Resources for unit 3

1. Jean Piaget (1896–1980): Piaget is one of the most well-known theorists in constructivism.  His work focused on how children develop cognitive structures and how these structures evolve through stages as they actively interact with their environment. Key contributions:

§  Cognitive development stages: Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

§  Assimilation and accommodation: He emphasized the processes of assimilation (fitting new experiences into existing cognitive structures) and accommodation (changing cognitive structures to fit new experiences).

§  Piaget believed that children actively construct their understanding of the world by interacting with it.

2. Jerome Bruner (1915–2016):

Bruner argued that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas based on their current and past knowledge. Key contributions:

§  Discovery learning: Bruner advocated for teaching methods that encourage learners to discover information themselves, as opposed to passively receiving knowledge.

§  Spiral curriculum: He proposed that curriculum should revisit key concepts regularly at increasing levels of complexity.

§  Scaffolding: Bruner emphasized the importance of providing learners with support structures that enable them to achieve tasks they can't accomplish alone.

3. David Ausubel (1918–2008): While not always associated with the term "constructivism," Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning fits within a broader constructivist framework.  Key contributions:

§  Meaningful learning: Ausubel distinguished between meaningful learning (where learners relate new information to their existing knowledge) and rote memorization.

§  He proposed that new knowledge should be presented in a way that connects to the learner's existing cognitive structures to make it meaningful and easier to retain.