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Chapter 2. Describing the Habits of Mind

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Chapter 2. Describing the Habits of Mind

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by Arthur L. Costa

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ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

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ISCA: A Constructivist Perspective on Teaching and Learning:A Conceptual Framework

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ISCA: A Constructivist Perspective on Teaching and Learning:A Conceptual Framework

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By Thakur Kalpana

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ERIC: Constructivism inTeacher Education: Considerations forThose Who Would Link Practice toTheory.

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ERIC: Constructivism inTeacher Education: Considerations forThose Who Would Link Practice toTheory.

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By Abdal-Haqq, Ismat

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By Kaya Yilmaz

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Graduate Student Instructor: Cognitive Constructivism 

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Graduate Student Instructor: Cognitive Constructivism 

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Cognitivist teaching methods aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, as well as enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information.

Background

Dissatisfaction with behaviorism's strict focus on observable behavior led educational psychologists such as Jean Piaget and William Perry to demand an approach to learning theory that paid more attention to what went on "inside the learner's head." They developed a cognitive approach that focused on mental processes rather than observable behavior. Common to most cognitivist approaches is the idea that knowledge comprises symbolic mental representations, such as propositions and images, together with a mechanism that operates on those representations. Knowledge is seen as something that is actively constructed by learners based on their existing cognitive structures. Therefore, learning is relative to their stage of cognitive development, and understanding the learner's existing intellectual framework is central to understanding the learning process.

View of Knowledge

While behaviorists maintain that knowledge is a passively absorbed behavioral repertoire, cognitive constructivists argue instead that knowledge is actively constructed by learners and that any account of knowledge makes essential references to cognitive structures. Knowledge comprises active systems of intentional mental representations derived from past learning experiences. Each learner interprets experiences and information in the light of their extant knowledge, their stage of cognitive development, their cultural background, their personal history, and so forth. Learners use these factors to organize their experience and to select and transform new information. Knowledge is therefore actively constructed by the learner rather than passively absorbed; it is essentially dependent on the standpoint from which the learner approaches it.

View of Learning

Because knowledge is actively constructed, learning is presented as a process of active discovery. The role of the instructor is not to drill knowledge into students through consistent repetition, or to goad them into learning through carefully employed rewards and punishments. Rather, the role of the teacher is to facilitate discovery by providing the necessary resources and by guiding learners as they attempt to assimilate new knowledge to old and to modify the old to accommodate the new. Teachers must thus take into account the knowledge that the learner currently possesses when deciding how to construct the curriculum and how to present, sequence, and structure new material.

View of Motivation

Unlike behaviorist learning theory, where learners are thought to be motivated by extrinsic factors such as rewards and punishment, cognitive learning theory sees motivation as largely intrinsic. Because it involves significant restructuring of existing cognitive structures, successful learning requires a major personal investment on the part of the learner (Perry 1999, 54). Learners must face up to the limitations of their existing knowledge and accept the need to modify or abandon existing beliefs. Without some kind of internal drive on the part of the learner to do so, external rewards and punishments such as grades are unlikely to be sufficient.

Implications for Teaching

Cognitivist teaching methods aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, and enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information. Thus, while cognitivists allow for the use of "skill and drill" exercises in the memorization of facts, formulae, and lists, they place greater importance on strategies that help students to actively assimilate and accommodate new material. For instance, asking students to explain new material in their own words can assist them in assimilating it by forcing them to re-express the new ideas in their existing vocabulary. Likewise, providing students with sets of questions to structure their reading makes it easier for them to relate it to previous material by highlighting certain parts and to accommodate the new material by providing a clear organizational structure. Because learning is largely self-motivated in the cognitivist framework, cognitivists such as A. L. Brown and J. D. Ferrara have also suggested methods which require students to monitor their own learning. For instance, the use of ungraded tests and study questions enables students to monitor their own understanding of the material. Other methods that have been suggested include the use of learning journals by students to monitor progress, to highlight any recurring difficulties, and to analyze study habits.

Jean Piaget

The most influential exponent of cognitivism was Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget. Piaget rejected the idea that learning was the passive assimilation of given knowledge. Instead, he proposed that learning is a dynamic process comprising successive stages of adaption to reality during which learners actively construct knowledge by creating and testing their own theories of the world (1968, 8). Piaget's theory has two main strands: first, an account of the mechanisms by which cognitive development takes place; and second, an account of the four main stages of cognitive development through which children pass.

