Cognitive theories The brain acts as an information processor where information is selected, coded, stored and retrieved. Learning is a meaning making process where individuals CONSTRUCT their own meaning of experiences.

Is this an elegant young lady with a necklace or an old lady with a large nose?

Multistability or Multistable Perception

Reification

Emergence

Emergence

Constructivism Learning is a search for meaning. Meaning requires understanding WHOLES as well as parts. Teachers need to understand the mental models students use and the assumptions they make. Students have to construct their own meaning rather than memorise the ‘right’ answers. Assessment has to be part of the learning process.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) 4 developmental stages Sensorimotor stage (birth-2years old). Preoperational stage (ages 2-7). Concrete operational stage (ages 7-11). Formal operational stage (ages 11 +).

Piaget : Active Learning Two interactive processes… Assimilation: where learners incorporate the physical world into their world. Accommodation: we adapt our understanding to reality. Piaget’s influence… Structure of formal schooling. National curriculum key stages. Teaching methods.

Lev Semenovitch Vygotsky (1896-1934) Human learning is social in nature. Thought development is determined by language. Intellectual growth is contingent upon the development of the social key of language.

ZPD This support or assistance is SCAFFOLDING Learning is facilitated by the social interaction of students and ‘more knowledgeable others’ (MKOs). ‘ The zone of proximal development defines those functions that have not yet matured, but are in the process (of doing so)…’ ‘Proximal’ refers to what comes next. The next step in cognitive development is through support from another person (an MKO).

Jerome Bruner (1915-) The importance of the cultural context. Spiralling. Scaffolding. Role of the home. ‘Knowing is a process not a product.’ (1966: 72)

Bruner Discovery learning There are three ways or modes of making sense of our world… Enactive Iconic symbolic Inductive approach

David Ausubel (1963) Deductive approach … if the organisation of learned material is required then information should be transferred to learners in an organised form.

Concepts Subject Some concepts Accounting Bricklaying Catering Chemistry Debit, credit, double-entry. Bricks, mortar, plasticiser. Health, diet, nutrition. Acid, base, reaction.

Principles Principle Subject Accounting Bricklaying Catering Chemistry The sum of all debits should be equal to the sum of all credits in double-entry bookkeeping. Adding plasticiser to a mortar mix gives greater adhesion between bricks. A balanced diet contains the six key nutrient groups essential for good health. In a reaction between an acid and a base, a salt and water are formed. Accounting Bricklaying Catering Chemistry