Week Four Blog

How do you feel about the concepts of theory and philosophy we have approached so far? Do you feel a bit more immersed in the types of thinking a PhD is expected to do? How have you translated some of that thinking into your arguments both written and oral in class? Has there been any shift in your expectations about what a PhD does vs. an MS or other applied degree?

My feeling about the concepts of theory and philosophy has been evolving over time. As I am approaching more theories and philosophical differences stated by different theorists and philosophers I am becoming more involved to argue my own understanding and feeling about these concepts.  I feel bit more immersed in the nature of thinking involve in a PhD level program. I will describe what I have synthesized from different theories and philosophical differences into my own arguments here. There has been a clear shift I see in my thinking ability and my expectations in a PhD program now vs. two MS degrees I have earned before.

My concept about theory is skepticism. I do not believe theory as fact. A theory needs to be established as truth by providing evidence. In this respect I am an empiricist. This is probably because of my lifelong activities and experience being a student in the field of hard science. Even though I believe in naturalistic philosopher Dewey’s philosophy of education but I do not agree with his philosophy of life in which he rejected some explanations that involve supernatural resources.  I do not completely deny any truth in nature that does not provide any empirical evidence i.e. observations but reason.

I believe in rationalism too as it is not possible to proof all truths in nature in one’s lifetime. The continuous quest of nature in human kind will continue to find more and more evidence about natural truth in future. If we do not have any evidence about any truth now that does not mean it is not true. I see it as limitation or lack of human knowledge at this time point about that claim. New ideas of Reason can be accompanied by new ideas of nature and led to new ideas about human nature and the society. In naturalism theory the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual. In rationalistic argument certain truths exist and that the intellect can directly grasp these truths.

There are fascinating questions raised by philosophers about philosophy of education. All philosophers from Socrates to Jean Piaget require deep and careful thought, imagination, reflection, and great patience in formulating questions and answers in a various ways to shed light on a problem of importance. The popular method of teaching is still referring to “Socratic method” in which teacher poses deceptive question. When students answer, the teacher responds with another question that prompts more thinking and offers a new answer.  I consider Socratic method more as a method of learning or inquiry than a method of teaching.  I personally think Socratic method promote student engagement that lead to critical thinking and effective learning.

On the other hand, philosopher Plato believed that students should be educated according to their capacities. All individuals should not have the exact same education. Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class.  Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education.

Noddings, N. (2007). Philosophy of Education. Westview press. USA.

Hollis, M. (1997). The philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge university Press. London.

Week Two:

 

My personal philosophy of learning:

Different theorists defined learning in different ways. My personal philosophy of learning is a process by which desirable changes occurred in a person’s behavior. As I came from a different educational system I can relate my then understanding to objectivism. My understanding of learning was then learning occurs through an expert by transferring knowledge from the expert to the learner. Most of the learning process was teacher-centered lecture based only. This belief categorizes me as a objectivist. Objectivism is a traditional model of learning which refers the behavioral model of learning. The objectivist model of learning is to understand the objective reality and modify behavior accordingly ((Jonassen, 1993). In terms of learning, the first assumption is that there exists a reality that is agreed upon by individuals. In terms of instructions, objectivist model assumes that the goal of teaching is the efficiently transfer the knowledge from the expert to the learner.  The objectivist model also assumes that the instructor is the source of objective knowledge that is related, rather than created, during class. The instructor should be in control of the material and pace of learning. The lecture method is an example of objectivist model of learning.

On the other hand, being an instructional technologist I have also witnessed how learning occurs in real life situation. As I am growing in this field of learning technologies I am becoming more and more bias to believe in constructivism learning. I believe learning occurs effectively when an individual strives to learn by him or herself devoting their own time space to construct new knowledge. I believe each individual has their unique style, experience to construct new knowledge. In this process learning is constructed rather than transmitted by each learner. Learning is reflected in “intellectual growth that leads to scientific reasoning, abstract thought, and formal operations” (O’Loughlin, 1992).

How people learn?

How learning occurs is described based on three major learning theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism.

In behaviorism, learning is accomplished through proper response of a specific environmental stimulus. Cognitive theories emphasize making knowledge meaningful and helping learners to organize and relate new information to existing knowledge in memory. (Ertmer & Newby, 1993).

Constructivists believe that the mind filters input from the world to produce its own unique reality. (Jonassen, 1991).

There is research based evidence of these learning theories. Some learning process may be explain as anecdotal.

My personal believe is based on facts. As I mentioned above I am more bias to constructivism theory, I believe learning occurs effectively when an individual strives to learn by him or herself devoting their own time space to construct new knowledge.  Learner-centered-instruction is an example of constructivist model of learning. The teacher acts as a creative mediator of the process. The goal of constructivist is truly achieved when learner construct new meaning such as higher order learning. I also believe that cognitive information process model is true for long term knowledge retention. Prior knowledge affects the level of instructional support needed.

Week three blog reflection

I shared my personal theory of learning “constructivism” with my peer during week three meeting.  I believe learning occurs effectively when an individual strives to learn by him or herself devoting their own time space to construct new knowledge.  The teacher acts as a creative mediator of the process. The goal of constructivist is truly achieved when learner construct new meaning such as higher order learning. I also believe that cognitive information process model is true for long term knowledge retention.  I felt good about my peer’s comment about my belief in constructivism because she also think that constructivism process of learning is more effective in critical thinking. She also mentioned that it promotes active learning.

We discussed about our projects in CECS 6000. My peer’s project was related to individualize learning and my project was about peer learning. She mentioned about developmental writing that was designed for individualize learning but she did not get satisfactory results from individualize learning process.  I have discussed about my peer learning project and shared the progress of my project. We both believe that peer learning strategy is more effective than individualize learning in regards to increasing student’s critical thinking and higher order thinking skills.

There are still opportunities for improving my understanding of constructivism theory based on evidence. According to Jonassen (1991) mind filters input from the world to produce its own unique reality.

Constructivists emphasize the flexible use of preexisting knowledge rather than the recall of of prepackaged schemas (Spiro et al., 1991). Brown et al. (1989) stated that to be successful, meaningful, and lasting, learning must include all three of these crucial factors: activity (practice), concept (knowledge), and culture (context). After the feedback discussions I have read more about the theory and cleared my understanding about it. Now, I feel better prepared to support the theory in the future.

References:

Jonassen, D.H. (1991). Objectivism vs constructivism: Do we need a new philosophical paradigm. Educational Technology Research and Development, 39(3), 5-14.

Spiro, R. J., Feltovich, P. J., Jacobson, M. J. & Coulson, R. L. (1991). Cognitive flexibility, constructivism, and hypertext.Educational Technology, 31(5), 24-33.

Brown, J.S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42.