Interpretations of constructivism and consequences for Computer Assisted Learning

The changes that have occurred in accepted approaches to teaching and learning in recent years have been underpinned by shifts in psychological and pedagogical theory, culminating in moves towards a constructivist view of learning. This paper looks at the consequences of these theoretical shifts for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL). Moshman has identified three interpretations of constructivism: endogenous constructivism which emphasises learner exploration, exogenous constructivism which recognises the role of direct instruction, but with an emphasis on learners actively constructing their own knowledge representations and dialectical constructivism which emphasises the role of interaction between learners, their peers and teachers. This classification scheme provides a framework for looking at the various constructivist approaches to CAL. For example, constructivist CAL materials that draw on the endogenous view include hypermedia environments, simulations and microworlds. Materials that draw on the exogenous view include learner controlled tutorials, cognitive tools and practice modules. Lastly, materials that draw on the dialectical view include Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tools and support (or scaffolding) tools. Introduction Accepted teaching and learning practices have undergone significant changes in recent years. These changes are evident in situations as diverse as early childhood teaching, university education and workplace training. They have been underpinned by shifts in psychological and pedagogical theory, the most recent of which fit broadly under the heading of constructivism. This paper looks at the consequences of constructivist theories of teaching and learning for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL). Constructivist teaching and learning The recent changes in teaching and learning practices have had their roots in two broad theoretical developments. The first development, in the field of psychology, has been the demise of the behaviourist view in favour of the cognitive view of learning. A behaviourist view of learning emphasises teaching strategies that involve repetitive conditioning of learner responses. A cognitive view, on the other hand, places importance on the learner’s cognitive activity and the mental models they form.(Leahey and Harris, 1993; Schultz and Schultz, 1992) The second development, which is more of a philosophical shift than a new movement in psychology, has been the gradual rejection of the assumption, held by many cognitivists, that there is some objectively correct knowledge representation. The alternative view, termed constructivist, is that, within a domain of knowledge, there may be a number of individually constructed knowledge representations that are equally valid. The focus of teaching then becomes one of guiding the learner as they build on and modify their existing mental models, that is, a focus on knowledge construction rather than knowledge transmission (McInerney and McInerney, 1994; Slavin, 1994). There are three broad principles that together define the constructivist view of learning. The fundamental principal, attributed to Kant and later adopted by Dewey, is that each person forms their own representation of knowledge, building on their individual experiences, and consequently that there is no single “correct” representation of knowledge (Von Glaserfeld, 1984). The second principal, normally attributed to Piaget, is that people learn through active exploration, and that learning occurs when the learner’s exploration uncovers an inconsistency between their current knowledge representation and their experience (McInerney and McInerney; 1994; Slavin, 1994). The third principal, normally attributed to Vygotsky, is that learning occurs within a social context, and that interaction between learners and their peers is a necessary part of the learning process (Vygotsky, 1978). Although there is general agreement on the basic tenets of constructivism, the consequences for teaching and learning are not as clear cut. It is generally agreed that learning involves building on prior experiences, which differ from learner to learner. Consequently, each learner should have a say in what they are to learn, different learning styles must be catered for and information must be presented within a context to give learners the opportunity to relate it to prior experience. It is also generally agreed that the process of learning is an active one, so the emphasis should be on learner activity rather than teacher instruction. However, from here there is significant disagreement about the details of how to implement these broad principles. Radical constructivists claim that learners should be placed within the environment they are learning about and construct their own mental 184 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 32 No 2 2001 © British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2001. model, with only limited support provided by a teacher or facilitator. More moderate constructivists claim that formal instruction is still appropriate, but that learners should then engage in thought oriented activities to allow them to apply and generalise the information and concepts provided in order to construct their own model of the knowledge (Perkins, 1991). Adding a third dimension is the view that knowledge construction occurs best within an environment that allows collaboration between learners, their peers, experts in the field and teachers. These different interpretations of constructivism have been labelled by Moshman (1982) as endogenous, exogenous and dialectical, as follows: • Endogenous constructivism emphasises the individual nature of each learner’s knowledge construction process, and suggests that the role of the teacher should be to act as a facilitator in providing experiences which are likely to result in challenges to learners’ existing models. • Exogenous constructivism is the view that formal instruction, in conjunction with exercises requiring learners to be cognitively active, can help learners to form knowledge representations which they can later apply to realistic tasks. • Dialectical constructivism is the view that learning occurs through realistic experience, but that learners require scaffolding provided by teachers or experts as well as collaboration with peers. Constructivist Computer Assisted Learning Having looked at the origins and the various interpretations of constructivism, we can now look at approaches to Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) that have grown out of constructivism. In doing so, Moshman’s three interpretations of constructivist theory provide a useful framework. Before looking at the CAL techniques that are consistent with each of these interpretations of constructivism, it is appropriate to look at the nature of traditional CAL resources based on pre-constructivist views of teaching and learning. Pre-constructivist approaches Traditional CAL resources consisted primarily of tutorials, which were essentially computer based forms of Programmed Instruction (PI), drawing heavily on the behaviourist views of Skinner. These tutorials typically contained sequences of content broken into sections, with end of section questions to determine whether the learner required remedial content or was ready to go on to the next section. They also included drill and practice materials, consistent with the behavioural psychology emphasis on producing automatic responses by repeated reinforcement (Rieber, 1994). An alternative is the Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) approach. These systems maintain models of an expert’s knowledge and models of the learner’s current knowledge and use Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to