” Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism?”
behaviourism: The theory of behaviourism emphasizes the use of conditioning to modify behaviour. It focuses on promoting desirable or proper conduct through either positive or negative reinforcement and eradicating undesirable behaviour through punishment. Throughout my finance degree in Jordan, I had a number of subjects where behaviourism was the teaching method. For example, attending classes was mandatory. If a student misses classes like 6 or more, they will fail the course; however, if they show up to the bulk of the courses, they will obtain a participation/ attendance grade. In my opinion, I believe that attendance should not be a requirement or behaviour that is punished. Some students prefer self-paced learning and only attend the class for crucial activities like completing quizzes, contributing to group projects, or just sitting for examinations as they are given.
Cognitivism: Cognitivism holds that learning happens when a subject analyses the data and stimuli that they are exposed to. Learners think and assess their reactions as opposed to automatically responding to stimuli and responding through conditioning. It encourages students to fully engage in the learning process so learning, thinking, and remembering gets easier. As opposed to Jordan, where the behaviourism learning theory was more prevalent, I have encountered this style (Cognitivism) of teaching and learning here in Canada. As a student studying health informatics, the majority of the classes require engagement to retain information. Students are encouraged to debate what is being taught, as well as to support and elaborate their ideas. Visualizations are used by professors to increase student comprehension and memory.
Constructivism: The constructivism idea holds that information is produced by students rather than passively absorbed. When they engage with the world, people create their own interpretations of it and reflect on earlier experiences. This teaching/learning method was not as popular in Jordan compared to here in Canada. Most of the classes in health informatics employ this theory and Cognitivism. Students, for instance, work mostly in groups, and knowledge acquisition is participatory and dynamic. The importance of teamwork, idea sharing, and social and communication skills is heavily stressed. Another way they employ this strategy is through research projects, where students study a subject and then present and discuss their results in class.
My belief is that the ideal technique to teach pupils so they remember the knowledge and information they acquire is a combination of constructivism and cognitivism. This is in contrast to the typical classroom where lessons are rigidly followed and are led by a textbook, students work mostly by themselves, and learning is accomplished via repetition, which causes students to forget what they have learned.
Hello Abdul,
I really like how you described a situation for all three methods. It is very interesting to see that Jordan has a more dominant behaviourist teaching method, whereas Canada has more cognitivism/ constructivism styles. Why do you think this is the case? What factors do you think contributes to a preference of one learning method over the other in said countries?
Hi Abdul,
Thanks for sharing your examples of when you were taught to use behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
I think you make a good point that I can relate to that different countries have different schooling methods and views of learning that you pointed out. Do you also think that different times have different learning methods and views of learning?
Rikuto