The basic principle underlying Piaget's theory is the principle of equilibration: all cognitive development (including both intellectual and affective development) progresses towards increasingly complex and stable levels of organization. Equilibration takes place through a process of adaption; that is, assimilation of new information to existing cognitive structures and the accommodation of that information through the formation of new cognitive structures. For example, learners who already have the cognitive structures necessary to solve percentage problems in mathematics will have some of the structures necessary to solve time-rate-distance problems, but they will need to modify their existing structures to accommodate the newly acquired information to solve the new type of problem. Thus, learners adapt and develop by assimilating and accommodating new information into existing cognitive structures.

Piaget suggested that there are four main stages in the cognitive development of children. In the first two years, children pass through a sensorimotor stage during which they progress from cognitive structures dominated by instinctual drives and undifferentiated emotions to more organized systems of concrete concepts, differentiated emotions, and their first external affective fixations. At this stage, children's outlook is essentially egocentric in the sense that they are unable to take into account others' points of view. The second stage of development lasts until around seven years of age. Children begin to use language to make sense of reality. They learn to classify objects using different criteria and to manipulate numbers. Children's increasing linguistic skills open the way for greater socialization of action and communication with others. From the ages of seven to twelve years, children begin to develop logic, although they can only perform logical operations on concrete objects and events. In adolescence, children enter the formal operational stage, which continues throughout the rest of their lives. Adolescent children develop the ability to perform abstract intellectual operations, and reach affective and intellectual maturity. They learn how to formulate and test abstract hypotheses without referring to concrete objects. Most importantly, children develop the capacity to appreciate others' points of view as well as their own.

Piaget's theory was widely accepted from the 1950s until the 1970s. Although the theory is not now as widely accepted, it has had a significant influence on later theories of cognitive development. For instance, the idea of adaption through assimilation and accommodation is still widely accepted.

William G. Perry

William G. Perry, an educational researcher at Harvard University, developed an account of the cognitive and intellectual development of college-age students through a fifteen-year study of students at Harvard and Radcliffe in the 1950s and 1960s. Perry generalized that study to give a more detailed account of post-adolescent development than did Piaget. He also introduced the concept of positionality and formulated a less static view of developmental transitions.

The sequence of cognitive structures that make up the developmental process may be described in terms of cross-sections of cognitive structures representative of different stages in the developmental sequence. Each stage is construed as a relatively stable, enduring cognitive structure, which includes and builds upon past structures. Stages are characterized by the coherence and consistency of the structures that compose them. The transition between stages is mediated by less stable, less consistent transitional structures. Freud, Whitehead, and Piaget all use the notion of a stage in this way. Perry rejects the notion of a stage. He argues that construing development in terms of a sequence of stable stages in which students are "imprisoned" is too static (Perry 1999, xii). Instead, he introduces the notion of a position. Perry accepted Piaget's claim that learners adapt and develop by assimilating and accommodating new information into existing cognitive structures. He also accepted Piaget's claim that the sequence of cognitive structures that constitute the developmental process are both logically and hierarchically related, insofar as each builds upon and thus presupposes the previous structure. However, he laid far greater emphasis on the idea that learners approach knowledge from a variety of different standpoints. Thus, according to Perry, gender, race, culture, and socioeconomic class influence our approach to learning just as much as our stage of cognitive development (xii). We each interpret the world from a different position (46) and each person may occupy several positions simultaneously with respect to different subjects and experiences (xii). The developmental process is a constantly changing series of transitions between various positions.

Perry provides the following illustration different types of position (1999, 2):

... a lecturer announces that today he will consider three theories explanatory of ____________.
Student A has always taken it for granted that knowledge consists of correct answers, that there is one right answer per problem, and that teachers explain these answers for students to learn. He therefore listens for the lecturer to state which theory to learn.
Student B makes the same general assumptions but with an elaboration to the effect that teachers sometimes present problems and procedures, rather than answers, "so that we can learn to find the right answer on our own..."
Student C assumes that an answer can be called "right" only in the light of its context, and that contexts or "frames of reference" differ...
Whatever the lecturer then proceeds to do..., these three students will make meaning of the experience in different ways which will involve different assessments of their own choices and responsibilities.

Perry identifies nine basic positions, of which the three major positions are duality, multiplicity, and commitment.

The most basic position is duality. The world, knowledge, and morality are assumed to have a dualistic structure. Things are right or wrong, true or false, good or bad. Students see teachers as authority figures who impart right answers and "the truth." The role of the student is seen as being to receive those answers and demonstrate that they have learned them. Detachment is difficult in this because there is only a single, correct point of view. Most students have passed beyond this stage by the time that they arrive in university. Those who have not quickly do so in the typically pluralistic culture of modern universities.

