COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT INSTRUCTIONAL THEORIES M. Öztürk AKCAOĞLU & Serap İLASLAN

Transcription

1 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 1 Running Head: Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT INSTRUCTIONAL THEORIES M. Öztürk AKCAOĞLU & Serap İLASLAN Prof.Dr. Meral AKSU Theories of Instruction (EDS 544) November 03, 2009

2 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 2 Contents 1. Definition and Foundation of Cognitive Theory Defining Cognition and Cognitive Theory Information Processing Theory Behaviorist Theories vs. Cognitive Theories Jean Piaget Piaget s Major Theoretical Concepts Schema Assimilation Accommodation Equilibrium Piaget s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years) Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years) The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) Formal Operations Stage (11-15 years) Implications of Piaget Theory of Cognitive Development Limitations of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Jerome Bruner Learning theory of Bruner Bruner s Theory of Cognitive Development Bruner s Theory of Instruction Discovery Learning Spiral Curriculum The Nature of a Theory of Instruction (Bruner s Criteria)... 25

3 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 3 4. David P. Ausubel Principles of Subsumption Theory Meaningful Learning vs. Rote Learning Reception vs. Discovery Learning and Expository Teaching Concept Maps How to build concept maps Ausubel s Model of Learning Ausubel s Expository Teaching REFERENCES... 34

4 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 4 1. Definition and Foundation of Cognitive Theory 1.1. Defining Cognition and Cognitive Theory How does learning take place? Grider states that within the framework of psychology, cognitive learning theories have, perhaps, contained the broadest set of methodologies (1993). From philosophical roots to evolving constructs and proponents, cognitive strategies provide a divergent yet distinct emphasis on the mental processes that enable individuals to learn and to use knowledge (Grider, 1993). The term cognition refers to a faculty for the processing of information, applying knowledge, and changing preferences. Cognition, or cognitive processes, can be natural or artificial, conscious or unconscious. Within psychology or philosophy, the concept of cognition is closely related to abstract concepts such as mind, reasoning, perception, intelligence, learning, and many others that describe capabilities of the mind and expected properties of an artificial or synthetic mind. Cognition is considered an abstract property of advanced living organisms and is studied as a direct property of a brain (or of an abstract mind) on at the factual and symbolic levels. Therefore, cognition is used to refer to the mental functions, mental processes (thoughts) and states of intelligent entities (humans, human organizations, highly autonomous machines). In particular, the field focuses toward the study of specific mental processes such as comprehension, inference, decision-making, planning and learning. Recently, advanced cognitive research has been especially focused on the capacities of abstraction, generalization, concretization, specialization and meta-reasoning. This involves such concepts as beliefs, knowledge, desires, preferences and intentions of intelligent individuals, objects, agents or systems (Internet, 2009a). Cognitive theory is based on the idea of cognition. The prevailing points of view of cognitive theory embody the interaction between mental components and the information that is processed through this complex network (Neisser, 1967). The active creation of cognitive structures that decides on the concepts of self and the environment takes place as individuals learn. In addition, the specific process of learning is not the primary area of concern in cognitive research; instead, learning is viewed as only one of the many processes comprised by the human mind (Anderson, 2000). Although all cognitive theorists examine these functions to discover more about human learning, and behavior they often differ regarding emphasis. Some approaches deal with detailed analyses of information-processing skills, while others focus on

5 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 5 mental models or cognitive growth and development (Mayer, 1981). Therefore, cognitive psychologists do not stick to a single set of rules or methodologies in their research (Grider, 1993). Broadly, cognitive theory is interested in how people understand material, and thus the theory is interested in aptitude and capacity to learn and learning styles. It is also the basis of the educational approach known as constructivism, which emphasizes the role of the learner in constructing his own view or model of the material, and what helps with that (Atherton, 2009). As mentioned, cognitive theories and models of learning are focused on mental processes involved in learning. Cognitive psychologists assert that learning is related to less with behaviors what learners do and more with what learners know and how they acquire this knowledge. They also believe that the changes in the behavior of the learner are indirect rather than direct outcomes of learning (Koohang & Harman, 2007). On the other hand, learning, according to cognitive science, is reorganizing the knowledge structures of the brain achieved by the execution of internal cognitive processes (thinking, remembering and so on). Therefore, attention is paid to: Knowledge representation, the relationship between prior knowledge and new knowledge, cognitive skills, active participation, and development of skills (Koohang & Harman, 2007). 1.2 Information Processing Theory Cognitive psychology developed around the late 1950s at a time when technology was developing computers capable of manipulating large amounts of data more and more rapidly. The group of information processing theorists which came out of cognitive psychology research used the computer as a model for the way humans think. This branch of cognitive psychology looks at the way people take in, process and act on information focusing on attention, perception and memory. Effective use of these cognitive processes depends on our understanding of the information processing model. Like a computer, the human mind takes information, organizes it, stores it for later use and then retrieves it when necessary. There three main concepts related to the theory: Sensory memory (STSS). Sensory memory is related to the change from one energy from to another. The environment makes available a variety of sources of information (light, sound, smell, heat, cold, etc.), but the brain only understands electrical energy. The body has special sensory receptor cells that transduce (change from one form of energy to another) this

