Lesson 13 Thorndike’s Connectionism

     

     Vega and Prieto (2012) stated that Edward Lee Thorndike was one of the first pioneers of active learning, a theory that proposes of letting children do it themselves rather than receiving instructions from the teachers. Thorndike’s early studies with animal behavior led him to declare his law of effect which states that if an act is followed by a satisfying change in the environment, the likelihood that the act will be repeated in similar situations increases.

According to him, learners are baled to learn more easily and effectively and retain learning longer if it has pleasant consequences. Thus, similar to that of the idea of Skinner, rewards and positive reinforcement further learning, while punishment, failure and negative experiences hinder it.

            Aside from this law of effect, the other two laws of learning Thorndike formulated were the laws of readiness and exercise.

            The law of readiness states that when an organism is ready to form connections to do so is satisfying and not to do so is annoying. Thorndike believe that the readiness is an important condition of learning, because satisfaction or frustration depends on individual’s state of readiness. An example of this is when a child forced to read before he/she is ready may acquire skills but may not necessarily develop the desire to read.

            Lastly, still in Vega and Prieto (2012), the law of exercise states that any connection is strengthened in proportion to the number of times it occurs. Edward Thorndike opined that practice alone was not enough for improvement. When students practice, they should be aware of the consequences of what they are doing. Otherwise, practice becomes ineffective or may even be harmful.

 

Teaching Implications

            Singhdiwakar (2013), enumerated the following implication of Thondike’s theory of connectionism:

  1. Start the tasks from the easier aspect towards its difficult side. This approach will benefit the weaker and backward children.
  2. Before starting teaching in the classroom the students should be properly motivated.
  3. Practice helps in reducing the errors committed by the child in learning any concept.
  4. Habits are formed as a result of repetition. With the help of this theory the wrong habits of the children can be modified, and the good habits can be strengthened.
  5. Control the negative emotions of the children such as anger, jealousy etc.
  6. Observe the effects of one's teaching methods on the students and should not hesitate to make necessary changes in them, if required.
  7. Teacher should conduct oral drill of the taught contents. This help in strengthening the learning more.

References

  • Aquino, A. M. (2009). Facilitating human learning (First Edition). Rex Book Store, Inc.
  • Bulusan, F., Raquepo, M. R., Balmeo, M. L., & Gutierrez, J. C. (2019). Facilitating learner-centered teaching (First Edition). Rex Book Store, Inc.
  • CMO No. 75 s. 2017, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd), p. 39
  • CMO No. 80 s. 2017, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Bachelor of Physical Education (BPEd), p. 24
  • Lucas, M. R. D., & Corpuz, B. B. (2013). Facilitating learning: a metacognitive process (3rd Edition). LORIMAR Publishing, Inc.
  • Ornos, P. S., Gonzaga, E. P., Esgra, C. B., Gomez, N. G., Tarinay, A. R., & Verde, S. P. (2008). Facilitators of the learning process. Grandwater Publications.
  • Vega, V. A., & Prieto, N. G. (2012). Facilitating learning (Revised Edition). Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.

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