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What is Cognitivism?

Cognitivism is based on the principle that information is actively processed inside the mindo f the person and the behavior modification takes place by searching for the relationships that exist between various bits of information (Bates, page 43).

The basic premise is that learning learning is a process of gathering all of the relevant pieces of information together until they become a complete picture (Bates, page 43).

Cognitivist theory grew out of disatisfaction with the behaviorist approach (Bates, page 43).

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Argument:

Critics of the cognitive approach argue that it is too focused on personal development encounters rather than on learning outcomes and that not all people have either the capacity, or the desire, to want to spend a great deal of time on processing information (Bates, page 43).

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John Dewey 1859-1952

Dewey believed that education should not be seperate from life itself and that behavior modification occurs and real learning occurs when the individual is able to relate the behavior to their experiences. He also argued that modification has to be viewed in the context of the individual and their environment and not set apart from it (Bates, page 44).

He coined the term intelligent action as the foundation for education that gives people a personal interest in social relationships and control, and the capacity to change behavior (Bates, page 44).

Key aspects of those attitudes are:

• Open mindedness

• Absorbed interest

• Mature approach

He also believed that behavior modification should be learner-centered, and set out the principles for intelligent action (Bates, page 44).

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Learning By Doing! I couldn't agree more. Amberly Kaylor

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As an art teacher Deweys ideas resonate with me.

Here are some of the ways I take Dewey's ideas and apply them to may own teaching in my classroom:

• I will let my students know the relevance of what they are going to learn

• I will be prepared to be a learner in my own lessons

• I will encourage my students to discuss their feelings ona subject in class with their peers

Other takeaways and ideas that I can apply in my classroom:

• Use recent events to help make the subject relevant to my learners interests

• Keep my teaching materials up to date and eye-catching

• Research the interest of my students beforehand

• Listen to my learners

• Boost motivation by highlighting the relevance that the subject has in the real world.

• Interact directly and actively with students

• Support students to discover new information for themselves

• Never be afraid to tell students when I learned something new from them

(Dewey, page 45)

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A creative video on John Dewey and his 4 Principles of Education

As a teacher I believe that learning through hands on projects and exploration is one of the best ways to for my students to learn and build important connections and relate their learning to their own experiences. I will continue to use this approach in my classroom.

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Founder of the Gestalt movement. The basic principle behind gestalt theory is that concepts such as perception, learning, understanding, and thinking should considered as interacting relationships and not as seperate entities. it is through this interaction that Kohler claims that people have a flash of inspiration "a ping moment", when trying to formulate solutions to a problem (Bates, page 46).

He studeied apes solving task-related problems (Bates, page 46).

Kohler argues that people are capable of mentally organising the components of a preoblem and developing insightful solutions. He describes the process in these steps.

1. Failure

2. 2. Reflection

3. Perception

4. Insight

5. Success

If it failed to produce insight then the process coud be repeated until success is reached (Bates, page 46).

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Critical Perspective of Wolfgang Kohlers Insight Theory

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Critics argue that the solution to a problem may also be result of past experience of dealing with a similiar problem, rather than a flash of inspiration (Bates, page 47).

My thoughts:

After reading about this theory and what we just learned about the power of prior knowledge in the previous assignment. I tend to believe that while Kohler's theory may help to lead to flashes of inspiration and insight, learners can also most likely also draw on prior knowledge to help with the transfer of learning.

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How can I apply my knowledge from learning about Woldgang Kohler to my art classroom and teaching?

• I can create conditions in which insight is allowed to flourish.

• I will encourage learners to try new ideas and take risks

• I will use techniques to promote create thinking

• I will reassure learners that mistakes are part of the learning process

• I will encourage students to observe and evaluate what went wrong when challenges occur

• I will encourage learners to not give up when trying to find a solution to the challenge at hand

• I will allow them not to be bound by just covered content

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Vygotsky believed that knowledge and thought are constructed through social interaction with family, friends, teachers, and peers. He referred to the people we learn from as "most knowledgeable others", and the process of learning through social interaction as being the zone of proximal development. He suggested that when learners are in the (ZPD), they develop and understanding of a subject that may have been beyond their previous level of comprehension (Bates, page 48)

He also developed the concept of scaffolding.

The principles of scaffolding are:

• Build interest in the subject and engage with people.

• Break the task into smaller sub-tasks.

• Keep the individual or group focused on completing the sub-tasks, but don't allow them to lose sight of the. main task.

• Use (MKPs) to support people.

• Model ways to complete t he task so that individuals can imitate and then eventially internalise (Bates, page 48).

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Critical perspective of Lev Vegotsky's theory suggest that his theory does not take into consideration those individuals who may rise above social norms based on their ability to bring about personal understanding (Bates, page 49).

My thoughts are that he has some great ways in which we can enhance learning in different ways in our classrooms through social interactions, modeling, breaking tasks down into smaller sub-tasks, and build interest in a subject and engage learners. I do think while these ways may benefit most this is not required for all. There will always be an exception and some may be able to learn best without having to take this approach.

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How I will use Kohler's scaffolding and zone of proximal development in my classroom:

I actually already use the scaffolding approach to learning in my classroom. I do feel that learning more about these ideas and where they originated from will equip me to use them even better.

Here are some of my main takeaways from the reading and ideas for how to best use these ideas

• I will test prior knowledge and understanding of a subject.