6 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 6 external energy to something the brain can understand. In the process of transduction, a memory is created. This memory is very short (less than 1/2 second for vision; about 3 seconds for hearing). It is absolutely critical that the learner attend to the information at this initial stage in order to transfer it to the next one. There are two major concepts for getting information into STM: First, individuals are more likely to pay attention to a stimulus if it has an interesting feature. We are more likely to get an orienting response if this is present. Second, individuals are more likely to pay attention if the stimulus activates a known pattern. To the extent we have students call to mind relevant prior learning before we begin our presentations, we can take advantage of this principle. Short-term memory (STM). Short-term memory is also called working memory and relates to what we are thinking about at any given moment in time. It is created by our paying attention to an external stimulus, an internal thought, or both. It will initially last somewhere around 15 to 20 seconds unless it is repeated (called maintenance rehearsal) at which point it may be available for up to 20 minutes. For example, you are processing the words you read on the screen in your frontal lobes. However, if I ask, "What is your telephone number?" your brain immediately calls that from long-term memory and replaces what was previously there. Long-term memory (LTM). Long-term memory is also called preconscious and unconscious memory in Freudian terms. Preconscious means that the information is relatively easily recalled (although it may take several minutes or even hours) while unconscious refers to data that is not available during normal consciousness. It is preconscious memory that is the focus of cognitive psychology as it relates to long-term memory. The levels-of-processing theory, however, has provided some research that attests to the fact that we "know" more than we can easily recall. The two processes most likely to move information into long-term memory are elaboration and distributed practice (Huitt, 2003) Behaviorist Theories vs. Cognitive Theories "Cognitive" refers to mental processes such as the memory, judgment, and reasoning, whereas "behavior" refers to the action, and activities of an organism. The cognitive approach to learning implies that students actively discover knowledge, gain insight into learning.

7 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 7 In the behavioral approach to educating, on the other hand, students' specific behaviors (academically and socially) are observed, measured, and analyzed in order to bring about more appropriate behavioral responses. Cognitive Theory views learning as an acquisition of knowledge and cognitive structures due to information processing, focusing on the brain processing such as the memory and expectation. Behavior Theory views learning as a change in the form or frequency of behavior as the consequence of environmental events, focusing on the way in which the stimulus-response relationship is formed (Inoue, 2000, p. 2). 2. Jean Piaget 2.1. Piaget s Major Theoretical Concepts Piaget s former works and training as a biologist influences his system for conceptualizing cognitive development. Functioning as a biologist, he became vividly aware of and impressed by the interaction of mollusks with their environment because of the constant adaptation the environmental conditions. The two important concepts have their roots in this early work, since Piaget came to believe that biological acts are acts of adaptation to the physical environment and organizations of the environment. This led him to conceptualize intellectual development in much the same way. Cognitive acts are seen as acts of organization of and adaptation to the perceived environment. To understand the processes of intellectual organization and adaptation as they are viewed by Piaget, four basic concepts are required. These are the concepts of schema, assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium. These concepts are used to explain how and why mental development occurs (Wadsworth, 1972) Schema. Schemata are the cognitive structures by which individuals intellectually adapt to and organize the environment. Schemata are structures that are the mental counterparts of biological means of adapting. The stomach is a biological structure that animals use successfully to adapt to their environment. In much the same way, schemata are equivalent structures that adapt and change with mental development. These structures are inferred to exist. Schemata can be simplistically thought of as concepts or categories. Another analogy might be an index file in which each index card represents a schema. Adults have many cards or

