There have been a variety of _ism’s created to explain and put on paper how the brain works. (constructivism, behaviorism, cognitivism, etc.) In the blog titled “_isms as filter not blinker” Bill Ker speaks about how not one _ism can fully explain how the brain processes and remembers information. Kerr goes on the write “It seems to me that each _ism is offering something useful without any of them being complete or stand alone in their own right.” I agree with this comment. Were behaviorism can explain a behavior, cognitivism can describe this same behavior. So how can you explain behavior without the ability of describing it. In his blog, “Out and About: Discussion on Educational Schools of Thought”, Karl Kapp say “We need to take pieces from each school of thought and apply it effectively because… Cognitivisim doesn’t explain 100% how humans process information and neither does Constructivism or Behaviorism. What we need to is take the best from each philosophy and use it wisely to create solid educational experiences for our learners.”
So to better explain this to myself and to you I’m going to create a comparison chart that demonstrates how three _ism’s work.
Cognitivism is based on what a person knows. Behaviorism is concerned with behavior, and Constructivism focuses on creating meaning. Based on information from an article by Peggy Ertmer and Timothy Newby called “Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective” I came up with this chart. If you take a minute to compare the different facets of this chart you can see how one _ism depend on the other for support. If you take a look, for instance, at item #1 learning. Under Constructivism learners build personal interpretations based on experiences and Behavioralist observe these interactions to find what the results of these actions are. So here alone you can’t build on interpreting an action if you don’t have the experience occurring and how do you acquire the knowledge without building on the experience. I hope this makes some sense to you. Now take a look at the role of memory. For the Constructivist is built by the understanding of prior knowledge. Well how can you have prior knowledge if you don’t have a cognitive function which, when explained by Ertmer and Newby, is where “Information is stored in an organized logical manner.” The _ism’s do not always work together but it is clear by my chart that they often are interdependent on one another in order to explain certain actions and behaviors.
COGNITIVE | BEHAVIORALIST | CONSTRUCTIVISM | |
1. How does learning occur: | |||
Learning is concerned with what a person know and how they came to acquire that knowledge | Equate learning with the form and frequency of observable behavior. | Equates learning with creating meaning from experience. | |
Learning is accomplished when power response is demonstrated following a specific stimulus | Humans create meaning as opposed to acquiring it. | ||
Concerned with consequences. | Learners do not transfer knowledge from the external world into their memories; rather they build personal interpretations of the world based on individual experiences and interactions. | ||
2. Factors that Influence Learning: | |||
Environment | Environment | Both learner and environmental factors are critical | |
Role of Practice | Every action is viewed as an interpretation of the current situation based on an entire history of previous interactions. | ||
Mental Activity of the learner that leads up to a response | Arrangement of stimuli | ||
Change learner by encouraging the use of appropriate learning strategies | Concepts continually evolve with each new use. | ||
3. Role of Memory: | |||
Information is stored in an organized logical manner | Memory is not addressed. | Memory is always under construction as cumulative history of interactions. | |
Forgetting is a result of lack of use. | Emphasis is not on retrieving intact knowledge but on providing learners with the means to create novel and situation-specific understandings by using prior knowledge. | ||
4. Transfer of information: | |||
When a learner understands how to apply knowledge in different contexts, then transfer has occurred | Similar situation or common elements | transfer can be facilitated by involvement in authentic task anchored in meaningful context | |
Not only must the knowledge itself be stored in memory but the uses of that knowledge as well | |||
5. Types of Learning: | |||
Knowledge is analyzed, decomposed and simplified into building blocks | Cues | ||
Knowledge transfer is expedited if irrelevant information is eliminated. | Practice | ||
Efficient processing of information. | Reinforcement | ||
6. Instructional Design Applications: | |||
learner control, metacognitive training, | Behavioral Objective | anchoring learning in meaningful contexts | |
self planning | Task analysis | actively using what is learned | |
monitoring | criterion and references assessments | Revisiting content at different times, in rearranged contexts. | |
revising techniques | learner analysis | ||
cognitive task analysis procedures | sequencing instructional presentations | developing pattern-recognition skills, presenting alternative ways of representing problems, | |
outlining | mastery learning | ||
summaries | use of reinforcement to impact learning(tangible rewards, informative feedback) | ||
synthesizers | Presenting new problems and situations that differ from the conditions of the initial instruction. | ||
advanced organizers | |||
recall prerequisites skills | simple to complex sequencing of practice | ||
use examples and analogies | use of prompts | ||
7. How should instruction be structured: | |||
should organize information is such a way that learners are able to connect new information with existing knowledge in some meaningful way. | structured around the presentation of stimuli and opportunities for practice to achieve proper response | the learner elaborates upon and interprets the given information | |
analogies | Designer task: 1) to instruct the student on how to construct meaning, as well as how to effectively monitor, evaluate and update those constructions. And 2) to align and design experiences for the learner sot that authentic, relevant contexts can be experienced. | ||
framing | Determined cues | ||
outlining | |||
mnemonics, | arranged practices | ||
concept mapping | arranged the practice for success | Each experience would serve to build on and adapt that which has been previously experienced and constructed. | |
References:
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50–71.
