Preview Module 4

A Pedagogy for Practitioners

Teaching – Learning Outcomes

When you finish this module, you will know and be able to….
  • Relate a learning experience of your own to illustrate a constructivist viewpoint
  • Identify differences between traditional and cognitive apprenticeships
  • Describe how you use cognitive apprenticeship strategies in your teaching now
  • Suggest ways you can implement specific cognitive approaches in online teaching

All the world’s a stage for theory

“How are we to proceed without Theory? What system of thought have these reformers to present…? Change? Yes, we must change, only show me the Theory, and I will be at the barricades, show me the book of the next Beautiful Theory, and I promise you these blind eyes will see again, just to read it, to devour that text. Show me the words that will reorder the world, or else keep silent.”

-- From Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Angels in America; as appearing inUtilization Focused Evaluation by Michael Quinn Patton, Sage Publications,1996.

Theory is a gateway to informed action. A theory of learning gives perspective and direction to our day by day work with students. It grounds our teaching practice and gives birth over and over again to new approaches. Theory expands our understandings of what is possible and guides us in achieving the results we seek.

In module 4, we turn our attention to the learning theory of constructivism and to how we can apply its perspective to our teaching. Our approach here is a practical and pragmatic one – revolving around the question of “How can we use what is known about how adults learn in our teaching?” How can we put theory to work for us and make it come alive in our classrooms and online?

Module concepts

Watch for these important ideas:

  • In a constructivist perspective, learning is seen as an active process of rethinking and integrating new learning with what we already know, of constantly recreating our knowledge frameworks (or schema).
  • Cognitive apprenticeship is a constructivist approach to teaching with specific strategies and approaches that can enrich our teaching and enliven our learners.
  • A major tenet of cognitive apprenticeship is that as teachers we need to make the learning process visible to our students, just as it was and continues to be for to those in traditional apprenticeships.

Module topics and sub-topics

  • Looking back as we move forward
  • Time for a brief review
  • Moving ahead
  • A constructivist perspective
  • Two points of view
  • Scenario 1
  • Scenario 2
  • Two models
  • Bringing it all together
  • Activity 4.1: Recalling experience
  • Making learning visible through cognitive apprenticeship
  • The hidden process
  • Understanding this approach
  • Activity 4.2: Reflecting
  • Differences between traditional and cognitive apprenticeships
  • Teaching with cognitive apprenticeship strategies
  • Six strategies
  • Activity 4.3: Thinking it over
  • Cognitive apprenticeship strategies at work
  • Teacher practice
  • Cognitive strategies chart
  • First step
  • Second step
  • Third step
  • Fourth step
  • Activity 4.4: Thinking it through

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Looking back as we move forward

Time for a brief review

Campus photo
byTroy Zaushny / “I always wanted to go back to school and earn a degree, but raising four children and working full-time kept me too busy to allow me the time to do it. After years of thinking about going back, I decided last year, in fact -- almost to this day -- that I wanted to earn a college degree. Although I knew many working adults were pursuing degrees, I was afraid of not being successful after having been away from school for so long.”

“It was summertime; I was feeling depressed about the job I was working at. Business was slowing down, and I thought to myself, will I get laid off, or will I be working here forever? So I said to myself I'd better do something. First I took some GED classes so that I could get my diploma…. After seeing what I had accomplished, I didn't want to stop, so I kept working hard on my studies. I knew that I could do this, go to college. It is going to be hard, but if I stick with it I can do it. “
(Two students from MindquestAcademy college prep program at NorthHennepinCommunity College.)

When we have students as eager as these two for a college education we can’t help but feel a great sense of responsibility for their success. We ask ourselves what we can give them that will make their way through college as rewarding and profitable as possible. We search not only for relevant content but for instructional approaches that will propel students forward in pursuit of

their career goals. These are the purposes that lead us now to an exploration of a theory of learning and its strategies for teaching.

In the past three modules, we’velooked mainly at the MindquestAcademy curriculum and at online teaching and learning:

  • In the first module, Mindquest academy and postsecondary transitions…
  • The need for a college education (or, at the least, for some college) is growing as career ladders require a higher level of skills and knowledge than before.
  • Colleges expect entering students to have acquired academic literacy competencies in areas such as habits of mind, reading comprehension, writing, and technology.
  • MindquestAcademy curriculum goals lay the foundation for the courses
  • A student orientation process provides a guide for introducing students to the courses and to teacher expectations

In the second module, The teacher, the students, and the courses: Making it all work!...

