About Kermit and the Keyboard

Piaget’s Theory, Vygotsky’s Theory, and Bruner’s Theory

Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s theory, and Bruner’s theory are the three fundamental cognitive theories that apply in this circumstance. The Piaget hypothesis of cognitive development focuses on the changes that occur in children and teenagers. Piaget theory attempts to explain the changes that occur throughout a person’s life. Piaget theory proposes four stages of development that are affirmed upon maturation. Children at each stage have a different level of logical and critical thinking. This idea holds that logical reasoning is founded on how learners interact with the environment in which they learn.They also learn through schema which is a representation of the strategy that is used by learners in the integration of new information and knowledge into knowledge that already exists (Tomic, & Kingma, 1996). This theory holds that children have the ability to construct their own knowledge based on their learning environment. They do this by assimilating and accommodating new schema by being engaged in the process of cognitive development in their lifetime.

Lev Vygotsky’s Cultural-Historical Theory

Lev Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory places a focus on culture’s role when it comes to the development of cognitive function such as reasoning as well as speech in children. Vygotsky’s theory places emphasis on the significance of culture and society in the promotion of cognitive development (Tomic, & Kingma, 1996). This is the feature that makes it unique from other theories. Bruner’s theory of development holds that education should help in intellectual growth of individuals. Education is not for simply memorizing facts. Vygotsky and Bruner both recognize the complexity that is in human development that contradicts that the sufficiency of one model of development theory.

Part 2

As described by Maybin, Mercer, and Stierer (1992), scaffolding is one method that was described by Bruner and Vygotsky that can be used by teachers to help children learn. It can be effective in helping Sasha learn how to convert fractions to decimals. To achieve this, the following procedure will be followed. The instructor will begin by describing the concept a couple of times. The learner will then begin working on the concept that has been assigned. There will be an observation or informal assessment on fractions to find out if Sasha understands what is being taught. If Sasha portrays increased competency then the intervention will be faded and more challenging tasks on the topic assigned. Once the instructor is confident of subject mastery, the student can be left to work independently (Cadieux, 2011). Additional practice will be given.

The scaffolding technique will still apply to Harry, but his approach will be slightly different. Harry is still learning from the environment, so Visuals and realia will be used to teach vocabulary. These materials should contain the words that are to be learned. Modeling and gestures can also be used to try and bring the words being learned in life. Harry is young, but some words should be able to be connected to his background. An example is showing a picture of something that he can relate to during the lesson. Graphic organizers can be used to help him organize his thinking while answering some questions. Passages that contain some vocabulary could be read, and questions on the vocabularies asked later.

Limitations of the Scaffolding Technique

The use of scaffolding has some limitations. The first limitation is the time that is taken by a learner to learn. It is time-consuming since the instructor has to go with the pace of the learner. Moreover, the instructor will be required to cede some control so that learners can learn at their own pace.

References

Cadieux, C. (Nov 24, 2011). Scaffolding in Elementary Math is a Balancing Act that Gets Results. Retrieved from http://info.marygrove.edu/MATblog/bid/74830/Scaffolding-in-Elementary-Math-is-a-Balancing-Act-that-Gets-Results

Maybin, J., Mercer, N., & Stierer, B. (1992). ’Scaffolding’: learning in the classroom.

Tomic, W., & Kingma, J. (1996). Three theories of cognitive representation and criteria for evaluating training effects. Educational practice and theory, 18(1), 15-35.