Radical Behaviorist Critique - Essay Example

For the purpose of ensuring that the learner meets the learning outcome described above, it is of essence to use the constructivism radical approach during instruction. Constructivist approach Constructivism involves allowing the learner to solve problems on their own based on the experience they have gained over time. A constructivist classroom does not consider the learner as a passive recipient of information. Rather, the learner is actively involved in discovering knowledge by themselves and not necessarily depending on the instructor.

In constructivist learning, the role of the teacher is simply to facilitate learning activities, then leaving the learner to acquire knowledge on their own. According to Seel (2011) constructivist theorists believe that the acquisition of knowledge is determinant on prior knowledge. Therefore, a learner only builds up upon previous knowledge while learning. Accordingly, in my mathematics class, the learners will be required to use the knowledge they have acquired over time coupled with new ideas to find solutions to the algebraic problems.

More importantly, the learners will use the mathematical knowledge they have acquired previously to achieve the set learning outcomes. . This means that as a learner continues to perceive external information, they continually blend it with what they already know about the topic and make a meaning out of it. The process of acquiring external information may be through reading a book or viewing images. In the process of doing either, the learner stores the information in the short-term memory then later on, after they are through reading or viewing, the information is transferred into the long-term memory (Seel, 2011).

From the long-term memory, the information can now be retrieved as knowledge. Using this information processing theory, I would change the view of constructivists that the teacher does not have a very important role to play in learner-centered learning. It is obvious that the learner needs the teacher to simplify some of the concepts for easier encoding and decoding. Therefore, in as much as the learner should be left to solve the problem on their own, the teacher needs to guide the learner in perceiving the instructions and solving the problem.

Some algebraic equations may be too complex for the learner and they may need the teacher’s intervention. Schema theory of meaningful learning According to the schema theory, meaningful learning can only occur if the learner is able to use their schema to interpret their experiences. Schema in this case refers to a learner’s existing knowledge. This theory is somehow similar to the constructivist theory, in that it emphasizes on the role played by prior experiences in determining how a learner acquires knowledge.

The constructivist and schema theories belong to a group of learning approaches that emphasize on discovery learning. Here, the learner is left to discover concepts on their own,