Unit 3.3 Cognitive Processes Constructivism: Knowledge Construction/Concept learning In the quotation above, “filling up the pail” is more linked to rote learning and behaviorism. It connotes that teaching is dominated by the teacher and the learners are passive receivers of knowledge. “Lighting the fire” is related to the cognitive perspective and constructivism. Two Views of Constructivism Individual Constructivism. This is also called cognitive constructivism. It emphasizes individual, internal construction of knowledge. It is largely based on Piaget’s theory. Social Constructivism. This view emphasizes that “knowledge exists in a social context and is initially shared with others instead of being represented solely in the mind of an individual”. Characteristics of Constructivism 1. Learners construct understanding. As discussed earlier, constructivists do not view learners as just empty vessels waiting to be filled up. They see learners as active thinkers who interpret new information based on what they already know. They construct knowledge in a way that makes sense to them. 2. New learning depends on current understanding. Background information is very important. It is through the present views or scheme that the learner has, that new information will be interpreted. 3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction. Constructivists believe in creating a “community of learners” within classrooms. Learning communities help learners take responsibility for their own learning. 4. Meaningful learning occurs within authentic learning tasks. An authentic task is one that involves a learning activity that involves constructing knowledge and understanding that is so akin to the knowledge and understanding needed when applied in the real world. Organizing Knowledge Concepts. A concept is a way of grouping or categorizing objects or events in our mind. A concept of teach, includes a group of tasks such as model, discuss, illustrate, explain, assist, etc. Concepts as Feature Lists. Learning a concept involves learning specific features that characterize positive instances of the concept. Included here are defining features and correlational feature. A defining feature is a characteristic present in ALL instances. A correlational feature is one that is present in many positive instances but not essential for concept membership. For example, a mother is loving. Concepts as Prototypes. A prototype is an idea or a visual image of a “typical example. It is usually formed based on the positive instances that learners encounter most often. Concepts as Exemplars. Exemplars represent a variety of examples. It allows learners to know that an example under a concept may have variability. Making Concept-learning Effective. As a future teacher, you can help students learn concepts by doing the following: • Provide a clear definition of the concept • Make the defining features very concrete and prominent • Gi

1. UNIT 3.3 COGNITIVE
PROCESSES
Constructivism: Knowledge
Construction/Concept learning

2. CONSTRUCTIVISM: KNOWLEDGE
CONSTRUCTION/CONCEPT LEARNING
In the quotation above, “filling
up the pail” is more linked to
rote learning and behaviorism.
It connotes that teaching is
dominated by the teacher and
the learners are passive

3. TWO VIEWS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
 Individual Constructivism. This is also called
cognitive constructivism. It emphasizes
individual, internal construction of
knowledge. It is largely based on Piaget’s
theory.
Social Constructivism. This view emphasizes
that “knowledge exists in a social context and
is initially shared with others instead of being
represented solely in the mind of an
individual”.

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
1. Learners construct understanding. As discussed
earlier, constructivists do not view learners as just
empty vessels waiting to be filled up. They see
learners as active thinkers who interpret new
information based on what they already know. They
construct knowledge in a way that makes sense to
them.
2. New learning depends on current
understanding. Background information is very
important. It is through the present views or
scheme that the learner has, that new information
will be interpreted.

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction.
Constructivists believe in creating a “community of
learners” within classrooms. Learning communities
help learners take responsibility for their own
learning.
4. Meaningful learning occurs within authentic
learning tasks. An authentic task is one that
involves a learning activity that involves
constructing knowledge and understanding that is
so akin to the knowledge and understanding
needed when applied in the real world.

6. ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE
Concepts. A concept is a way of grouping or categorizing
objects or events in our mind. A concept of teach,
includes a group of tasks such as model, discuss,
illustrate, explain, assist, etc.
Concepts as Feature Lists. Learning a concept involves
learning specific features that characterize positive
instances of the concept. Included here are defining
features and correlational feature. A defining feature is a
characteristic present in ALL instances.
A correlational feature is one that is present in many
positive instances but not essential for concept
membership. For example, a mother is loving.

7. ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE
Concepts as Prototypes. A prototype is an idea or a
visual image of a “typical example. It is usually formed
based on the positive instances that learners encounter
most often.
Concepts as Exemplars. Exemplars represent a variety
of examples. It allows learners to know that an example
under a concept may have variability.

8. MAKING CONCEPT-LEARNING EFFECTIVE.
As a future teacher, you can help students learn
concepts by doing the following:
 Provide a clear definition of the concept
 Make the defining features very concrete and
prominent
 Give a variety of positive instances
 Cite a “best example” or a prototype
 Provide opportunity for learners to identify positive and
negative instances
 Ask learners to think of their own example of the
concept
 Point out how concepts can be related to each other

9. SCHEMAS AND SCRIPTS
A schema is on organized body of
knowledge about something. It is like
a file information you hold in your
mind about something. Like a schema
of what a teacher is. A script is a
schema that includes a series of
predictable events about a specific
activity.

10. APPLYING CONSTRUCTIVISM IN FACILITATING
LEARNING
 Aim to make learners understand a few key
ideas in an in-depth manner, rather than taking
up so many topics superficially.
 Give varied examples.
 Provide opportunities for experimentations.
 Provide lots of opportunities for quality
interaction.
 Have lots of hands-on activities.
 Relate your topic to real life situations.
 Do not depend on the explanation method all the
time

11. TRANSFER OF LEARNING
Transfer of learning happens
when learning in one context or
with one set of materials affects
performance in another context or
with other related materials.
Simply put, it is applying to
another situation what was
previously learned.

12. TRANSFER OF LEARNING
Positive transfer. Positive transfer occurs
when learning in one context improves
performance in some other context.
Negative transfer. Negative transfer occurs
when learning in one context impacts
negatively on performance in another.

13. TRANSFER OF LEARNING
Near transfer. Near transfer refers to transfer
between very similar contexts. This is also
referred to as specific transfer, for example,
when students answer types of algebra word
problem in an exam which are similar to had in
their seatworks.
Far transfer. Far transfer refers to transfer
between contexts that, on appearance, seem
remote and alien to one another. This is also
called general transfer.

14. CONDITION AND PRINCIPLES OF
TRANSFER
These principles are based on
the factors that affect transfer
of learning. These factors are
similar to what Perkins termed
as “condition of transfer”.

15. Conditions/Factors
affecting transfer of
learning
Principle of transfer Implication
Similarly between two
learning situations
The more similar the two
situations are, the greater
the chances that learning
from one situation will be
transferred to the other
situation.
Involve students in
learning situations and
tasks that are similar as
possible to the situations
where they would apply
the tasks.
Degree of
meaningfulness/relevance of
learning
Meaningful learning leads to
greater transfer that rote
learning
Remember to provide
opportunities for learners to
link new material to what they
learned in the past.
Length of instructional time The longer the time spent in
instruction, the greater the
probability of transfer
To ensure transfer, teach a
few topics in depth rather
than many topics tackled in a
shallow manner.

16. Conditions/Factors
affecting transfer of
learning
Principle of transfer Implication
Variety of learning
experiences
Exposure to many and varied
examples and opportunities
for practice to encourage
transfer
Illustrate new concepts and
principles with a variety of
examples. Plan activities that
allow your learners to practice
their newly learned skills.
Context for learner’s
experiences
Transfer of learning is most
likely to happen when
learners discover that what
they learned is applicable to
various contexts
Relate topic in one subject to
topics in other subjects or
discipline. Relate it also to
real life situations
Focus on principle rather that
tasks
Principles transfer easier than
facts
Zero in on principles related
to each topic together with
strategies based on those
principles.

17. Conditions/Factors
affecting transfer of
learning
Principle of transfer Implication
Emphasis on metacognition Student reflection improves
transfer of learning
Encourage students to take
responsibility for their own
learning, and to reflect on
what they learned

18. FACILITATING LEARNING AND BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY OF OBJECTS
Bloom’s taxonomy of objectives in the
cognitive domain comes in different levels-from
knowledge or recall to evaluation. To
facilitate learning, we begin teaching with
facts, stating memorized rules, principles
of definitions (knowledge) which must
lead to formulating and understanding
concepts, rules and principles
(comprehension).

