The above Venn diagram gives an overview of Cognitivism and Connectivism to help the reader better understand the theories and it's similarities and differences.
CASE STUDY COGNITIVISM:
I would like to base my case study on Robert Gagne's (1985) cognitivism learning theory of following nine instructional events do support an effective learning process. Number 1-3 are to prepare for the learning, number 4-7 include the acquisition of knowledge and practice, 8 and 9 are about the sustainable transfer of the learning:
I believe that my personal learning experience from university is a great example to assess cognitivism and connectivism in more detail.
CASE STUDY CONNECTIVISM:
Looking into my third learning experience of learning on the job by trial and error I believe that connectivism plays a highly relevant role. I regularly utilize different collaboration tools such as teams, Jamboard, Mural, Slido, and many others to exchange and build knowledge as a team (network).
Behaviorism vs. Cognitivism
References:
CASE STUDY COGNITIVISM:
I would like to base my case study on Robert Gagne's (1985) cognitivism learning theory of following nine instructional events do support an effective learning process. Number 1-3 are to prepare for the learning, number 4-7 include the acquisition of knowledge and practice, 8 and 9 are about the sustainable transfer of the learning:
- Gain attention
- Inform learner of the objective
- Stimulate recall of prior learning
- Present distinctive stimulus feature
- Provide learning guidance
- Elicit performance
- Provide feedback
- Assess performance
- Provide retention and transfer
I believe that my personal learning experience from university is a great example to assess cognitivism and connectivism in more detail.
- At the beginning of each semester and in most modules the lecturer would start the module with highlighting some shocking facts about the topic to be learned -> 1 gain attention. An example that comes to mind was a situation where a lecturer highlighted how many print newspapers went into administration in the last decade because of decreased demand for payed journalism due to increased availability of free media on the internet.
- As one of the first steps in each module lecturers also made sure to inform us students about the learning objectives of said course -> 2 inform learner of the objective.
- The way in which the curriculum was structured made sure to build knowledge on top of already existing knowledge and I remember that in many courses lecturers would highlight how the particularly taught content might connect with another module we had already completed the semester before -> 3 stimulate recall of prior learning.
- For most modules the information was well organized in a logical and easy to understand manner. Lecturers usually provided a table of content for each module block. In addition lecturers used to make sure to structure learning in a way where each learning style was considered (audio, visual, kinesthetic) -> 4 present distinctive stimulus feature.
- I remember that many lecturers in my undergrad were experts that came from the industry. These people were leading successful companies whilst teaching at university and therefore they were able to bring in case studies highly connected with the practical work they were involved with daily -> provide learning guidance.
- Many times during my university days the class was asked to role play different scenarios to practically demonstrate what we had learned in class the week before -> Elicit performance
- Based on the demonstrated knowledge with help of role playing in point 6 the lecturer would then give us feedback and suggestions for improvement and/or clarification -> provide feedback.
- Each module was completed by a written assessment to check one's individual knowledge about the content and skills learned -> assess performance.
- Studying part time whilst working 4 days a week gave students an opportunity to practically implement the skills and knowledge learned in class. This meant that one had to be able to adapt and be agile with the information learned in class to adapt it to different scenarios in practice -> provide retention and transfer.
CASE STUDY CONNECTIVISM:
Looking into my third learning experience of learning on the job by trial and error I believe that connectivism plays a highly relevant role. I regularly utilize different collaboration tools such as teams, Jamboard, Mural, Slido, and many others to exchange and build knowledge as a team (network).
Behaviorism vs. Cognitivism
- Behaviorism has an intrapersonal focus whereas cognitivism also looks at environmental and experiential factors.
- In the behavioristic school of thought the learner is passive but in the cognitivist learning theory the learner is seen as an active problem solver.
- in Behaviorism extrinsic motivators such as reinforcements e.g. good grades, monetary stimuly are considered the main motivators. In contrary, in cognitivism, intrinsic interest in the material to be learned is the motivational factor for learners.
- In cognitivism knowing is considered a process and not a product whereas in behaviorism the focus is more on the final product of knowledge such as achieving a good grade in an exam without considering the process of how the learner got there.
- Behaviorism states that "internal mental processes can't be observed/measured" (MPd Universitas Pelita Harapan, 2019). In contrary, cognitivism says that internal/mental processes can be measured.
References:
- Cone, S., Cortese E., and Dhesi, S. (2017). EDUC 5103G - Online Technology in Education. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vp824ZbksI.
- Gagne, R. (1958). The Conditions of Learning (4th edition). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
- MPd Universitas Pelita Harapan (2019). Cognitivism - Learning Theory. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsDojMeyc-g.
- Piaget, J., & Cook, M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York, NY: International University Press.