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Albert Bandura Biography
In 2014, Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura was ranked number one atop a list of the Top 100 Eminent Psychologists of...
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Psychological Behaviorism (Staats)
Summary: Psychological behaviorism (PB) holds that a person’s psychology can be explained through observable behavior. Originators and Key Contributors: Watson...
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Game Reward Systems
Summary: The phrase game reward systems describes the structure of rewards and incentives in a game that inspire intrinsic motivation...
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Classical and Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
A behaviorist theory based on the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while behaviors that...
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GOMS Model (Card, Moran, and Newell)
Summary: The GOMS Model is a human information processing model that predicts what skilled users will do in seemingly unpredictable...
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Albert Bandura Biography
In 2014, Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura was ranked number one atop a list of the Top 100 Eminent Psychologists of...
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Erik Erikson biography
Once described by a colleague as “Freud in sonnet form”, [5] psychological giant Erik Erikson blurred the line between science...
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SWOT Analysis Tool
Summary: SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is a tool or...
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Social Proof
Summary: Social proof describes a psychological phenomenon in which people mirror the actions and opinions of others. In other words,...
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Network Effects
Summary: Network Effects describes the phenomenon how the value of a good or service increases as more people start to...
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Montessori Method (Montessori)
Summary: The Montessori Method is an approach to learning which emphasizes active learning, independence, cooperation, and learning in harmony with...
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Attachment Theory (Bowlby)
Summary: Attachment theory emphasizes the importance of a secure and trusting mother-infant bond on development and well-being. Originator and key...
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Cognitive Tools Theory (Egan)
Summary: There exist five kinds of understanding (or cognitive tools) that individuals usually master in a particular order during the...
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Separation-Individuation Theory of Child Development (Mahler)
Summary: Mahler describes a series of stages occurring within the first three years of life aimed at the developmental goal...
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Object Relations Theory (Melanie Klein)
Object Relations Theory (Melanie Klein) Summary: A model of human psyche, transitioning from a paranoid-schizoid to a depressive position, while emphasizing...
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Recency Bias (Tversky & Kahneman)
Summary: Recency bias is type of cognitive bias that gives emphasis or greater importance for events that happened recently over ones...
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Dunning-Krueger Effect
The Dunning-Krueger Effect is a cognitive bias that provides people with limited competence the illusion that they are better than...
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Confirmation Bias (Wason)
Summary: Confirmation bias is a cognitive error that people make when they are only willing to accept new information when...
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Recency Bias (Tversky & Kahneman)
Summary: Recency bias is type of cognitive bias that gives emphasis or greater importance for events that happened recently over ones...
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Dunning-Krueger Effect
The Dunning-Krueger Effect is a cognitive bias that provides people with limited competence the illusion that they are better than...
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Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer)
Summary: A cognitive theory of multimedia learning based on three main assumptions: there are two separate channels (auditory and visual)...
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Metacognition (Flavell)
Metacognition is defined in simplest terms as “thinking about your own thinking.” The root “meta” means “beyond,” so the term...
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Situated Cognition (Brown, Collins, & Duguid)
Summary: Situated cognition is the theory that people’s knowledge is embedded in the activity, context, and culture in which it...
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Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Development (Bronfenbrenner)
Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model is a theory of educational psychology that studies human development over time. Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian-American...
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Discovery Learning (Bruner)
Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction, discovery learning believes that it is best for learners to discover facts...
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Educational Robotics and Constructionism (Papert)
Summary: Constructionism as a learning theory emphasizes student-centered discovery learning, and educators are currently expanding its reach to the field...
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Online Collaborative Learning Theory (Harasim)
Summary: Online collaborative learning theory, or OCL, is a form of constructivist teaching that takes the form of instructor-led group...
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Learner-centered design
Summary: Learner centered design focuses on creating software for heterogeneous groups of learners who need scaffolding as they learn while...
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Distributed Cognition (DCog)
Summary: Distributed cognition is a branch of cognitive science that proposes cognition and knowledge are not confined to an individual;...
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Social Network Analysis (Scott, Prell)
Summary: Social Network Analysis looks at how people within social networks (for example: families, clubs, Facebook groups) relate to each...
