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Figure 8.1: Views from three traditions: the foundations of learning and research
Cognitive psychology
Knowledge about the world is represented mentally.
The mind is (metaphorically) an information-processing machine.
Working memory is very limited, which constrains simultaneous manipulation of knowledge.
Reliable scientific knowledge is gained primarily through hypothesis testing, experimental setups, and quantitative analysis.
Constructivism(s)
Knowledge is a subjective (or social) construction.
Different individuals/societies have different knowledge and different ‘truths’.
Knowledge may not reflect any external world.
Qualitative, interpretive inquiry is (also) needed to gain scientific insight.
Phenomenography
Knowledge resides in experience, which is an inextricable two-way relationship between person and world.
Any phenomenon is understood only in a small number of qualitatively different ways.
Humans have a very limited capability for simultaneous focal awareness of phenomena and their aspects.
Qualitative, interpretive inquiry can illuminate human experience on a collective level.
Figure 8.2: Views from three traditions: mechanisms and processes of learning
Cognitive psychology
Excessive cognitive load on working memory prevents learning.
Domain-specific schemas (mental representations of concepts and patterns) are a key ingredient of expertise.
Abstraction to schemas facilitates chunking: ever larger elements can be dealt with as a single chunk.
Lengthy practice leads to ever more automated schemas which no longer strain working memory.
People are guided by their mental models of particular objects or systems; these models are often simplistic and incorrect.
To successfully simulate a system’s behavior, a robust mental model of the system is needed.
With increasing experience, initial mental models of specific systems generalize to abstract, transferable schemas.
Constructivism(s)
Specifics of knowledge construction are often left vague; however, new knowledge is seen as crucially building on prior
knowledge.
Some constructivists make use of cognitive theories such as schema theory. Some advocate conceptual change theories.
Some emphasize the plurality of perspectives to learning.
Social constructivists emphasize the interpersonal nature of learning and its situatedness within the authentic practice of
communities.
Phenomenography
Each phenomenon has certain educationally critical aspects; each way of experiencing a phenomenon can be described in
terms of these aspects.
Each such critical aspect is characterized by a dimension of variation.
Discerning variation along a dimension leads to discerning the critical aspect and to new ways of experiencing the phenomenon.
The most significant form of learning is learning to experience phenomena in new, more powerful ways that permit more
powerful ways of acting.
Learning proceeds from understanding vague wholes to understanding ever more detailed parts within the wholes.
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