• I get members of the group or groups to share their experiences

• I will break the main task down into smaller sub-tasks

• I will challenge individuals to move beyond their comfort zones to build on their current understandings

• I will emphasise to students that although they have benefited by listening to the experiences of others, they too have something to contribute to the learning of others

• I will not "spoon feed them the answers"

(Bates, page 49)

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Jean Piaget 1896-1980

Paiget is one of the most influential cognitive theorists. His belief that people construct knowledge (as opposed to receiving it) is at the heart most cognitive theories (Bates, page 50).

Paget argued that there are four stages of development:

sensorimotor-birth to 2 years ability (learning through touch and feel)

pre-operational-2-7 years (ability to think logically starts to develop)

concrete operational-7-11 years (ability to think logically starts to become more structured)

formal operational-11 years upwards (where abstract thinking and verbal reasoning start to develop)

His theories developed from studeies of children and have been seminal in the work done around human cognitive development. His studies can be summarized as follows:

• People react differently to learning based on their stage of cognitive development

• Teachers should take an active, mentoring role towards their learners

• Learners should be encouraged to learn from their peers

• The focus should be on the process, as well as the outcome

• Teachers should respect each learners interests, abilities, and limits

(Bates, page 50)

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Ways I can apply Jean Piaget's theories in my classroom and teaching:

• I can understand what stage of cognitive development my learners are at

• I can then adapt my teaching strategies to deal with this

• I can make sure to aknowledge my students efforts and achievements

• I can encourage my students to share their experiences since everyone has something to offer

• I can offer one on one support to students who are not flourishing in the group

• I can encourage and remind students that mistakes are good and we can all learn from mistakes

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Jean Piaget

Understanding the different stages of cognitive development helps us to better understand how we can best help our students and how they think and learn differently at different times. If each student is at a slightly different level of cognitive development we may need to use a variety of teaching techniques to cover a wide variety of levels of learning experiences.

Most of my students 7th-12 grade are at the stage of being able to understand abstract concepts in the formal operational stage.

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Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

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Bandura based his theory on controlled experiements conducted with two groups of children. Bandura suggests that the observational process is underpinned by the notion that behavior modification is achieved by: observing the actions of others, mentally rehearsing whether these actions are appropriate and then initiating behavior that is considered appropriate (Bates, page 52).

1. Observe

2. Assess Appropriateness

3. initiate behavior

Bandura suggests that the individual must be encouraged to:

• Pat attention to the behavior

• Remember what was heard

• Have the capacity to reproduce the behavior

• Have the motivation to want to reproduce it

(Bates, page 52)

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Here is what I can apply to my classroom from Albert Bandura's theory.

I can takeaway that the way I behave in my classroom can have a positive or negative effect on my learners

I should avoid sterotypes for to reinforce good behavior

If I do chose role models, I will make sure my learners are capable of replicating their behavior

I can help my students to believe in themselves and their capabilites to do big things by encouraging them and motivating them

(Bates, page 53)

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Ausubel's notionof reception learning argued that behavior modification was achieved through process of deduction: linking new concepts with existingunderstanding and knowledge, thus subsuming previously held knowledge. In order to be able to comprehend complex concepts, Ausubel suggested that the individual must be presented with a series of less-complex and more generalised information on the subject. This can gradually be extended but any extensions have to be related to what is what presented perviously (Bates, page 54)

New material should not be introduced unless it can be integrated into what is already known. (Bates, page 54)

Tell them what you are going to teach

Teach them the subject

Tell them what you have taught them

(Bates, page 54)

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I would not mind trying this method in a future lesson just to see how it goes.

I do think that Ausubel's theory focuses more on deductive reasoning and maybe overlooks the potential for discovery learning and the importance of students actively constructing knowledge, which I tend to lean more towards. I question whether it would be as impactful with my students.

If I were going to apply Ausbel's theory in my classroom I would need to:

• Start the session by recapping what was covereed in the previous lesson

• Explain how I am going to expand on what has already been covered

• Organize and deliver new material, so that it links with previous knowledge

• Test whether the knowledge has been understoof

• Recap on what has been newly covered

• Describe what will be covered in the next session

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Bruners notion of discovery learning argued that behavior modification was achieved through the person participating actively in the process rather than being spoon-fed information, thus discovering important aspects of knowledge. In order to develop their problem-solving skills, Bruner suggested that the practitioner's role is not to impart information by rote-learning but instead facilitate the learning process by designing sessions that help the individual to discover the relationship be0.tween bits of information (Bates, page 56 This can present as follows:

• Establish outcomes

• Agree learning goals

• Facilitate the learning experience

• Evaluate understanding

• redefine outcomes

Bruner maintained that giving the individual the essential information they need to solve the problme but not organising it for them, is a critical aspect of discovery learning (Bates, page 56).

• Find out what they know

• Support them to learn more

• Ask them what they have learned

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Here are my main takeaways on Bruners theory that I could apply in my teaching.

• Find out and test what student know about the subject

• Ask them how they would like to expand on this?

• Assess how they have absorbed that knowledge

I could envision this being impactful especially in my Art 2 classes where student are building on past projects and prior knowledge.

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Summary of thoughts on learning about Cognitivism:

I enjoyed ready and learning about all of the the cognitivist's theories. Since I teach art I found many of these ideas and techniques helpful to learn about, so that I can apply some of them in my teaching and try out new ways of reaching and engaging my students in successful and impactful ways.

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New Studies Link the Arts to Crucial Cognitive Skills