Section 2: Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction

1.  Epistemology is the psychology and philosophy that defines what we know, what it means to know etc.  It can be compared to a couple meeting with a builder sharing what their dreams are for their home and what that means to them.  It is the initial discussion that leads to the blueprint for the home.  In other words, it is where theories evolve.  From theories, instructional models develop.  Then, instructors use the models to strengthen instruction in order to effectively teach students.  Each layer is important to completing the difficult task of engaging learners.  The push and shove comes when educators build from opposing/different theories.  Thus, models and methods of instruction take different paths, which is an ever changing road.

2.  From what I understand, contextualist epistemology is that learning changes from one context to another.  Learners make sense of the world based on their experiences.  Learning is much larger than just understanding the individual.  Culturally developed tools and artifacts while collaborating with others held the key to education.  Therefore, sociology, anthropology semiotics, and linguistics are important pieces of research in understanding what is best in developing instruction.  The most interesting piece that people's learning processes changed as technology (cultural tools and artifacts) changed.  Like constructivism, Contextualists found that authentic learning possessed the best results. Instructional models that are linked to contextualism are:  Problem-based learning, Anchored Instruction, Cognitive Apprenticeship, Intentional Learning Environments, and REALs (rich environments for authentic learning).  The benefits from these models include a connection to research about how people learn, expectation of critical thinking, personal connections to learning, and realistic settings to jobs and the outside world.  The Contextualist finds Positivist and Relativist approaches as too limiting.  They attack learning through fuzzy directions (senses or individual interpretation).  Contextualism differs from behaviorists even though they both desire specific behaviors and a positive rapport between teacher and student.  Contextualism goes much further than just behavior.  It centers on environment and placing the teacher in a guiding position instead of a sage position.  This is a debate that began in Plato's time and will not end until the world does.

3.  When students problem solve in the behaviorist classroom, they are going to be directed through positive or negative reinforcement on which way to go. The constructivist classroom is centered on student engagement and student responsibility.  Students must be accountable for their own learning.  So, both aim to uplift the  student through encouragement, but constructivism is a much broader approach, and students are more probable to thrive in its setting.  Engagement and the push to think independently is more appealing than just a smile from the teacher.