Instructional Approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Instructional Approaches - Essay Example The articles selected for analysis reflect different instructional approaches and illustrate different methods and techniques used in social sciences. The article "Literary Studies and Cognitive Science: Toward a New Interdisciplinary" by M. Th. Crane and A. Richardson discuss a new interdisciplinary approach applied to literary studies and social sciences. In this article, a special attention is given to cognitive learning approach and its application. the authors underline that building on earlier theories of learning, researchers working toward interactive technologies perceived limitations in earlier methods. By developing theories that emphasize synthesis and integration of sets of knowledge and skills, researchers hope to address such limitations as an emphasis on components instead of integrated wholes, a closed system that made incorporation of new knowledge difficult, which resulted in essentially passive instruction and labor intensive practice in design and development of instruction. The authors state that the teacher provides modeling of the metacognitive strategies necessary for beginning the task, and, when problems are encountered, assistance is provided by the teacher or group. One learning procedure reflecting this stance, complex dynamic simulations, structures collaborative group work in sharing a complex problem-solving task. This approach is based on theories about the social genesis of learning in which the learner is characterized as being motivated to seek explanations through exploration. The article "Using Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives" by C. P. Cook-Cottone analyses instructional approaches and learning theories in terms of the Narrative Process. The Healing Narrative Model is based on the structured approach. It means that one is that learning should be contextual and a process of active application of knowledge toward specific problem-solving goals. Also, the article pays a special attention to experiential (or sensorimotor) level and early relationships (or Preoperational) level. An initial authoring activity in instructional design is a clarification of the learning goal for the instruction and/or curriculum. The specification of the goal(s) will help prescribe the format of the instruction. For example, if the goal is the learning of new information, there are basically possibilities. Second is the general agreement regarding the importance of modeling problem-solving strategies as well as the role of conflict or failure in providing an impetus toward new learning. The research by Harris and Pressley, M. (1991) describes bad illustrates the cognitive strategy instruction:. The authors underline that in contrast to the behaviorist view of the learner as shaped by the environment, cognitivebased researchers are investigating the ways that the learner actively shapes the environment to facilitate learning. His research indicates that the knowledge of novices is organized around the literal aspects of a problem statement, whereas the experts' knowledge is organized around principles and abstractions not apparent in the problem