8 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 8 schemata. They are used to process and identify incoming stimuli. In this way the organism is able to differentiate between stimulus events and to generalize. When a child is born, it has few schemata (cards on file). As the child develops, his schemata gradually broaden (become more generalized), become-more differentiated, and progressively more "adult." Schemata never stop changing or becoming more refined.' As the child develops, more cards are necessary to contain the changing classifications. In Piaget's terms, we would say that the child has a number of schemata. Since schemata are structures of cognitive development that do change, allowance must be made for their growth and development. Adults have different concepts from children. Concepts (schemata their structural counterparts) change. The cognitive schemata of the adult are derived from the sensori-motor schema of the child. The processes responsible for the change are assimilation and accommodation (Wadsworth, 1972) Assimilation. Assimilation is the cognitive process by which the person integrates new perceptual matter or stimulus events into existing schemata or patterns of behavior. One might say that the child has experiences: It sees new things (cows) or sees old things in new ways, and hears things. What the child tries to do is to fit these new events or stimuli into the schemata he has at the time. Suppose, a child is walking down the country road with his father, and the father points to a cow in the field and says, "What is that?" The child looks at the cow (stimulus) and says, "That's a dog." What has happened? The child, seeing the object in the field (cow), sifted through his collection of schemata until he found one that seemed appropriate and that could include the object. To the child, the object (cow) had all the characteristics of a dog-it fit in his dog schemaso the child concluded that the object was a dog. The stimulus (cow) was assimilated into the dog schema. Thus assimilation can be viewed as the cognitive process of placing new stimulus events into existing schemata. Assimilation goes on all the time. It would be extreme oversimplification to suggest that a person processes one stimulus at a time. The human must continually process an increasing number of stimuli. The process of assimilation allows for growth of schemata. This does not account for change (development) of schemata. We know schemata change-adult schemata are different

9 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 9 from children's. Piaget accounts for the change of schemata with accommodation (Wadsworth, 1972) Accommodation. Upon being confronted with a new stimulus, the child tries to assimilate it into existing schemata. Sometimes this is not possible. Sometimes a stimulus cannot be placed or assimilated into a schema because there are no schemata into which it fits. The characteristics of the stimulus do not approximate those required in any of the child's available schemata. What does the child do? Essentially he can do one of two things: He can create a new schema into which he can place the stimulus, or he can modify an existing schema so that the stimulus will fit into it; both of these are forms of accommodation. Thus, accommodation is the creation of new schemata or the modification of old schemata. Both of these actions result in a change in or development of cognitive structures (schemata). Once accommodation has taken place, the child can try again to assimilate the stimulus. Since the structure has changed, the stimulus is readily assimilated. Assimilation is always the end-product that the child actively seeks. It can be seen that in assimilation, the person imposes his available structure on the stimuli being processed. That is, the stimuli are "forced" to fit the person's structure. In accommodation, the reverse is true. The person is "forced" to change his schema to fit the new stimuli (Wadsworth, 1972) Equilibrium. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO ACCOMMODATE '. A "balance" between assimilation and accommodation is as necessary as the processes themselves. The "balance" between assimilation and accommodation is referred to by Piaget as equilibrium. It is necessary to ensure an efficient interaction of the developing child with the environment.

10 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 10 Equilibrium is a balance between assimilation and accommodation. Disequilibrium is an imbalance between assimilation and accommodation. When disequilibrium occurs, cognitively, it provides motivation for the child to seek equilibrium to further assimilate or accommodate. Equilibrium is seen as a necessary condition toward which the organism constantly strives. The organism ultimately assimilates all stimuli (or stimulus events) with or without accommodation. This results in equilibrium. Thus, equilibrium can be viewed as a state of cognitive "balance" that is reached at assimilation. Obviously, equilibrium relevant to any particular stimulus may be a very temporary affair, but it is nonetheless important. It can be said that the child, upon experiencing a new stimulus (or an old one again), tries to assimilate the stimulus into an existing schema. If he is successful, equilibrium is attained for the moment, relevant to the particular stimulus event. If the child cannot assimilate the stimulus, he then attempts to accommodate by modifying a schema or creating a new one. When this is done, assimilation of the stimulus proceeds and equilibrium is reached (Wadsworth, 1972) Piaget s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years). In the sensorimotor stage, an infant s mental and cognitive attributes develop from birth until the appearance of language. This stage is characterized by the progressive acquisition of object permanence in which the child becomes able to find objects after they have been displaced, even if the objects have been taken out of his field of vision. For example, Piaget s experiments at this stage include hiding an object under a pillow to see if the baby finds the object. An additional characteristic of children at this stage is their ability to link numbers to objects (Piaget, 1977) (e.g., one dog, two cats, three pigs, four hippos). To develop the mathematical capability of a child in this stage, the child s ability might be enhanced if he is allowed ample opportunity to act on the environment in unrestricted (but safe) ways in order to start building concepts (Martin, 2000). Evidence suggests that children at the sensorimotor stage have some understanding of the concepts of numbers and counting (Fuson, 1988). Educators of children in this stage of development should lay a solid mathematical foundation by providing activities that incorporate counting and thus enhance children s conceptual development of number. For example, teachers and parents can help children count their fingers, toys, and candies. Questions such as Who has more? or Are there enough? could be a part of the daily lives of children as young as two or three years of age.

