UCLA education professor influenced teacher training

Merlin C. Wittrock, 76, a longtime UCLA education professor whose learning theory influenced teacher training programs, died of heart failure Nov. 28.

Wittrock, who taught courses in education and educational psychology at UCLA for 36 years, was an authority on learning processes and instructional practices that emphasized the active participation of learners. His generative learning theory asserted that students learn best when they can form mental connections between new concepts and what they already know.

For example, according to Wittrock’s theory, a student would best grasp the mathematical concept behind a line plot by drawing one, rather than by just listening to a teacher explain it. His promotion of activities that allowed a student to actively build knowledge helped to lay the foundation for constructivist theories of learning.

Wittrock, who was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, in 1931, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Missouri and a doctorate at the University of Illinois.

He joined the UCLA faculty in 1960 and was the founding director of UCLA’s Center for the Study of Evaluation. He headed the Division of Educational Psychology from 1986 to 1994 and was chairman of the faculty from 1991 to 1993.

A prolific scholar, he received the American Psychological Assn.’s Thorndike Award for Distinguished Psychological Research Contributions to Education in 1986. He received the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award in 1990.

After his retirement in 1996, he became faculty advisor in the development of the first elementary teaching credential program offered through UCLA Extension.