THEORETICAL BASED OF CONSTRUCTIVISM AND BEHAVIORISM

MODULE 4.

 THEORETICAL BASED OF CONSTRUCTIVISM AND BEHAVIORISM

4.1 Constructivism – learning as a generative process

        - The word ‘construct’ comes from the Latin word “ construere “ which means ‘ to arrange’ or ‘ give structure ‘

-learner must construct knowledge, the teacher cannot supply it

- It is a learner center approach

-Two types; cognitive constructivism & social constructivism

1)Cognitive constructivism

- It is advocated by Piaget and bruner

- Mind has to be constructed by the individual though knowledge discovery

-The learner constructs new ideas or concepts based upon their current or past knowledge

-Emphasizes learning rather than teaching

- Learning considered as a process

- Priority to ‘HOW TO LEARN’THAN WHAT TO LEARN’

- Nurtures the learner instinctive curiosity

- Encourage the spirit of enquiry

-Mental models of learners taken into consideration

-Accept the role of exploring and experiencing in learning

-Importance to learning context

- Support co- operative learning

-Encourages dialogue and communicating among pupils and teachers

-Encourages learning through life situations

-Strong foundation of cognitive theories

Performance is given importance in evaluation

- Provide opportunity for the constriction of knowledge by learners

- Teacher act as facilitator, co-learner, diagnostician, democratic leader and not an information monger

Constructivism as a theoretical backing for education

- Piaget called his general theoretical framework “genetic epistemology”

- Four primary cognitive structures according to piaget : sensory motor , pre-operation , concrete operation and formal operations . Cognitive structure change through the process of adaptation

-important points

- Learner while facing a challenging unfamiliar situation

-linking the new situation with already familiar ‘schemas ‘ present in the cognitive structure of the learner , through the process of reversibility

- Assimilation resulting from the above linkage

-Accommodation by which the learner tolerates the newness of the situation and adjusts with it

- Equilibration or gaining back the lost equilibrium and thus ‘adaptation’ ;by which the cognitive structure gets develop and organized .

2) Constructivist theory ( Jerome s. bruner )

- Learners construct new ideas or concept based upon their current / past knowledge

- The learner selects and transform information, construct hypothesis and make decisions , relying on his cognitive structure for doing so.

-Teacher should encourage the students to attain or discover the concept and also principles that are linkage of concepts

Theories four major aspects;

-Pre disposition towards learning

-The ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner

-The most effective sequences in which to present material

-The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments

3) Theory of social constructivism ( L.Vygotsky)

-theory is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition

-he views cognitive development of an individual to be at three zones.

a) Level of actual development; the individual learner acquires left to himself at a particular age

b) Zone of proximal development (ZPD) ; the individual at a particular stage can attain vast cognitive development appropriate for the stage by meaningful interacting with adult under their guidance .

c) Level of potential development; the maximum development one can aspire to reach with the potential available, if the proximal zone is effectively handled..

COMPARISON BETWEEN CONSTRUCTIVISM AND BEHAVIOURISM

NO.	CONSTRACTIVISM	BEHAVIOURISM
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	LEARNING is an active process Emphasis on pupils Learning is mental construction Learning depends on learning situation , attitude, interest etc,,of pupils Learners are introduced to real life situations Learner initiative is accepted Teachers are guides There is dialogue among pupils and between teacher and pupil It encourage cooperation Question asked are open ended	Learning is passive process Emphasis on teachers Learning is modification of behavior Learning is not much dependent on these Leaning task place in the classroom Learner initiative is not accepted Teacher are transmitters of knowledge This is absent in behaviorism There is not much cooperation Question asked are closed ended

4.4 small group activity & large group activity

-         Four to six members

-         Small group activity methods are valuable for increasing student motivation through greater involvement and active participation

-         Give relief to overburdened teachers by sharing responsibilities of instruction with students

Advantages

-         Motivating and generate greater students involvement

-         Increasing understanding and insight of course content involved in the task

-         Students are ability to generate ideas

-         Develop students commitment to recommend ways of handling problem

-         Provide practice in the application of information and concept in working out practically relevant tasks

-         Develop positive attitude (cooperative effort ,cooperation of experiences , group feelings ,self respect ,respect for others

-         Develop problem –solving skill

-         Help in fostering creativity among participants

Example for small group activity

-         Projects

-         Small group discussion

-         Case study

-         Role play

-         Dramatization

-         Preparation of sample records and report

Large group activity

-Project at macro level

-Large number of students

- have to be assigned to all members

-Large group discussion, project, seminar etc..

4.5 Co-operative learning

-The pupil are structured into groups of peers who work together towards a common goal

-Students of different abilities in the same team and reward or reinforce are given to the group but not to individual to encourage learning

-Co-Operative learning involves specific guideline for assignment of children to groups
Advantages

-Develop higher proficiency in critical reasoning strategies and abilities

-Students experience higher levels of intrinsic motivation to learn

-Facilitate behavior based on stronger group interaction

-Positive attitude necessary for working effectively with others

-Develop positive attitude towards teachers, principals, and other school personal as well as       towards peers.

Disadvantages

-Not properly planned and designed, it can allow for “free rider” effect

Possibility of diffusion of responsibility

Teachers’ role in co-operative learning

-         Specifying the objective for the learning task

-         Assigning adequate learning activities to the learners

-         Observation ,analysis and giving proper direction to the students

-         Clarifying the doubts raising by the students

-         Evaluating students performance

4.6 competency based instruction

Competency

-         Competency  is ability to do something

-         Combination of knowledge , understanding, skill, attitude ,and values

Competency based instruction

-aimed at developing different competencies among the learners , is knows as competency based instructions

-to learn and attain for the mastery of a task

-teacher design appropriate learning activities for the attainment of these definite items

Features of competency based instructions

- Competencies to be developed among the leaner’s are identified and selected before starting instruction

-         The instructional programme provides for the development of pre-determined competencies

-         The details of these compete4ncies and the standards expected will be specified and let known in advance

-         Different types of instructional activities , materials, etc… should be designed in advance in tune , with the nature of the competencies and slandered determined

-         Assessment of competencies should cover the knowledge , attitudes, values expected of learners , but the primary source of evidence will be the actual performance of the learner exhibiting the competency in tune with the pre-determined standers

-         The entry behavior of the learner is to be assessed in advance

-         The learner should be frequently observed and their performance analyzed to gather feedback and to provide appropriate remedial measures

-         Competency based instruction ultimately aims at mastery learning by all participants in all the required competencies

-         To achieve this, enough time and appropriate environmental conditions should be provided

Steps in competency based instruction

Steps

Step 1; identifying the competencies

-         The teacher identifies the competencies to be achieved among the learners

Step 2; analyzing the entering behavior

-         The teacher should analyses the entering behavior of the learner by way of an oral or written test

-         It will give clue for planning the leaning activities to the learner pr learners concerned

-         The teacher determines ‘from where to start? And ‘ how to proceed?’

Step 3 explain the competencies

-         This will help the learner to get a clear idea regarding what they are going to learn

-         The teacher may demonstrate the competences to the learners

-         The teacher gives clues to the learner regarding ‘what to achieve ?’

Step 4 imparting instructions

-         In this stage teacher should provide adequate learning activity resulting in experience to the learner

-         Teacher can select suitable curriculum material

-         Mastery learning strategy is preferred  for imparting instructions

Step 5’; evaluation

-         To analyses the attainment of competencies among the learners an effective evaluation programme should be implemented

-         The evaluation will help the teacher to collect the feedback and give remediation programme