ASSIGNMENT :1

Course Title:
Educational Psychology

Submitted To
Dr. Bushra Yaseen

Submitted by
1) Fareeha Qaiser Abbas
2) Akram Tabassum
3) Zurriat Imran
M.Phil. Education
 Learning as constructive process:
Constructivist views of learning Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge
rather than just passively take in information. As people experience the world and reflect upon those
experiences, they build their own representations and incorporate new information into their pre-
existing knowledge (schemas).

Social constructivist approaches to teaching and learning During the 1930s and 1940s, constructivism
was the leading perspective among public school educators in the United States. In this theory, the
emphasis is placed on the student rather than the teacher. Teachers are seen as facilitators or coaches
who assist students construct their own conceptualizations and solutions to problems. The main ideas
underpinning constructivism learning theories are not new. They began with the insights of Socrates
who claimed that there are basic conditions for learning that are in the cognition of the individual.
Typically, this continuum is divided into three broad categories:

1. Cognitive Constructivism
2. Social Constructivism
3. Radical Constructivism
Social Constructivism by Lev Vygotsky:
A Russian psychologist and philosopher in the 1930's, is most often associated with the social
constructivist theory. He emphasizes the influences of cultural and social contexts in learning and
supports a discovery model of learning. This type of model places the teacher in an active role while
the students' mental abilities develop naturally through various paths of discovery. Lev Vygotsky’s
work contains a central scope focused on the social aspects of acquiring knowledge. He suggests
that one learns best through interacting with others. Through the process of working with others,
learners create an environment of shared meanings with peers. By being immersed in the new
environment, the learner is able to adapt subjective interpretations to become socially accepted.
Vygotsky especially emphasizes that culture plays a large role in cognitive development. He believed
infants were born with basic abilities to develop cognitively. Those basic abilities are then enhanced
through interaction with others and eventually grow into more sophisticated mental processes. For
example, a child is born with the basic ability to memorize. As the child interacts with its
environment and peers, the methods of remembrance adapt. If the child is in a learning setting that
emphasizes flashcards, the child will use similar methods of repetition to improve memory. Similar
to Piaget’s adaptation of radical constructivism from his theory of cognitive development, Vygotsky
draws from his own theory of social development. Vygotsky believed that learners could achieve
much greater level of learning through the help of a More Knowledgeable Other (instructor).
Example of social constructivism includes:
Social constructivism stresses the need for collaborative learning. Some examples of collaborative
learning activities are group problem solving, group inquiry, simulations, and debates. The activities
encourage creativity, value and also foster higher-level thinking.
Cognitive constructivism by Jean Piaget:
His theory has two major parts: an ages and stages component that predicts what children can and
cannot understand at different ages, and a theory of development that describes how learners develop
cognitive abilities. Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be given
information, in which they immediately understand and use. Instead, learners must construct their own
knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas
mental models of the world. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated
through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation. Cognitive constructivism is
based on two different senses of construction. First, on the idea that people learn by actively
constructing new knowledge, not by having information poured into their heads. Moreover,
constructivism asserts that people learn with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in
constructing personally meaningful artifacts (e.g. computer programs, animations).

For example, if I believe that friends are always nice, and meet a new person who is always nice to me I
may call this person a friend, assimilating them into my schema. Perhaps, however, I meet a different
person who sometimes pushes me to try harder and is not always nice. I may decide to change my
schema to accommodate this person by deciding a friend doesn’t always need to be nice if they have my
best interests in mind.

Radical constructivism:
The notion "radical constructivism" (RC) was coined by Ernst von Glasersfeld in 1974 in order to
emphasize that from an epistemological perspective any constructivism has to be complete (or "radical")
in order not to relapse into some kind of fancy realism. Radical constructivism is a theory of teaching
and learning that encourages students to construct knowledge and build on a conceptual understanding
of mathematical knowledge.

Radical constructivism fully embraces the first three epistemological tenets, that is, that knowledge
acquisition is an adaptive process that results from active cognizing by the individual learner, rendering
an experientially based mind, not a mind that reflects some external reality. In addition, there is a
current movement within radical constructivism to more fully accept the fourth epistemological tenet,
thus recognizing social interactions as a source of knowledge. Cognitive constructivists emphasize
accurate mental constructions of reality. Radical constructivists emphasize the construction of a
coherent experiential reality.

Examples of constructivist classroom activities:

Allow pairs of students to teach each other. Learners pose their own questions and seek answers to
their questions via research and direct observation. They present their supporting evidence to answer
the questions

Situated cognition:
Situated cognition is a theory that posits that knowing is inseparable from doing by arguing that all
knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts. Situational cognition is
vastly different from traditional learning. First of all, traditional lessons use abstract experiences, such as
textbooks and lectures, to teach ideas. Situated learning occurs in the context of the experience.
Situated learning, also known as situated cognition, first emerged as an instructional model through the
research of Paul Duguid, John Seely Brown, and Allan Collins. Their paper, titled “Situated Cognition and
the Culture of Learning” criticized the division of knowledge and practice. Situated learning is based on
ideas from many fields, such as psychology, sociology, cognitive science, and anthropology. Duguid,
Brown, and Collins disagreed with public schools and how they treated knowledge “as an integral, self-
sufficient substance, theoretically independent of the situations in which it is learned and used.”

