1. What is learning in the constructivist way?
Constructivists view learning as the result of mental construction. Students learn
by fitting new information together with what they already know. People learn
best when they actively construct their own understanding.
2. What is a schema?
Piaget defined schemas as basic units of knowledge that related to all aspects of
the world
A schema is a cognitive structure that serves as a framework for one’s knowledge
about people, places, objects, and events. Schemas help people organize their
knowledge of the world and understand new information.
Examples of Schemas
For example, when a child is young, they may develop a schema for a dog. They know a dog
walks on four legs, is hairy, and has a tail. When the child goes to the zoo for the first time and
sees a tiger, they may initially think the tiger is a dog as well. From the child’s perspective, the
tiger fits their schema for a dog.
The child’s parents may explain that this is a tiger, a wild animal. It is not a dog because it
doesn’t bark, it doesn’t live in people's houses, and it hunts for its food. After learning the
differences between a tiger and a dog, the child will modify their existing dog schema and create
a new tiger schema.
As the child grows older and learns more about animals, they will develop more animal schemas.
At the same time, their existing schemas for animals like dogs, birds, and cats will be modified to
accommodate any new information they learn about animals. This is a process that continues into
adulthood for all kinds of knowledge.
3. What is ZPD/ MKO/scaffolding?
*The zone of proximal development (ZPD or Zoped) is defined as the difference
between a child's “actual developmental level as determined by independent
problem solving” and the child's “LEVEL OF potential development as determined
through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more
capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978). The ZPD refers to the learner's ability to
successfully complete tasks with the assistance of more capable other people.
The zone of proximal development (ZPD), also known as the zone of potential development, is a
concept often used in classrooms to help students with skill development.
The core idea of the ZPD is that a more knowledgeable person can enhance a student’s learning
by guiding them through a task slightly above their ability level.
As the student becomes more competent, the expert gradually stops helping until the student can
perform the skill by themselves.
The idea of the ZPD came from a Russian psychologist named Lev Vygotsky in the early 1900s.
Vygotsky believed that every person has two stages of skill development:
1. a level they can achieve by themselves
2. a level they can achieve with the help of an experienced mentor or teacher
The ZPD can be broken into three stages. Think of them as a series of overlapping circles:
1. Tasks the learner can do without assistance. This category includes everything a
person can do without help from a more experienced individual.
2. Tasks the learner can do with assistance. This category includes tasks a person can’t
work through by themselves but can work through with help, also known as their ZPD.
3. Tasks the learner can’t do with assistance. The final category includes tasks that are
too difficult to perform even with an instructor’s help. For example, a young child might
be able to spell out their own name by themselves but might need help from someone else
to write the complete alphabet. The task is above their skill level and outside their ZPD.
*More Knowledgeable Other
The more knowledgeable other (MKO) refers to someone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a
particular task, process, or concept.
Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult, this is not
necessarily the case. Many times, a child's peers or an adult's children may be the
individuals with more knowledge or experience.
For example, who is more likely to know more about the newest teenage music groups,
how to win at the most recent PlayStation game, or how to correctly perform the newest
dance craze - a child or their parents?
In fact, the MKO need not be a person at all. Some companies, to support employees in
their learning process, are now using electronic performance support systems.
Electronic tutors have also been used in educational settings to facilitate and guide
students through the learning process. The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be
programmed with) more knowledge about the topic being learned than the learner does.
4. Describe the basic components of Jean Piaget cognitive theory (adaptation,
assimilation, accommodation, equilibration.). Give an example to illustrate.
Schemas
A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and
knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand
the world.
In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of
obtaining that knowledge.3 As experiences happen, this new information is used to
modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas.
For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the
child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are
small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog.
The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to
include these new observations.
What Role Do Schemas Play in the Learning Process?
Assimilation
The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as
assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences
and information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above,
seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog
schema.
Accommodation
Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of
new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves
modifying existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new
experiences.5 New schemas may also be developed during this process.
Equilibration
Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As
children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain
a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to
account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children
can move from one stage of thought to the next.
5. How many stages of cognitive development are there according to Jean Piaget?
What are they?
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move
through four different stages of mental development. Piaget's stages are:
-Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
-Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
-Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
-Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up
What are the three main types of
constructivism?
Typically, this continuum is divided into three broad categories: Cognitive
constructivism based on the work of Jean Piaget, social constructivism based on
the work of Lev Vygotsky, and radical constructivism.
*According to the GSI Teaching and Resource Center (2015, p.5):
Cognitive constructivism states knowledge is something that is actively constructed
by learners based on their existing cognitive structures. Therefore, learning is
relative to their stage of cognitive development.
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.
*According to social constructivism learning is a collaborative process, and
knowledge develops from individuals' interactions with their culture and society.
Social constructivism was developed by Lev Vygotsky (1978, p. 57) who suggested
that,
Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social
level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological)
and then inside the child (intrapsychological).
*The notion of radical constructivism was developed by Ernst von Glasersfeld
(1974) and states that all knowledge is constructed rather than perceived through
senses.
Learners construct new knowledge on the foundations of their existing
knowledge. However, radical constructivism states that the knowledge
individuals create tells us nothing about reality, and only helps us to function in
your environment. Thus, knowledge is invented not discovered.
The humanly constructed reality is all the time being modified and interacting to fit
ontological reality, although it can never give a ‘true picture’ of it. (Ernest, 1994, p. 8)