19. FACILITATING LEARNING AND BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY OF OBJECTS
A proof of comprehension of concepts and
principles is the application of these
learned concepts, rules, and principles in
real life situations. For an in depth
understanding and mastery of these
applied concepts, rules, and principles,
these are broken into parts which are
subjected to a keen process of analysis.

20. KNOWLEDGE
Remembering;
Memorizing;
Recognizing;
Recalling and identification and
Recall of information

21. COMPREHENSION
Interpreting;
Translating from one medium to
another;
Describing in one’s own words;
Organization and selection of
facts and ideas

22. APPLICATION
Problem solving;
Applying information to produce
some result;
Use of facts, rules and principles

23. ANALYSIS
Subdividing something to show
how it is put together;
Finding the underlying structure of
a communication;
Identifying motives;
Separation of a whole into
component parts

24. SYNTHESIS
Creating a unique, original
product that may be in verbal form
or may be a physical object;
Combination of ideas to form a
new whole

25. EVALUATION
Making value decisions about
issues;
Resolving controversies of
differences of opinion;

26. EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES
Our questioning techniques can
either facilitate or obstruct
learning.

27. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF QUESTIONING IN
TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTIONS CAN BE
SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED BY A FEW BASIC
TECHNIQUES:
1. Pose a question first, before asking a
student to respond.
2. Allow plenty of “think time” by waiting at
least 7-10 seconds before expecting
student to respond.
3. Make sure you give all students the
opportunity to respond rather than relying
on volunteers.

28. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF QUESTIONING IN
TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTIONS CAN BE
SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED BY A FEW BASIC
TECHNIQUES:
4. Hold students accountable by expecting,
requiring, and facilitating their
participation and contributions.
5. Establish a safe atmosphere for risk
taking by guiding students in the process
of learning from their mistakes.

29. PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY
Torrance Framework for Creative
Thinking
A common framework for creative thinking
processes is described by Torrance (1979).
Each aspect is defined below, along with
ways to facilitate and respective aspect by
using key words and application activities.

30. FLUENCY
Definition
 Fluency refers to the production of a great
number of ideas or alternate solutions to a
problem. Fluency implies understanding, not just
remembering information that is learned.
Kew Words
Compare, convert, count, define, describe,
explain, identify, label, list, match, name, outline,
paraphrase, predict, summarize.
Application activities
Trace a picture and label the parts.
 Outline an article you find on your topic

31. ELABORATION
Definition
 Elaboration is the process of enhancing ideas by
providing more details. Additional detail and
clarity improves interest in, and understanding of,
the topic.
Key Words
 Appraise, critique, determine, evaluate, grade,
judge, measure, select, test.

32. ORIGINALITY
Definition
 Originality involves the production of ideas that
are unique or unusual. It involves synthesis or
putting information about a topic back together in
a new way.
Key Words
Compose, create, design, generate, integrate,
modify, rearrange, reconstruct, recognize, and
revise.

33. CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING – CPS
Osborn’s Checklist the origin of
Classical Brainstorming is the root of
creative problem solving (CPS). There
are a variety of general structures:
‘define problem, generate possible
solutions, select and implement the
best’ which can be found extensively,
in several academic traditions.

34. THE FOLLOWING, BASED ON VAN GUNDY (1988’S)
DESCRIPTION, IS A VERY BRIEF SKELETON OF A VERY
RICH PROCESS, SHOWING IT IN ITS FULL ‘6 X 2
STAGES’ FORM:
Stage 1. Mess finding: Sensitize yourself
(scan, search) for issues (concerns,
challenges, opportunities, etc.) that
need to be tackled.
Stage 2. Data finding: Gather information
about the problem.

35. THE FOLLOWING, BASED ON VAN GUNDY (1988’S)
DESCRIPTION, IS A VERY BRIEF SKELETON OF A VERY
RICH PROCESS, SHOWING IT IN ITS FULL ‘6 X 2
STAGES’ FORM:
Stage 3. Problem finding: convert a fuzzy
statement of the problem into a broad
statement more suitable for idea finding.
Stage 4. Idea finding: generate as many
ideas as possible
Stage 5. Solution finding: