1. Bruner's constructivist theory posits that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas based on their existing knowledge through experiences.
2. Key aspects of Bruner's theory include presenting information in different modes (enactive, iconic, symbolic) depending on learners' prior knowledge, and structuring curricula in a spiral format to revisit topics at increasing levels of complexity.
3. Bruner advocated for discovery learning that allows learners to determine relevant variables and seek information to construct understandings on their own, as well as for instructional techniques like questioning and prompting to support cognitive growth.
1. Bruner's constructivist theory posits that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas based on their existing knowledge through experiences.
2. Key aspects of Bruner's theory include presenting information in different modes (enactive, iconic, symbolic) depending on learners' prior knowledge, and structuring curricula in a spiral format to revisit topics at increasing levels of complexity.
3. Bruner advocated for discovery learning that allows learners to determine relevant variables and seek information to construct understandings on their own, as well as for instructional techniques like questioning and prompting to support cognitive growth.
1. Bruner's constructivist theory posits that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas based on their existing knowledge through experiences.
2. Key aspects of Bruner's theory include presenting information in different modes (enactive, iconic, symbolic) depending on learners' prior knowledge, and structuring curricula in a spiral format to revisit topics at increasing levels of complexity.
3. Bruner advocated for discovery learning that allows learners to determine relevant variables and seek information to construct understandings on their own, as well as for instructional techniques like questioning and prompting to support cognitive growth.
Constructivsm is recognized as a unique learning theory in itself. It however, may be associated with cognitive psychology because as a theory of learning it focuses on a learner's ability to mentally construct meaning of their own environment and to create their own learning. As a teaching practice it is associated with diferent degrees of nondirected learning. !he term constructivsm is lin"ed to Cognitive and #ocial Constructivsm.
)ehaviorist learning theory had served its purpose and its approach and goals were becoming outdated according to Constructivists li"e #eymour (apert. Constructivist learning theory sought to improve on what )ehaviorist learning theory had already established by focussing on the motivation and ability for humans to construct learning for themselves. It viewed )ehaviorism as being too teacher centered and directed. Constructivists regarded the educational system as a process of matching s"ill ob,ectives with test items. It was void of meaningful learning. !hey also saw the teaching process focus too much on individual wor" rather than on group wor". !he -nal critique of )ehaviorist learning theory from the Constructivist perspective helped de-ne the core of Constructivism. !o imply that "nowledge is separate to the human mind and that it must be transferred to the learner in a teacher centered approach fundamentally was counter to the Constructivist theory of learning. Constructivists believe that all humans have the ability to construct "nowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problemsolving. !he e.tent to which this process can ta"e place naturally, without structure and teaching is the de-ning factor amongst those who advocate this learning theory. $ean (iaget, a #wiss psychologist, observed human development as progressive stages of cognitive development. /is four stages, which commence at infancy and progress into adulthood, characterize the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. #eymour (apert, psychologist and contemporary critique of )ehaviorist teaching methods, writes in his boo", !he Children's *achine0 !hus, constructionism, my personal reconstruction of constructivism has as its main feature the fact that it loo"s more closely than other educational isms at the idea of mental construction. It attaches special importance to the role of constructions in the world as a support for those in the head, thereby becoming less of a purely mentalist doctrine. 1(apert, 2334, p.2567 As the inventor of &898, the programming tool for children, (apert too believed that children as learners have a natural curiosity to construct meaning of their world. !he educational system as (apert saw it was too structured and it sti:ed this natural curiosity. !he means by which children were being taught relegated them to a role of passive recipients of the teaching hence, they were not motivated to construct any learning for themselves. &earning according to Constructivists is a question of motivating an individual to attach new meaning to past cognitive e.periences. (apert's desire to have children become motivated learners, critical thin"ers, problemsolvers and metacognitionists is to be achieved through educational reform that provides the learner with the necessary tools to participate and to ta"e ownership of the learning process. According to (apert, the computer is the appropriate tool to achieve such desired educational reform. !hese desired ob,ectives of (apert and others who share the Constructivist view of learning are coming closer to reality as more people discover the power of computer technology. ;rom %onald !apscott's perspective, (apert's desired reality is happening now, as a paradigm shift to more interactive learning due to the e.ploitation of the digital media is ta"ing place in our learning institutions. !apscott cites eight shifts in learning today0 ;rom linear to hypermedia. ;rom instruction to construction and discovery. ;rom teachercentered to learnercentered education. ;rom absorbing material to learning how to navigate and how to learn. ;rom