EDUF 7130 - Learning Theories and Applications

Spring Semester, 2014

Dr. Wendy L. Chambers

Office Hours: by appt.
(912) 478-5921 (office)
email: wcuster@georgiasouthern.edu

Required Text:
Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Note that this is the 3rd edition of the text (available at the GSU bookstore and through online dealers).
Catalog Description:
This course examines the principles and theories of learning that serve as a basis for educational models
and practice. Special emphasis is given to recent empirical findings and to practical applications of theory
to educational settings. This is a three credit hour class.
Course Subject Matter Content:
I. Theories of Learning: (a) Behavioral, (b) social/contextual/interactional, (c) cognitive, (d) evaluation of
learning theory research.
II. Comparative analysis of theories based on: (a) Developmental levels of individuals, (b) Content/subject
matter and purpose goals.
III. Applications of learning theories: (a) Instructional settings, (b) Human development settings
IV. Psychological conditions of learning: (a) Motivation, (b) Stages of information processing, (c)
Constructivism, (d) Other topics including Individual Differences, Metacognition, Conceptual Learning,
Behavior Management, Biological Bases, and Future Trends.
Major Course Objectives:
1) The student will describe and analyze principles and theories of learning and become aware of the basic
assumptions, developmental issues, components, and nature of complex learning.
2) The student will solve applied problems using these principles and theories in age-appropriate contexts.
3) The student will develop an understanding of the psychological factors involved in implementing
learning, instruction, and intervention strategies.
4) The student will develop an understanding of how motivation functions as a psychological condition of
learning.
5) The student will critically examine how differences in individual experiences and abilities can affect
differences in learning, memory, and understanding.
How This Course Supports The Colleges Conceptual Framework:
This course is designed to enhance students' ability to think critically about the theory and practice of
learning and to improve the learning process. Students are challenged to solve problems using practical
applications derived from learning theories. Thus, it addresses the College's Conceptual Framework
commitments in the following ways. Commitment to the Knowledge and Dispositions of the

Profession: Learning theories and related methodologies are key features of this course. Included within
learning theories are the influences of human development. A strong research base on learning and
development is emphasized in this course. Commitment to Diversity: Learner differences are a crucial
aspect of contemporary learning theories. The diversity of learner schemata resulting from cultural and
other environmental contexts are highlighted throughout this course. Commitment to Technology:
Contemporary instructional technologies such as internet-based delivery and assessment tools are modeled.
The relationships between learning and new technologies are emphasized and supported with recent
research. Commitment to the Practice of Continuous Reflection and Assessment: Both course
assignments and summative assessments are centered on student reflection to help model the benefits of
this practice.
Required Course Activities:
1.
Completion of assigned readings each week
2.
A minimum of 2 posts on discussion boards each week
3.
4 exams (open book format, posted online)
You will be doing quite a lot of reading and writing for this course. Successful students will keep up with
the reading each week, with the goal of completing it early in the week, in preparation for the weekly
online discussions that will provide an opportunity for further clarification of the content. Note that there
are no required chats for this course; instead of synchronous chats we will have asynchronous
discussions weekly. Please check the weekly discussion board frequently, as I will be posting comments
and/or questions for informal discussion, as well as responding to any questions that any of you have about
the reading there. In addition to the (optional) informal discussions, you will be required to submit 2
formal graded posts each week: one of these will be your response to a specific discussion question (or
questions) that you will find in each weeks folder; the other is a required response to at least one of your
classmates posts. *NOTE: you will not be able to view your classmates discussion posts each week
until you post your own personal response to the discussion question.
See the weekly schedule at the end of this syllabus for specific due dates for reading, discussion posts, etc.
Also, note that there is a more detailed course schedule posted in the Week 1 folder. You might want
to print this schedule off and put it on your refrigerator or somewhere to help yourself to keep up with the
weekly assignments.
You will be reading roughly one full chapter each week (with a few exceptions, explained below). In
addition to the chapter reading from the text, I will post PowerPoint notes for each chapter, to help to
provide a framework for the reading and to help you to focus on the most important concepts when you are
studying for the exams. The PowerPoint notes are meant to supplement (NOT replace) the reading. They
will not be sufficient in and of themselves, but are simply meant to clarify the main points. *The
PowerPoints are posted in both PPT and .pdf format; when you open them in Folio you might need
to click on the little microscope icon at the bottom of the page to reduce the size in order to view
each slide full screen.
I recommend that you get into the rhythm of the course, planning to complete the reading for each
chapter before our informal discussions each week, and then spend the rest of each week working on your
graded discussion board assignments before moving on to the reading for the next chapter. *Note that we
will spend 2 weeks covering some of the longer chapters in the text, and only one week on most of the
shorter chapters. For 2 week chapters, you will have 2 separate sets of discussion posts to do, one during
week 1, and a 2nd during week 2. Again, see the course schedule for specific due dates for assignments.
As noted in the course schedule, the informal weekly discussions/questions are not mandatory (and might