11 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 11 Piaget described the sensorimotor stage as a series of six substages: Substage 1: Reflexes (Birth to 1 Month), substage 2: Primary Circular Reactions (1 4 Months), Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4 8 Months), Substage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8 12 Months), Substage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12 18 Months), Substage 6: Mental Representation (18 24 Months) Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years). In this stage, children improve their ability to use language and think in symbolic forms. For example, they can make sense of an object through words, pictures, signs without having the actual object around. Their communication with others through words allow them establish more elaborate schemes of knowledge. However, they still have difficulty in remembering the past, keeping track of information and planning (Woolfolk, 1993). They cannot perform an action mentally as they do physically. Mental actions do not follow a pattern of logic and operations are still independent from each other. For example, it is possible to observe the child at this stage interested in many things and getting bored with objects in a short period of time. Piaget uses the term "operation" in terms of undertaking actions or thinking in a logical or planned way. In his view, children are not able to operate logically until the age of seven due to several problematic characteristics in their cognitive ability: perceptual centration, irreversibility and egocentricism. (Biehler And Snowman, 1993). Perceptual centration is the tendency to focus only one dimension of an action or issue and ignoring other dimensions related to it. Perceptual centration prevents the child from perceiving different aspects of a problem and reach wrong conclusions about it. Piaget's famous experiment with water in containers with similar and different shapes. In this experiment, the child is first asked to compare the amount of water in two short and wide containers with the same shape which were actually equal. The child confirms that the amount of water is the same in both containers. In the second phase of the experiment, the water in one of the containers is poured into a taller and thinner container and the child is asked again to compare the amount of water in the two containers. This time the child states that the water in the taller container is more than the one in shorter and wider container. This experiment shows that the child can focus only one aspect of a problem, the height of the container, at a time. He cannot compensate the height of the container with the width of the other, showing that his/her lack of ability in comparing and thinking about two features at a time.

12 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 12 Irreversibility refers to lack of ability in thinking backwards or in making use of actions or knowledge from the past. In the experiment above, the child cannot mentally pour back the water from the tall container into the wide one. As the child starts making use of knowledge or experience from the past to solve a problem, the impact of irreversibility on thinking gets decreased. Egocentricism is seeing everything from one's own perspective, and thinking that everyone shares that perspective. In preoperational stage, the child is not able to grasp the idea that every human being has a way of thinking which might be different from each other. Since the child assumes that everyone thinks the same way, s/he gets confused when someone brings a different explanation from his/her own. It is possible to see children with strange looks when adults try to explain something quite different from their way of seeing the world. Many of us have seen children talking to themselves as if they are interacting with someone. Piaget calls this "coolective monologue" which is also a sign of egocentricism. The child does not care whether anyone is listening to him. S/he uses his/her language ability to motivate or guide his/her actions. Education of the child at this stage requires special attention and planning appropriate for the developmental characteristics. Verbal instruction and warnings are not very useful because the child is not able to make sense of them easily. Symbolic thinking is still not advanced in children at this stage. Rather, showing actually, demonstrating, and asking the child do it helps the child more than saying or shouting (Woolfolk, 1993) The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) Normally, the child in this stage is less influenced by the impediments of perceptual centration, irreversibility and egocentricism. S/he is able to think backwards, plan and understand others' point of views. S/he can mentally pour back the water from the tall container to the wide one and understand the rule that change in shape does not mean change in the amount. Piaget calls this "conservation" rule. The child at this stage is also able to plan things (several mental actions at a time) mentally without depending too much on concrete objects. The child understands that everyone has own point of view which might be different from his/her own. The child is able to solve concrete problems in a logical way. But s/he is still unable to think hypothetically, which is more abstract form of thinking. The thinking focuses on describing what an object is but not on what an object might be. His/her thinking has to depend on concrete

