Paradigms, theories

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Paradigms, theories instructional strategies

• A brief summary

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The Hierarchy
Paradigms
Theories
Instructional strategies
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What is a paradigm?

• A comprehensive belief system that guides
  research and practice in a field
• Several competing paradigms in education today
• Post-positivism
• Interpretivism
• Critical Theory

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Paradigms (Belief Systems)

• Post-positivism (Objectivists)
• One reality universal truths
• Learning is transmitted knowledge
• Acquisition metaphor
• Interpretivism (Constructivists)
• Multiple realities based on experience
• Learning is constructed knowledge
• Participation metaphor

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Theories from Post-Positivism

• Behaviorism
• Pavlov, Skinner
• Stimulus-response (behavioral changes)
• ()/(-) reinforcement behavior modification
• Information processing theories
• Atkinson, Ausabel
• Internal, unobservable process involved in
  learning
• Mnemonics, advanced organizers, encoding

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Characteristics of Objectivist strategies

• Traditional
• Teacher centered
• Out-of-context
• Linear
• Skills-based

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Objectivist Instructional Strategies on the
Internet

• Direct instruction
• Drill and Practice
• Expert systems
• Tutorials
• Computer assisted instruction

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Theories from Interpretivism

• Social constructivism
• Dewey
• Problem-based, student-centered, collaborative
• Zone of proximal development / Scaffolding
• Vygotsky
• Individual differences, personal creativity

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Theories from Interpretivism

• Cognitive Development
• Piaget
• Concrete, semi-concrete, abstract
• Discovery Learning
• Bruner
• Active participation, exploration

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Theories from Interpretivism

• Multiple intelligences
• Gardner
• All students have talents and all can learn
• Education suffers more from disteachia

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Multiple Intelligences on the Internet?

• Linguistic
• Logical Mathematical
• Spatial
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Musical
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Naturalist

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Characteristics of Constructivist Strategies

• Active
• Authentic
• Knowledge construction
• Social
• Iterative and recursive

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Constructivist Instructional Strategies

• Telementoring
• Case-based instruction
• Simulations
• Collaborative learning
• Situated learning

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A Mixture of the Two?

• A link between two planets much be forged so
  that students may travel freely from one to the
  other, depending on the characteristics of the
  topics at hand and individual learning needs -p.
  51

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Internet-based instructional strategies in this
class

• Hotlists
• Multimedia Scrapbooks
• Internet Scavenger Hunts
• Virtual Fieldtrips
• Webquests
• Telecollaborative Activities
• Digital Resources
• Simulations

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• It is a fallacy to think that technology will
  make traditional content outdated The corollary
  to this thinking is that traditional content is
  less important than learning to learn... Is a
  dangerous doctrine. (Tinker, p.2, quoted on p. 52)