Assignment+4+Summary+and+Synopsis

Assignment #4: Summary & Synopsis Constructivist view of Piaget, Ausubel, Novak and Vygotsky theories A .D. Arthurs University of Belize Social Studies Methods and Methods for Primary School Teachers ESOC2152 Section 1  Mr. Kevin G. Tucker (Teacher) February 23rd, 2012

Abstract In this synopsis the constructivist view of four different individuals’ theory were related. The theorist includes Jean Piaget, David Ausubel, Joseph Novak and Lev Vygotsky and though they may have focused on different aspect of learning, in some ways their theories are similar and the theories had some similarity to the constructivist approach. Piaget focus on the cognitive, Ausubel also focused on the cognitive but the verbal aspect of learning area, Vygotsky focused on the social aspect of learning and Novak focus on connecting or mapping concepts. As you read through this report specific theories will be generalized and the constructivist aspect will be pinpointed. Piaget’s Children Intellectual Development Theory Jean Piaget was an individual who had children do specific activities or task, in order that, he be able to attain what children understood. In this case Piaget experiment had a constructivism aspect because he attained his results by having the children actively take part when they did task, observing them and asking them specific questions. (Atherton 2011). Intellectual development has to do with the mind and Piaget finding presented the case that children can only learn as they age, which was termed as the role of maturing by Atherton (2011). In this theory, therefore, it is being stated that a baby would be unable to process certain information or activity until they are more develop and this goes for succeeding ages. It can also be grasped from this theory that simply growing and interacting with the surroundings to an extent will increase the capacity of comprehension. Assimilation and Accommodation are said to be the processes that occur, when the child interacts with the environment and either obtain new information or reinforce information that was obtained. Atherton (2011) related that Piaget had determined that maturation of intellect is not a neatly package event, instead, there are platforms from where it occurs, specifically at 18 months, 7 years, 11 years and 12 years. At specific platforms it is believed that children are able to interpret things a certain way and hence before that understanding is limited, therefore the education system has been linked to Piaget’s Intellectual Development in the basis for the scheduling of the school curriculum (Atherton 2011). Children’s Intellectual Development theory divides children into self awareness, environ awareness and then other party awareness. The stages of this development include Sensori-motor stage, Pre-operational stage, Concrete Operational stage and Formal Operational stage. In the Sensori-motor child can identify self and differentiate surroundings. Pre-operational stage child begins to communicate in a format in which personal awareness is evident but at the same time can classify things. At the Concrete operational stage the child can contemplate number, mass and weight and their changes. The Formal operational stage is where problems solving is possible. Atherton (2011) went on to say that this theory is termed as “cognitive constructivism,” and that some individuals never attained formal operation. Piaget’s theory of mind and thought process is only really testable at the child’s communicative stages since a baby would not be able to say how their mind is working. However, it can be noted that individuals do gain comprehension from experiences and information and that learnt concepts are generally built upon by individuals or totally scraped. David Ausubel’s: “Meaningful Verbal Learning Subsumption Theory Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology website summed David Ausubel’s theory in the following statement, “the external world acquires meaning only as it is converted into the content of consciousness by the learner.” In that one statement the author tied Ausubel’s theory to a Constructivist approach. Ausubel theory states that individual must interact with things that are outside of their personal environment – their body before they are able to define it in their own perception or ideas mentally. Note that David research and theory is based mostly on verbal words or individual’s comprehension of vocabulary by connecting words to specific object which child would internalize and commit to memory. David Ausubel theory had two main focus which was individual’s reception and discovery. These two focus are not unlike the learning cycle of the Constructivist approach, but instead of be being focus on the ways to facilitate learning David’s way focus on specific strategy that still has students actively involved. Meaningful learning to David occurs in two ways Correlative subsumption and Derivative subsumption, which are not rote memory. Correlative subsumption and Derivative subsumption are similar to constructivist theory in that they are similar to the experimenting and expansion stages of the learning cycle. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Joseph Novak:The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them[|[1]] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Looking at Joseph Novak theory immediately his method of individual learning would be connected to the previous knowledge of webbing or identifying and connecting information to a specific word, theme or phrase that one would do in an English or Literature lesson. Novak was the individual who said people would learn by mapping concepts, hence he stated that learning occurs when information is represented in a specific structure where most general information is at the top and links branch from it. Novak informs that there is a specific way that individuals store information, which connects inputted information, short term memory, Working memory, affective systems, motor systems and long term memory. In this approach student must build on their previous knowledge and they must brainstorm or think about information that is connected to a specific concept, thereby joining information one to another by see it relationship. This mode of learning is very similar to constructivism because under the constructivist approach students do already have a perceived idea about certain concept and they learn more effectively when they connect past information or experience with new knowledge through new experiences or personal involvement. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Lev Vygotsky theory stems from the fact that he believes that social involvement or social learning came before Cognitive development. Vygotsky believe that we learn from others and that learning happens under specific condition, which is between interaction and independent thinking. Vygotsky said that certain events must take place before Cognitive development may occur; this means that children at certain period of their lives must have certain personal experiences in order that specific Cognitive development occurs. The social involve or ‘Crisis’ as Lev terms it seems to be tie to the Constructivist approach, where it states that student learn based on experience and experience is built on personal involvement. Note that Vygotsky had developmental stages that he termed as ‘periods of stable development’ and that the ‘crisis’ propelled individuals to different levels but that these crisis occurred at specific time period or at specific ages. The Developmental stages are infancy, early childhood, pre-school age and puberty. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Looking into these theories it is evident to see that these theories were not made in isolation and that the theorists were influence by other theorist. It is also evident that these theories should not be taught alone and that the constructivism approach is tied into all of them in one ways or the other. Each theorist understood the need for individual’s personal involvement and that the experiences of individuals have a significant effect on the learning process. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reference <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Atherton, J. S. (2011). //Learning and Teaching; Piaget’s developmental theory [On-line:UK].// Retrieved February 2012, from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm Cañas, A.J., & Novak, J.D. (2008). //The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them[1], Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, 2008.// Retrieved February 28, 2012, from [] //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Social Development Theory (Vygotsky). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Retrieved February 2012, from [] //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Vygotsky’s Theory of Child Development. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Retrieved February 2012, from [] //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology David Ausubel: Meaningful Verbal Learning & Subsumption Theory. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/constructivism/ausubel.html