Blog Prompt 1: Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.

Behaviourism Example  

When I played basketball in high school, my coach implemented a behaviourism learning design method within the early stages of training camp. More specifically, he would use environmental stimuli such as drills and rotational walk-throughs to elicit basic skills. In addition, he would condition and strengthen the connection between the stimuli and skills through reinforcement/consequences. For example, if at any point during a drill you didn’t have your hands up and active, the whole team would have to run suicides. 

 Utilizing behaviourism during the initial stages of our team development facilitated the automatic performance of essential skills, which allowed the team to focus on high-level skills such as problem-solving when faced with new defensive schemes, and inference generating when anticipating player movement.

Cognitivism Example 

Last semester in my economics of firm strategy class, we were challenged throughout the semester to link our class learnings with a company of our choosing. At the end of the week, our class would meet and demonstrate our ability to transfer/apply our knowledge within the different settings of our individually selected firms. Through the process of sharing, we were able to view how other students conceptualized the material as well as how they organized and received it (Ertmer & Newby, 1970). As a result, we could better reflect on our learning process and develop new strategies to engage with the material efficiently. Moreover, the process of weekly sharing also helped the professor make adjustments to instructional explanations, demonstrations and illustrations based on the success with which students were able to form connections (Ertmer & Newby, 1970).    

Constructivism Example 

In the first year of my undergraduate degree, I took a sociology class in which my professor taught using a constructivist learning approach. He did so by never mapping out a blueprint for which skills needed to be learned or interpreted. Instead, my professor encouraged us to think with the “sociological state of mind,” which meant not viewing course material as black or white but rather through the shades of grey. By utilizing this style of thinking, we as learners could develop our own interpretations and build on our individual experiences and interactions when working with the class material and real-world concepts. This allowed us to take more control of our learning and discover the strategies that better increase our engagement and motivation levels (Ertmer & Newby, 1970). 

Citations


Ertmer, P., & Newby, T. (1970, January 1). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism. Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/behaviorism_cognitivism_constructivism