Positions two through four are largely transitional. Learners gradually develop an increased recognition of multiplicity but still assimilate that multiplicity to the fundamentally dualistic framework of the first position. For instance, a student may recognize the existence of a multiplicity of different points of view in the university but still look for the point of view that the teacher "wants us to learn" (121).

The next major position is multiplicity. The world, knowledge, and morality are accepted as relativistic in the sense that truth is seen as relative to a frame of reference rather than absolute. Learners recognize that things can only be said to be right or wrong within a specific context. Teachers are seen as expert guides or consultants rather than as authority figures who impart "the truth." Peers are accepted as legitimate sources of learning (xxxii). This position involves a much more extensive restructuring of the learner's existing knowledge than previous positions as knowledge can no longer be assimilated to the existing dualistic organizational scheme.

Positions six through eight are also largely transitional. Recognition of the relativity of knowledge leads to the realization that a stable locus or point of view is necessary for a sense of identity and to give some feeling of continuity. This leads to the gradual formation of commitments to certain points of view, relationships, sorts of activities, etc. The learner realizes the necessity to find his own point of view in a relativistic world. He or she begins by questioning and reconsidering past beliefs and commitments, then develops and expands upon firm commitments regarding important areas of life and knowledge.

The final major position is commitment. The commitments that the learners have developed, together with their recognition that all knowledge is relative, leads to the realization both that each person partly determines his or her own fate and the recognition that commitments, and hence identity, are constantly evolving.

Because Perry's initial research was based on a small and fairly non-representative sample of students, many of the details of his positions have been modified or developed by later researchers. However, the idea of positionality has had a significant influence on social identity theory and his account of developmental transitions is consonant with current approaches to adult learning (xii).

References

Perry, William G. (1999). Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Piaget, Jean (1968). Six Psychological Studies. Anita Tenzer (Trans.), New York: Vintage Books.

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Cognitivist teaching methods aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, as well as enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information.

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Learning Theories: Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

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Learning Theories: Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

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Albert Bandura (1925 - Present)

Key Concepts

People learn through observing others' behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors[1]. "Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action." (Bandura). Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences.

Necessary conditions for effective modeling

Attention - various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One's characteristics (e.g. sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement) affect attention.

Retention - remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal

Reproduction - reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of reproduction.

Motivation - having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such as past (i.e. traditional behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced model)

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura believed in "reciprocal determinism", that is, the world and a person's behavior cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one's environment causes one's behavior[2], Bandura, who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he suggested that behavior causes environment as well[3]. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one's psychological processes (one's ability to entertain images in minds and language).

Social learning theory has sometimes been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. The theory is related to Vygotsky's Social Development Theory and Lave's Situated Learning, which also emphasize the importance of social learning.

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Additional Resources and References

Resources

References

1. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.

2. Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

3. Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

4. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

5. Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of Behavior Modification. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

6. Bandura, A. & Walters, R. (1963). Social Learning and Personality Development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

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Albert Bandura (1925 - Present) People learn through observing others' behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors[1]. "Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action."

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Learning Theories: Social Development Theory (Vygotsky)

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Learning Theories: Social Development Theory (Vygotsky)

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TeAchology: Vygotsky's Theory on Constructivism

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TeAchology: Vygotsky's Theory on Constructivism

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Constructivism Vygotsky style. Examine Vygotsky's theories.

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TeAchology: Piaget's Theory on Constructivism

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TeAchology: Piaget's Theory on Constructivism

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Constructivism Piaget style. Examine Piaget's theories.

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TeAchology: Bruner's Theory on Constructivism

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TeAchology: Bruner's Theory on Constructivism

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Bruner's Theory on Constructivism

Bruner's theory on constructivism encompasses the idea of learning as an active process wherein those learning are able to form new ideas based on what their current knowledge is as well as their past knowledge. A cognitive structure is defined as the mental processes which offer the learner the ability to organize experiences and derive meaning from them. These cognitive structures allow the learner to push past the given information in constructing their new concepts. The learner, often a child, will take pieces of their past knowledge and experiences and organize them to make sense of what they know, then base further concepts and solve additional problems based upon a combination of what they already processed and what they think should be processed next.

