What did we learn, how did we learn it, and why are we learning?
Educational trends in learning have been evolving instructors’ roles away from the traditional "sage on the stage” pyramid scheme, towards a “guide on the side” (Wilson, 2018, p. 61), with student learning activities transitioning from test-taking to project-based or service-learning activities that produce portfolios of projects to illustrate one’s learning/skills, rather than lists of standardized test scores. Both the learning process and assessment take more time than the old models yet show greater engagement with and retention of the material. Why is this bulkier process better at training learners to apply new knowledge than older, more passive methods? What is the best way people learn?
A philosopher might explain learning by recounting the 4th century BCE Greek teacher, Socrates, whose argumentative/debate-style teaching method was described by his student, Plato. Socrate’s method was to challenge students’ knowledge with combative questions that challenge assumptions, creating a debate that used logic to develop true knowledge (the Socratic Method of teaching/learning).
Cognitive psychology explores how external stimuli, such as sounds or images, are transformed into retrievable memories. Learning, in a cognitive information processing model, occurs when a sensory input is recognized and encoded with links to existing information in short-term then long-term memory storage, and can be recalled at will to be applied to new stimuli. Cognitive processing can be improved with organizational techniques, like chunking strings of information, using visual and verbal synonyms, and creating hierarchies and associations with existing knowledge (Driscoll, 2013; Silber & Forshay, 2006).
Socrates’ style of teaching could be considered an ancestral model for cognitive learning practices. He would begin by posing a challenging question, which his students would answer by accessing their memories of previous information, then applying them to the new topic. This model of knowledge exchange was the foundation of university education (that a student would learn from a subject-matter expert in a lecture/discussion setting, and by witnessing/assisting with their teacher’s work at all professional phases) as I understood it.
While cognitive learning focuses on the mental process of learning, a constructivist emphasizes the role of the learner in encoded new information in ways they best understand, that “learners are active sense makers who seek to build coherent and organized knowledge” (Mayer, 2004, p. 14). Therefore, modern constructivism in instructional design requires a learning environment where learning practice accurately resembles real world situations and scenes, and requires active reflection of the learner on their role (Wilson, 2018).
The benefits and drawbacks of Socrates' teaching methods are echoed in modern approaches to cognitive learning techniques. The individualized, collaborative, and responsive learning experience between Socrates the teacher and Plato the student could represent an idealized learning model. This method of active-engagement learning has since been corroborated by research (Wilson, 2018).
A positive outcome of Plato’s ancient debate with his teacher was his retention of the material. By rehearsing the information in an active discussion, digesting it, and relating it to previously known information, Plato encoded Socrates’ dialogues in his long-term memory, later preserving them from being lost to time.
A negative outcome might be that this idealized, “logic it out” method of learning builds on earlier incorrect assumptions or restricts other types of learning. Hence, fantastical ideas that emerged from “logic” were perpetuated for a long time. Greek ideas about illness being linked to an imbalance of humors, and that the body was immaterial and therefore blasphemous to study persisted until the Renaissance era, when the study of the human body through dissection became more commonly practiced (Elizondo‐Omaña, 2005).
The academies where Socrates taught, like Athens and Alexandria, were set up as apprentice-type learning situations. Students came to listen to mathematicians, philosophers, et al., discuss their work and theories without curriculum, ask questions, and debate with students. This model has separated the students from the situations in which they would need to recall and apply their learned knowledge (unless their goal was to become a philosopher at the academy). For example, one cannot expect to be a good kickboxer by discussing the fundamentals and basic moves in a classroom and not a gym or practice situation with a community of training opponents.
This idea of learning within a practicing community is an example of situated learning. A historic example of a situated learning community (that proved to have higher scientific accuracy than Socrates’ ancient Athens) can be found in New Harmony, Indiana in the 1830s. Many young, science-aspiring thinkers found their lifework after relocating to southern Indiana to learn and research under the famous geologist and cartographer, William MacLure (1763-1840). Some of the most important written and visual works in paleontology, geology, and biology of the time came from people associate with this community; its members were instrumental in the development of the Smithsonian Institute and its founding collections (Wikimedia Foundation, 2024, David Dale Owen.) The frenzy of intellectual activity associated with the mentorship of MacLure in New Harmony relative to that of formal learning institutions is an historical anecdote to support alternative, collaborative, and supportive knowledge-pursuing environments, complete with the imagined evening scientific debates by the fire.
Situational cognitive learning models involve real world, on-site learning situations, as in “learning while doing.” Examples include internships, apprenticeships, student teaching (Driscoll, 2013), service-learning projects, and cultural customs/organizational rituals. Its most universal example is the acquisition of language and symbolism. A child might first develop the idea of 'dog’ after seeing a cute Maltese show dog. Their life experience will then have to test their knowledge against other similar creatures as they expand their idea of ‘dog’. A large scary animal called a Saint Bernard approaches them. Surely this isn’t also a dog?! Yes, it is. And so on, until the child knows what qualifies as a dog (or not) as well as the average adult. Additionally, they might be shown a drawing of a dog, a stick-figure symbol of a dog, and even 3 curving symbols that linguistically represent ‘dog’, as well as dog hierarchies like “wild” species or “domestic” breeds.
References
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42.
Driscoll, M. P. (2013). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Elizondo‐Omaña, R. E., Guzmán‐López, S., & De Los Angeles García‐Rodríguez, M. (2005). Dissection as a teaching tool: Past, present, and future. The Anatomical Record Part B: The New Anatomist, 285B(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.b.20070
Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. ETR&D, 48(3), pp. 23-48
Mayer, R. E. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? American Psychologist, 59(1), 14-19.
Silber, K. H., & Foshay, W. R. (2006). Designing instructional strategies: A cognitive perspective. In J. A. Pershing (Ed.), Handbook of human performance technology (3rd ed.) (370-413). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, January 17). David Dale Owen. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dale_Owen
Wilson, B. G. (2018). Constructivism, for active authentic learning. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th Ed.), (pp. 60-67). New York, NY: Pearson Education.
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