Facilitating Learner Centered Teaching (ProfEd4)

March 27, 2020

Aira Mae L. Antinero

PCED-03-401P

TF 6:00-7:30PM

RRC#2

Chapter 4

Topics: Constructivist Learning Theories

1. Jerome Bruner’s Constructivist Theory

2. Gestalt Theory

3. David Ausubel’s Subsumption Theory

4. Cooperative Learning

5. Experiential Learning

Constructivism is basically a theory based on observation and scientific study

about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and

knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those

experiences. It is a theory in education that recognizes the learners' understanding and

knowledge based on their own experiences prior to entering school. It is associated with
various philosophical positions, particularly in epistemology as well as ontology, politics,

and ethics. Bruner's constructivist theory suggests it is effective when faced with new

material to follow a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this

holds true even for adult learners. His work also suggests that a learner even of a very

young age is capable of learning any material so long as the instruction is organized

appropriately, in sharp contrast to the beliefs of Piaget and other stage theorists.

Gestalt theory emphasizes that the whole of anything is greater than its parts. That is,

the attributes of the whole are not deducible from analysis of the parts in isolation. The

word Gestalt is used in modern German to mean the way a thing has been “placed,” or

“put together.” There is no exact equivalent in English. “Form” and “shape” are the usual

translations; in psychology the word is often interpreted as “pattern” or “configuration.”

This theory of learning focuses on the mind’s perspective. It is useful as a behavioral

tool as it enables the teacher to channel the pupil’s energy into thinking of an item or

subject as parts of a whole. By thinking of components and breaking down a situation it

enables for a more psychological process to take place and broadens pupils mind.

Ausubel’s theory of learning claims that new concepts to be learned can be

incorporated into more inclusive concepts or ideas. These more inclusive concepts or

ideas are advance organizers. Advance organizers can be verbal phrases (the

paragraph you are about to read is about Albert Einstein), or a graphic. In any case, the

advance organizer is designed to provide, what cognitive psychologists call, the "mental

scaffolding: to learn new information. In Ausubel's view, to learn meaningfully, students

must relate new knowledge (concepts and propositions) to what they already know. He

proposed the notion of an advanced organizer as a way to help students link their ideas
with new material or concepts. Cooperative learning is an educational approach which

aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.

There is much more to cooperative learning than merely arranging students into groups,

and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence. Students must work

in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. Unlike individual

learning, which can be competitive in nature, students learning cooperatively can

capitalize on one another's resources and skills (asking one another for information,

evaluating one another's ideas, monitoring one another's work, etc.). Furthermore, the

teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning.

Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds because of cooperation. Experiential

learning is a process through which students develop knowledge, skills, and values

from direct experiences outside a traditional academic setting. It encompasses

internships, service learning, undergraduate research, study abroad, and other creative

and professional work experiences. Well-planned, supervised, and assessed

experiential learning programs can stimulate academic inquiry by promoting

interdisciplinary learning, civic engagement, career development, cultural awareness,

leadership, and other professional skills.

The assigned topics are all indicated in the PowerPoint presentation. All

information about the topics can be found in their materials. I suggest that they should

limit the bullet points and texts in each slides and must put more pictures to be clearer.

Avoid long sentences in one slide and must put only key words including the essential

information. Good point that the given examples are already enough.
 It is important for us (future educator) to know all these learning theories,

because in the future we can use these as a teaching strategies. Now I know that the

cooperative learning theory is effective, I will make a group activity or group learning for

my future students, through working together, their cooperation skills will be use and

because of this, they will learn. Another is the experiential learning, which where the

students are acquired to experienced hands-on learning. I will let my students

experience what they must be learn, they will understand a simple problem and can be

figure and solve it out by their own way.

To sum it up, the constructivism theory is beneficial for teachers because it gives

teaching strategies that they can be used. They can use any learning theories that is

suitable for their students. We, future educators, should use effective teaching methods

that promote a positive learning environment where learners are successful.