MA Learning Theories Assignment

What Does My Teaching Have To Do With My Students Learning? 
A Critical Discussion And Evaluation of Constructivism and Social Constructivism In Relation To My Professional Practice


Hello,
My name is Laura Venables and I am an artist and a lecturer on the BA in Animation in IADT, currently embarking on The MA in Higher Education in DIT.

The intention of this blog is to serve over time as a reflective space to explore various aspects of the relationship my teaching has to my students learning, and to reflect on my own learning. The starting point for this exploration and reflection will be learning theory. I have many years studio-based experience teaching design and life drawing across all four stages of the IADT Animation programme, and find working with undergraduate students inspiring and stimulating. There are benefits, however, to supporting my teaching practice by placing it within a theoretical framework. Carlisle and Jordan (2005) define some benefits of this theoretical knowledge as insight, problem solving, scholarship and crucially, empowerment, suggesting a dynamic, reciprocal dialogue. Boyer (1990) (as cited by McCarthy & Higgs, 2005, p.8) centralises the notion that teaching is about learning. Schulman (as cited by McCarthy & Higgs, 2005, p.9) frames the elements of good teaching that unfold over time as "vision, design, enactments, outcomes and analysis", usefully defining the complex and overlapping needs, aspects and functions which a good teacher identifies and exemplifies.
This blog aims to reflect (over time) on aspects of practice in the light of these and other elements and contexts.


MY PERSONAL LEARNING PHILOSOPHY: A Reflection on how Behaviourism made me a Constructivist

I was unaware of a personal learning philosophy that underpinned my teaching and learning attitudes before reflecting on my practice in the context of learning theory. I came to the significant realisation that while I employ elements and strategies from the three main learning theories across both my modules and throughout my teaching, I am in essence a Constructivist.
Whilst recognising the proven benefits of certain Behaviourist learning strategies such as providing varied stimuli, repetition, positive reinforcement (Jordan, Carlisle & Stack, 2008), and employing them strategically in my classes, my own formative experience of the reward/ punishment/ Behaviourist model was damaging.
To avoid negative reinforcement or gain positive reinforcement I adapted the technique of strategic but often surface learning (Entwistle, N. 2000), producing what was judged to be good or at least acceptable work but where in fact very little quality learning had happened.  There was no need for any other kind of learning - indeed, brushes with deep learning and the questions it provoked caused problems, leading me down alternative paths to the ones specified by the authority directing me. My primary learning concern was to please or appease the teacher, motivated by fear or ego. (Skinner, B. F. 1972). I was one of the 'good', well behaved, well conditioned students; a modest success story of the Behaviourist educational system as I progressed steadily through it.
In reality, I was constantly afraid and anxious and increasingly dependent on external validation in the form of positive reinforcement (praise, good grades); all of which significantly damaged the development of autonomy. The overall result was a chronic lack of self confidence, self belief and the ability to self direct, with lasting negative consequences for my creative growth.

Look at me! Grade me! Evaluate and rank me! I'm good, good, good and oh so smart!

— Lisa Simpson (@lisasimpson) April 12, 2007

In response to this experience and to the requirements of my discipline for a more independent learner, my personal learning philosophy has evolved into an authentic searching for meaning. This Constructivist attitude is encapsulated by Bruner, who entreats us as learners to "go beyond the information given" (Bruner, J.S., 1957, p.119-160) which feels revolutionary and anti authoritarian, creative and empowering.
The Constructivist emphasis on student centred learning, where the the teacher and learner are concerned above all with possibility are summed up by Bruner in this clip:



The Brainwaves Video Anthology. (2014)


This approach brings learning to life, and become an engrossing student-centered adventure in possibility, rather than a forced and external activity where the learner is at best passive and at worst powerless.



Jackpot ButtonLewis. (2013)



THEORY OVERVIEW : What is Constructivism/ Social Constructivism and why does it best facilitate our learning as artists? 

Constructivism is a learning theory with many perspectives emphasizing the diverse interests of theorists such as Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner (Carlisle & Jordan. 2005. p.18-23)
It is rooted in the concept that Learners construct their own knowledge and meaning.
The concept of the learner being at the centre of their own learning, actively involved in a process that is meaningful to them and that is stimulating, process driven and discovery based is the central ideology behind Bruners' Constructivism, and is the perspective most relevant to artistic growth. Kolb has described this experiential approach as a process both derived from and constantly shaped by experience, effectively transforming experience into knowledge through doing.( Kolb, 1984, p.26). Later, Vygotsky's theory of Social Constuctivism brought into play the central dimension of the social in learning; the concept of a Zone of Proximal Development (Carlisle & Jordan, 2005, p.22), and the importance and value of group learning, peer learning and feedback for learning.
It is through these perspectives on which a creative framework for learning has been structured over time on our programme, and which has specific application across my modules and my teaching.
For example, the Learning Outcomes across the Design and Life Drawing modules are constructively aligned with the learning activities and assessment for learning (Biggs, J.B., 2011). This flexible spiral framework for deep learning is structured to provide opportunity for:

• Stimulating individual / group and project work 
• Formative feedback for learning
• Peer feedback
• Reflection
• Analysis/ Evaluation/ Creation (Bloom) 

The Spiral evolves from Stage one to two, revisting topics and deepening understanding by reflecting and building on previous knowledge through more complex perspectives and applications than before.

