Reading chapter two in the text after the Reiser and Dempsey article, I was struck by a few other thoughts. I found that the 3 principles of Individual Constructivism resonated very strongly, and I agreed with some of the tenets of Social Constructivism as well. I like the collaboration element suggested by the authors (and in particular, the example of the reader collaborating with the writer to negotiate the final meaning of a novel.) Also, the idea of "truth for now" dealt with some of my questions from the article. (Perhaps I should consider myself as more of a "Pragmatist" according to Smith and Ragan's definition.) Contextualism clicked for me with the concepts of "authentic learning" in both in instruction and assessment.
The assumptions underlying ID (p22-23) made perfect sense to me, especially the 6th point (criterion based assessment, not norm referenced).
My sense is that Behaviourism works well when applied to learning actions that are meant to be automatic. Cognitive learning theories are more appropriate for more complex learning. (I think about learning the guitar in this context. You need to drill and memorize chord shapes, but you need to "understand" the music, and the theory behind it in order to be a virtuoso.) More to come....
