week1 response

What situations could viewing "learning as a product" be appropriate?

According to Smith, M. K. (1999), only if learning results in permanent change in behavior which can be seen or observed, then the claim “learning as a product” would be legit. For instance, a child plays with a knife and cuts himself. The impression that “knife is dangerous” might be permanently imprinted in his mind so that he would avoid such “behaviour” in the future as a result. Moreover, the changes viewed as outcomes of learning do not necessarily defined only by behaviour. To me, imparted knowledge such as facts and truths, to which Smith (1999) referred, could be branded as “product” as well. For example, if we learned that earth is rotating permanently regardless the fact that we are not able to actually feel its movement. Even if we have apprised of this truth without being informed the mechanism behind this phenomenon, our notion about earth would still be changed, despite this change might be not as obvious as that in behaviour.

Why do some people describe learning as a process? 

People opt to believe learning as a process instead of product simply because g is it result of experience by which we change the way we perceive surroundings and grasping knowledge over time. Furthermore, this notion is more concerned with the whole picture of learning in which changes in behaviour might be seen as manifestation of learning process.

Which orientation to learning to identify with the most? 

As to me, the view of cognitivist seems more identified with the most, even though I found myself have caught in other three orientations as well to different extents. Because not as behaviorist that it does not consider individual needs that might affect the outcomes of learning, nor Humanist which sounds too ideal to be true, cognitivist, to me, seems more consistent with the purposes of higher educational institutions that, in addition to acquisition of knowledge in general, we are trained how to be logical thinkers, how to analyze in systematic manners, and how to effectively utilize the resource/experiences to solve new problems.