will be
carried out through instruction

4
to develop school-wide interdisciplinary programs that cut across
areas of specialization such as career education, guidance, and class
activities.
for a faculty to focus on the curricular components of the model to
make programmatic decisions.
to allow a faculty to concentrate on the instructional components.
Assessment

Douglas Archbald
and Fred Newmann
(1988)

Authentic
Assessment
Theory

Argued that assessment must begin with a defensible theory of academic

competence. They contend that for assessment to be considered "authentic"
it must measure performance on tasks that reflect meaningful forms of
human accomplishment.

Assessment

Authentic
Assessment

Assessment

J. Joy Cummings
and Graham S.
Maxwell, 1999
Wiggins, 1993

Assessment

Resnick 1989

Assessment

Wiggins, 1993;
Anderson et al.,
1996
Linn 1990, 1995;
Goldstein, 1989;
Gipps, 1984
Carol Ann
Tomlinson

Motivational benefits are expected to accrue when students can

perceived the relevance of learning and assessment activities, thereby
enhancing learning outcomes
Learning and performance depends on context and motivation.
Pioneer of Authentic assessment.
Learning theories recognize that learning is dependent on complex
interrelationships of cognitive, affective, and socio cultural factors.
Context also has significant effects on learning and performance
Anderson et al. discuss a continuum of theories of situated ness.

Assessment
Assessment

(2007/2008, p. 11)

Theorists
associated with
Behaviorism:
J.B Watson

Authentic
Assessment
Authentic
Assessment
Authentic
Assessment
Authentic theory
On Formative
Assessment
Theory
Behaviorism
Learning Theory

Assessment theory and practice have been evolving to reflect these

complexities, moving away from more narrowly focused psychological
theory of measurement that have dominated education until recently.
Informative assessment isnt an end in itself, but the beginning of
better instruction.

J. B Watson, the father of Behaviorism, defined learning as a sequence of

stimulus and response actions in observable cause and effect relationships.
Watson, believed that the stimuli that humans receive may be generated
internally (for example hunger), or externally (for example, a loud noise).

E. L Thorndike
B.F Skinner

B.F. Skinner expanded on the foundation of Behaviorism, established by Watson,

and on the work of Edward Thorndike, by focussing on operant conditioning.
According to Skinner, voluntary or automatic behavior is either strengthened or
weakened by the immediate presence of a reward or a punishment. "The learning
principle behind operant conditioning is that new learning occurs as a result of
positive reinforcement, and old patterns are abandoned as a result of negative
reinforcement." (Belkin and Gray, 1977, p.59) In his book entitled, The
Technology of Teaching, Skinner wrote:
The application of operant conditioning to education is simple and
direct. Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of
reinforcement under which students learn. They learn without
teaching in their natural environments, but teachers arrange
special contingencies which expedite learning, hastening the
appearance of behavior which would otherwise be acquired
slowly or making sure of the appearance of behavior which
otherwise never occur. (Skinner, 1968, p.64)
Skinner believed that more complex learning could be achieved by this process
of contingencies and reinforcement "... through successive stages in the shaping
process, the contingencies of reinforcement being changed progressively in the
direction of the required behavior." (Skinner, 1968, p.10)
The use of exams to measure observable behavior of learning, the use of rewards
and punishments in our school systems, and the breaking down of the instruction
process into "conditions of learning" (as developed by Robert Gagne), are all
further examples of the Behaviorist influence.

Learner-Centered Principles1
Colleen Carmen
Learning is ACTIVE
when...

LEARNING is SOCIAL
via...

Learning is
CONTEXTUAL as...

engaged in solving real-world problems- Merrill

intertwined in judgment and exploration- John Seeley Brown
situated in action- John Seeley Brown
uses active learning techniques- Chickering
practice and reinforcement is emphasized- Marchese
involvement in real-world tasks is emphasized- Marchese
opportunities for cognitive apprenticeship- John Seeley Brown
reciprocity and cooperation among students- Chickering
prompt feedback- Chickering
encouragement of contact between student and faculty- Chickering
emphasis on rich, timely feedback- Marchese
new knowledge builds on the learner's existing knowledge- Merrill
new knowledge is integrated into the learner's world- Merrill
new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner-Merrill
students have a deep foundation of factual knowledge- Bransford
there is awareness that students come to the classroom with preconceptions -Bransford
it focuses on how the world works- Bransford
students understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework-Bransford
it is made concrete rather than abstract- John Seeley Brown

http://www.west.asu.edu/ccarmean/learning/learningtable.htm

7
Learning encourages
ENGAGEMENT when
it...
Learning requires
OWNERSHIP when...

respects diverse talents and ways of learning- Arthur Chickering

communicates high expectations- Chickering
is done in high-challenge, low-threat environments-Marchese
emphasizes intrinsic motivators and natural curiosities- Marchese
students organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application- Bransford
students take control of their own learning: noting failures, planning ahead, apportioning time and memory
to tasks- Bransford
it emphasizes time on task- Chickering
it emphasizes learner independence and choice-Marchese
it allows time for reflection- Marchese
it emphasizes higher order thinking (synthesis and reflection)- Marchese

Bransford: John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, eds.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Washington, DC,
National Academy Press, 1999)
Brown: John Seely Brown, Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work,
Education, and the Ways People Learn, Change, March/April 2000
<<http://www.aahe.org/change/digital.pdf>>
Chickering: Arthur W. Chickering and Stephen C. Erdmann, Implementing
the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever, AAHE Bulletin, October
1996, <<http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html>>
Marchese: Theodore J. Marchese, The New Conversations about Learning:
Insights from Neuroscience and Anthropology, Cognitive Science,
and Work-Place Studies, in AAHE Conference on Assessment and
Quality, (Washington DC, American Association for Higher
Education, 1999) <<http://www.aahe.org/pubs/TM-essay.htm>>
Merrill: W. David Merrill, First Principles of Instruction, Edcation
Technology Research and Development 2001,
<<http://id2.usu.edu/Papers/5FirstPrinciples.PDF>>

Reference: http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A3=ind0211&L=CTLDOC&E=7bit&P=104170&B=--&T=text%2Fplain;%20charset=US-ASCII

8
In order to develop a curriculum, Hilda Taba have conceptualized her Taba Rationale:
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Diagnosis of needs
Formulation of objectives
Selection of content
Organization of content
Selection of learning experiences
Organization of learning experiences (development of methods)
Determination of what to evaluate and how (Taba1962:12)

The Learner Centered Principles reflect four domains:

Cognitive and metacognitive the intellectual capacities of learners are and how they facilitate the learning process.
Motivational and affective the roles played by motivation and emotions in learning.
Developmental and social the influence of various, diverse aspects of learner development and the importance of interpersonal
interactions in learning and change.
Individual differences how individual differences influence learning, how teachers, students, and administrators adapt to learning diversity,
and how standards and assessments can best support individual differences in learners