Introducing cognitivism as a learning theory
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The document introduces cognitivism as a learning theory that emerged in the 1960s to replace behaviorism. Cognitivism focuses on understanding mental processes like thinking, memory, and problem-solving rather than just external responses. It views learning as involving how mental constructs are encoded and organized in memory. The document outlines key concepts in cognitivism and contributors to the cognitive model of learning like Piaget, Gagne, and Kolb. It also notes some criticisms of reducing cognition to information processing and debates that emerged around cognitivism.
Introducing cognitivism as a learning theory
- 1. Introducing “Cognitivism” as a Learning Theory Rita Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 kizitorita@gmail.com Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 2. About cognitivism The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm for understanding the learning process. The main argument was that instead of just studying responses to external stimuli, it was important to open the ‘black box’ of the human mind in order to understand how people came to learn. The exploration of what brought about inner mental activities and processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving was important and became the focus of educational psychological exploration. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 3. About cognitivism Cognition – from Latin base cognitio – “know together”. A collection of mental processes and activities used in perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, and understanding as well as the act of using those processes. How do these processes impact learning? Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 4. What does cognitivism embrace? Learning theories which tend to occupy a psychological rather than a philosophical space Concerned with explanations of how mental processes function. Asks questions such as: How do people perceive, remember, think and solve problems? (.. to do with the brain or mental functioning). Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 5. Learning model Could be termed a “cognitive psychological learning “model: It is positivist in its assumptions and methodology, separating knowledge from the knower and valuing the use of the scientific method to conduct and validate investigations and findings. It is structural in its view of knowledge and learning using terms such as schema and schemata for representing and describing knowledge and the learning process. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 6. What does this mean? From a cognivistic perspective ( in simplistic terms): Knowledge is a schema consisting of symbolic mental constructs. The learner is viewed as an information processor (likened to a computer) Learning is the means by which a learner is assisted in moving these constructs from the short term to the long term memory. This results in a change in the learner’s schemata. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 7. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Willhelm Wundt who started the first psychology laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. He believed in developing of introspection as a means for studying the mind." Though he was not specifically involved in the field of Educational Psychology, he began the study of the mind. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 8. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Ulric Gustav Neisser (1928 2012), a German-born American psychologist and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He played an important role in the development of cognitive science and the shift from behaviorist to cognitive models in psychology. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 9. Some contributors… Jean Piaget theorized about the four stages of Cognitive Development. Sensorimotor Pre operational 2–7 years concrete Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 0-2 years 7 - 12 years formal operational stage 12 adult Exploration through senses: taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell Development of language and thinking skills, ability to focus on self Seeing the world in relation to others, not just self, beginning to develop logical thinking Developing both logical and abstract thinking. Thought process changing.
- 10. Some contributors…Piaget Three major concepts when dealing with changing ingrained schemes. Assimilation occurs when a person perceives a new object in terms of existing knowledge. Accommodation occurs when you modify existing cognitive structures based on new information. Equilibration includes both assimilation and accommodation and is considered the master developmental process. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 Piaget also believed that a child who hadn't completed certain developmental stages could not learn things from higher developmental stages. For example, a child who had not learned language could not think logically.
- 11. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Gagne, psychologist linked to army training in the army, studied learning and transfer. Introduced the field of instructional design with a process, preparation, ac quisition , transfer. In a book - Conditions of learning. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 12. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Gagne, Briggs, Wager (moving toward cognitive constructivism). Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 13. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Ausubel - advance organizers materials presented before information is introduced. connect new knowledge to old knowledge. add meaning to new content. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 14. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Kolb - Experiential Learning Theory …“ learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” ( 1984, p. 38). A holistic perspective that combines experience, perception, cogniti on and behavior. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 15. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Component Display Theory Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 Merrill (1983) claims that associative and algorithmic memory structures are directly related to the performance components of Remember and Use/Find respectively. Associative memory is a hierarchical network structure; algorithmic memory consists of schema or rules.
- 16. Some contributors to the cognitive psychological learning model Charles Reigeluth posited an instructional design model to help select and sequence content in a way that would optimize attainment of learning goals. It is holistic and fosters meaningmaking and motivation. It allows learners to make many scope and sequence decisions on their own during the learning process. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 Reigeluth, C.M. (1999). The elaboration theory: Guidance for scope and sequence decisions. In C.M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory. (Volume II). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- 17. It is not only in education Learning is now supported by current research in areas such as cognitive neuroscience, which addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain and could affirm evidence of psychological brain states having some relation to mental states. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 Other areas: Computer Science- Artificial Intelligence Neuroscience Psychology – Cognitive Psychology Philosophy Linguistics Anthropology, and Education
- 18. So what is the role of the educator? Attention getter, sets expectations, organiz er, connector and repeater Creates opportunities for rehearsing, encoding Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 ?
- 19. And what do the students do? Question, think, generate new knowledge, learn to work with others. Become self-motivated Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 Mentally process, store, locate and produce responses. As a result create new evolving schemata.
- 20. Where is cognitivism useful in the teaching/ learning contexts? Learning complex systems/issues Learning processes …. In labs, etc. Generating ideas Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 21. What does teaching from this approach entail? a) b) c) Presenting the learner with challenging environments. Linking new knowledge to prior knowledge and organizing information and processes. Assisting learners to develop learning strategies. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 d) e) f) Helping learners to control their own learning processes (metacognition). Assisting learners to perform self assessment. Assessing learners' performance and providing informative feedback.
- 22. Criticisms Stripped of context Mind reduced to robotic, simplistic representations Depicts one form of cognition while there are others – (situated, distributed, embodied etc.) Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014 digitalsandbox.edublogs.org
- 23. Linguist Noam Chomsky , who published Syntactic Structures in 1957, theorizing that language learning was based on a system of rules that underlined actual performance. However, in his later work, rules were replaced with principles-and-parameters - a kind of departure from cognitivism. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 24. John Searle - brain processes are necessary for intentionality . He questions the onset of seeing mental functions as information processing models. He views the world as one which has both mental and physicals states where consciousness is just a higher level property of these physical systems where mental events can cause physical events and the reverse is true. Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014
- 25. The rest is up to you ! Ndagire Kizito 27 February 2014