They were not the only ones to disagree with the public school’s approach of separating the “knowing
and doing.” Many other theorists, including Jean Lave, Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, and Étienne Wenger,
believed that learning occurred within situational contexts. Students acquire knowledge from observing
others and practicing themselves, therefore becoming “cognitive apprentices” within the community.
These learning interactions cannot occur abstractly. The theory of situated cognition emphasizes that
cognitive apprentices learn from the experts themselves. Lave and Wenger discussed how apprentices
become reliable members of the community in their paper Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral
Participation. Apprentices gain knowledge through their interactions with experts in that field. Situated
learning gives students the chance to engage with real-life, problem-solving contexts.

This means that when designing instruction, one must remember:

The best learning occurs when students are presented with a problem themselves and must think
through and act on like the experts. Problems must be realistic and relevant to the situation.

The instructor acts as a coach and model instead of lecturer. They are also responsible for scaffolding
information into manageable chunks to assist students in solving the problems.

The learning environment must promote reflection, discussion, and evaluative thinking. Students must
actively engage in the situation, even if most problems are group activities.

Situational vs traditional learning:

Situational cognition is vastly different from traditional learning. First of all, traditional lessons use
abstract experiences, such as textbooks and lectures, to teach ideas. Situated learning occurs in the
context of the experience. Secondly, traditional lessons focus only on the relationship between the
student and the instructor. Situational learning places great emphasis on relationships and interactions
with others in order to build understanding. Students learn by making connections to their prior
knowledge. And third, situational learning works to develop the role of the individual within the greater
community. As a student gains more knowledge in one area, they are able to collaborate with others
and play a more prominent role in the community. They are able to share their understanding in turn
and the cycle begins again. There is no such cycle or purposeful role in traditional learning models.

Situated learning is also heavily reliant on collaborative activities. Students work together and discuss
their thinking with other group members. Everyone will bring unique prior knowledge to the situation
and are encouraged to challenge the thinking of others. All skills and activities will be directly relevant to
real situations in the workplace, home, or community.

Developing Situated Classroom Activities

There are some guidelines to keep in mind when developing classroom activities for situated learning:
The act of learning occurs daily in meaningful situations.
  Understanding can only be transferred to situations similar to the one in which learning
occurred.
 Ideal situations will engage the learner in real-world problem-solving in an area that interests
them.
 Learning is a social activity; interactions with others prompt reflection and therefore the
development of knowledge.
 Learning is not independent of the real world but works alongside it. Every person is an actor in
the learning situation and the actions are responses to the complex environment.
 The instructor should recognize the learning situation as such as become the facilitator or guide
in the complex situation. They can help learners recognize clues in the environment, promote
collaboration, and reflect aloud with individuals.
 Scaffolding is another tool that instructors can implement in the learning situation. The
instructor should be knowledgeable enough to recognize where students may need assistance
and what kind of guidance they might need.
 As the learners progress through the problem, less support may be required. Instructors are
also responsible for assessment, even if the traditional methods of evaluation are not used.
They can track the growth of intellectual knowledge through discussions and observations with
the students in the situation itself

Cooperative/collaborative learning:
Cooperative learning generally means that the teacher makes each member of the group in charge of
the academic performance of the others. Collaborative learning on the other hand means that the
students come together to work on a project as a team. Each student is responsible for their own
individual work separately. In the 21st century, teamwork was deemed as essential part of the learning
curve in the classroom. This did not come as a surprise to many people. Bringing students to work
together for the good of learning can be traced back even to Socrates, i.e. Socrates' circle. Socrates was
an avid believer that lecturing was not a method of teaching students that was effective to all of them.
Especially now because generally the work atmosphere calls for teamwork. It is the norm in the modern
industry so the children need to learn this skill even from a tender age. The issue with integration of
children into the teamwork spirit is the fact that it may result in more work for the teacher initially. But
once a form of order has been established then the rest is just a breeze. The only thing remaining for the
teacher is to establish the mode of learning, either cooperative learning or collaborative learning. This is
the part that brings the teachers a bit more confusion.

Cooperative learning:
Cooperative Learning is an instructional method in which students work in small groups to accomplish a
common learning goal under the guidance of the teacher.

Cooperative learning is a strategy used within groups of learners and aims to improve their learning
experience and understanding of a learning subject. This type of learning strategy uses small group tasks
and activities as a learning experience

Collaborative learning:
 A collaborative (or cooperative) learning approach involves pupils working together on activities or
learning tasks in a group small enough to ensure that everyone participates. Pupils in the group may
work on separate tasks contributing to a common overall outcome, or work together on a shared task.

Benefits of both Cooperative and Collaborative Learning:

When participants engage in collaborative and cooperative learning activities, they “construct” new
ideas based on both their own experiences and understandings and those of their team members. The
two learning strategies result in deeper understanding of the content, increased engagement, and
heightened motivation.

Research shows cooperative learning helps to produce:

 Higher achievement.
 Increased retention.
 More positive relationships and a wider circle of friends.
 Greater intrinsic motivation.
 Higher self-esteem.
 Greater social support.
 More on-task behavior.
 Better attitudes toward teachers.
The benefits of collaborative learning include:
 Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.
 Promotion of student-faculty interaction.
 Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.
 Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.
Conclusion:
The modern work environment requires the workers to have social skills as it is a place where they have
to work together. Imbibing the skills of teamwork in students is crucial from a young age. It is these skills
that are propagated by collaborative and cooperative learning.