Week 5
During today’s lecture we discussed some learning theories, which were as follows:
“Constructivism is the belief that learners have some prior knowledge and experience as a basis to test out their hypotheses and build their own set of content to solve a particular set of problems” (Leonard, 2002 :37) Piaget’s constructivism offers a window into what children are interested in, and able to achieve, at different stages of their development. There are three basic components to Piaget’s cognitive theory.
1. Schemas. Piaget called the schema “the basic building block of intelligent behaviour” (Mcleod, 2009) it is a way for organising knowledge. Saul Mcleod describes schemas as “a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed” (Mcleod, 2009).
2.Processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation).
3.Stages of Development.
- sensorimotor, (0-2 years old)
- preoperational, (2-7years old)
- concrete operational (7-11 years old)
- formal operational (11+years old)
Vygotsky’s social development theory “which is an attempt to define human cognition in relation to the social interaction of the individual within her or her culture” (Leonard, 2002:205) . The Zone of Proximal Development is an important aspect of social development; it defines how children reach their potential. It works by incorporating the child’s natural abilities to learn with the adult/parents ability to provide a positive learning environment with helpful support.
Papert’s constructionism focuses more on the art of learning or ‘learning to learn’ and on the significance of making things in learning. Constructionism is a very practical approach to learning, although Leonard believes that constructionism is “a minimalist approach to teaching with the goal of producing in the leaners the most learning for the least teaching” (Leonard, 2002 :37).
E-Learning 