Please choose one question for each theorist and answer your selected questions on the Vista site. After answering your three questions, please respond to a selection of your classmates’ postings.
Piaget:
- Think of an example in your own teaching (or perhaps parenting or other dealings with children) of one of the stages of development as outlined by Piaget. What could you do to ensure that a learning activity would be appropriate for that stage?
- What do you think about the suggestion that some adults never achieve the formal operational stage? How would this apply to teaching adults?
- Some educators believe that Piaget is “out of favour”. Do you agree or disagree with this assessment? Explain.
- The film was made in 1991. Do you think these 4 principles still apply nearly 20 years later?
Vygotsky:
- Vygotsky believed that the tools of a culture affect the development of its children. How have the tools we use in education, such as technology, affected how our students have developed?
- Do you see teaching to the Zone of Proximal Development as an effective way to teach? Is it something you already use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this teaching method?
- Vygotsky said that ” To force everybody into the same mold represents the greatest of all the delusions of pedagogics. The fundamental prerequisite of pedagogics inevitably demands an element of individualization, that is, conscious and rigorous determination of the individualized goals of education for each particular student.” (Vygotsky, 1926) Do you agree or disagree? Is this a practical goal in public education? Is this a practical goal for online education?
Bruner:
- What kind of learning activities have you used that would fall into the category of Discovery Learning? What type of “scaffolding” would learners have access to? How effective has the activity been?
- Imagine you are teaching a fully online course to adult learners. Explain how you would use the principles of Discovery Learning to teach a specific task related to your discipline/subject area.
- What drawbacks can you see to Discovery Learning?