Theorist Dr. Middlebrooks

Science Inquiry Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) posits that human potential is theoretically limitless; but the practical limits of human potential depend upon quality social interactions and residential environment. This zone of proximal development is "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." In theory, then, so long as a person has access to a more capable peer, any problem can be solved.

Science Inquiry According to Piaget, learning is what results from both mental and physical maturation plus experience. That is, development preceded learning. In contrast Vygotsky observed that learning processes lead development. Vygotsky maintained that "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human, psychological functions." In other words, learning is what leads to the development of higher order thinking.

Science Inquiry According to Vygotsky the two primary means of learning occur through social interaction and language. Language greatly enhances humans' ability to engage in social interactions and share their experiences. "The most important fact uncovered through the... study of thought and speech is that their relationship undergoes many changes." Initially, a child's new knowledge is interpsychological, meaning it is learned through interaction with others, on the social level. Later, this same knowledge becomes intrapsychological, meaning inside the child, and the new knowledge or skill is mastered on an individual level.

Science Inquiry He proposed that children's thinking does not develop entirely smoothly: instead, there are certain points at which it "takes off" and moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He saw these transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways, and has been used as the basis for scheduling the school curriculum.

Science Inquiry Adaptation: What it says: adapting to the world through assimilation and accommodation assimilation and accommodation Assimilation: The process by which a person takes material into their mind from the environment, which may mean changing the evidence of their senses to make it fit. Accommodation: The difference made to one's mind or concepts by the process of assimilation. Note that assimilation and accommodation go together: you can't have one without the other. Accommodation

Science Inquiry Stage Characterized by Sensori-motor (Birth-2 yrs) Differentiates self from objects Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise Achieves object permanence: realizes that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense.

Science Inquiry Pre-operational (2-7 years) Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words. Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others. Classifies objects by a single feature: groups together all the red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of color.

Science Inquiry Concrete operational (7-11 years) Can think logically about objects and events Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9) Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size.

Science Inquiry Formal operational (11 years and up) Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically. Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems.

Science Inquiry The discovery approach is a model of science teaching that places great confidence in children’s ability to make sense of the world. In a discovery activity, the teacher provides students with access to plenty of material and time to explore those materials. This is consistent with the ways in which scientist work. Direct contact with the natural world is seen as the necessary initial step to discovery learning.

Science Inquiry Structure of Discipline: The collection of unifying ideas characteristics of science and felt by some to be the ultimate goal of science education. The philosophy was that students would learn to appreciate science best when they can appreciate in ways similar to how scientist think.

Science Inquiry Piaget and Jerome Bruner demonstrated how thought processes could be subdivided into three distinct modes of reasoning. While Piaget related each mode to a specific period of childhood development, Bruner saw each mode as dominant during each developmental phase, but present and accessible throughout.

Science Inquiry Bruner’s model of human development as a combination of enactive skills (manipulating objects, spatial awareness), iconic skills (visual recognition, the ability to compare and contrast) and symbolic skills (abstract reasoning) has influenced psychological and educational thought over the past 50 years.

Science Inquiry Bruner’s work came at a time when psychological thought was dominated by behaviourism, which was popular because a measurable response could be observed to a defined stimulus. This satisfied the need for scientific rigour, but explained learning without accounting for mental processes that were assumed to be not measurable. Bruner was able to apply a similar scientific rigour to unobservable mental processes.behaviourism

Science Inquiry Bruner was instrumental in the move from behaviourism to cognitivism in 1950s and 1960s mainstream psychology. An important work in the early days of the cognitive movement was A Study in Thinking which Bruner published in 1956 with Jacqueline Goodnow and George Austin, and where they defined cognitive processes as “the means whereby organisms achieve, retain, and transform information.”cognitivismJacqueline Goodnow“the means whereby organisms achieve, retain, and transform information.”

Science Inquiry Bruner suggested that people remember things “with a view towards meaning and signification, not toward the end of somehow ‘preserving’ the facts themselves.” This view of knowledge – and memory – as a constructed entity is consistent with constructivism, with which Bruner is also closely associated.“with a view towards meaning and signification, not toward the end of somehow ‘preserving’ the facts themselves.” constructivism

Science Inquiry A constant theme in Bruner’s work is that education is a process of discovery. As a structural theorist, Bruner believes that information or knowledge is most effectively gained by personal discovery, and then classified enactively, iconically or symbolically. Bruner advocated that if students were allowed to pursue concepts on their own they would gain a better understanding

Science Inquiry Within the education system, a teacher would then engage students in active dialogue and guide them when necessary so that students would progressively build their own knowledge base, rather than be ‘taught’. New information would be classified and understood based on knowledge already gained.

Science Inquiry What is Behaviorism? Give me a dozen healthy infants, well- formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. --John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930