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Flow (Csíkszentmihályi)
Summary: Flow is an optimal psychological state that people experience when engaged in an activity that is both appropriately challenging...
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Actor-Network Theory (ANT)
Summary: Actor-Network Theory is a framework and systematic way to consider the infrastructure surrounding technological achievements. Assigns agency to both...
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Activity Theory
Summary: Activity Theory is a framework or descriptive tool for a system. People are socio-culturally embedded actors (not processors or...
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Multimodality (Kress)
Summary: Multimodality is a theory which looks at how people communicate and interact with each other, not just through writing...
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SWOT Analysis Tool
Summary: SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is a tool or...
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Backward Design
Summary: Backward Design is a model for designing instructional materials where the instructor or designer begins the design process with a...
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Gamification in Education
Summary: Gamification describes the process of applying game-related principles -- particularly those relating to user experience and engagement -- to...
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Learner-centered design
Summary: Learner centered design focuses on creating software for heterogeneous groups of learners who need scaffolding as they learn while...
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Deontology – Duty-Based Ethics (Kant)
One of the most influential ethical frameworks, deontology is focused on binding rules, obligation and duty (to family, country, church, etc.),...
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Utilitarianism (Consequence-based Ethics)
One of the most influential ethical frameworks, utilitarianism is focused on consequences and results; the sole basis of morality is determined by its...
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What is Plagiarism? A Guide
Plagiarism is a serious problem in education. The good news is that it is easy to detect and avoid. Read...
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Icebreakers for the School Year
As an educator, sometimes you need a good icebreaker for the beginning of the semester to help improve classroom dynamics....
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Fun Online Activities to Try at Home While Social Distancing
Dear Learning Theories Family, We hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during this very challenging time. ...
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Flipped Classrooms
Flipped classrooms are a method of instruction and form of blended learning. This model gets its name from the way...
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Using Mind Maps (Concept Maps) in the Classroom
A concept map (or mind map) is a visual tool to help a learner organize and represent what he or...
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (often represented as a pyramid with five levels of needs) is a motivational theory in psychology...
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Humanism
Humanism is a paradigm / philosophy / pedagogical approach that believes learning is viewed as a personal act to fulfill...
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Experiential Learning (Kolb)
A four-stage cyclical theory of learning, Kolb’s experiential learning theory is a holistic perspective that combines experience, perception, cognition, and...
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Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow)
Summary: Transformative learning is a theory of adult learning that utilizes disorienting dilemmas to challenge students' thinking. Students are then...
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Erik Erikson biography
Once described by a colleague as “Freud in sonnet form”, [5] psychological giant Erik Erikson blurred the line between science...
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Self-Perception Theory (Bem)
Summary: Self-perception theory describes the process in which people, lacking initial attitudes or emotional responses, develop them by observing their...
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Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, Turner)
Summary: Social identity theory proposes that a person’s sense of who they are depends on the groups to which they...
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Mindset Theory – Fixed vs. Growth Mindset (Dweck)
Mindset Theory Your intelligence and other characteristics – where do they come from? Can they change? People vary in the...
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Dunning-Krueger Effect
The Dunning-Krueger Effect is a cognitive bias that provides people with limited competence the illusion that they are better than...
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Confirmation Bias (Wason)
Summary: Confirmation bias is a cognitive error that people make when they are only willing to accept new information when...
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Situated Learning Theory (Lave)
Summary: Situated Learning Theory posits that learning is unintentional and situated within authentic activity, context and culture. Originator: Jean Lave[1]...
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Stereotype Threat (Steele, Aronson)
Summary: Stereotype threat is a phenomenon that occurs when people are at risk for living up to a negative stereotype...
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Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer)
Summary: A cognitive theory of multimedia learning based on three main assumptions: there are two separate channels (auditory and visual)...
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Intrinsically motivating instruction (Malone)
Summary: Intrinsically motivating instruction takes place in computer gaming software when it provides players with choice around three key categories:...
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Digital citizenship
Summary: Digital citizenship is the state of having access to the Internet and communication technologies that help promote equal opportunity,...
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SWOT Analysis Tool
Summary: SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is a tool or...
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Network Effects
Summary: Network Effects describes the phenomenon how the value of a good or service increases as more people start to...
