Instructional Approaches for Affective Learning

The congnitivist learning theory supports the assumption underlying andragogy that adults have a wealth of previous knowledge and experience. As adults, we enter into learning situations with predisposed perceptions and judgments that make us more receptive to certain kinds of information and more prone to organize the information in certain ways.

Attitudes are generally affective. They are concerned with making choices. Cognitive (knowing how), behavioral (opportunity to practice the desired behavior), and affective (knowing why) are three components of attitude learning. Instructional designers should be concerned with the behavioral aspect of attitude learning as well as a student’s motivation to learn.

Instructional strategies effective for the cognitive component include the use of acronyms or mnemonics. Group discussion can be considered an opportunity for practice and feedback. A concise restatement of the desired behavior should be included in the conclusion, and assessment of the learning would be the observable component of the learners’ future behavior.