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Principles of teaching and learning are largely based in psychology. There are essentially three large psychological theories that can guide your design and development of the online classroom. The table below summarizes those three theories.

	Behaviorism	Cognitivism	Constructivism
Views of Learning	Students must "show" their learning by engaging in observable and measurable behaviors	Students must understand not only what they have learned but also how they have learned	Students learn through solving real world problems and engaging in the types of tasks that they would encounter in the real world
Role of Professor	Serves as the "giver of knowledge" who serves as the sole expert in the classroom and fills students with appropriate content	Serves as an impetus to inspire creative and critical thinking among students Serves as a guide to help students understand "how to" think, not "what to" think	Serves as a designer of problems for students to solve Serves as a facilitator who helps groups of students think about real world tasks and problems in new ways
Role of Student	Absorbs passively content provided by professor and then reflects that content back to the professor by providing correct answers	Employs effective learning strategies as a means of learning Describes how various strategies have (or have not) contributed to student learning	Solves real world problems and engages in real world authentic tasks Collaborates with other students in an effort to promote team success
Lesson Design Approaches in the Online Classroom	Lectures from the professor in the form of written content, stand alone PowerPoint slide shows, and lecture notes Video of the professor lecturing	Students work individually to develop an understanding of course content Students summarize and react to course content individually Students share their individual understandings with classmates as a means of expanding everyone's understanding of course content	Problem-based learning — students solving actual problems Anchored instruction — students solving simulated problems Group projects where students work on real world case scenarios
Assessment Strategies	Matching, Multiple Choice, and True/False Exams	Assignments that are based in critical analysis of content and descriptions of how the student learned the content	Students provide solutions to real or contrived problems
Vignettes	Read about Ty's experiences in an online course based in behaviorism	Read about Maria's experiences in a cognitivist online course	Read about Juan's experiences in an online constructivist course