Understanding Cognitivist Learning Theories

Cognitivism

In contrast to the behaviourist approach, McKenna (1995, pp 25) finds that cognitivists view learning as ‘an internal purposive process concerned with thinking, perception, organisation and insight.’ Since there is a change in the capability of the individual to respond to stimulus, it is not possible to directly observe learning. Thinking involves the search for new information as well as recall from the past experiences to gain understanding.

Since many theories adopt an information processing framework (Cust 1995) Gagne’s work is referred to here as well. While behaviourist approach is important in simple forms of learning, the thinking process is felt to be of greater importance where complex human behaviour is considered. Learning is ‘an active, constructivist process in which, learners strive for understanding and competence on the basis of their personal experience’ (Cust 1995, pp. 280 – 281). Therefore success relies on the interaction of the learning and the knowledge required for the task as well as prior knowledge of the learner. This means that the learner will be actively and purposefully extracting and imposing meaning adding to already known information. Since past knowledge and experiences are important, the concept of perception, memory, and cognitive development are considered in the understanding of the process of learning.

Development Theory

Piaget’s work provides an understanding of the way the ‘mental maps’ (also input in the constructivist view) are formed. He states that a developing child builds cognitive structure or mental map to understand and respond to environment. The cognitive structure will increase in sophistication with development. There are four developmental stages :

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years) – through physical interaction with the environment the child will build set of concepts about reality and how it works. The interactions are either sensory or motor in nature, as the baby thinks through action.
2. Preoperational stage (2 years to 7 years) – at this time of life the child still needs concrete physical stimulus to aid understanding as he is unable to conceptualise abstractly yet. Gross (1992) explains that the child’s world is still concrete and absolute and the child is influenced by how things look rather than by logical principles.
3. Concrete Operations (7 years to 11 years) – the child begins to conceptualise and create logical structures, which explain the physical experience. Abstract problem solving is also possible during this stage.
4. Formal Operations (11 years – 15 years) – the cognitive structure is more like that of an adult and conceptual reasoning is possible.

 Figure 1

During all stages learning is taking place by using the existing mental maps to understand the experience. If the experience is a repetition then it is understood and assimilated into the mental make up. If it is new it alters the mental map to accommodate the new experience. This allows for building up more and more adequate cognitive structures. It must however be kept in mind that the ages identified in each stage are only approximate ones as children develop at different rates. Also the process of development is continuous and not taking place in discrete segments. Gross (1992, pp. 741) cites Piaget (1970) to clarify this point, ‘cognitive stages have a sequential property, that is, they appear in a fixed order of succession because each one of them is necessary for the formation of the following one.’

Gestalt Theory

This theory was put forward by a school of German psychologists like Wertheimer, Koffka and Kohler (McKenna 1995). ‘Gestalt’ is a German word meaning form, shape, figure or pattern (Child 1986). The psychologists worked with chimpanzees. When faced with a problem such as how to obtain food that was placed out of reach, the chimp did not tackle it by trial and error as expected, but came to a sudden insightful solution. As soon as the solution is perceived, the learner can proceed to use the insight.

The classical example of this is the insightful deduction by Archemides when he identified that mass of an object is equal to the water it displaces, when placed in water. He had all the related issues but was not just able to perceive the solution. Then one day he sat in a bathtub full of water and the water split over the sides. Suddenly he could see the solution. (Hiero II requested that Archimedes find a method for determining whether a crown was pure gold or alloyed with silver. When he stepped into a bath he realized that a given weight of gold would displace less water than an equal weight of silver (which is less dense than gold); at this point he shouted, "EUREKA" (I have found it!).  That is, he could organise and integrate what he perceived into an over all pattern. From this concept arises the phrase – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Wertheimer (1912, cited by Childs 1981) stated that the individual did not perceive the constituent elements of a phenomenon separately but as a totality. He formulated the Law of Pragnanz to explain the four aspects of perception :

• Similarity – people group phenomena by their familiar salient features and not by their differences.
• Proximity – people group phenomena by their closeness to each other instead of their distances.
• Continuity – objects are often perceived in relation to pattern or shape that they constitute in their totality.
• Closure – there is a tendency to complete an incomplete representation so that the whole is perceived rather than the incomplete parts.

Koffka believed that laws of perception could also be regarded as the laws of learning (Quinn 2000). Since perception is deemed important to learning it will be discussed in greater depth in the next section of the book. Kohler (1947) indicated that solutions to problems appear to come abruptly like a flash of insight. This happens because insight comes from perception of relationship between the different factors and not as a response to different stimuli. All learning cannot be insightful as it would imply that insight is rooted in the past experiences or early socialisation.

