ABSTRACT:
The paper discuses the learning theories behaviorism and cognitivist versus constructivism. It focuses on the common and distinguishing features among these three theories that have deep significance for pedagogical science and vocational education. The article strives for a deeper understanding of the nature of constructivist learning in vocational education, It discusses the competing psychological and pedagogical theories of learning but the focus is on identifying the significant feature of constructivism or underlying factor that guide and inspire a variety of different teaching and learning techniques in vocational technical education.
Traditionally, vocational education has prepared its students to be able to “do,” to apply knowledge to practice. With a constructivist perspective, however, vocational educators must extend that emphasis to knowing under what circumstances and in what way knowledge is to be applied. This focus is congruent with the demands of today’s society .
Keywords: constructivism,behaviorism, cognitivism,vocational context, situated learning, authentic learning
CONSTRUCTIVISM VS BEHAVIORISM:
Behaviorism is a philosophy based on the proposition that all things which organisms do including acting, thinking and feeling, can and should be regarded as behaviors. In education, behaviorist approaches emphasize changing behavior through rewarding correct performance. Behaviorism learning or knowledge takes the form of a response to stimuli (e.g. teacher holds up a flash card that says 2 + 2 = and the student says 4) – the primary focus is how the association between the stimulus and response is made, strengthen and maintained. Responses followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future.
The constructivist psychologies theorize about and investigate how human beings create systems for meaningfully understanding of their worlds and experiences. In education, constructivist approaches emphasize active engagement of learners with the conceptual content through strategies such as talking (not just listening), writing (not just reading), and interaction, problem-
solving and other 'active' approaches. bakeramitchell (2011). states -Constructivism is based on a set of assumptions about what goes on inside the learner’s head. Piaget’s constructivism assumes that genetically controlled brain development governs an assumed time-table of when a child is capable of learning. This idea asserts that our brain constructs its own meanings from the social environment when it is ready according to our genetic abilities and that teachers can have only a minimal effect on learning. Fortunately or unfortunately for constructivists none of these assumptions can be, or have been, proven. They can only be inferred to be correct. We cannot pry a subject’s skull open to see what’s going on inside. The same can be said for the psycho-analytical psychologists and their theories about the effects of our past as being abused as children, spoiled as children, ignored as children, or whatever, on the motives governing our present or future actions (and thoughts).
He went further to explain- behaviorism eschews all discussion about what goes on inside the head because we cannot directly measure or observe it. Likewise, the genetic issue is immaterial to the behaviorist. The behaviorist focuses on:-the present environment of a subject and what behavior is exhibited in that environment and what consequences follow. According to a behavioristic view of learning, a learning result is indicated by a change in the behavior of a learner (Skinner, 1938; Venezky & Osin, 1991). According to a constructivist view, learning is seen as the construction of meanings by the learner (Cunningham,1991; Duffy& Jonassen, 1991). Neither of these views can be regarded as exclusively right or wrong. It is, however, important to know that constructivism is presently accepted as the most relevant view of learning and that education policies, education models and education practices focus on constructivism (Brown,2005). Constructivists champion practices that emphasize learning through natural peer group social interactions. These practices include such concepts as “brain-based learning,” multi-sensory learning styles, discovery learning, inquiry methods, whole language reading, balanced literacy, authentic learning environments, and many more (bakeramitchell,2011).
CONSTRUCTIVISM VS COGNITIVISM
Cognitivism is the theory that describes how information is processed to produce learning. It is the change in a learner’s mental behavior. Cognitive theory looks at how information travels from the sensory memory to the working memory to the long-term memory. it focusses more on complex cognitive processes such as thinking, problem solving, language, concept formation and information processing, It’s about equipping learners with effective learning strategies to process the information that they are given – as well as factoring in the students own beliefs and thought processes in interpreting and measuring how well they understand the knowledge acquired . Much more emphasis on connecting prior knowledge (which might not be exactly the same but close) to new knowledge – use of analogy to make new concepts seem familiar more quickly. More about how to learn than how to teach. Knowledge acquisition is described as a mental activity that entails internal coding and structuring by the learner. The learner is viewed as a very active participant in the learning process
Cognitivist, like behaviorism, emphasizes the role that environmental conditions play in facilitating learning. Instructional explanations, demonstrations, illustrative examples and matched non-examples are all considered to be instrumental in guiding student learning. Similarly, emphasis is placed on the role of practice with corrective feedback.
Cognitive theories contend that environmental factors and instructional components alone cannot account for all the learning that results from an instructional Situation. Additional key elements include the way that learners attend to, code, transform, rehearse, store and retrieve information. Learners’ thoughts, Beliefs, attitudes and values are also considered to be valuable in the learning process. Learning results when information is stored in the memory in an organized, meaningful manner. Teachers/designers are responsible for assisting learners in organizing that information in some optimal way. Designers use techniques such as advance organizers, analogies, hierarchical relationships and matrices to help learners relate new information to prior knowledge.
