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Smith Ragan Types of Learning

The document defines different types of learning according to Smith & Ragan, including declarative knowledge, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and psychomotor skills. Declarative knowledge involves recalling facts and summarizing information. Intellectual skills include abilities like discrimination, classification, applying rules, and problem solving. Cognitive strategies help manage learning, such as rehearsal, elaboration, organization, metacognition, and affect. Attitudes influence learner motivation and goals. Psychomotor skills require coordinated physical movements.

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721 views

Smith Ragan Types of Learning

The document defines different types of learning according to Smith & Ragan, including declarative knowledge, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and psychomotor skills. Declarative knowledge involves recalling facts and summarizing information. Intellectual skills include abilities like discrimination, classification, applying rules, and problem solving. Cognitive strategies help manage learning, such as rehearsal, elaboration, organization, metacognition, and affect. Attitudes influence learner motivation and goals. Psychomotor skills require coordinated physical movements.

Uploaded by

mia_s
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Types of Learning

(As defined by Smith & Ragan*)


Declarative Knowledge - Facts, lists, names or organized information that the learner
must recall verbatim, paraphrase or summarize. This type of verbal information
requires that the learner uses thinking skills at the remember and understanding
levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
Outcome Examples:
Write the names of at least four examples of controlled pharmaceutical
drugs.
Recite the square roots for numbers 1 through 12.
In your own words, summarize the procedure for obtaining a visa for foreign
travel.
Intellectual Skills - The application of rules to previously un-encountered examples or
situations. There are several subcategories of intellectual skills including:
Discriminations The ability to differentiate between two stimuli that may be
visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory, and to determine whether
they are alike or different.
Outcome Example:
Distinguish between the tonal sounds used in the audio file of Chinese words.
Remove the shooter marbles from the bag.
Concrete Concepts The ability to classify things into categories by physical
characteristics.
Outcome Examples:
Draw a circle around all the triangles in the picture.
List two mammals that lay eggs.
Defined Concepts The ability to classify an idea or item by whether it matches a
definition or list of characteristics.
Outcome Examples:
Identify examples of stereotyping in the following short story.
Classify each of the following substances as either an acid or a base.
Principles A type of rule that is relational and enables the learner to predict,
explain or control circumstances in the environment. Principles are often
expressed as if-then statements.
Outcome Examples:
Fundamentals of eLearning Lesson 6

Page 1 of 3

* Adapted from Smith, P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (2005). Instructional design. (3rd edition).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

If students have meaningful practice and repetition, then they will learn
better and retain information longer.
The practice of reflection enhances self-assessment skills that lead to
recognizing what has worked and what needs to be improved.
Procedures Rules that provide a step-by-step description of the sequence of
actions to be followed to complete a task.
Outcome Examples:
Describe the process for calculating the return on investment.
Demonstrate the procedure for eye irrigation.
Problem Solving A learned capability that involves the selection and application
of multiple rules (relational and/or procedural).
Outcome Examples:
For the provided case, evaluate the available mortgage loans and select the
best one for the client.
Use inductive reasoning to predict future elements in a pattern.
Intellectual skills are hierarchical, and build on one another. For example, you must
first discriminate between objects before you can classify those objects as concepts;
you must know the concepts that are used in rules before you can apply those rules;
and finally, you must know the rules before you can select which ones to use in
problem solving. When analyzing learning tasks that involve intellectual skills,
instructional designers should examine the task for the hierarchical elements (e.g.,
examine a procedure to identify the concepts that the learner must understand).
Cognitive Strategies - Strategies used by students to manage their own learning, and
that support the learning in other domains. There are five major categories of
these strategies:
Rehearsal strategies Strategies used to practice information to be retained and
recalled, such as repeating, highlighting, visual associations, using flash cards,
chaining, rhymes and mnemonics.
Outcome Examples:
Use the acronym Roy G. Biv to remember the order of colors in a rainbow.
Use meaningful visual associations to help you remember the state capitals.
Elaboration strategies Strategies used to build on and tie new information to
prior knowledge. Includes paraphrasing, summarizing, and generating
examples and non-examples.
Outcome Examples:
Think of an example and a non-example of a synonym.
Fundamentals of eLearning Lesson 6

Page 2 of 3

* Adapted from Smith, P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (2005). Instructional design. (3rd edition).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Summarize the chapter.


Organizational strategies Strategies used to order information in ways that are
personally meaningful. Such strategies include clustering information,
outlining, creating graphic organizers such as flow charts and concept maps,
drawing analogies, and connecting information to personal experiences.
Outcome Examples:
Provide an example of when you experienced the benefits of better test
grades as a result of using distributed practice instead of mass practice.
Using the analogy of a file cabinet, explain how to organize your electronic
desktop.
Metacognitive strategies Strategies used by an individual to control what and
how they learn, including strategies that enable the knowledge and control of
learning processes. Includes awareness, self-monitoring, and self-regulating.
Outcome Examples:
Reflect on and identify what you know and what you dont know about the
topic.
Estimate the amount of time it will take you to read fifty pages.
Affective strategies Strategies used by the learner to manage their emotions,
attitudes, and motivation through such things as anxiety reduction, selfencouragement, and self-rewards.
Outcome Examples:
Monitor your emotions by discussing your feelings with your small group.
Develop a personal reward system to encourage yourself to complete the
project.
Attitudes - A mental state that exerts great influence over a learner's choices, and
which plays a role in learner motivation and persistence in learning.
Outcome Examples:
Develop your own personal learning goals for this unit of instruction.
Describe the relevance of this information to you personally.
Psychomotor Skills Coordinated muscular movements that frequently require
smoothness and precise timing. They also depend on a cognitive component, such
as a procedure that lays out a sequence of actions.
Outcome Examples:
Demonstrate the correct technique for the butterfly stroke.
Correctly perform a caesarian section on the patient.
Fundamentals of eLearning Lesson 6

Page 3 of 3

* Adapted from Smith, P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (2005). Instructional design. (3rd edition).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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