Who is Jerome Bruner?Jerome Bruner and the Process of ThoughtFour Major Principles of Bruner’s TheoryDiscovery LearningJerome Bruner and Discovery Learning: An

Early Constructivist PerspectiveFacets of ConstructivismApplying Constructivist Perspective

• Born New York City, October 1, 1915• He received his A.B. degree from Duke

University in 1937 and his Ph.D. in 1947from Harvard.

• In 1960 Bruner published The Processof Education.

• Howard Gardner and other youngresearchers worked under Bruner andwere much-influenced by his work.

Who is

Bruner and Process of Thought

• Cognitive-gestalts position• “Grasping the structure of a

subject is understanding it in a way that permits many other things to be related to it meaningfully” (Bruner, 1962, p. 28)

“makers of meaning in

the ordinary conduct”

Theory of Instruction=

“Concerned with how what one wishes to teach can best be learned, with

improving rather than describing learning”

Four Major Principles of Bruner’s Theory

Reinforcement

“will to learn”

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation

Curious

drive to achieve

competence

Reciprocity

Any given subject area, any body of knowledge, can be organized in some optimal fashion so that it can be transmitted to and understood by almost any student.

Economy of

Presentation

Power of

Presentation

Mode of

Presentation

amount of information

simplicity

Mode of

Presentation

Technique or method

EnactiveLearn through movement or

action

Iconic Learn through

images

SymbolicLearn through

abstract symbols

EnactiveLearn through movement or

action

Iconic Learn through

images

SymbolicLearn through

abstract symbols

Reinforcement

In order to achieve mastery of a problem, we must receive feedback about how we are doing.

Discovery Learning

Bruner believes that when students discover it by themselves, it increases the responsibility to learn on their own and motivation to learn more.

Spiral Curriculum

Jerome Bruner and Discovery Learning: An Early Constructivist Perspective

According to Bruner, discover how ideas relate to each other and to existing knowledge.

Facets of Constructivism

1.Meaningful learning is the active creation of knowledge structurebased from personal experience.2. The essence of one person’s knowledge can never be totallytransferred to another person.3. The third facet always follows directly from the second. Truth is whereit always is for the constructivist-in the mind of the beholder.4. Formation and changing of knowledge structures

Applying Constructivist Perspective

• Provide students with realistic problems that cannotbe solved with their current understanding leveland, by allowing them to interact mainly amongthemselves, to work out new understandings.

• Teachers elicit students’ ideas and experiences inrelation to key topics, then fashion learningsituations that help students elaborate on orrestructure their current knowledge.

•Constructivist approaches includescaffolding to support student’sdeveloping expertise.• Inquiry Learning- approach in which theteacher presents a puzzling situation andstudents solve the problem by gatheringdata and testing their conclusions.•Students work individually and togetherconstruct new more effective schemes.