While in constructivism authentic learning activities allow learners learn in their own cultural context. A critical element of fostering learning is to have students carry out tasks and solve problems in an environment that reflects the multiple uses to which their knowledge will be put in the future. Situated learning serves several different purposes. First, students come to understand the purposes or uses of the knowledge they are learning. Second, they learn by actively using knowledge rather than passively receiving it. Third, they learn the different conditions under which their knowledge can be applied, students have to learn when to use a particular strategy and when not to use it (i.e., the application conditions of their knowledge). Fourth, learning in multiple contexts induces the abstraction of knowledge, so that students acquire knowledge in a dual form, both tied to the contexts of its uses and independent of any particular context. This unbinding of knowledge from a specific context fosters its transfer to new problems and new domains. For example, reading and writing instruction might be situated in the context of students putting together a book on what they learn about science.
ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS:
Learning theory has evolved into three paradigms: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. The basic difference between these paradigms is the consideration of objective reality verses relative reality and external environments versus internal processes. Behaviorism characterizes knowledge as object reality and learners as passive vessels into which knowledge can be placed (Driscoll, 1994). Behaviorism is criticized because knowledge is often disconnected from complex, realistic contexts and fragmented into manageable chunks (Slavin 1991). Cognitivism focuses on mental operations and the role of the mind in gaining knowledge. Cognitivists tend to view knowledge as largely objective in nature yet as something developed through internal processes (Driscoll, 1994; Slavin, 1991). Constructivism is essentially an extension of cognitivism. Constructivists emphasize three major points with regard to learning: knowledge is not object reality but is experienced reality, knowledge is situationbound or context-dependent, and knowledge is not passively received but actively constructed (Driscoll, 1994; Pascual-Leone
& Irwin, 1998). Proponents of constructivism argue that knowledge is based on learners' individual perceptions and experiences. As a consequence, pertinent learning experiences are vitally important for learners to construct knowledge. Since knowledge construction is situation-bound, realistic situations and authentic tasks aid learners in development of relevant skills and enhance learners' motivation (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt,1990). The learner must ultimately understand the how, when, what, and why of information concepts and relationships. Constructivists argue that through purposeful manipulation, careful observation, and thoughtful analysis learners can develop a deep insight and understanding of the subject matter at hand. Cognitive psychologists, such as Resnick (1976), have underscored a troubling feature of typical classroom learning: its decontextualized character. In authentic contexts, learning gets support in a number of ways absent in the typical classroom. In authentic contexts: apprentice-like relationships are common; relevant knowledge and skills figure conspicuously in making progress on tasks; tasks allow learners to establish meaningful representations and connections within the knowledge domain; instruction is situated in engaging, problem-rich environments; and a social network functions to support and sustain performance.
Furthermore, Workplace settings are now global in nature and are located anywhere, including the home. Work activities are customer focused and involve teamwork, cooperation, and collaboration among people who are diverse in culture, language, age, life experience, work history, knowledge, and skill level. For learners to be able to transfer knowledge to the complex and diverse environments in which it is to be applied, they must be able to learn in similar settings. Transferring knowledge from one situation to another is difficult, especially when the circumstances or conditions of practice in the transfer setting are remote (e.g., from the vocational classroom to the workplace) (Billett 1997). Thus, in keeping with a constructivist viewpoint, the essential role of vocational education is to “facilitate construction of knowledge through experiential, contextual, and social methods in real-
world environments” (Lynch 1997, p. 27). “The end product is self-directed learners who make connections to workplaces and other environments based on personal and social experiences” (ibid
CONCLUSION
Arising from my analysis, I have identified that context is such an important factor in constructivism and vocational learning that it warrants separate consideration. It became clear that the vocational context is largely responsible for defining the nature of the learning that will take place which in turn defines the constructivist approaches, teaching strategies and methods to be applied. To buttress this , The Institute for learning (IfL) stated that brilliant teaching and training comes from the combination of a deep understanding of learning and the use of ‘learning to learn’ strategies applied within the context of a vocational subject and workplace setting (IfL, 2010) Also on the importance of context on the effectiveness of learning, ‘other key features of knowledge construction are functional context, social context and usefulness. The process works most effectively when it is embedded in a context in which knowledge and skills will be used.’ (Kerka 1997).
The results of my analysis of the learning discourse are neither meant to serve as how-to knowledge for ameliorating learning processes nor do I regard them as an elaborated or new theory of learning as some ideas developed in this paper have a long tradition. Instead they can contribute to a more complex observation of these processes, aiming at a second order observation of the complicated, since complementary, interrelations between the individual, the socio-cultural, the institutional, and the situational components of the domain called “learning.” In other words, I try to demonstrate the plausibility of observing vocational learning from the constructivist perspective . Successful implementation of constructivist theory in vocational education requires realistic assessment of available resources This may automatically require resources that are not readily available in schools and educational institutions (e.g, technology ,time and money for expert modeling).as constructivism affords both opportunities and challenges .
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