not even occur during some weeks); however, I strongly encourage you to log in and participate in these
discussions, as they will be an important opportunity for you to discuss the content with your classmates
and with me, and to clarify any concepts/issues that you are uncertain about before beginning your written
assignments for that week. *Also, note that thoughtful participation in the discussions will have a
positive impact on your professionalism grade (see below). As they are informal, there might be more
comments and/or questions posted during some weeks than others. *Please note that for all posts, whether
informal posts or your official graded weekly assignments, your spelling and grammar will count. Please
be sure to run a spell-check (and save your post) before posting anything.
You will also be required to take 4 relatively short exams. These exams may be at least partially
cumulative, in the sense that I might ask you to compare/contrast a newly learned theory with one that we
learned about earlier in the semester, for example. These will consist of 4-5 essay questions pertaining to
the reading and class discussions. They will be posted online as take home exams (i.e., open books are
allowed). Each exam will be worth 30 points toward your overall grade (see below). *Please note that
although these exams are open book, you will not do well on the exams unless you have spent a
good deal of time reading, processing and studying the material prior to the exam time. Exams will
be posted for 72 hours (from Monday through Thursday of exam weeks), and for each essay question you
will be required to synthesize what you have learned and apply the content through the development of
original examples or analysis of examples provided.
In addition to your required assignments, you will receive a professionalism grade in this course.
Students who regularly contribute to the informal discussions and provide thoughtful comments, as well as
contributing meaningful and reflective posts and responses to others posts on graded discussion board
assignments, and who turn in all work on time and with consideration for quality (i.e., spelling, grammar,
level of reflection, etc.) will receive high professionalism grades. This grade will be worth 24 points
toward your overall grade (see below). *Note that although you are only required to respond to one
classmates post each week, you are encouraged to read and respond thoughtfully to more than one, as the
weekly discussions are one of the most important means by which to understand (and help your classmates
to understand) the content. This type of active engagement in the discussions each week will have a
positive impact on your professionalism grade.
*Weekly routine: generally each week you will be 1) doing the required reading; 2) reading through the
PowerPoints and checking the weekly discussion board to see whether I have provided any comments or
questions for you to consider and respond to (informallynot mandatory or graded, although involvement
will positively affect your professionalism grade); 3) using the weekly discussion board to ask me any
questions about the content (as needed) and/or responding to my informal posts; 4) posting a minimum of
2 required graded discussion posts based on questions that are provided in the weekly folder (i.e., your
own response to the discussion question and a reply to at least one classmates response); and 5) beginning
the reading for the following week. The exceptions are the weeks before exam weeks: for 5), instead of
beginning the reading for the next week, you will be reviewing and studying for the exam.
Academic Integrity Expectations:
(With apologies to almost everyone) Students are expected to abide by the GSU Student Conduct Code
and Regulations regarding academic integrity. Academic misconduct such as cheating and plagiarism will
be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs and appropriate penalties imposed that could affect course
grade. See Student Conduct Code, Section III. The faculty and students of Georgia Southern University
will not tolerate any type of academic dishonesty. For example, dont hand in someone elses work as your
own, dont copy text from an article as if it were your own, or dont attempt to get help from someone else
as you take your exams.

Disability Accommodations:
If a student has a documented and declared disability, reasonable accommodations will be provided if
requested by the student according to the recommendations of the GSU Disabled Student Services office.

Tentative ScheduleSpring 2014

Week

Topic

Assignment

Jan. 13-19

Introductions/Practice with Folio

Practice posts
(Introductions)

Jan. 20-26

Introduction to Learning
Theories

Ch. 1

Jan. 27-Feb. 2

Radical Behaviorism

Ch. 2

Feb. 3-9

Behaviorism (contd)

Ch. 2

Feb. 10-13

EXAM 1: Chapters 1-2

Feb. 17-23

CIP theory

Ch. 3

Feb. 24-Mar. 2

CIP theory (contd)

Ch. 3

Mar. 3-9

Meaningful Reception Learning/

Schema Theory

Ch. 4

Mar. 10-13

EXAM 2: Chapters 3-4

Mar. 17-23

SPRING BREAK: NO ASSIGNMENTS

Mar. 24-30

Cognitive and Knowledge

Development: Piaget and the
Neo-Piagetians

Ch. 6

Mar. 31-Apr. 6

Interactional Theories
of Cognitive Development:
Bruner

Ch. 7

Apr. 7-13

Interactional Theories
of Cognitive Development (contd):
Vygotsky

Ch. 7

Apr. 14-17

EXAM 3: Chapters 6-7

Apr. 21-27

Motivation and Self-regulation

in Learning

Ch. 9

Apr. 28-May 4

Gagnes Instructional Theory

May 4-7

EXAM 4: Chapters 9-10

Ch. 10

GRADING SCALE:
Each exam = 30 points (x 4): 120 (57%)
Weekly Discussion posts = 6 points (x 11): 66 (32%)
Professionalism = 24 points (11%)
Total points possible: 210
189 and up = A
168-188 = B
147-167 = C
126-146 = D
*Important note: In order to receive a passing grade of at least a C for this course, you are
required to complete all exams and at least 8 weekly discussion posts. This means that
regardless of your total points, you will receive a failing grade if you fail to complete these
required assignments.