Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective, 9th edition

Published by Pearson (October 1, 2026) © 2027
  • Dale H. Schunk
  • Maria K. DiBenedetto

Title overview

For learning cognition and instruction courses.

Covers all major learning theories

Learning Theories comprehensively examines key learning theories and their applications in the classroom. Readers explore key theoretical principles, concepts, and research to learn how to utilize them as educators. The authors discuss the relationship between theory and instruction, look at the neuroscience of learning, and cover key topics related to learning. A final chapter helps students consolidate their views on the subject.

The 9th Edition features content and organizational changes throughout to reflect new theoretical and research emphases. It discusses the increasingly important role technology plays in learning‑related activities, adds a new case study, and adds many applications and examples.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Coverage of all major learning theories includes behaviorism, social cognitive theory, information processing, cognitive processes, and constructivism.
  • Opening vignettes spark students' interest in the material to be covered.
  • Instructional Application sections show how the principles discussed apply to real-world learning settings.
  • A dedicated “Next Steps” chapter helps students formulate their own perspectives on education and learning.
  • The neuroscience of learning chapter (Ch. 2) covers brain structures and development, and implications of brain research on teaching and learning.
  • Motivation, self-regulation, and contextual influences all receive chapter-length coverage and help students work through how each impacts learning.

New and updated features of this title

  • A new chapter on Technology and Learning highlights the increasingly important role technology plays in learning‑related activities. The authors explicitly connect technology to learning principles to show how technology supports and extends established theories of learning.
  • A new Learning and You box at the end of each chapter asks readers to determine ways that learning principles apply to their own learning.
  • A new Case Study asks learners to help solve problems related to the chapter topic.
  • Increased examples and applications are found throughout, particularly postsecondary education, and including professional education programs.
  • Extensive research updates throughout incorporate newer theoretical principles and research findings.
  • Many new terms and more than 420 new references have been added, with over 200 dated references removed.

Key features

Features of Pearson+ eTextbook for the 9th Edition

  • Interactive Glossary: All key terms in the eTextbook are bolded and provide instant access to full glossary definitions, allowing students to quickly build their professional vocabularies as they read.
  • LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank: All quizzes, application exercises, and chapter tests are included in LMS-compatible banks for Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, and Moodle. These packaged files give instructors maximum flexibility for importing, assigning, and grading. Assessment types include:
    • Chapter Review Quizzes: Available for instructors to assign through their Learning Management System. The higher-order, multiple choice questions in each quiz measure students' understanding of chapter content, guide expectations for learning, and inform the accountability and the applications, Each multiple-choice question includes feedback for the correct answer and for each distractor.
    • Application Exercises are usually short-answer format and can be based on Pearson eTextbook Video Examples, written cases, scenarios modeled by pedagogical text features, or a strategy from the Compendium. Many incorporate case studies or scenarios that focus on applications of theories and practice strategies, ethical issues, values, advocacy, human rights and justice, and professional demeanor. Others, based on Tables, Figures, and Boxes in the text, deepen students’ understanding and application of important details. A model response written by experts is provided.
    • Chapter Tests: Suggested test items are provided for each chapter and include questions in multiple-choice and short-answer/essay formats.

Table of contents

  1. Introduction to the Study of Learning
  2. Neuroscience of Learning
  3. Behaviorism
  4. Social Cognitive Theory
  5. Information Processing Theory: Encoding and Storage
  6. Information Processing Theory: Retrieval and Forgetting
  7. Cognitive Learning Processes
  8. Constructivism
  9. Motivation
  10. Self-Regulated Learning
  11. Contextual Influences
  12. Next Steps

Author bios

About our authors

Dale H. Schunk is Emeritus Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. An internationally recognized educational psychologist, his research has focused on learning, motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning. Dr. Schunk is the author or coauthor of more than 20 books and 150 journal articles and book chapters. His scholarship has influenced research, teacher education, and instructional practice worldwide, and he has been recognized among the world's top 2% most-cited researchers.

In 2024, he received the Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education from the American Psychological Association Division 15: Educational Psychology in recognition of his influential career and contributions to educational psychology. His work has helped shape contemporary understanding of learning and motivation and continues to inform research, educational policy, and classroom practice.

Maria K. DiBenedetto is Lecturer and Director of Assessment and Reporting in the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and Economics at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her scholarship focuses on learning, motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning, examining how motivational and self-regulatory processes influence learning and achievement and their implications for educational practice.

Dr. DiBenedetto has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and practitioner publications and has contributed to major handbooks, encyclopedias, and scholarly volumes in educational psychology. She is editor of Connecting Self-Regulated Learning and Performance with Instruction Across High School Content Areas, coauthor of Essentials of Research Methods for Educators, and coauthor of Self-Regulation and the Common Core: Applications to ELA Standards. Her work bridges research and practice by examining how theories of learning and motivation can be applied to support effective instruction and learner success.

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