[NLA] Constructivist vs Direct Instruction

Tue Aug 13 15:34:11 EDT 2002


            Ajit:

            Your comments are eloquent both in the magnitude of their
meaning and in their brevity.  We need a variety of "tools for teaching" so
we can increase the possibility of connecting with the variety of "tools for
learning" what students bring.

            Thanks

            Duane Rankin
----- Original Message -----
From: Gopalakrishnan Ajit (MIDD) <Ajit.Gopalakrishnan at po.state.ct.us>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:59 AM
Subject: RE: [NLA] Constructivist vs Direct Instruction


> Some of my most memorable learning experiences have been those that
allowed
> me the ability to define the problem at hand and invited my fullest
> participation in developing solutions. However, there have also been times
> when I have learned a great deal from a terrific presentation, or a
> passionate lecturer.
>
> So it seems to me that there are times when instead of questioning the
> effectiveness of one approach over another, an equally important question
to
> think about might be which approach (or combination of approaches) lends
> itself better to achieving the desired learning outcomes.
>
> Ajit
>
> Ajit Gopalakrishnan
> Associate Consultant
> Connecticut Department of Education
> 25 Industrial Park Road
> Middletown, CT 06457
> Phone: (860) 807-2123
> Fax: (860) 807-2127
> mailto:ajit.gopalakrishnan at po.state.ct.us
>
>
>
> >From: Thomas Sticht <tsticht at znet.com>
> >Reply-To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
> >To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> >Subject: [NLA] Constructivist vs Direct Instruction
> >Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 14:26:31 -0700 (PDT)
> >
> >George Demetrion has indicated that the Equiped For the Future project at
> >NIFL follows a constructivist approach to instruction, which, at least as
> >discussed by some educators,  involves problem-posing, project-based,
> >discovery learning methods. At least two members of the proposed new NIFL
> >board, Jean Osborn of Illinois and Douglas Carnine of Oregon have
> >advocated for direct instruction, in which students are directly taught
> >knowledge and skills relevant to some area (domain) of learning in a
> >transmission and reception of knowledge learning method.
> >
> >I'm wondering if anyone knows of any research-based evidence for the
> >relative effectiveness of these two approaches to teaching in adult
> >education or literacy instruction?
> >
> >Tom Sticht
> >
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George E. Demetrion [mailto:sophocles5 at juno.com]
> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 11:28 AM
> To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: [NLA] Constructivist vs Direct Instruction
>
>
> Tom and others:
>
> A very quick response:
>
> The relationship between the processes and content of learning are
> complex, subtle, and intwined.  Also, EFF focuses on the learning domains
> (the roles) as well as the processes of learning through the generative
> skills.  One might also consider the Four Purposes:
>
> Access
> Voice
> Independent Action
> Bridge to the Future
>
> as building on processes of learning as well as linked  to specific
> content areas.  The entire EFF framework may be viewed as a set of
> heuristics (tools) that have the potential of opening up learning through
> an interface of various contexts with areas of knowledge that students
> identify or discover as significant.
>
> At times, such as learning how to fill out job applications, studying for
> a GED or studying a diver's knowledge, there would be more of an emphasis
> on transmission and reception of the received knowledge, though even
> here, without internalization and adaptation, the impact of such
> knowledge becomes questionable.  Moreover, the transmission model may be
> more applicable if the distance between the highly specific goal and its
> attainment  are not too wide.  It's one thing for a student scoring 235
> on the CASAS to be aiming for the GED of that is the goal.  It is
> altogether another issue if the person scoring 195 also has that goal.
>
> Sitting in front of me is the massive NCSALL publication (739 pages),
> "Toward a New Pluralism in ABE/ESOL Classrooms: Teaching to Multiple
> 'Cultures of Mind'" by developmental psychologist Robert Kegan and
> others.  In his other work, Kegan is a strong proponent of processes of
> development, which I suspect is carried over into this work, particularly
> given the "Cultures of Mind" imagery conveyed in the title.
>
> While  I haven't read it (though I stare at it occasionally and walk by),
> I know that it conveys a lot of case study material (empirical,
> ethographic, "research-based" evidence, that a critical analysis of, may
> lend a good deal of insight to the issue Tom is raising.
>
> Also, those working out of the EFF framework, Gardner's Multiple
> Intelligences (see the new MCSALL publication, "Open to Interpretation:
> Multiple Intelligence Theory in Adult Literacy Education" by Silja
> Kallenback and Julie Viens), Mezirow's Perspective Transformation, might
> weigh in here, which would make for a fruitful discussion.
>
> My own balanced constructivist approach draws a lot on John Dewey's
> concept of growth as a working hypothesis, which I argue is fruitful that
> get at some of the ways that adult literacy students learn.  I recommend
> one of my essays in particular, "Motivation and the Adult New Reader:
> Case Studies in a Deweyan Vein, which consists of a longitudinal study of
> three students (hardly representative, to be sure, but, arguably,
> fruitful).  That essay can be accessed on the NALD full documents web
> page.  I also have a shorter piece floating around in the NLA and FOB
> archives, which I use for tutor training titled "Moving Back and Forth
> Between Instructional Materials and Highly Significant Learning."
>
> Without putting a lot of thought into it at this moment, I suppose my
> underlying thesis is that the learning that matters (whether concrete or
> more abstract) is what students themselves view as significant, which
> leads to a lot of pedagogical doorways, some more fruitful than others.
>
> That's the short (20 minutes) version.
>
> George Demetrion
> sophocles5@ juno.com
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> George Demetrion has indicated that the Equiped For the Future project at
> NIFL follows a constructivist approach to instruction, which, at least as
> discussed by some educators,  involves problem-posing, project-based,
> discovery learning methods. At least two members of the proposed new NIFL
> board, Jean Osborn of Illinois and Douglas Carnine of Oregon have
> advocated for direct instruction, in which students are directly taught
> knowledge and skills relevant to some area (domain) of learning in a
> transmission and reception of knowledge learning method.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone knows of any research-based evidence for the
> relative effectiveness of these two approaches to teaching in adult
> education or literacy instruction?
>
> Tom Sticht
>
>
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>
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