Teaching & Learning

Theories
Vygotsky
Piaget
Bruner
By:
Maznah Ali
Universiti Sains Malaysia

Lev Vygotsky

Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive

Development

Psychologist Lev Vygotsky proposed that children learn

through interactions with their surrounding culture.
This theory, known as the socio-cultural perspective, states
that the cognitive development of children and adolescents
is enhanced when they work in their Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
To reach the ZPD, children need the help of adults or more
competent individuals to support or scaffold them as they
are learning new things.

Vygotsky
Social Development Theory
Factors influencing how human
thinks:
The history of that society
The experience in that society

Begins with the society ends with

self

Level of Potencial Development

ZPD

Zone of proximal Development

(zon perkembangan terdekat)

Level of realistic development

Piaget

Piaget

Sensory motor

Piaget observed among his children, that as infants

they all manipulated objects as a way in which to gain
knowledge about them.
By touching, looking, and sucking on objects, they
were able to learn about them. He called this the
sensorimotor stage of intellectual development,
lasting from birth to 2 years old, because intelligence
at that time is measured largely by the infant's
deliberate motor actions, and the immediate sensory
feedback they receive from those actions.
The primary limitation of this stage is the infant's
inability to understand that even when he can no
longer see a person or an object, that it still exists.
This is why babies have such a fascination with games
like peek-a-boo, because when they can not see you,
for them you are no longer there. This explains their
delight when you suddenly "reappear" again.

preoperational thought.

From 2 to 7, belonging to the period of Children can now

think about absent objects, and often They can
understand the stable, identifying features of an
object, but have trouble comprehending when that
same object is in some manner transformed .
Children judge things by its appearance rather than
using logic. When asked about the lengths of the
following lines:

B
____________________
____________________
____________________ ____________________
children believe that the lines under choice B are not the
same length as those under choice A.

Concrete Operation

7 or 8years - 11 years old

develop the ability to understand
reversible actions called
"operations".

Formal Operation

11 or 12 yearsthe child should be

entering the last stage, known as the
period of formal-operational thought.
Now the child can apply operational
thinking even to actions that are not
reversible in actuality, but in theory.
Such can be the case with an egg,
because although in reality one can
not unbeat an egg, in theory one can
restore it to its original shape

J.S. Bruner

Bruner
Active Learning
Students build new ideas and concepts

3 modes of learning:
Enactive
Iconic (Pictures)
Sysmbolic

As a child learns to roll over, sit up or

walk, they are learning to do so
through their own actions. While this
mode is present in people of all ages
it is more dominant when a person is
young. An example of this
dominance is the way a young person
can often learn to play a musical
instrument more quickly than an
older person.

Iconic representation normally

becomes dominant during the next
stage of childhood years. Children
learn to understand what pictures
and diagrams are and how to do
arithmetic using numbers and
without counting objects.

around adolescence - the symbolic

mode of learning becomes most
dominant. Students can understand
and work with concepts that are
abstract.

Principles:
1. Instruction must be concerned with the
experiences and contexts that make the
student willing and able to learn
(readiness).
2. Instruction must be structured so that it
can be easily grasped by the student
(spiral organization).
3. Instruction should be designed to
facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the
gaps (going beyond the information
given).

An implication of Bruners
developmental theories

Children should be provided with study

materials, activities, and tools that are
matched to and capitalise on their
developing cognitive capabilities.
For example, a teacher wanting to help
children learn about airplanes could use all
three modes. Students could be asked to
construct models of airplane (enactive);
they might watch a film about, or
involving, airplane (iconic); or they could
consult reference texts and then discuss
their findings (symbolic).

Gagne
Gagne's
instructional
theory

Gagne

Gagne's instructional theory has three

major elements.
First, it is based on a taxonomy, or
classification, of learning outcomes.
Second, it proposes particular internal and
external conditions necessary for achieving
these learning outcomes.
And third, it offers nine events of instruction,
which serve as a template for developing and
delivering a unit of instruction.

5 Learning Outcomes

state or write?
explain what it means?
use it correctly when told to do so?
know when to use it, without being
told?
know how to interpret? etc

Gagnes 9 instructional Events

In addition, the theory outlines nine instructional
events and corresponding cognitive processes:
(1) gaining attention (reception)
(2) informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
(3) stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
(4) presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
(5) providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
(6) eliciting performance (responding)
(7) providing feedback (reinforcement)
(8) assessing performance (retrieval)
(9) enhancing retention and transfer
(generalization).

Verbal information: Reciting something from memory

Intellectual skills:
Discrimination: Recognizing that two classes of things
differ
Concrete concept: Classifying things by their physical
features alone
Defined concept: Classifying things by their abstract (and
possibly physical) features
Rule: Applying a simple procedure to solve a problem or
accomplish a task
Higher-order rule: Applying a complex procedure (or
multiple simple procedures) to solve a problem or
accomplish a task
Cognitive strategies: Inventing or selecting a particular
mental process to solve a problem or accomplish a task
Attitudes: Choosing to behave in a way that reflects a
newly-acquired value or belief
Motor skills: Performing a physical task to some specified
standard

Advantages
Supports active engagement of the learner in the learning
process
Fosters curiousity
Enables the development of life long learning skills
Personalises the learning experience
Highly motivating as it allows individuals the opportunity to
experimentand discover something for themselves
Builds on learner's prior knowledge and understanding
Disadvantages
Potential to confuse the learner if no initial framework is
available

SUMMARY
EXPERT

CONTENT

VYGOTSKY

SOCIAL LEARNING

PIAGET

COGNITVE SKILLS IN
STAGES
STRUCTURING THE
LEARNING PROCESS
LEARNING INSTRUCTION
9 STEPS

BRUNER
GAGNE

Constructivism

Definition
Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise
that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own
understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our
own "rules" and "mental models," which we use to make sense of
our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of
adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.

Discussion
There are several guiding principles of constructivism:
Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start
with the issues around which students are actively trying to
construct meaning.
Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And
parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore, the
learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated facts.

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Discussion
In order to teach well, we must understand the
mental models that students use to perceive the
world and the assumptions they make to support
those models.
The purpose of learning is for an individual to
construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize
the "right" answers and regurgitate someone else's
meaning. Since education is inherently
interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure
learning is to make the assessment part of the
learning process, ensuring it provides students with
information on the quality of their learning.

CONSTRUCTIVISM
How Constructivism Impacts Learning
Curriculum--Constructivism calls for the elimination of a
standardized curriculum. Instead, it promotes using
curricula customized to the students' prior knowledge.
Also, it emphasizes hands-on problem solving.
Instruction--Under the theory of constructivism,
educators focus on making connections between facts
and fostering new understanding in students.
Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student
responses and encourage students to analyze,
interpret, and predict information. Teachers also rely
heavily on open-ended questions and promote
extensive dialogue among students.
Assessment--Constructivism calls for the elimination of
grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment
becomes part of the learning process so that students
play a larger role in judging their own progress.