Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework: Cognitive Constructivism Theory and Sociocultural Constructivism Theory
As stated in Chapter I, to create better readers, many reading specialists agree that word study is a developmentally sound approach to providing reading instruction (Bear et al, 2008; Ganske, 2000; Zutell, 1999). Word study is founded on robust evidence-based research on the developmental stages of reading and spelling; however, word study and specifically word sorts have a diminuative amount of scientific evidence as to it success in reading instruction (Boscardin et al, ND). To create an evidence-based study, it is useful to analyze word study using the lenses of cognitive constructivism and sociocultural constructivism theories. In combining these two theoretical frameworks, I will view the WtW reading instruction approach from both the internal cognitive development as well as the external social influences of learning. In Chapter 2, I will succinctly review the principles of each theory and demonstrate how the theories provide an applicable balance for this study.
Constructing meaning from an event is an important link to comprehension (Carlisle, 2000; Francis, et al., 1996; NICHD, ND; Rasinski & Oswald, 2005; Williams & Lundstrum, 2007). However, the idea of constructing meaning, or constructivism, is a broad concept with multiple connotations. Two distinct types of constructivism will be the lens for this study, cognitive constructivism and sociocultural constructivism. The two theories are essentially different in that cognitive constructivism posits the internal construction of information as the controlling influence, while sociocultural constructivism posits the external interactions with peers and adults as m...
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...ible tool for examining data from this study. Word study’s origin is based on the belief of the student’s constructivism in understanding and comprehending new knowledge by the word study developers, the generalized belief by education specialists that it is the way students learn, its foundational role in teacher preparation programs, and its acceptance of the dynamics within the classroom as playing a role in appropriate instruction. Hence, for this study, it is advantageous to use the constructivism theories of both Piaget and Vygotsky, cognitive and sociocultural, as theoretical frameworks. Together these theories will be the lens for analysis of the data collected within the study. By using both, I am able to examine both the an individual’s internal and external construction of information. In the ensuing chapter, I establish the methodology of this study.
The DeFord Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile, developed in 1985 by Diane DeFord, is a way to measure the philosophy and belief systems associated with instructional practices in the beginning of reading. The three systems include phonics, skills, and whole language (Vacca et al 2006). The bottom-up beliefs systems, associated with Behaviorism, place emphasis on letters, letter-sound relationships, and the understanding that the student, in order to comprehend the selection, must recognize each word in a text. There is importance placed on decoding, and skills are taught in a systematic and sequential format.
A contemporary of Piaget from the 1930’s, Lev Vygotsky ( a Russian psychologist and philosopher) was generally connected with the social constructivist theory. He underscores the impact of cultural and social settings in learning and supports a discovery model of learning. This kind of model places the educator in a dynamic role while the students' mental capacities naturally develop through multiple paths of discovery (Lev Vytgosky, n.d.).
I identify with being a white, Catholic, straight, teenager girl living in Owensboro, Kentucky. I considered those my cultural and societal groups. There is no objective way to pick my real group. With my taste, opinions, characteristics and age constantly changing so are my cultural and societal groups.
There are many theories surrounding education and what lies within our biological functions that can effect how we learn as human beings. Our book, Creating Literacy Instruction For All Students, by Thomas Gunning goes more in depth of these approaches and theories. Behaviorism is a theory that “stresses observable responses to stimuli”. This approach includes conditioning good behaviors and eliminating unwanted behaviors (Gunning, 4). Another major theory surrounding learning is cognitivism, which is “based on the proposition that mental processes exist and can be studied (Gunning, 4). Under this theory of congnitivism lies Piaget’s theory that each child develops through constructivism, in building their own understanding of the world and the realities within it. Similarly, Vygotsky stresses the importance of social constructivism in how social encounters can change cognitive development (Gunning, 5). The cognitive behavioral approach is to help the students realize their potential by showing them what they must to do be successful. This is important to help the students stretch beyond their conceived notions of failure they may have gained from previous academic issues (Gunning, 6). Under this cognitive behavioral approach lies both the top-down and bottom-top strategies. Finally, the reader response theory challenges the child to construct meaning from the written text. To engage and understand, ...
If you are a parent or plan to be a parent, Do you want your child to sit in a desk all day while the teacher lectures them on information that they need to know for life or would you rather have your child learn constructively? Constructivism has been labeled as the philosophy of learning that proposes learners need to build their own understanding of new ideas (Constructivism and the Five E?s,2001). Learning something new, or attempting to understand something familiar in greater depth, is not a linear process. The purpose of this research paper is to explain the theoretical foundations of the constructivist approach to teaching and learning, and to provide concrete examples to show the effectiveness of the constructivist approach with respect to student learning.
Social cognitive theory (SCT) involves four key components: reciprocal interaction, enacting learning, vicarious learning, and modeling. Despite Ann, the English teacher in the video, may not know what SCT is, she does apply the theory to her teaching strategy.