The teacher resources used should be focused on that of encouragement, aiding and allowing the student to uncover the main principles on their own. Communication between the learner and teacher is the key concept. Socratic learning is suggested as the best method of communication in this theoretical framework, as it allows the teacher to actively note any study skills the learner verbalizes, their progression, their frustrations, and form a rubric of their current learning state based on the dialogue. Seeing as this theory takes known information and expounds upon it, any teacher lesson plans, teacher worksheets, or resources should in fact be constantly building the learner's knowledge in a spiral manner.

The four major principles of Bruner's theory on constructivism encompass 1) a predilection toward learning. The second, how a grouping of knowledge is able to be constructed to best be understood by the learner. The third is effective manners for the teacher to present said material to the learner, with the fourth and final aspect being the progression of rewards as well as punishments.

Bruner is poignant about language and how this affects cognition within this theory of learning development. It is pertinent to any success of a child to identify the differences between adult language and the language used by children. With the child being younger, they need time to advance not only their conceptual learning but their language as well. Thus, teachers and parents alike are encouraged to envelop the "scaffolding" method of communication which is a strategy aimed to simplifying tasks within learning by making smaller steps, all leading to the final outcome. This aids in maintaining any frustration while keeping in mind what is important throughout the learning process.

When evaluating study skills of the child, Bruner's theory suggests that the teachers be explicit regarding organization, help the learner to focus on the larger task at hand as well as the goals, instead of getting caught on minor details or frustrations. They are encouraged to praise the efforts put out by the learners while reminding them, helping them focus on relevant items, and encouraging them to practice and rehearse what they have learned. Social as well as cultural contingencies of learning were adapted into Bruner's later work, theorizing how these affected learning.

More On Bruner's Theory on Constructivism

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Bruner's theory on constructivism encompasses the idea of learning as an active process wherein those learning are able to form new ideas based on what their current knowledge is as well as their past knowledge. A cognitive structure is defined as the mental processes which offer the learner the ability to organize experiences and derive meaning from them.

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By Dr. Tina H. Boogren

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Contributors

Key Concepts

A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner is not a blank slate (tabula rasa) but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation[3][4].

NOTE: A common misunderstanding regarding constructivism is that instructors should never tell students anything directly but, instead, should always allow them to construct knowledge for themselves. This is actually confusing a theory of pedagogy (teaching) with a theory of knowing. Constructivism assumes that all knowledge is constructed from the learner's previous knowledge, regardless of how one is taught. Thus, even listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge.

Vygotsky's social development theory is one of the foundations for constructivism.

Additional Resources and References

Resources

References

1. Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press.

2. Piaget, J. (2013). The construction of reality in the child (Vol. 82). Routledge.

3. Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective.Performance improvement quarterly, 6(4), 50-72.

4. Cooper, P. A. (1993). Paradigm Shifts in Designed Instruction: From Behaviorism to Cognitivism to Constructivism. Educational technology, 33(5), 12-19.

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Key Concepts A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation.

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Concept to Classroom: What is Constructivism?

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Concept to Classroom: What is Constructivism?

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Welcome to Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Start with the Explanation section to gain a good understanding of the CONCEPT of constructivism. Then go on to Demonstration, where we move from CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM!

What is constructivism?
How does this theory differ from traditional ideas about teaching and learning?
What does constructivism have to do with my classroom?
Expert interview
What is the history of constructivism, and how has it changed over time?
What are some critical perspectives?
What are the benefits of constructivism?

What is constructivism?
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.

In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.

Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN.

You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences, students find their ideas gaining in complexity and power, and they develop increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information. One of the teacher's main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection process.

For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept.

Contrary to criticisms by some (conservative/traditional) educators, constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of expert knowledge. Constructivism modifies that role, so that teachers help students to construct knowledge rather than to reproduce a series of facts. The constructivist teacher provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities with which students formulate and test their ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process. Always guided by the teacher, students construct their knowledge actively rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the textbook.

Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory that compels students to "reinvent the wheel." In fact, constructivism taps into and triggers the student's innate curiosity about the world and how things work. Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions. They become engaged by applying their existing knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings.

The best way for you to really understand what constructivism is and what it means in your classroom is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it, and trying it yourself. As you progress through each segment of this workshop, keep in mind questions or ideas to share with your colleagues.

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Thirteen | Thirteen Ed Online | thirteencelebration.org

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Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

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Welcome to Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Start with the Explanation section to gain a good understanding of the CONCEPT of constructivism. Then go on to Demonstration, where we move from CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM! What is constructivism? How does this theory differ from traditional ideas about teaching and learning?

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Institute for Inquiry: Constructivist Learning Theory

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Institute for Inquiry: Constructivist Learning Theory