13 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 13 objects, that is, the symbols in his/her mind have equivalences in the concrete form. But when the child is asked to think about something that has no concrete equivalence, like the concepts of democracy, values, s/he has trouble in operating on them. Some past experience with physical objects is needed for imagination. The child can think of several alternative ways of arranging books in his/her library, but s/he has difficulty in arranging books in a library which s/he has not seen before. So imagination is tied to physical reality. Classification abilities develop at the concrete operational period. The development in the ability in classifying objects is due to the child's resolution of perceptual centration and irreversibility problems. Since the child is able to focus on more than one dimension at a time and reverse actions mentally, his ability to classify increases dramatically. With a number of objects with different colors and shapes, the concrete operational child can come up with many ways of classifying using size, shape, color and other characteristics while the preoperational child is able to produce only one of few alternative ways of classification since s/he has perceptual centration problem. The same is true with classification ability. The concrete operational child can order objects using sequential relationships among them. Education of the concrete operational child requires still the use of concrete objects, examples, pictures and hands-on practices to help him/her understand certain concepts. For example, s/he might have difficulty in understanding the concept of industry with definitions and descriptions. However, if s/he is taken to several places representing certain industries, or shown films, the child is able to make sense of that concept. Therefore education at this level uses many examples, pictures, field trips, hands on practices to teach certain concepts. Much of the development in this stage is due to education and maturation. The perceptual schemes are larger and more extensive in nature allowing the child develop greater understanding of the environment. As the child learns about new concepts without the actual object being around, s/he gradully develops the ability to think in abstract terms, an ability to help him/her move into the next stage Formal Operations Stage (11-15 years) In this stage, the child is capable of mental tasks involving abstract thinking. Mathematical problems based on numbers and signs, for example, can be solved without needing mental examples or representations. When they are explained through a book or a teacher, abstract concepts like democracy, religion, inflation make sense to the child.

14 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 14 Hypothetical thinking is possible in this stage. The child can react to a story, manipulate conditions in it and reason about what would happen. S/he can provide reasons and alternatives to a problem which s/he has no experience with. For example, if the child is asked what would happen if there was no paper in the world to write on, s/he can produce some alternatives to paper. The teacher would give different kinds of homework, carry out verbal exams, use films or field trips to explain things, etc. Without any physical experience, s/he can work on imaginative problems. The child can manipulate and coordinate a number of variables mentally. For example, when presented a classification problem, the child can have more complex forms of combinations considering different characteristics of objects. Piaget says not everyone reaches at this level of cognitive development. Some stay at the concrete operations level for their whole life. The formal operations stage is the highest stage human beings can reach and it represents adult thinking. Piaget suggests that the child at this period should be provided with many opportunities to think about hypothetical problems to develop their hypothetical reasoning skills. Since they can learn abstract concepts in this stage, they should be taught abstract concepts and practice with them through exchanging and comparing ideas in the classroom (Internet, 2009b). Stage Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational Approximate Ages 0-2 years 2-7 years 7-11 years Characteristics Using senses and motor activities to make sense of the outside world Object permanence develops Some goal directed actions develop Simple words and symbols are used to communicate Gradual development in language ability Logical thinking is not possible due to three reasons: perceptual centration, irreversibility and egocentricty in thinking Able focus on more than one dimension of objects (perceptual centration problems is over)

15 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 15 Can reverse actions mentally Can see others' point of view Can solve problems logically Thinking is based on physical experience Formal Operations years Able to think hypothetically and abstractly Able to think about different variables in a logical fashion More complex forms of combinations and coordinations 2.3 Implications of Piaget Theory of Cognitive Development Upon reading the works of Piaget, one can easily comprehend that there is a useful framework to understand children's cognitive development and that the teachers should adjust the level of teaching according to the characteristics of each period. For instance, it is suggested the focus should be on abstract concepts at the age of 11 because this is the time approximately when the child is ready cognitively. Matching the teaching strategies and knowledge to the operational level of the children is the major contribution of Piaget's theory. In addition, some new concepts were coined to understand cognitive development of the children. The concepts like perceptual centration, organization, assimilation and accommodation are useful in thinking about these cognitive processes. Another suggestion made by Piaget is that observing students' behaviors is an effective guide to understanding their cognitive development level. Since any information about the mistakes can provide us some crucial information about children's operation level cognitively and help us adjust the way of teaching. When a mistake is observed, an instructor should carefully think about those mistakes and try to understand the reasoning behind them. Another important implication might be talking to children about their experiences. When a question is answered, right or wrong, the instructor should talk to the students about their reasoning process. This can help children be aware of their cognitive processes and may also help the teacher to understand the logic utilized by the students. According to Piaget children are the best sources of the information. So the teacher should observe, talk to them, and try to understand them. As mentioned above, in order to learn effectively, students should be able to incorporate the new information into their existing schemes of knowledge. If that does not happen, then