Constructivism is a theory of learning that emphasizes the active construction of knowledge by individuals. Inquiry of learning is a theory developed by Dewey in which it emphasizes the development of student’s cognitive abilities such as reasoning and decision making. Inquiry theory, is reflected in reading instruction by having children choose their own vocabulary, asking their own thought provoking questions and giving them the opportunity to construct their own meaning. Schemata theory strives to explain how knowledge is created and used by the learners. In reading instruction schemata can be observe as a child tries to understand a story by using past personal experience to relate to concepts in the story. Transitional response theory is the notion that all readers have unique background schemata. In transitional theory all readers will have a different response to the text. Psycholinguistic theory is the study of the relationships between linguistic behavior and psychological processes including the process of language acquisition. In reading it helps the readers make predictions about what the text say based on their knowledge in these areas. Metacognition is the process of thinking about one’s own thinking. In reading metacognition helps reading comprehension. Engagement theory seeks to articulate the differences between engaged and disengaged readers. In reading, engagement theory is best seen when children are motivated to read and are constantly reading or
Powell, K. Kalina, C. (2009). Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom. Education, 130(2), 241-250. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?did=1937522441&Fmt=7&clientId=22212&RQT=309&VName=PQD. (Document ID: 1937522441).
Almost all of us live daily with the effects of social construction, whereby one is observed through their cultural or social practices. Society discriminates against us depending on skin colour and social class. Carole Vance in her article “Social Construction Theory”, has a unique approach to social construction of gender. She painstakingly points out that these cultural influences affect individuals on a personal basis, but society as a whole.
Psychology is one of the newest sciences. Because it is the science of the mind and behavior, it is also less concrete than some of the other sciences. Over the years, social scientists have developed theories or perspectives based off of their observations, research, and the perspectives of other scientists. Although there is some overlap, each of the major perspectives of psychology is unique. As a result, they each have strengths and weaknesses and explain psychology in a different way. One theory, the sociocultural perspective, is exactly what its name suggests. It’s the idea that the society and groups that an individual belongs to are what influences development, thoughts, and behavior. The sociocultural perspective was pioneered by a Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, in the 1920’s (John-Steiner, 1998). Vygotsky stressed the idea that children learn through what he called guided participation (Sigelman, 2009). His theory was that children develop through interactions with parents, teachers, and other knowledgeable members of the culture and are given tools to adopt the group’s way of thinking.
Vygotsky theorized that interaction and language are two central factors in cognitive development (Corpus & Lucas, 2010). (Beriones, 2010) emphasized that effective learning happens through participation in social activities, making the social context of learning crucial. Parents, teachers and other adults in the learner’s environment all contribute to the process. When children with special needs are given an environment that is conducive to learning, they too will become fruitful members of the community. In addition, Lev Vygotsky Socio-Cultural Theory states that students’ learning could be more effective if it is provided with support or scaffold. Information processing theory supplies the scaffold theory which is also a cognitive theoretical framework that focuses on how knowledge enters and is stored and retrieved from our memory. Cognitive psychologist believed that processes influence the nature of what is learned. They considered learning as largely an internal process, not an external behavior change. They looked into how learners receive, perceive, store and retrieve
This mentions that learning is likely to occur in an internal process isolated from the social environment. Nevertheless, it is prevalently seen that in PBL learners frequently employ the power of collaborative learning skills in groups to culminate the projects or partake in social interactions with others for mutual learning discussions, so PBL also lend some characteristics of social-constructivism of Lev Vygotsky (1980). The salient point of social constructivism is the significance of social interactions that influence on the individual cognitive development and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as well as the role of scaffolding (Barge, 2010). He valued social interaction as an integral role in one’s cognitive development and argued that learning is not merely through assimilation and accommodation processes of new knowledge of learners, but it should be integrated or combined in a social community where learners can interact (Harmer, 2014). In other words, based on Vygotsky’s arguments, one’ s world knowledge is bound to his/her individual experiences while mediated by social interplay with
The Sociocultural theory basically states that we are a creation from the atmosphere, and the individuals that we subordinate thru, work, school...Etc. With all these influences be present on what defines how we respond to the positive circumstances, and by what means we feel about some of the situations throughout our life. We are not the state of affairs that partake in what occurred in our natural life. It don 't matter wherever you lived, or the individuals that were nearby, or even whatever type of trouble you may possibly have gotten interested in the previous time. Everyone has their own opportunities in life, and they will at no time end, there are no brands and we may possibly not be what to say, reflect, or spoken, for the reason that styles and society are continuously fluctuating in every single technique up until we pass away
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
How can what we know about the development of readers inform reading comprehension instruction? Reading instruction typically starts in kindergarten with the alphabetic principle, simple word blending, and sight word recognition. Texts read by early readers usually include very little to comprehend. As children develop reading ability, they are able read more complex texts requiring greater comprehension skills. Separate and explicit instruction in reading comprehension is crucial because the ability to comprehend develops in its own right, independent of word recognition. The ability to read words and sentences is clearly important, but as readers develop, these skills are less and less closely correlated with comprehension abilities. (Aarnoutse & van Leeuwe, 2000) While no one would argue that word blending and sight word reading skills be omitted from early reading instruction, vocabulary and listening comprehension may be at least as important in achieving the even...