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Flipgrid: Video Discussion Tool for Fostering a Community of Learners
A common criticism of educational theory is that it is often separated from practice. Educational technology tools are a strategic...
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View All 17 Articles
Confirmation Bias (Wason)
Summary: Confirmation bias is a cognitive error that people make when they are only willing to accept new information when...
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Stereotype Threat (Steele, Aronson)
Summary: Stereotype threat is a phenomenon that occurs when people are at risk for living up to a negative stereotype...
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Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow)
Summary: Transformative learning is a theory of adult learning that utilizes disorienting dilemmas to challenge students' thinking. Students are then...
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Chaos Theory
Summary: Chaos theory is a mathematical theory that can be used to explain complex systems such as weather, astronomy, politics,...
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Social Proof
Summary: Social proof describes a psychological phenomenon in which people mirror the actions and opinions of others. In other words,...
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View All 16 Articles
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (often represented as a pyramid with five levels of needs) is a motivational theory in psychology...
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Intrinsically motivating instruction (Malone)
Summary: Intrinsically motivating instruction takes place in computer gaming software when it provides players with choice around three key categories:...
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Positive Psychology / PERMA Theory (Seligman)
Summary: Positive psychology is the study of happiness, flourishing, and what makes life worth living. Seligman points to five factors...
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Andragogy – Adult Learning Theory (Knowles)
Summary: Andragogy refers to a theory of adult learning that details some of the ways in which adults learn differently than...
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Dopamine, Games, and Motivation
Summary: Dopamine plays a role in motivation, and this role is important to understand in the context of game design....
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Humanism
Humanism is a paradigm / philosophy / pedagogical approach that believes learning is viewed as a personal act to fulfill...
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21st Century Skills (P21 and others)
Summary: Skills necessary for students to master in order for them to experience school and life success in an increasingly...
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Constructivism
Constructivism as a paradigm or worldview posits that learning is an active, constructive process. The learner is an information constructor....
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Cognitivism
The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box” of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is...
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Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a worldview that operates on a principle of "stimulus-response." All behavior caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All...
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Robot Turtles Review: Coding Game for Kids
Robot Turtles: The Board Game for Little Programmers has taken the kid coding world over by storm. It’s the highest...
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Situated Learning Theory (Lave)
Summary: Situated Learning Theory posits that learning is unintentional and situated within authentic activity, context and culture. Originator: Jean Lave[1]...
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Stereotype Threat (Steele, Aronson)
Summary: Stereotype threat is a phenomenon that occurs when people are at risk for living up to a negative stereotype...
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Albert Bandura
In 2014, a list of the Top 100 Eminent Psychologists of the Modern Era was published in the Archives of...
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Erik Erikson
Once described by a colleague as “Freud in sonnet form”, [5] psychological giant Erik Erikson blurred the line between science...
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Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional method of hands-on, active learning centered on the investigation and resolution of messy, real-world...
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EcoChains: A Food Web Game to Teach Climate Change
Social science research shows that teaching climate change in way that emphasizes "doom and gloom" and scary facts does not...
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SWOT Analysis Tool
Summary: SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is a tool or...
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Flipgrid: Video Discussion Tool for Fostering a Community of Learners
A common criticism of educational theory is that it is often separated from practice. Educational technology tools are a strategic...
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Padlet: Collaborative Canvas Tool
Padlet: An Easy to Use Online Collaboration Tool for Multimedia Sharing Padlet is a very user-friendly canvas or digital...
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ExploreLearning: Active Experimentation
Science and math concepts are often some of the most challenging for students to grasp. It is not enough...
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Categories
Behaviorist Theories
Paradigms and Perspectives
Child Development Theories
Cognitive Theories
Constructivist Theories
Descriptive Theories
Design Theories & Models
Humanist Theories
Identity Theories
Media & Technology Theories
Motivation Theories
Social Learning Theories
Shop
Learning Theories in Plain English Vol. 1 of 2
Learning Theories in Plain English Vol. 2 of 2
Great Group Games! Activity Guide
The Best Icebreakers Vol. 1
Learning Theories Printable Study Flashcards
About
Advertise
Contribute
Definitions
Recommendations
Useful Tools and Resources
Our Amazon Bookstore
Buy the eBook / Flashcards
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