- Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
- Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?
In this first blog post, I’d like to share my best learning experience, which also happened to have behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism incorporated into it.
I vividly remember the excitement I had when I boarded the plane to start my exchange semester in Germany. I had been practicing my German for months to bring it up to speed in preparation for this trip. Upon arriving in Germany, it didn’t take me long to realize that my learning had just begun.
Thinking back on this experience I found that I had been through what Ertmer and Newby (2013) describe as the “behaviorist-cognitivist-constructivist continuum.” I had been learning German casually for a couple of years before my trip, in more of a behaviorist manner. I used flashcards and Duolingo to learn lots of vocabulary. I really enjoyed Duolingo because I felt that it had enough stimulus to keep me engaged thus creating the association between getting the correct answers and levelling up in the app. At some point though, I felt like I had hit a plateau especially because I had beaten all of the levels on Duolingo. This experience was well stated by Ertmer and Newby (2013) who wrote “behavioral principles cannot adequately explain the acquisition of higher level skills or those that require a greater depth of processing” in other words, I needed to find another way to improve my German further.
This was especially true as the opportunity to go on an exchange to Germany presented itself. I jumped at the offer but knew it was time to get serious about my language learning. This was when I stepped into the cognitivism phase. I found a german tutor who was able to help me realize where I had gaps in my knowledge. As a native german speaker, my tutor was able to provide me with analogies and explanations for certain idioms and phrases that flashcards or Google translate could not explain. She also helped me by guiding me through assessments in order to see where my learning gaps were. This was when I realized I really needed to practice my verb conjugations and she helped me set goals and create a plan in order to improve in this area. I definitely felt the ability of cognitivism to “…allow[] for unfamiliar information to be put within a familiar context” (Ertmer & Newby 2013) the contextualization of words and phrases, especially being mapped to my native language, greatly helped my understanding. Â
The final leg of my learning journey started when I first landed at the airport in Germany. I was greeted by the unfamiliar sounds of chatter, in a language, I didn’t fully understand. Being fully immersed in a new culture while everyone around me was speaking german, brought my overall literacy to the next level. This is where I really found myself “situating in real-world contexts” (Ertmer & Newby 2013) and where most of my fluency in German came from. Thinking back, I now realize that the constructivism approach was at play here; although my trip wasn’t formally structured around a german learning curriculum, I learnt more than I ever had just by playing an active role as the learner.
Although it was a long process, this was definitely my best learning experience, lasting over months of practice and culminating in a full immersion approach. After doing the readings for this week and reflecting on my own experiences, I realized the power that the constructivist approach has.
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Citations:
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance improvement quarterly, 26(2), 43-71
Good job connecting learning theories with your personal experience of learning German! As a second English language learner myself, I can relate to your experience. In fact, speaking is one of the most difficult skills to acquire compared to reading, writing, and listening. Learning to speak a foreign language can be overwhelming for some learners as it requires understanding both linguistic and socio-cultural norms. Therefore, constructivism might help us communicate in a foreign language alongside cognitivism and behaviourism.
I also appreciate the way you connected your examples with readings! Your photos helped to split the text and added more context to your story!
Wow, this is such an inspiring story of your journey in learning German. Your experience aligns with the concept of the behaviorist-cognitivist-constructivist continuum as described by Ertmer and Newby. It’s great to see how your learning experience went from the behaviorist approach with flashcards and Duolingo, to the cognitivist approach with a tutor who provided you with deeper understanding and contextualization, and finally to the constructivist approach where you were fully immersed in the German language and culture.
I believe that full immersion is the most effective way to learn a language. By being fully immersed in the language and culture, you are able to use your language skills in real-life situations, which can greatly improve your fluency. Your story is a testament to the power of combining different learning approaches and the importance of active learning.
Thank you for sharing this enlightening story. I’m sure that it will inspire many others to take the leap and immerse themselves in a new language and culture.