school to lifelong learning. ;rom onesize-tsall to customized learning. ;rom learning as torture as learning as fun. ;rom the teacher as transmitter to the teacher as facilitator. Bruner A ma,or theme of )runer's construction theory is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current<past "nowledge. !he learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and ma"es decisions, relying on a cognitive structure, e.g. schema and mental models, to do so. !he interconnection of the new e.perience with the prior "nowledge results in the reorganization of the cognitive structure, which creates meaning and allows the individual to =go beyond the information given=. According to !I('s 1!heory Into (ractice database7 abstract of )runer's theory, the principles of instruction based on )runer include0 2. +eadiness0 Instruction must be concerned with the e.periences and conte.ts that ma"e the student willing and able to learn 6. #piral organization0 Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student 4. 9oing beyond the information given0 Instruction should be designed to facilitate e.trapolation and or -ll in the gaps !I(1!heory Into (ractice database7 described that )runer's ma,or theoretical framewor" is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current<past "nowledge. In other words, &earning is an active, social process in which students construct new ideas or concepts based on current "nowledge. !he student selects information, originates hypotheses, and ma"es decisions in the process of integrating e.periences into their e.isting mental constructs. What are Bruner's key concepts? (Driscoll, 2000) 2. !hree *odes of presenting understanding >nactive representation, a mode of representing past events through appropriate motor responses Iconic representation, which enables the perceiver to =summarize events by organization of percepts and of images #ymbolic representation, =a symbol system which represents things by design features that can be arbitrary and remote, e.g. language
6. %iferent from a -.ed sequence of developmental stages, )runer emphasizes the in:uences from the environment on ampli-cation of the internal capabilities that learners possess. )runer's readiness (iaget's readiness Ausubel's readiness +eadiness of the sub,ect matter for the learner0 how to match instruction to the child's dominant mode of thin"ing Cognitive readiness of the learner to understand the logical operations in a sub,ect matter Appropriateness in terms of the child's prior "nowledge, i.e. what she "nows and how she structure that "nowledge in memory %iferent from (iaget's cognitive development, which proposed that the qualitative diference in thin"ing is a stageli"e development, )runer's concept is that whereas symbolic representation is li"ely to be used for learning something new in a familiar topic? learners of all ages may resort to enactive or iconic representation when they encounter unfamiliar materials. !hus, to determine what mode of representation will be optimal for instruction requires "nowing something about the learner's prior "nowledge and dominant modes of thin"ing. 4. #chooling as an instrument of culture. @nowing is a process, not a product. Children should be accepted as members and participants in the culture and provide opportunities to ma"e and rema"e the culture in each generation. )runer 123AA7 states that a theory of instruction should address four ma,or aspects0 2. (redisposition towards learning 6. !he ways in which a body of "nowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner 4. !he most efective sequences in which to present material 5. !he nature and pacing of rewards and punishments.. Bruner's infuence on instruction #piral Curriculum0 !ranslating material into children's modes of thought0 presenting topics consistent with children's forms of thought at an early age and then reintroducing those topics again later in a diferent form Interpersonal interaction is a means that enable learners to develop cognitive growth0 questioning, prompting %iscovery learning0 discovery as= all forms of obtaining "nowledge for oneself by the use of one's own mind= #tudents need to determine what variables are relevant, what information should be sought about those variables, and when the information is obtained, what should be done with it.%iscovery of a concept proceeds from a systematic comparison of instances for what distinguishes e.amples from none.amples. !o promote concept discovery, the teacher presents the set of instances that will best help learners to develop an appropriate model of the concept.Contrast that lead to cognitive con:icts can set the stage for discovery 'ariables in instruction0 nature of "nowledge, nature of the "nower, and nature of the "nowledgegetting process (romote discovery in the e.ercise of problem solving ;eedbac" must be provided in a mode that is both meaningful and within the informationprocessing capacity of the learner. Intrinsic pleasure of discovery promote a sense of selfreward von Glasersfeld 'on 9lasersfeld development of the epistemological basis of the psychological variant incorporates both the (iagetian notion of assimilation and accommodation and the cybernetic concept of viability 1Cobb, 23357. !he value of "nowledge no longer lies in its conveyance of truth, but its viability in individual e.perience. 'on 9lasersfeld 123367 stated that =!ruths are replaced by viable models, and viability is always relative to a chosen goal.