16 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 16 learning does not occur. The teacher should be a facilitator in helping the child incorporate the new information into their knowledge patterns through examples, demonstrations and field trips. Finally, Piaget's theory suggests that children should be more active in their learning processes. Since his theory depends more on biological nature of individuals, children should be provided with activities and the context to explore the world themselves not through the eyes of others. One implication of these points is that the instruction should be child-based rather than teacher based. The child should be provided with opportunities for active engagement in the activities in the learning process. Furthermore, the child should be the one who will decide on what to learn and when to learn because s/he may not be ready to receive the knowledge that someone else wants to teach. The child is the best source of decision in these instructional matters (Internet, 2009b) Limitations of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget's model of cognitive development is criticized for two basic reasons. First, the model underestimates young children's abilities and overestimates older children's abilities. In Piaget's model, children have limitations in logical thinking until the age of seven due to "perceptual centration," "irreversibility" and "egocentricism." However, critics say many children are able to overcome these limitations at the age of five or six. So this generalization may not fit all children. Again critics say there are many children who are not able to think abstractly and hypothetically during the period of Particularly, the age of 11 is too early to start complex mental operations. Second, the model overemphasizes biological influence on cognitive development. According to the model, every child goes through similar stages of cognitive development and environment and education have little influence on these stages. An important implication of this assumption is that education's contribution is not so powerful on cognitive development. In addition, Piaget's model implicates that the teaching process should be student-centered, that is, the student should be main source of information in the educational process. The major task of the teacher is to design an environment that is conducive to active involvement and learning, but not transmitting knowledge to the student directly. The teacher is a facilitator only. The child will actively explore the outside world and try to make sense based on his/her cognitive level of operation. An imposition on him/her will confuse the child especially if those impositions are not parallel to his level. This position brings out an implication about the role of schools and teachers

17 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 17 in child's learning: a passive one. This implication is criticized by many educators since it underestimates children's learning abilities and the influence of schooling on child's cognitive development (Internet, 2009b). 3. Jerome Bruner It is surely the case that schooling is only one small part of how a culture inducts the young into its canonical ways. Indeed, schooling may even be at odds with a culture's other ways of inducting the young into the requirements of communal living... What has become increasingly clear... is that education is not just about conventional school matters like curriculum or standards or testing. What we resolve to do in school only makes sense when considered in the broader context of what the society intends to accomplish through its educational investment in the young. How one conceives of education, we have finally come to recognize, is a function of how one conceives of culture and its aims, professed and otherwise.(bruner, Austin, & Goodnow, 1956, p. 8) Jerome Bruner, who is regarded as one of the best known and influential psychologists of the twentieth century, has made a profound contribution to the process of education and to the development of curriculum theory. He is considered as one of the key figures in the so called 'cognitive revolution'. Nonetheless, it is the field of education that his influence has been particularly existed. He asserted, 'How one conceives of education is a function of how one conceives of the culture and its aims, professed and otherwise' (Bruner, et al., 1956, pp. 9-10) Early in the 1940s, Jerome Bruner worked on how needs, motivations, and expectations (or 'mental sets') impact on perception. Moreover, he explored perception from a functional orientation (as against a process to separate from the world around it). In addition to this work, Bruner began to look at the role of strategies in the process of human categorization, and the development of human cognition. This concern with cognitive psychology gave rise to a particular interest in the cognitive development of children (and their modes of representation) and what the appropriate forms of education might be. Bruner was instrumental in the transition from behaviorism to cognitivism in 1950s and 1960s mainstream psychology. For the past 45 years, Bruner has been a leader in the establishment of cognitive psychology as an alternative to the behaviorist theories that dominated psychology in the first half of the 20 th century. Bruner contended that people remember things

18 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 18 with a view towards meaning and signification, not toward the end of somehow preserving the facts themselves Learning theory of Bruner Bruner has exerted a great impact upon cognitive learning theory. Built onto the idea of categorization, Bruner's theory suggests, "Perceiving is to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize." He claimed that people interpret the world in terms of its similarities and differences which are identified among objects and events. Objects that are viewed as similar are put in the same category. The primary variable in his theory of learning is the coding system into which the learner organizes these categories. The act of categorizing is assumed to be involved in information processing and decision making. Hence, he suggested a coding system in which people have a hierarchical arrangement of related categories. Bruner's theory of cognitive learning emphasizes the formation of these coding systems. He believed that the systems facilitate transfer, enhance retention and increase problem solving and motivation. He advocated the discovery oriented learning methods in schools which he believed helped students discover the relationships between categories. A major theme in this theory is that "learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current or past knowledge" (Kearsely, 1994). The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structures including schema, mental models are used to provide meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to go beyond the information given. That is to say, instruction can be made more efficient by providing a careful sequencing of materials to allow learners to build upon what they already know and go beyond the information they have been given to discover the key principles by themselves. Bruner contends that the instructor should try and encourage students to construct hypotheses, makes decisions, and discover principles by themselves (Kearsley, 1994). The instructor and student should take part in an active dialogue (i.e., Socratic learning). The instructor's task is to "translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding". Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner "so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned."

