One of the oldest styles of teaching and learning is the traditional or direct method of teaching. Lin et al. (2012) and Novak (1998) claimed that in this style of education, students are guided in acquiring knowledge, and the teacher is the controller of the learning process. The teacher has the power, and main responsibilities inside the classroom, i.e. the teacher is the decision-maker with regard to the content knowledge, learning outcomes and providing the knowledge, which students should memorise. This process of teaching considers students as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge (Poonam, 2017).
The disadvantage of this learning theory is that it does not encourage students to be active learners (Novak, 1998). As students, during traditional teaching methodology, are requested to be listeners only and to remain silent, which leads them to be copiers
and memorisers, which does not serve the purpose of learning (ibid). Wenger (2003, p. 80) stated, students are “born of learning, but they can also learn not to learn”.
“Traditional teaching methodology, which relies primarily on lectures, note- taking, chapter reviews and the regurgitation of facts on tests. The teaching style is strongly teacher-directed” (Lin, et al., 2012, p. 102). Traditional learning is rooted in the theory of behaviourism (elearning, 2017; NCSU, 2018). For more information about traditional teaching, please refer to section 2.9.1. According to the behaviourists, learning should be defined from the perspective of the modification in the behavioural tendency (Gagne, 1985). This was echoed by Plotkin (2003), who suggested that learning is related to behaviour that is formed as a result of monitoring the culture and environment.
Lampridis and Papastylianou (2014) suggested that the term behaviour is related to the term tendency or the willingness to move in a specific direction since the term behavioural tendency is an inclination to move along a particular path or act in a particular manner. The habits and natural movements in life can be seen as a behavioural tendency. These habitual actions generate a tendency, for example, the tendency to read a book or a journal before going to bed. With time, this desire becomes a need; later, this habit might be known as a behaviour because it becomes habitual, which means it is permanent.
Behaviourists believe that tendency and behaviour can be affected by reward and punishment, which plays a vital role in managing the teaching-learning process. For instance, distributing some gifts to the students who scored above 90 % in the quiz will reinforce positive behaviour while giving extra assignments for the students who failed to score above 90 % will encourage them to behave differently and to study (Baumgartner, et al., 2003). Therefore, teachers need to impact in such a way that the learner would be impressed, convinced and willing to start walking along the drawn and planned path, which leads to modification in students’ behaviour. However, if a student is not convinced of the idea or the need to change, then neither response nor any alteration in the behaviour will appear, i.e., learning did not take place (Morrison, et al., 2004).
According to Mayer (1982) and Gagne (1985), the modification in behaviour can take place at any time and any place, therefore learning is not restricted by a specific timeline (like childhood) or an exact location (like the classroom), i.e. behaviour can be
modified at any time and any place through experience and practice (Weegar & Pacis, 2012). For the purpose of this thesis, behaviourism is defined as a learning theory in which a student’s learning (behaviour) can be controlled and modified through punishments or rewards. Hence, learning takes place.
2.3.4.1 The Behavioural Learning Theory
Watson published the Behavioural Learning Theory in 1913 (Moore, 2011). Watson’s publication was an investigation of the relationship between the organisms and their environment (Overskeid, 2008). Pavlov’s findings on animals’ responses to stimuli were used in Watson’s publication; indeed, Watson considered these findings as the foundations for his research. Pavlov used to ring the bell to notify his dog of the feeding time. Eventually, the sound of the bell ringing made the dog start salivating without seeing the food. According to Pavlov, the dog learned a new behaviour, associating the bell with food; the sound of the bell was enough to make it salivate as it anticipated food. Pavlov believed that this theory could be applied to humans (Moore, 2011). Pavlov’s idea was supported by Watson, who stated that people could also be conditioned to respond to such stimuli. Watson applied Pavlov’s experiment to a young boy, who was conditioned to be afraid of a white rabbit paired with the sound of a metal bar (in what today would be considered an unethical experiment!). By repeating this process continuously, the boy started to fear everything white and furry, even the face of Santa Claus (Moore, 2011).
Watson’s idea was reinforced by Birzer (2003), who considered the human as a machine that can be switched on and off. Zimmer (1999) claimed that the human is an animal that has been adapted to the environment and is formed by external conditions. This idea was supported by Crow and Tian (2006) as they argued that the process of learning occurs because our learning is associated with a condition, and that condition is the environment. The essential claim for the behaviourists is based on the premise that if the animal can learn so the human can do as well (Stables & Gough, 2006).
In an effort to reinforce Pavlov and Watson’s findings, Skinner conducted several studies on animals’ behaviour (Webb J. L., 2007). He had invented a box, known now as Skinner’s box, in which rats were placed. In order to get food, they had to press a lever. As rats learned to do this, their behaviour supported the idea of behaviourism (Webb J. L., 2007).
The concept of behaviourism and educational technology started with the development by Skinner in 1958 of a teaching machine that mimics today’s software. Skinner’s teaching machine and its principles can be described as follows: when students use the device in order to answer the question, they have to press one of the buttons, which corresponds to one of the choices (multiple choices test). If the student’s answer is correct then the machine will move to the second item, but if the student’s answer is wrong then the device will stay on the same question, and the student should keep trying until he/she finds the correct answer. Skinner’s experiment can be considered as a starting point for digital learning, which is applied nowadays using the available digital technology (Weegar & Pacis, 2012).
McDonald et al. (2005) claimed that behaviourism, as a theory, assumes that there is no relationship between the mind and learning. These behaviourists defined learning as the acquisition of new skills and behaviours. According to Skinner, the change in behaviour is the only standard or indicator for the learning outcome. Thus, behaviourists monitor the behaviour, not the mental activities. Behaviourism can affect people’s behaviour and move them towards positive behaviour. According to this theory, the human has to focus on their surroundings to acquire new behaviour; as such learning takes place (Dawning, et al., 2005).
Watson argues that the human can be remanufactured and converted to any profession: doctor, lecturer, and a thief using one of the powerful external emotions, such as loving the reward or fearing the punishment. This theory formed the basis for an educational approach where teachers believe in the traditional approach of rewards and punishments as a motivator for students to acquire new knowledge or modify a current behaviour (Weegar & Pacis, 2012).
Eischens (1998) stated that the disadvantage of behaviourism is the ignorance or the absence of the human mind in learning. Behaviourists are interested in the behavioural responses only, disregarding what is occurring in the brain. Skinner explores these responses and argues that the mind has nothing to do with people’s behaviours (Gregory, 1987). However, behaviourism fails to explain and justify complex human behaviours adequately, as the complex behaviours of the human cannot be explained by running some studies on animals. This was echoed by Naik (1998), who claimed that behaviourism could cure or deal with the symptoms only; therefore, the theory of behaviourism is not a reliable theory for active learning. However, this does
not mean that behaviourism has no usefulness at all. In reality, nobody can ignore the effect of the environment on human behaviour, but with different perceptions. That is to say that the environment affects human behaviour to some extent, but in no way, can it be considered as the only factor in shaping human behaviour.