= #imilar to (iaget, von 9lasersfeld sees learning as an active process of selforganization in which the individual eliminate 'perturbation' 1disequlibrium in (iaget's term7 from the interaction with others as well as an active construction of viable "nowledge adapted from the interaction with others. Individuals' construction of their ways of "nowing is the focus of von 9laserfeld. )ut, he also recognizes the importance of social interaction as a process of meaning negotiation in this sub,ective construction of "nowing. What does it mean to learning? Constructivism, applied as an e.planatory framewor" of learning, describes how the learner constructs "nowledge from e.perience, which ma"es it unique to each individual. (oints of view of constructivism bring forth two ma,or trends of e.plaining how leaning occurs0 cognitive constructivists, focusing on the individual cognitive construction of mental structures? sociocultural constructivists, emphasizing the social interaction and cultural practice on the construction of "nowledge. )oth trends believe that0 2. @nowledge cannot e.ist independently from the "nower? "nowledge cannot be reproduced and transmitted to another person. 6. &earning is viewed as selfregulatory process0 Cognitive constructivists focus on the active mental construction struggling with the con:ict between e.isting personal models of the world, and incoming information in the environment. #ociocultural constructivists emphasis the process of enculturation into a community of practice, in which learners construct their models of reality as a meaningma"ing underta"ing with culturally developed tools and symbols 1'ygots"y, 23BC7, and negotiate such meaning thorough cooperative social activity, discourse and debate 1'on 9laserfeld, 23367 4. &earners are active in ma"ing sense of things instead of responding to stimuli. Dnli"e information processor ta"ing in and storing up information, learners = ma"e tentative interpretations of e.perience and go on to elaborate and test those interpretations=1(er"ins, 23367 Impacts on Instructional Design Constructivism provides diferent views of learning. &earners are no longer passive recipients and reproducers of information. &earners are active constructors of their own conceptual understanding, and active meaning ma"ers interacting with the physical and social world. !he design of learning environment based on constructivist view of learning emphasizes the integration of three types of human e.periences 1'ygots"y, 23BC70 historical e.perience, e.g. the traditions and practices of a culture, social e.perience, and adaptation e.perience, in which people engage in active adaptation, changing the environment. )elow are some general principles of learning derived form constructivism 1#mith and +agan, 6EEE? %riscoll, 6EE2? %ufy F $onassen, 233670 &earning requires invention and selforganization on the part of learners %isequilibrium facilitates learning0 >rrors need to be perceived as a result of learners' conceptions and therefore not minimized or avoided. !hus, challenge students with openended investigations in realistic, meaningful conte.ts need to be ofered? allow learners to e.plore and generate many possibilities, both aGrming and contradictory. +e:ective abstraction is the driving force of learning0 As meaning ma"ers, humans see" to organize and generalize across e.periences in a representational form %ialogue within a community engenders further thin"ing0 the learners are responsible for defending, proving, ,ustifying, and communicating their ideas to the classroom community. Principles of designing learning environment $onassen 1233A7 proposed that learning environments should provide active, intentional, comple., conte.tualized, re:ective, conversational, collaborative, and constructive learning. Image from %avid $onassen's site %riscoll 16EEE7 listed constructivist principles for designing learning0 >mbed learning in comple., realistic and relevant environments (rovide a social negotiation as an integral part of learning #upport multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation >ncourage ownership in learning Hurture selfawareness of the "nowledge construction process Aout design of instruction )ased on $onassen 123367 and %riscoll 16EEE7, constructivism has the following impacts on instructional design0 2. Instructional goals and ob,ectives would be negotiated not imposed 6. !as" analysis would concentrate more on considering appropriate interpretations and providing the intellectual tools that are necessary for helping learners to construct "nowledge 4. %esigners would provide generative, mental construction tool "its embedded in relevant learning environments that facilitate "nowledge construction by learners 5. About evaluation0#ince constructivism does not hold the that the function of instruction is to transmit "nowledge that mirrors the reality and its structures to the learner's mind, criterionreferenced evaluation, which is based on predetermined ob,ective standards, is not an appropriate evaluation tool to constructivistic environments 1$onassen, 23367. !he focus of evaluation should be placed on the process of "nowledge construction rather than the end products of learning. And even if the end results are evaluated, it should emphasize the higher order thin"ing of human being. !he evaluation of learning focus on the higher order thin"ing, the "nowledge construction process, and the building of the awareness of such process. !he conte.t of evaluation should be embedded in the authentic tas"s and meaningful realworld conte.t. !he criteria of evaluation should represent multiple perspectives in learning environment. ;rom the perspective of sociocultural constructivist, since =no ob,ective reality is uniformly interpretable by all learners, then assessing the acquisition of such reality is not possible= 1$onassen, 23367. !hus, the evaluation should focus on the learning process rather than the product. (ortfolio evaluation0 diferent student interpretation at diferent stages in their learning process. &earning is multifaceted and multiperspectival, so as the results of learning. !he function of evaluation is not in the reinforcement or behavior control tool but more of =a selfanalysis and metacognitive tool=.
Paper Presentation at The AARE 2001 International Education Research Conference Crossing Borders: New Frontiers For Educational Research, Freemantle Australia, 4 December 2001
NUST School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering (SMME) BE Mechanical Engineering Programme Time Table For The Holy Month of Ramadan - Spring 2019 Semester