What is Learning? and Which are the 15 Learning Types?

At the beginning of each school year, I ask students what comes to their mind when I mention learning as a concept. The reality is that no matter the age difference between the groups, the answers are always the same or very similar. When mentioning the concept of learning to students, they connect it with words such as intelligence, knowledge, school, reading, teachers, and the internet.

All these words are related since they are part of our daily life, turning to learn into a continuous and life process. So, considering this we usually ask the following questions: What is learning? And is there more types of learning? Next, the answers to these two questions.

WHAT IS LEARNING?

Learning is defined by the lasting acquisition of knowledge, behaviors, skills, or abilities through practice, study, or experience.

However, by analyzing this definition, we can attribute the following characteristics to the learning concept:

It is a natural and continuous process that we carry out in our lives.
It is obtained through direct, indirect, observational, rational experiences, or through didactics.
It is related to the personal development and education of the person.
It is one of the most essential functions of the human being and is linked to culture, lived experiences, maturation, and social environment.
Causes changes in behavior as a result of the experience.

ARE THERE MORE TYPES OF LEARNING?

Learning has been studied from different perspectives, including the educational aspect and the psychological perspective; therefore, there are different learning theories. As for whether if there is more than one type of learning, the answer is yes! Below, you will find the 15 types of learning with a brief description of each one.

1. Rote learning

It refers to the act of repeating concepts consecutively until memorizing them without understanding what they mean. This type of learning is mechanical and repetitive.

2. Meaningful learning

Meaningful learning was defined by psychologist and pedagogue David Ausubel as the process through which an individual relates new information to his/her previous knowledge.

3. Learning by discovery

It occurs when the individual discovers and learns a concept for him/herself through search and research. This term was developed by the American psychologist and pedagogue Jerome Bruner.

4. Social learning (Observational)

It is based on the observation of other people’s behaviors called models, so the individual repeats what he/she observes. It was defined by Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura.

5. Receptive learning

It happens when the individual receives the information from an instructor, understands it, and then reproduces it without problems. There is no need to make any kind of discovery.

6. Associative learning

This learning happens when the individual learns an association between a stimulus and a response so that he/she can anticipate the reactions of a given action. Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov conducted many studies related to classical conditioning, which is a type of associative learning.

7. Socio-emotional learning

It allows us to know and manage the individual and other people’s emotions. Its purpose is to improve behaviors and attitudes in people. In the same way, it brings benefits to the development of interpersonal and personal relationships. It connects with the concept of emotional intelligence of the American psychologist Daniel Goleman.

8. Experiential learning

It is the process by which learning is obtained through experience. Its purpose is to get learning through the reflection of the individual. In 1970 the American psychologist David Kolb developed the experiential learning model.

9. Latent learning

Latent learning happens when the individual obtains new knowledge but do not demonstrate it until it is necessary to manifest it.

10. Self-directed learning

Through self-directed learning, people choose what they want to learn and the activities to complete their learning process. It is characterized by the ability of the individuals to work at their own pace.

11. Cooperative learning

It refers to obtaining knowledge due to social interaction. Through the exchange of information, knowledge, and experiences, people learn from each other. One of its most notable characteristics is that people work together to achieve a common goal.

12. Implicit learning

It happens when the person is not aware of what is learned. It is learning without realizing it. You learn without any intention and without paying attention to the acquired knowledge.

13. Explicit learning

Unlike implicit learning, it is distinguished by obtaining knowledge in a planned and deliberate manner. The individual intends to learn and is aware of what he/she learns.

14. Dialogic learning

It is distinguished by obtaining knowledge through dialogue. It is a consequence of the interaction of people through conversation. It can be carried out anywhere.

15. Learning by trial and error

It is distinguished by the attempt to try to solve a problem through exploration until the correct solution is found. The American psychologist and pedagogue Edward Thorndike was the researcher of learning by trial and error.

In different classrooms around the world, teachers develop these types of learning together with the help of various theories. Among them, we can point out Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. This theory proposes that the human being has 8 different intelligences. We invite you to discover what type of learner are you and how you can develop your 8 intelligences through our FREE Mini-Course 8 Ways of Learning: Guide to Understand Multiple Intelligences.

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