Death by -ism

After reading the posts and comments by Bill Kerr, Karl Kapp, and Stephen Downes, I created the graphic combining the learning theories and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Karl Kapp suggests that the lower levels could best utilize the Behaviorist theory, while Cognitivism addresses the middle levels and the top levels are best described by Constructionism. This graphic neatly puts Bloom's and the three -isms into place, but leaves out the fourth -ism Connectionism. Perhaps Bloom's needs yet another revision, adding another level for learning which is best explained by the Connectionism theory. It might say forming PLNs & networks. I have challenged @gsiemens on twitter to define his theory in the allotted 140 characters. He answered me with, "knowledge exists in connections. Learning is growing/pruning those connections." So I see another level may be needed as well, one that says-> Pruning & Cultivating Connections.

I do agree with Karl Kapp that different ways of learning are best explained by different theories and that teachers should not limit themselves to one theory but should be able to use an arsenal of methods (grounded in various theories) to educate students. Bill Kerr also considers each -ism to be valuable for various ways of understanding learning.

George Siemens connects the three first -isms to the three epistemological traditions or ways of looking at informations and knowledge.

Objectivism & Behaviorism

Pragmatism & Cognitivism

Interpretivism & Constructionism

Driscoll contends that Objectivism and Interpretivism are often considered as opposites and Pragmatism ties them together. (p. 13)

Piaget is a prominent cognitivist theorist who addressed the different developmental stages through which children grow. These stages are important to know for designing learning environments. Other cognitivist theorists have posited other useful ideas for teaching, like Vygotsky's ZPD, and Gardner's MI Theory. It should be noted that these theorists could fit into other theories as well. So while Kerr thinks -isms change, it may be better to change the -ism instead. The above mentioned posts are not so much about Cognitivism but about learning theories in general. All three men were involved in an an open course in 2008 called Connectivism & Connective Knowledge.

technorati tags: EDUC8845 learningtheory cognitivism gsiemens sdownes bkerr kkapp

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Written for coursework during my journeys at Walden....