Abstract
This article discusses a range of theoretical models of the learning process that have been published in recent years, and examines whether it is possible to relate them systematically to one another. Problems in such an enterprise include those of terminology; “globe trotting”; the development of separate schools of research that have proceeded largely independently, each with their own central concerns, perspectives, and methodology; and the problem of whether the various different activities popularly described by the word “learning” do in fact have anything much in common. Despite these difficulties, however, the article argues that the various major models each contain certain key concepts, not necessarily identical in each model, from which it is possible to produce a meta-model - a framework or cognitive map within which the individual models can be located and therefore better understood. The article ends by proposing one such meta-model, and suggesting some ways in which it might be used.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beck, J. and Cox, C. (eds.) (1980). Advances in Management Education. Chichester: Wiley.
Binsted, D., Stuart, R. and Long, G. (1980). “Promoting useful management learning: problems of translation and transfer,” pp. 323–349 in Beck, J. and Cox, C. (eds.): Advances in Management Education. Chichester: Wiley.
Brundage, E. H. and MacKeracher, D. (1980). Adult Learning Principles and Their Application to Program Planning. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Education.
Boud, D. (ed.) (1981). Developing Student Autonomy in Learning. London: Kogan Page.
Boyd, R. D., Apps, J. W. and Associates (1980). Redefining the Discipline of Adult Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Dahlgren, L. O. and Marton, F. (1978) “Students' conceptions of subject matter: an aspect of learning and teaching in higher education,” Studies in Higher Education 3: 25–35.
Du Toit, C. M. (1982) “The importance of an independent study centre in university education,” Bulletin for University Teachers 14 (4): 41–49.
Entwistle, N. (1981). Styles of Learning and Teaching. Chichester: Wiley.
Fransson, A. (1977). “On qualitative differences in learning, IV - Effects of motivation and test anxiety on process and outcome,” British Journal of Educational Psychology 47: 244–257.
Foy, N. (1978). The Missing Links: British Management Education in the 1980s. London: Foundation for Management Education.
Heath, R. (1978). “Personality and the development of students in higher education,” in Parker, C. A. (ed.): Encouraging Development in College Students. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Huczynski, A. A. (1977). “Education for change”, Education and Training 19 (8): 252–255.
Hudson, L. (1966). Contrary Imaginations. London: Methuen.
James, K. (1980). “The development of senior managers for the future,” in Beck, J. and Cox, C. (eds.): Advances in Management Education. Chichester: Wiley.
Knights, S. and McDonald, R. (1977). Adult Learners in University Courses. Murdoch: Murdoch University, ESTRU.
Knights, S. and McDonald, R. (1978). “The learning needs of adult students,” in University of Sydney (ed.): Returning to Study: The Mature Age Student. Sydney: University of Sydney Press.
Kogan, N. (1976). Cognitive Styles in Infancy and Early Childhood. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M. and McIntyre, J. M. (1971) (3rd Edn 1979). Organizational Psychology - An Experiential Approach. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.
Kolb, D. A. and Fry, R. (1975). “Towards an applied theory of experiential learning,” in Cooper, C. L. (ed.): Theories of Group Processes. Chichester: Wiley.
Kolb, D. A. and Plovnik, M. S. (1977). “The experiential learning theory of career development,” in van Maanen, J. (ed.): Organisational Careers: Some New Perspectives. Chichester: Wiley.
Laurillard, D. (1979). “The processes of student learning,” Higher Education 8: 395–410.
Lawson, K. H. (1975). Philosophical Concepts and Values in Adult Education. Nottingham: Department of Adult Education.
Lewis, B. N. (1976). “Avoidance of aptitude - treatment trivialities,” in Messick, S. (ed.): Individuality in Learning. San Fransisco: Jossey Bass.
Lindsay, P. H. and Norman, D. A. (1977). Human Informative Processing. London: Academic Press.
Marais, F. A. J. (1982). “Instructional development: a function of the bureau of higher education,” Bulletin for University Teachers 14 (4): 18–32.
Marton, F. (1975). “What does it take to learn?” In Entwistle, N. and Hounsell, D. (eds.): How Students Learn: Readings in Higher Education. Lancaster: Institute for Post Compulsory Education.
Mumford, A. (1980). Making Experience Pay: Management Success Through Effective Learning. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill.
Norman, D. A. (1973). “Memory, knowledge and the answering of questions,” in Solso, R. L. (ed.): Contemporary Issues in Cognitive Psychology: The Loyola Symposium. Chichester: Winston.
Pask, G. (1975). Conversation, Cognition and Learning. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Pask, G. (1976). “Styles and strategies of learning,” British Journal of Educational Psychology 46: 128–148.
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Ramsden, P. (1979). “Student learning and perceptions of the academic environment,” Higher Education 8: 411–428.
Revans, R. W. (1980). Action Learning. London: Blond & Briggs.
Roskin, R. (1976). Learning by Experience: Theory and Practice. Bradford: MCB Publications.
Rummelhart, D. (1977). Introduction to Human Information Processing. Chichester: Wiley.
Schroeder, W. L. (1980). “Typology of adult learning systems,” in Peters, J. M. and Associates (eds.): Building an Effective Adult Education Enterprise. San Fransisco: Jossey Bass.
Tough, A. (1971 and 1978). The Adult's Learning Projects. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Wilson, J. D. (1981). Student Learning in Higher Education. London: Croom Helm.
Wilson, J. P. (1980). “Individual learning in groups,” in Boyd, R. D., Apps, J. W. and Associates (eds.): Redefining the Discipline of Adult Education. San Fransisco: Jossey Bass.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Winter Hebron, C. Can we make sense of learning theory?. High Educ 12, 443–462 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158247
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158247