Response to: Learning and Knowledge in the 21st Century

As a student and soon to be educator of the twenty-first century it's difficult for me to comprehend learning, or teaching for that matter, in a non-Constructivism and Contemporary learning atmosphere.  There are very few instances I can recall where "learning" was the result of repetition and memorization. In fact, only three: memorization of state capitals, multiplication tables, and foreign language in high school.

The article touches on society driving curriculum in school, or in other words as the nation developed from agricultural to industrial to information societies so too did the curriculum needed to support such societies. A result of an evolving curriculum is the way students learn new material.  

No longer are students learning in single flow lecture style classroom, in it's place is a rich and vibrant dialogue provoking students to arrive at their own conclusions about new material. Teachers now guide students through questioning and engaging activities or the shift from "teacher-centered to student-centered"classrooms (Niess, Lee & Kadjer, 2008, p. 35).  I can attest, see the examples listed above, that the memorization and regurgitation were not effective at creating retained knowledge. One interesting note is that although many secondary classrooms have adapted to become student-centered, many universities still embrace a teacher-centered classroom.  My experience as an undergraduate in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech supports this statement as many professors employed the velcro approach. The velcro approach is simply lecturing and throwing out information and seeing what "sticks" instead of engaging students in a dialogue. 

Additionally, the article discusses different educational psychologists theories on learning including Behaviorists, Cognitive Psychologists, and Constructivism and Contemporary views on learning. Personally I found the behaviorist view to be dated and difficult to believe (i.e. that response is simply the result of stimulus),  this aligns with my statement above about memorization and regurgitation as "behaviorists assert that behavior is shaped and strengthened through reinforcement, or practice promoting the desired behavior"(Niess, Lee, & Kajder, 2008, p. 41). The view of learning described as Constructivism and Contemporary "emphasizes an active role of the learner in building understanding and making sense of information" (Woolfolk-Hoy, 2004, p. 323). I agree with this view on learning and believe it is necessary to create an engaging and creative classroom environment.

References:

Niess, M., Lee, J., & Kajder, S. (2008). Guiding learning with technology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Woolfolk-Hoy, A. (2004). Educational psychology. (9th ed., p. 323). Allyn & Bacon.