Jerome Bruner Essays - Educational Psychology, Discovery Learning

Jerome Bruner Jerome S. Bruner "The father of cognitive psychology" Area of Development and Theory ? Cognitive Development, Constructivist Theory Key Concepts ? Discovery Learning, Categories, Coding System, Conceptual Change, Spiral Curriculum, Outline Discovery Learning ? The acquisition of new information or knowledge largely as a result of the learner's own efforts. Discovery is contrasted with expository or reception learning. It is an important instructional tool of the constructivist classroom. I. Discovery Learning is how we make sense of the world. A. Categories ? A grouping of related objects or events. A category is both a concept and precept. It classifies things as equal. B. Coding System ? A Brunerian concept; refers to a hierarchical arrangement or related concepts. II. Schools should foster the discovery method using the following steps: A. Formulating and clarifying a question or problem B. Collecting examples; making relevant observations C. Arriving at hypothesis D. Devising and conducting tests, experiments and other observations in order to confirm or refute hypothesis E. Applying, extending, generalizing, and "going beyond" the new information III. Teachers should apply the Discovery Learning Method because it is a Constructivist Approach, therefore this method is reflective, active and discovery oriented. IV. Four conditions that facilitate Discovery Learning A. Set ? A predisposition to react to stimulation in a given manner. B. Need State ? Bruner's expression describing the arousal level of an organism. C. Mastery of Specifics ? A Brunerian term for the learning of details. Mastery of relevant specifics is necessary for acquiring concepts and discovering relationships among them. D. Diversity of Training ? Bruner's expression relating to his belief that exposure to information under a wide range of circumstances is conducive to discovering relationships among concepts. Other Concepts Related to Discovery Learning I. Conceptual Change ? The concept in which the ideas that challenge the learner, contain problems and puzzles, and ultimately result in a reorganization or knowledge. There are three levels of learning that facilitate conceptual change. A. Enactive ? learn by doing in terms of their personal actions B. Iconic ? learns by seeing pictures, models and concrete mental images C. Symbolic ? learn by using verbal symbols in terms of language II. Spiral Curriculum ? A term for a curriculum that revisits the same topics repeatedly, often at different grade levels, at different levels of abstraction and generality, depending on the interests and background knowledge of the learners. A. Simple to Complex B. Repetition from general to specific III. Constructivism ? General label for instructional methods that are highly learner-centered and that reflect the belief that meaningful information is constructed by students rather than given to them. Often contrasted with direct instruction, constructivist approaches are reflected in discovery learning, cognitive apprenticeship, and humanistic approaches to teaching. A. Descriptive Terms 1. Learner-centered 2. Progressive 3. Reflective 4. Humanistic B. Approaches to teaching 1. Discovery learning 2. Cooperative learning C. Models of the teacher 1. Teacher as a therapist 2. Teacher as a liberator