Here is a short animation made by a year three student, showing a learner's perspective on how Assessment and Feedback impacts them and their understanding and ownership of their own learning.
In a constructivist way, Morwenna applies a creative and critically reflective process to the design and visual language domain to communicate a meta understanding of her own learning across the Animation programme.



Morwenna Gentile, 2015

REQUIREMENTS OF DISCIPLINE AND HOW CONSTRUCTIVISM FACILITATES THESE LEARNINGS: 

Design is a fundamentally creative discipline, where developing the ability to evolve the best response to a visual problem is the motivation of the learning. This means evolving and integrating skills and abilities across lower to higher order levels of Blooms Taxomomy, from remembering and understanding to analyzing, evaluating and creating.

Retrieved from http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

In Constructivism, the central role of process is strongly emphasized. (Kolb, 1984). This experiential approach, where learning primarily happens as an outcome of making meaning, is proving a flexible framework to scaffold my students' learning. Design has a very cerebral component, but to be able to really make sense of that component and apply it, technique must be driven by content or internal motivation, which is often about emotional knowledge. This requires a complex inner process John Dewey describes as an "outgoing and incoming of energy." (Dewey, J., 2005, p.50). This dynamic occurrence is a transformation of understanding, only found through process and reflection on that process. (Kolb, 1984)

Kolb's Diagram of Learning

Kolb (1984) Cycle of experiential learning

FACILATATING AIMS AND OUTCOMES OF THE DESIGN MODULE

The IADT Animation Programmatic Review Doc 2015 refers to a number of the aims and outcomes of the Design module over two years, which explicitly seek to integrate cognitive and critical skills such as theoretical knowledge and application, analysis and evaluation (IADT Animation Programmatic Review Document, 2015. p.49) with that opportunity, as Bruner puts it, to 'go beyond the information given' (Bruner, J. S., 1957) and to experiment, express, and engage in intuitive creative learning outside the cognitive realm.
It is in Bruners movement away from pure Cognitivism and into Contructivism and Social Constructivism that there is a theoretical framework that offers to support the learning needs of the artist and the design student at all stages, and to provide the best scaffold for their development as reflective practitioners. It is important to note that Bruner is not rejecting all elements of cognitivism : rather seeing them as being incorporated as learning strategies into Constructivism, (which later along with Social Constructivism he saw as the natural evolution of Cognitivism.) Bruner, J.S (1990). Cognitivism remained - and remains - about developing thinking and learning strategies to serve constructivist meaning.
 I use theoretical Constructivism/ Social Constructivism to best fulfill the aims and outcomes of the Design module.


THEORY INTO PRACTICE: Constructivism and Social Constructivism at Work




INTO THE FUTURE: ISSUES ARISING WITH CONSTRUCTIVISM/SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM AND OTHER AREAS FOR EXPLORATION.

Are there limits to the benefits of these theoretical frameworks that need to be examined and addressed? I have identified two areas of concern in particular with implications for my practice.

Student Diversity: Constructivism is concerned with the development of the individual learner and facilitating their needs as they learn; however in the cases of a significant number of learners in my classes over years, learning issues such as Aspergers have caused the very fluid nature of the learning framework to be stressful and anything but supportive. In some cases, students have found the nature of group-project and certain self directed learning activities actually distressing. I deal with this on an individual basis as it arises, scaffolding directly according to need, but there could be difficulties if a student feels uncomfortable with disclosure, difficulties with peer understanding of other ways of being, and with the level of scaffolding and individual support and attention needed to be fair and successful. It is time consuming and requires the lecturer to be aware and emotionally intelligent, with a respectful relationship built on trust. These issues need real consideration.

Walking the Talk: The central issue arising from a critical look at how Constructivism/Social Constructivism apply to my teaching practice is related: whether it is possible to employ a Constructivist educational philosophy such as Bruner's in the framework of our entirely Behaviourist system, where the reality is that deep learning itself is not a primary objective or concern.
This is the crux of the matter, and without it being authentically addressed at its highest levels, the quality of what happens in our classrooms can and must be questioned from the perspective of both teachers and learners.


References
Biggs, J. B. (2011) Teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does. McGraw-Hill Education (uk)

Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Bruner, J. S., (1957) Going beyond the information given. Contemporary approaches to cognition, 1, 119-160.

Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Harvard University Press, 1990

Carlile, O., & Jordan, A. (2005). It works in practice but will it work in theory? The theoretical underpinnings of pedagogy. Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching. Dublin: AISHE, 11-26.

Dewey, J. (2005) Art as experience. Penguin.

Entwistle, N. (2000, November) Promoting deep learning through teaching and assessment: conceptual frameworks and educational contexts. In TLRP conference, Leicester.

Gentile, M. (2015, Oct 24) MorwennaGentileVideoProjectAssessment&Feedback002 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_vaWaHdDPs

Jackpot ButtonLewis. (2013, June18)
Great Acting Performances: 2. Pam Ferris - Matilda 1996 - Newt Scene [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O9pvtdvIJc

Jordan, A., Carlile, O., & Stack, A (2008). Approaches To Learning: A Guide For Teachers: A Guide for Educators. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Pearson Education.

McCarthy, M., & Higgs, B. (2005) The scholarship of teaching and its implications for practice. Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching, 5.

Profanimation (2015, Oct 25) Constructivism in action [Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDbdC4KG8to

Shulman, L. (2004). Teaching as Community Property: Essays on Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass. 

Skinner, B. F. (1972). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Bantam Books.

The Brainwaves Video Anthology. (2014, Oct 9) 
Jerome Bruner - How does teaching influence learning? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aljvAuXqhds