Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
Earlier this year I was provided with the opportunity to work as a cake decorator at a local grocery store. Despite having an interest in cake decorating I offered no previous professional experience. There are several factors that led to my success in cake decorating, all which stem from my effective learning experience.
The trainer that took me under her wing had been in the trade for decades. With experience, she built a repertoire of successful teaching methods that translated efficiently towards me (the zero experienced new hire). One of the main factors that led to success in learning this trade was that the trainer took the time to get to know me. We discussed the basic elements of my character and who I was as a person, as well as what goals I have set for myself, within this job context, and about my personal life (school, career, etc.). The trainer and I were discussing my passion for art when she used her first teaching approach on me. As I described that making art was important for my creative outlet, she connected that cake decorated is much the same. As I find peace in painting and drawing due to the creative aspect, she concluded that cake decorating was simply another medium of use for creativity. This approach to relate my passion for creativity through art and cake decorating would be classified as a cognitivism approach to instructional design (Ertmer, et al., 2013). This helped me understand mentally what aspects of my brain would help me to succeed.
The second factor related to my success in cake decorating was that I was able to learn through repetition and reinforcement, like a behaviourism approach to instructional design. I thought icing a cake would be a walk in the park. I had been previously exposed to videos of others decorating cakes and making it look to flawless and easy. Quickly, this misconception of mine was proven to me as the first time I iced the cake, it was lopsided, I had pieces of the cake showing through, and I no smooth edges. Derek Muller (2011), in his YouTube video “Khan Academy and the Effectiveness of Science Videos”, highlights the importance of misconceptions and how they effect our ability to learn. Much like my misconception of icing a cake. Once I had identified this misconception and been brought face to face with it, my ability to think differently kicked in.
A constructivist approach that the trainer used was through modelling. As I was able to watch and see how she positioned her hand on the spatula, how the icing was placed on her spatula, and the hand movements she would use to spread the icing. I then was able to reflect what I saw, using techniques that mimicked hers. As this wasn’t labeled an “apprenticeship”, which most constructivist instructional design theories are used for, this was however an on-job training (Ertmer, et al., 2013).
References
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.
Comments
Hi Caitlin! Thanks for sharing your story! I also find it pretty tough learning a new skill from scratch. It seems like a combination of learning methods was the key for you. Thanks again for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your learning experience! Your muffins look so pretty and yum! You definitely have some artistic skills and talent! Even though I do not know all the details of your learning experience, repetition, modelling, and reinforcement sound more like behaviourists and cognitivists strategies. While learning by doing, learning from experts/peers, and connecting passion for art and cake decoration are constructivists approaches.
By the way, I was able to find your blog post just now. You may want to create a new category, e.g., Blog Posts to make it obvious. The Learning Design category is for the Interactive Learning Resource and Blueprint assignments, therefore, I did not check it.