dynamically generate a sequence of instruction to suit the needs of the learner (Orey and Nelson, 1993). Such systems are consistent with the cognitivist view that the instruction should depend on the learner’s current cognitive state but are based on an implicit assumption that there is a single correct representation of a given body of knowledge (Jonassen, 1992a). Interpretations of constructivism and consequences for CAL 185 © British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2001. Endogenous constructivist approaches Endogenous constructivism emphasises the importance of learner directed discovery of knowledge. Constructivist CAL materials that draw on this view include hypertext and hypermedia environments allowing learner controlled browsing of content, and simulations and microworlds, which allow active exploration within a virtual environment. Hypertext and Hypermedia The term hypertext was first coined by Ted Nelson in the 1960s, but the concepts are normally traced to Vannevar Bush in 1945 (Park and Hannafin, 1993). Hypertext consists of chunks of textual information (nodes) with groups of words acting as automatic links to other chunks (McKnight, Dillon and Richardson, 1991). Hypermedia is a more general term, indicating that the nodes can be composed of a variety of media and that screen objects such as icons, “hot areas” within pictures and graphical buttons can act as links in addition to words within text. As well as becoming popular for use in instructional systems, hypermedia has also found widespread application as a way of organising and accessing large information databases, typically delivered on CD-ROM. Most recently the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) has become the information delivery standard for the World Wide Web. Because hypermedia information databases typically allow browsing under complete learner control, with learners following a sequence of links that makes sense to them, it is suggested that they facilitate the formation of individual knowledge representations (Rieber, 1994). This freedom to browse through the content, is consistent with the constructivist principle that learners should be given the opportunity to discover knowledge through their own active exploration. Hypertext has also been advocated as a mechanism for applying cognitive flexibility theory, a theory that focuses on advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured or complex domains (Spiro et al., 1991). The use of hypertext links allows the learner to choose from a range of relevant examples of the theme or concept being illustrated. It also allows for a particular area of the content to be examined a number of times, from different perspectives. Simulations and microworlds There is no accepted definition of simulations and microworlds that allows for a clear distinction between the two. Typically a simulation is defined as a model of a real world environment, usually with the facility for the user to interact with the environment (Thurman, 1993). A microworld can be defined as a model of a concept space, which may be a very simplified version of a real world environment, or it may be a completely abstract environment. Normally, a user can create some sort of constructions within the microworld which will behave in a way consistent with the concepts being modelled (Papert, 1993; Rieber, 1992). Simulations and microworlds are popular with constructivists for two reasons. Firstly, simulations (and some microworlds) provide a realistic context in which learners can 186 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 32 No 2 2001 © British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2001. explore and experiment, with these explorations allowing the learner to construct their own mental model of the environment. Secondly, the interactivity inherent in microworlds (and usually in simulations) allows learners to see immediate results as they create models or try out their theories about the concepts modelled (Rieber, 1992). Simulations have been used as part of CAL materials for at least three decades. One of the more well known examples is Sim City (Wright, 1989). Recent technological developments have made it possible to create Virtual Reality (VR) simulations. Such simulations range from fully immersive environments that require three-dimensional viewing helmets with head-tracking devices, to desktop environments that require only a standard PC, and which make use of technologies such as the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) (Macpherson and Keppell, 1998). The term microworld was first coined by Papert (1993) who described the Logo microworld for exploring and constructing within a geometrical concept space. Other popular examples include The Incredible Machine (1992), a mechanical problem solving environment and The Geometer’s Sketchpad (1995) a geometric exploration environment. Exogenous constructivist approaches The exogenous view of constructivism recognises the value of direct instruction, but not the teacher centred single sequence of instruction of behaviourists. According to the exogenous view, learners should have some control over the sequence and selection of content, should have the opportunity to actively construct their own knowledge representations and articulate these representations at all stages, and, after instruction should have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to realistic tasks. Constructivist CAL materials that draw on the exogenous view include tutorials that incorporate learner control over sequence, or conversely, hypermedia browsing environments that include context sensitive pedagogical guidance. The use of cognitive tools, to assist with knowledge construction and articulation during instruction, including concept Interpretations of constructivism and consequences for CAL 187 © British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2001. Figure 1: Geometer’s Sketchpad mapping tools and hypertext editing tools is consistent with exogenous constructivism. Practice modules, for example quizzes and problem solving exercises, which allow the learner to obtain feedback on their own construction of knowledge, are also consistent with this view. Tutorials with learner control and guided hypermedia Tutorial systems that are consistent with constructivist theories provide a structure that encourages the learner to follow certain instructional sequences, but allows them to choose alternative sequences, or to use the materials as a discovery learning resource if they are so inclined. In fact, often they use a hypertext or hypermedia metaphor, but provide a clearer structure or more guidance than environments that are designed specifically for discovery learning. These tutorials may also have within them practice exercises as well as annotation tools that allow the learner to articulate their knowledge constructions. For example, Investigating Lake Illuka (Harper, Hedberg and Brown, 1993) is an environmental education resource providing a hypermedia interface along with annotation tools and suggested exercises. Its structure allows it to be used either as a tutorial or as a discovery learning environment. A criticism of many hypermedia exploration environments, from an exogenous constructivist point of view, is that there is a tendency for learners to become “lost in hyperspace” (McKnight, Dillon and Richardson, 1991). One approach to this problem is to provide pedagogical help to the learner as they browse. This help could be in the form of a standard pop-up help system, an animated guide or an intelligent agent, monitoring the browsing patterns of the learner (Wills, 1996; Oren et al., 1990). 188 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 32 No 2 2001 © British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2001. Figure 2: Investigating Lake Illuka