Personal Assessment

People Organization and Management



People Organization and Management

What is learning?

Learning is the only way through which a human being can grasp different skills and expertise. Learning is the procedure which has enabled human beings to distinguish themselves from animals; it is the procedure through which human beings became a social and civilized entity. There are several forms of learning; face to face learning, distant learning and hybrid procedure of learning. The face to face learning is the procedure through which a person interacts with his teacher in person (Dochy, Gijbels, Segers, & Van den Bossche, 2011). This type of learning takes place in classrooms in form of lectures and workshops. Distant learning is the procedure through which a person does not need to be physically present in the class room; he can access the lectures from anywhere. This type of learning usually involves sources such as online lectures. Finally, there is a contemporary type of learning which is known as hybrid learning; this is the new methodology of learning that is a combination of both face to face and distant learning. This paper will enlighten and distinguish each type of learning and will conclude which type of learning is more adequate and sophisticated (McAlearney, Robbins, Kowalczyk, Chisolm, & Song, 2012, pp.294-315).

Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognitive learning theory came as an answer to the behaviorist theory of psychology. Cognitive theory of psychology studies how people think, remember, perceive and solve issues. Basically, it is the study of mental processes and it says that the human mind is an information processing centre. These thought processes also influence an individual's actions and his interaction with the people in the world. However the mind processes information and whatever it understands, the human being acts according to it (Kolb, & Kolb, 2012, pp.1215-1219).

Cognitive theory is divided into two specific theories; Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Behavioral Theory. According to the Social Cognitive Theory, 3 elements are the basis of learning. They are Behavioral, Personal and Environmental. These three elements are interlinked and cause learning of a person (Dochy, Gijbels, Segers, & Van den Bossche, 2011).

Four Major Approaches/Principles of Cognitive Processes

Cognitive theory is based on internal psychological processes therefore it is very difficult to observe these processes directly. These processes happen in a human's brain when he perceives things and then accordingly decides how to react. The thinking process of the human cannot be tracked because the process occurs so rapidly that only their behavior can depict what is going on in his mind. Despite these difficulties, the cognitive psychologists have managed to develop for manager approaches to this process which are discussed below (Korthagen, 2010, pp.98-106).

Experimental cognitive psychology

Under this approach, experiments are carried out on individuals under laboratory conditions. One pitfall of this approach is that these experiments are scientific and are tightly controlled. The data collected under this approach is very useful and authentic and has proved to be helpful in developing and testing of theories in cognitive psychology (Schunk, & Zimmerman, ...