19 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 19 Bruner argued that we should teach the structure of subjects. He advocated the introduction of the real process of a particular discipline to students. For example, when learning history, students should become involved in genuine historical enquiry. This might involve examining a bridge, a building, or even a head stone in a cemetery, then using the information acquired to trace records of various kinds in order to answer the questions generated about the origins, purposes, and history of that structure, or the life of the person concerned Bruner s Theory of Cognitive Development Jerome Bruner had crucial impact on the cognitive approach to instruction. He was particularly interested in the cognitive processes of children and how they mentally represented the concepts they were learning in school. Bruner believes that people go through three stages of cognitive development: the enactive stage, the iconic stage, and the symbolic stage. The detailed information about these three stages is as follows: 1. Enactive Stage (birth-3): Infants belong to the enactive stage, which is highly similar to Piaget's sensorimotor stage. Infants obtain knowledge by actively engaging in activities. Young children need several opportunities to engage in "hands-on" activities with a variety of objects so as to learn effectively. In other words, children need to experience the concrete (manipulating objects in their hands, touching a real dog) in order to understand. 2. Iconic Stage (3-8): First of all, the word icon means "picture". At this stage, learning occurs through using models and pictures. That is, children learn through visual stimuli. At this stage, more or less a reminder of the preoperational stage of Piaget's theory, children rely on visual representations to aid their thinking. Students' visual perceptions determine how they understand the world. Teachers of students in the early grades should use many pictures and visual aids to promote learning. For example, in a lesson on animals, pictures of different species can be used in order to illustrate the differences among them. In a lesson on different countries, pictures of people in different countries might be shown so as to illustrate differences in styles of dress or appearance. This mode deals with the internal imagery, where the knowledge is characterized by a set of images representing the concept. In brief, the iconic representation is based on visual or other sensory association and is primarily defined by perceptual organization and techniques for economically transforming perceptions into meaning for the individual. 3. Symbolic Stage (8-adulthood): This stage refers to the capacity to think in abstract terms. In the symbolic stage, children can understand symbols, including words and

20 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 20 mathematical and scientific notations. Bruner's symbolic stage overlaps Piaget's stages of concrete and formal operations. Once students have reached the symbolic stage, they are able to take in large amounts and varied types of information. Symbolic material includes written passages, scientific and mathematical formulas, and abstract charts. If students at this stage are studying a particular country, you could show a bar graph illustrating the pattern of population growth or a pie chart showing the religious or ethnic distribution of the population. It allows one to deal with what might be and what might not, and is a major tool in reflective thinking. To sum up, symbolic- students are able to use logic, higher order thinking skills and symbol systems. Taking the information given above into consideration, it can be summarized that Bruner's underlying principle for teaching and learning is that a combination of concrete, pictorial and symbolic activities will result in more effective learning. The progression is: start with a concrete experience and then move to pictures and finally use symbolic representation. The first, the enactive level, is where the child manipulates materials directly. Then, he proceeds to the iconic level, where he deals with mental images of objects but does not manipulate them directly. Lastly, he moves on to the symbolic level, where he is manipulating symbols and no longer mental images or objects. The optimum learning process should according to Bruner go through these stages: Mode Definition Implication for Instruction Use manipulative and tactile instructional Representing one's understanding strategies with young children to teach Enactive through motor responses concepts with which learners have no prior experience. Iconic Symbolic Using images to represent understanding Using symbols such as language, musical notation, and mathematical notation to represent understanding Accompany instruction with diagrams and other strategies that appeal to the imagination. Use familiar symbol systems when teaching new concepts in a subject when the learner already has prior experience.