Constructivism

This process describes learning as reflecting on experience and construction of own understanding of the world around us. Learning is a search for meaning and this search begins with the issue around which the learner is actively trying to construct meaning. The focus of learning is on primary concepts, as ‘parts’ must be understood in the context of the ‘whole’. Each of us has developed our own mental model and rules (as suggested by Gestalt theorists) to make sense of our experience. So learning is about revising, reorganising and reinterpreting existing knowledge in order to accommodate new information. (Spiro 1977 cited by Cust 1995)

This active and purposeful effort by the learner will make the information more meaningful and lead to deep learning. The active participation of the leaner in the process of learning is possible due to motivation. Motivation is also seen as another explanation into the process of learning because, humanist theorists also discuss it. It will be discussed in greater depth in the next section of this book.

Another concept important to the constructivism is metacognition, which relates to knowledge and regulation of cognition. It involves higher order behaviour such as problem solving, critical thinking and decision making. This comes about from reflecting on experience, learning from it, and to apply the learning to a new situation (Boud et al 1985). Some of these ideas, for example that of active experience, reflection, learning and application of that learning are the basis of humanistic theories discussed later in this section.

Discovery Learning

The concept of discovery learning has often been referred to as a part of the educational philosophy by philosophers like Rousseau, and Dewey, ‘there is an intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education’ (Dewey 1938). It also enjoys the support of learning theorists/psychologists, Piaget and Bruner where the objective is to lead the child to discover for himself (Bruner 1962). Discovery learning occurs when individuals must use their mental processes to figure out the meaning of something for themselves. Discovery learning takes place most notably in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his own experience and prior knowledge to discover the truths that are to be learned. It is a personal, internal, constructivist learning environment. This allows the learner to be a constructionist, to organize what he is encountering in a manner to discover regularity and relatedness, as well as to avoid the kind of information drift that fails to keep account of the uses to which information might have to be put.

Discovery learning has a variety of operational definitions. The definitions show its existence on a continuum. At one end lies discovery learning in its purest form. The tools and information needed to solve a problem or learn a concept are provided and the learner "makes sense" of them. At half way is discovery learning as experimentation with some extrinsic intervention - clues, coaching, a framework to help learners get to a reasonable conclusion. At the other end of the continuum, lies the expository teaching model of discovery learning where the learner "discovers" what the teacher decides he is to discover using a process prescribed by the teacher.

In all instances of discovery learning the teacher’s intervention determines how "pure" is the operational definition of discovery learning. The level of teacher intervention recommended maybe an indicator of the philosophy of education of the teacher/facilitator. The current trend of supporting the "teacher as facilitator/learner-centred" model of instruction and its constructivist philosophical orientation could find a home on this continuum, as well as the teacher-centred model and its objectivist philosophical orientation.

The advantage of discovery learning is that questioning and solving problems without expecting someone to give the answer, enables the learner to develop self-confidence to handle problems in this area, leading to further motivation to learn. Active learning supports the belief that knowledge can be constructed by the learner rather than received from a higher authority.

Discovery learning is based on the assumption that education is a process rather than a set of facts.

• Active learning puts the responsibility on the learner. When placed in the position of having to figure out a problem, the leaner much more likely to take charge of own learning.
• Learner is more attentive.
• The activities focus attention on the key ideas or techniques that are being examined.
• Active involvement forces the leaner to construct a response and this results in processing of information deeper than mere memorization.
• Discovery learning provides an opportunity to get early feedback on own understanding: gaps in understanding cannot be ignored.
• Active learning results in "episodic memory," a deeper memory specific to an event so that if you cannot at first remember the idea or technique you can reconstruct it from the event.
• Discovery learning can be more motivating, incorporating the pleasures of solving puzzles and controlling an environment.

From beginning to end, discovery learning programs keep the experience of gaining insights and commitment, interesting and relevant. Several steps in the creation of a discovery learning design make this work:

• Attract and Intrigue - Immediate visual and auditory stimuli attract attention and set an exciting pace and tone. Right from the start, learners are surprised, engaged, excited and involved in the process of learning.
• Jump-start - Fast-paced exercises get learners started in the process of discovery, by providing just enough initial information and directions for them to confidently move ahead.
• Brain-churn - Small groups work on their own. They "play", think, analyse, question, and occasionally compete. Team members rely on each other and learn together.
• Discover and Conclude -  The light bulbs start burning brightly as learners grasp the big picture, "discover" new insights, knowledge and concepts and ultimately draw conclusions that are pulled together into an overall context or concept.
• Bridge and Connect - Finally the learners connect the learning to the real world. Activities that bridge this new learning to personal follow-up action on-the-job, make the learning deep, truly relevant and long-lasting. (Paradigm Learning 2000)