EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Paradigms, Theories and Models

by Sarah Devereaux

Constructivism Theory

Behaviorism Theory

Cognitivism Theory

ParadigmsA comprehensive belief system that guides research and practice in the field.

POSTPOSITIVIST/OBJECTIVIST PARADIGM

Education is Knowledge Transmission

The Behaviorist Learning Theory

Teacher – Directed Methods

Postpositivism

Makes teachers directly accountable for student results.Teaching = Learning

Focuses on observable events that precede and follow certain behaviors.- Stimulus & Response

Behaviorism Operant Learning – contingent

relationships among antecedents, operant, and consequences.

Programmed instruction – the pedagogical organization of stimuli, responses, and reinforcers.

Direct Instruction – scripted method that provides fast-paced, constant interaction between students and teachers.

As hard technology advanced these frameworks were incorporated in digital formats like CAI (computer-assisted instruction) and online distance education.

Behaviorism-based technologies show that it is possible to achieve dramatic test gains through careful control.

Education is about participationINTERPRETIVISM PARADIGM

The Cognitivist Theory

Focuses on inferred mental conditions.Teachers & Students = Collaborators

Interpretivism

Teachers allow students to construct knowledge

Learning is under the control of learners. Student Motivation leads to achievements.

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Piaget’s Theory – children try to fit events of experiences into existing framework. Modified mental structure when things didn’t fit.

Learners use their memory and thought processes to generate strategies or manipulate mental ideas.

Cognitive perspective gained legitimacy and dominance in 1970 when the journal Cognitive Psychology began.

Information processing theory – learning is a series of transformations of information. Information processes – sensory memory to short term memory to long term memory.

Cognitivism

Schema theory – material stored in long term memory is arranged in organized structures that change.

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Emphasis on the arrangement of content to make it meaningful, comprehensible, memorable, and appealing draws attention to design issues.

Learner use of multiple sensory modalities like computer multimedia resembles the natural human cognitive system. Can transform from one symbol system to another.

It is meant to apply to learning in the cognitive domain – knowledge, understanding, application, evaluation, and metacognition.

A useful example of a lesson framework that arranges the steps of a learning event is Gagne’s Events of Instruction – a specific sequence of events.

Cognitivism – cont.

Or Foshay and Stelnicki’s framework that is the form of “a cognitive training model” – 17 specific tactics organized around 5 strategic phases (shown on next slide).

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1 Gaining and focusing attention

Linking to prior knowledge

Organizing content

Assimilating the new knowledge

Strengthening retention and transfer of the new knowledge

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Learning is a social processCONSTRUCTIVISM PARADIGM

The Constructivism Theory

Involves construction, authenticity and reflection. Sociocultural approach

Constructivism

Infused anchored instruction, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning with a sense of mission.

An umbrella term for a wide range of ideas drawn primarily from recent developments in cognitive psychology.A number of authors were known to hold widely divergent and sometimes conflicting views associated with constructivism.

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1Embed learning in complex, realistic, and relevant environments.

Provide for social negotiation as an integral part of learning.

Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation.

Encourage ownership in learning.

Nurture self-awareness of the knowledge construction process.

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Constructivism Terhart concluded the difficulty to distinguish

moderate constructivist principals of instruction from cognitivist principals

He stated that “the ‘new’ constructivist didactics in the end is merely an assembly of long-known teaching methods.”

The assumption “that knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences” (Driscoll, 2005, p.387) overlaps with cognitivists assumptions.

Where constructivism differs is in that the constructions may not correspond to the external reality.

Teachers are learning to plan activities that engage students in learning, are authentic and worthwhile, and involve constructivist principals while using educational technology as a tool for learning.

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A Simple FormulaThe combination of theoretical perspectives

Employ behaviorist perspective when learners have lower levels of task knowledge

Use cognitivist perspective for middle levels of task knowledge

Consider constructivist perspective when learners have a higher level of prior knowledge

– complex problem solving

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Clark (1983) concludes that “it seems not to be media but variables such as instructional methods that foster learning” (p.449).Different media formats only make a difference in time, not learning effectiveness.Different results could be expected if a different instructional paradigm might be used.Not learning from media, but instead with media.

Some enthusiasts for using media to improve learning assume that embedding content in the newest media will automatically improve the effectiveness of it.“The best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction […] like a truck that delivers our groceries” (Clark, 1983, p.445).The use of media more and more comes to mean digital media.

Media vs Methods