21 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories Bruner s Theory of Instruction Bruner (1966) points out that a theory of instruction should involve four central aspects: (1) predisposition 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, and (4) the nature and pacing of rewards and punishments. Good methods for structuring knowledge should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, and increasing the manipulation of information. 1. Predisposition to learning: Bruner stated that experiences should be designed in a way that will help the student to be willing and able to learn. Bruner believed that the desire to learn and to undertake problem solving could be activated by devising problem activities in which students would explore alternative solutions. The major condition for the exploration of alternatives was "the presence of some optimal level of uncertainty". This related directly to the student's curiosity to resolve uncertainty and ambiguity. According to this idea, the teacher would design various activities that would arouse the students' curiosity. For example, the teacher might fill a glass with water and ask the students how many pennies they think can be put in the jar without any water spilling. Since most students think that only a few pennies can be put in the glass, their curiosity is aroused when the teacher is able to put between pennies in before any water spills. This activity then leads to an exploration of displacement, surface tension, variables such as the size of the jar, how full the glass is, and so forth. In this activity, the students would be encouraged to explore various alternatives to the solution of the problem by conducting their own experiments with jars of water and pennies. 2. Structure of Knowledge: Bruner expressed this component by proposing that the curriculum specialist and teacher must specify the ways in which a body of knowledge should be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner. Any idea or problem or body of knowledge can be presented in a form simple enough so that any particular learner can understand it in a recognizable form. During the presentation of the material, the cognitive level needs to be taken into consideration. 3. Sequencing: The most effective sequences of instruction should be specified. According to Bruner (1971), instruction should lead the learner through the content in order to increase the student's ability to "grasp, transform and transfer" what is learned. In general sequencing should move from enactive (hands-on, concrete), to iconic (visual), to symbolic

22 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 22 (descriptions in words or mathematical symbols). However, this sequence will be dependent on the student's symbolic system and learning style. 4. Motivation (Form and pacing of reinforcement): The last aspect of Bruner's theory is that the nature and pacing of rewards and punishments should be specified. Bruner suggests that movement from extrinsic rewards, such as teacher's praise, toward intrinsic rewards inherent in solving problems or understanding the concepts is desirable. To Bruner, learning depends upon knowledge of results when it can be used for correction. Feedback to the learner is critical to the development of knowledge. The teacher can provide a vital link to the learner in providing feedback at first, as well as helping the learner develop techniques for obtaining feedback on his or her own. Bruner s theory can be applied to instruction by applying the following principles: 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) by stimulating cognitive skills required for application Discovery Learning Jerome Bruner was influential in defining discovery learning, which employs cognitive psychology as a base. Discovery learning is "an approach to instruction through which students interact with their environment-by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments" (Ormrod, 1995, p. 442) The idea is that students are more likely to remember concepts they discover on their own. Discovery learning encourages students to ask questions and formulate their own tentative answers, and to deduce general principles from practical examples or experience. The discovery learning requires that instead of being 'told' the content by the teacher, it is expected that the student will have to explore examples and from them 'discover' the principles or concepts which are to be learned. Teachers have found that discovery learning is most successful when students have prerequisite knowledge and undergo some structured experiences (Roblyer, Edwards & Havriluk, 1997, p. 68).

23 Cognitive Construct Instructional Theories 23 Students learn best by discovery (Bruner, 1966), that is, when they have the "aha!" experience of suddenly understanding something. Teachers should encourage students to discover the structure of the material they are learning by focusing on ideas and their relationships to one another, not on specific details. Students learn best when they grasp the structure of material instead of memorizing details. To foster the discovery of structures, students need to be supported to make intelligent guesses based on available evidence by creating an accepting atmosphere so that students will risk making guesses even though they may be wrong. Teachers should ensure that students understand that wrong answers are not bad and that intellectual gambles are worth taking. Example: Suppose that you have already taught about nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and your present lesson concerns adverbs. One way to approach this lesson is to say, "Adverbs modify verbs, similar to the way adjectives modify nouns. Here are some examples: "The doctor strongly recommended that the patient- see a specialist." "The wind quickly shifted to the west, spreading the fire." "The defendant slowly turned to face the jury." You could also present the examples first. You might say, "As you read these three sentences, ask yourself what the function of the underlined word is." The students then read "The doctor strongly recommended that the patient see a specialist." "The wind quickly shifted to the west, spreading the fire." "The defendant slowly turned to face the jury." Advantages of discovery learning: Supports active engagement of the learner in the learning process Fosters curiosity Enables the development of life long learning skills Personalizes the learning experience Highly motivating as it allows individuals the opportunity to experiment and discover something for themselves Builds on learner's prior knowledge and understanding Disadvantages of discovery learning: Potential to confuse the learner if no initial framework is available It requires close monitoring on account of the fact that students do not hesitate risking making mistakes