From behaviourism to cognitive behaviourism to cognitive development: Steps in the evolution of instructional design

The recent history of instructional technology is traced, starting with the work of Skinner, moving on to the task analytic approach of Gagné, and following through to contemporary efforts associated with the cognitive revolution. It is suggested that an understanding of the process of cognitive development may enable us to build on and improve earlier approaches, by adapting them more directly to students' current levels of cognitive development, and by ensuring that we do not overtax their information processing capabilities. To illustrate and support this claim, a number of recent instructional studies are cited, some of which have utilized classic developmental tasks, and some of which have utilized conventional classroom material.Presented at the conference for Educational Technology in the 80's Caracas, Venezuela, June 14–18, 1982.     

Education and the pursuit of reality

The goal of education, according to Reimer, is to produce people who understand reality well enough to deal with it effectively. The present paper argues that myth and verbalism are the greatest obstacles to this goal. Schools breed verbalism but are so ineffectual at purveying myth that they probably have a demythifying effect. The pursuit of reality is not a natural impulse. The most promising way of inducing it is by exposing people to competing serious attempts at indoctrination. Deschooling could make this possible but could also make it more possible for parents to protect their children from competing doctrines.

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Résumé Le but de l'éducation, selon Reimer, est de produire des personnes qui comprennent suffisamment la réalité pour savoir traiter avec elle effectivement. Cet article soutient que le mythe et le verbalisme présentent les plus grands obstacles à cet but. Les écoles engendrent le verbalisme mais elles sont si inefficaces à créer des mythes qu'elles ont un effet démystifiant. La poursuite de la réalité n'est pas une impulsion naturelle. Le meilleur moyen de l'inciter, c'est de montrer aux gens les tentatives sérieuses concurrentes de les endoctriner. L'abandon des écoles rendrait cela possible mais permettrait aussi aux parents de protéger leurs enfants des doctrines concurrentes.

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OISE     

Referent-centred and problem-centred knowledge: Elements of an educational epistemology

Two distinguishable kinds of knowledge are (1) knowledge organized around referents and (2) knowledge organized around problems. This is a different distinction from that between declarative and procedural knowledge and, it is argued, a more important one for educational design. Schooling, whether traditional or progressivist, has tended to emphasize knowledge organized around referents. Problems of motivation, verbalism, and inertness are thus exacerbated. Active learning generates knowledge organized around problems. Problem-centred knowledge, it is argued, should be the principal objective of instruction.     

Collaborative learning processes associated with high and low conceptual progress

Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE) is a database system in which learners collaboratively construct the knowledge represented in the database. This study examined how students in a grade 5–6 classroom built their classroom database on a science topic, electricity, and differences in activities between high-and low-conceptual-progress students. This categorization of students was based on the amount of progress in understanding exhibited over the course of work on the electricity unit, and was not significantly related to standardized achievement test performance. As an analytic tool, Activity Theory, as explicated by Leontiev (1981) was used to describe students' activities mediated by the computer system. Two different levels of student activities were examined: (1) cognitive actions, in which students intentionally pursued cognitive goals; and (2) computer operations, used to attain these goals. In addition, two different psychological planes of collaborative work were considered: the solo pane, in which students mainly focus on their own inquiries, and the joint plane, in which they focus on improvement of the classroom knowledge as a whole. Comparisons of activities between high-and low-conceptual-progress students showed: (1) that high-conceptual-progress students were more concerned with constructing their knowledge centered around problems, whereas low-conceptual-progress students were more involved in accumulating referent-based knowledge; (2) that high-conceptual-progress students were significantly more likely to construct their knowledge by involving in interactive information flow between problem-based and referent-based knowledge; and (3) that high-conceptual-progress students more frequently used the graphics medium in the database to represent problem-based knowledge.     

Moral alternatives to education

The God-like role of teachers in setting goals for the development of children is no longer morally tenable. A shift to informal modes of education does not remove the difficulty. This paper questions the assumption that education itself is a good undertaking and considers the possibilities of a world in which values other than educational ones come to the fore.

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Résumé Au point de vue moral, le rôle quasi-divin que jouent les maîtres dans l'établissement des objectifs de l'épanouissement des enfants n'est plus, supportable. Par ailleurs, le recours à des modes éducatifs dépourvus de formalisme ne résoud pas le problème. Cette étude conteste le postulat selon lequel l'éducation est une entreprise bonne en soi et elle envisage les possibilités qui s'offrent dans un monde où seront mises de l'avant des valeurs autres que les valeurs éducatives.

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OISE     

Dos modelos explicativos de los procesos de composición escrita

Resumen

Se analizan dos modelos de los procesos de composición escrita Decir el conocimiento y Transformar el conocimiento con el propósito de captar las diferencias esenciales entre escritores expertos y novatos. La idea básica que subyace a estos modelos es que la principal diferencia entre los procesos de composición de expertos y novatos radica en la manera que el conocimiento es introducido en el proceso de composición y en lo que posteriormente le sucede a ese conocimiento. Se presentan además investigaciones educativas, cuya finalidad fue la de fomentar el desarrollo del modelo Transformar el conocimiento. Se supone que la tarea del científico cognitivista debe ser no sólo la de describir los procesos cognitivos sino la de encontrar aquellas diferencias que son significativas desde un punto de vista educacional. Si queremos ayudar a los alumnos a adquirir una estructura de «transformar el conocimiento» en los procesos de composición, es necesario llegar a modelos explícitos de competencia madura y poder diseñar procedimientos que transformen la competencia que los alumnos traen a la tarea espontánea. Los resultados de aplicar diversas estrategias educacionales sugieren que es posible transmitir los procedimientos complejos de solución de problemas que poseen los expertos, y que al hacerlo se pueden ampliar las facultades de los alumnos para escribir. Sin embargo, los estudios educativos también indican que pasar de «decir el conocimiento» a «transformar el conocimiento» en la composición, no es un proceso de crecimiento sino de reconstrucción de una estructura cognitiva.