WEL COME TO LEARNING THEORY

Topic:Jerome Bruner Theory

PRESENTOR- MR YOGENDRA PD. MEHTA

MN IN ADULT NURSING
YEAR-FIRST
BATCH- SECOND
DATE: 2069/07/08
 Introduction of Theorist
• Born October 1, 1915
• Age 94
• Born in New York, New York
• Education
– PhD, Harvard, 1941 (Psychology)
– BA, Duke University, 1937
• Affiliations
– American Psychological Association
– Law & Society Association
– Society for Research in Child Development
• Publications
– The Culture of Education, 1996
– Acts of Meaning, 1991
– Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, 1987
– The Process of Education, 1960
• cognitive psychologist and educational psychologist
• Scaffolding Theory
• Spiral Curriculum
 Principles of J. Bruner Theory

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts

that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness).

2. Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the

student (spiral organization).

3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in

the gaps (going beyond the information given).
 J. Bruner Theory
• Bruner's theoretical framework is based on the theme that learning is
an active process and learners construct new ideas or concepts
based upon existing knowledge.

• Facets of the process include selection and transformation of

information, decision making, generating hypotheses, and making
meaning from information and experiences.

• Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning

and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go
beyond the information given".
 Contd………
• Bruner believed that intuitive and analytical thinking should both be
encouraged and rewarded.

• He believed the intuitive skills were under-emphasized and he

reflected on the ability of experts in every field to make spontaneous
bound.

• He investigated motivation for learning. He felt that ideally, interest in

the subject matter is the best stimulus for learning. Bruner did not
like external competitive goals such as grades or class ranking.
 Conclusion of Theory
• A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that
learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or
concepts based upon their current/past knowledge.

• As far as instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and

encourage students to discover principles by themselves and they
should engage in an active dialog (i.e., socratic learning).

• Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the

student continually builds upon what they have already learned.
 Features of J. Bruner's theory of Instruction

1. Tendency towards learning

2. The ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it

can be most readily grasped by the learner,

3. The most effective sequences in which to present material.

4. The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments.

 Cognitive Development
Like Piaget, Bruner believed in stages of instruction based on
development.

• Enactive (birth to age 3)

• Iconic (age 3 to 8)

• Symbolic (from age 8)

Each mode is dominant at different phases of development but all are

present and accessible always.
 Enactive

The first stage he termed

"Enactive", when a person learns
about the world through actions on
physical objects and the outcomes
of these actions.

.
 Iconic

The second stage was

called "Iconic" where
learning can be obtained
through using models
and pictures.
 Symbolic
• "Symbolic" in which the
learner develops the capacity
to think in abstract terms.

• Based on this three-stage

notion, Bruner recommended
using a combination of
concrete, pictorial then
symbolic activities will lead to
more effective learning.
 Classroom Applications
• Provide study materials, activities and tools.

• Examples of all three to help children learn about dinosaurs

– Construct a model of a dinosaur (enactive)

– Watch a film about dinosaurs (iconic)

– Consult reference texts and discuss findings (symbolic)

.
 Technology in Classroom
• Manipulatives for enactive stage.

• Safari Montage and other video footage for iconic mode.

• Simulations to discover/develop their own approach for symbolic

mode

• Educators equip students with basic skills to access information to

increase their knowledge and desire to learn.
 Scaffolding Theory
• He used the term to describe young children's oral language
acquisition. Helped by their parents when they first start learning
to speak, young children are provided with instinctive structures
to learn a language. Bed-time stories and read alouds are classic
examples
 Spiral Curriculum
• Instead of focusing for relatively long periods of time
on specific narrow topics, a spiral curriculum tries to
expose students to a wide varies of ideas over and over
ago.
 Characteristics of constructivism theory

1. Constructivist learning environments provide multiple

representations of reality.

2. Multiple representations avoid oversimplification and represent the

complexity of the real world.

3. Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a

meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context.
 Contd…….

5. Constructivist learning environments provide learning

environments such as real-world settings or case-based learning
instead of predetermined sequences of instruction.

6. Constructivist learning environments encourage thoughtful

reflection on experience.

7. Constructivist learning environments support "collaborative

construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not
competition among learners for recognition."
 Refferences
• Bruner, Jerome. Retrieved June 3, 2008. NYU Department of Psychology
Web site: http://www.psych.nyu.edu.

• Flores, Nicole. Jerome Bruner’s educational theory. Retrieved June 3,

2008. New Foundation Web site: http://www.newfoundations.com.

• Hollyman, David. Retrieved June 3, 2008. Jerome Bruner a web overview.

http://au.geocities.com.
• http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/behaviour.htm#ixzz1c
K1zDCYm

•  http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html
• http://
nicefun.net/learning-theory-of-gestalt-vt2659.html#ixzz2ClBwhC00
• http://www.a2zpsychology.com/a2z%20guide/gestalt_theory.htm
.