  • A link to Curriculum at a Glance provides descriptions of MindquestAcademy courses
  • Curriculum resources can be shaped to fit learner needs; several scenarios demonstrate how.
  • Three instructional models: hybrid, lab, and remote illustrate how these resources can be integrated into classrooms.
  • Practical matters such as counting students hours for ABE reimbursement, having adequate technology, and the need for administrative support bring the module to conclusion.

In the third module, Creating the online learning environment…

  • An expert’s view on the use of technology with students whose skills are not college-ready invites us to examine online practices.
  • Motivating and retaining students in an online program requires strategies such as chunking work into manageable parts, setting timelines, and providing consistent support and encouragement.
  • Seven Principles of Good Teaching with technology emphasize active learning techniques, adequate time on task, giving prompt feedback to students, and communicating high expectations.
  • Iterative teaching and learning promotes student growth and a sense of accomplishment.

Moving ahead

This then is a very short summary of some of the main concepts and ideas from modules 1 through 3. Since this is the mid-way point in this training package, it seemed like a good time to pause a moment and reflect upon what has gone before. In this and the next module, we turn our attention to a theory of learning – constructivism–andto a major approachto learning that this theory supports – cognitive apprenticeship – and finally to a set of strategies that this approach describes. These three constructs are key elements in MindquestAcademy teaching and learning. In large part, they shape our pedagogy, which is the focus of this module.

If you think that the wordpedagogy has a strong connotation of academia, suggestive of boring methods courses at the university and musty library shelves, you’re not alone. It’s not the kind of word one tosses out lightly at social gatherings or in casual cell phone conversations. It is, however, a necessary word in a teaching vocabulary, one that pulls together and shapes concepts, approaches and strategies. Pedagogy literally means “leading a child,” but its expanded meanings include:

The art or method of teaching

The science of teaching, instruction, and training

Strategies of instruction

Learning or instruction concerning principles and methods of teaching

While originally pertaining to children’s education, the term has broadened in use to include all learners and teachers. In the 1970’s, however, Malcolm Knowles introduced the term andragogy,

which literally means “leading an adult” but most commonly refers to the art and science of teaching adults. Although this word isn’t widely used, it does appear in adult education research and literature. We’ll use pedagogy in this course only because it most often appears in educational articles and is most often used by educators.

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/ Whether it’s pedagogy or andragogy, teaching and learning is not all serious – it can be fun!

A constructivist perspective

Two points of view

Suppose you have a learning project in mind for yourself, something you’ve wanted to learn about for awhile but haven’t had the time to give to it. Let’s say that you want to learn more about classical music – for example, the historical development of musical styles, composers, and how to interpret and follow a musical work. You’d also like to be able to recognize some of the more well-known works from major composers. You decide to focus your project on the 18th through the 20th century. You wonder how you might proceed with this endeavor.

Consider these two possibilities:

Scenario 1

You take a music appreciation class at a university in your area. On the first night, the instructor hands out a syllabus that gives the lecture topics for the 10 week course and the textbook you’ll need to buy. He tells you that he has a lot of material to cover so he’s going to get started. He launches into his hour-long lecture and in the five minutes left before the end of class, he asks if there are any questions. Someone in the front of the room asks a question about something you’ve never even heard of and you decide not to raise your hand with your question because you feel it’s too rudimentary. During the following sessions, the instructor plays examples of music that fit his lecture; after each example he tells you what is important about it musically. For the next ten weeks, you read the text, attend the lectures, listen to the recordings of musical works, and take a final exam which is multiple choice and true/false.

Scenario 2

You take a music appreciation class at a university in your area. On the first night, after introducing himself and describing his background and interests in music, the instructor asks you and the other students to take a ten-minute written survey, which he has prepared to learn about your past experience, questions, and interests related to music appreciation. When the surveys are completed, the instructor divides the class into small groups to talk together about the information each person gave. This is followed by a general discussion and a listing of the questions that each student brings to the class. The instructor collects the surveys to read through later.


Tallis Chamber Orchestra
Wilmington, North Carolina / On the second night, he passes out a syllabus which incorporates the feedback students provided through the survey and group discussions. The syllabus includes the questions raised the first night and relates them to the activities he proposes to the class. It also includes a description of the final project, which is to be a research effort around a question or set of questions each student wants to explore. The projects are to be presented to class members and must include some participatory activity.
You see that the instructor has made a sincere effort to learn more about his students’ interests, prior knowledge, and goals. He uses this information throughout the course to group students around areas of inquiry and creates opportunities to recognize and affirm their past experience.

His instruction is a combination of informal “lecture-discussions,” small group activities, listening to many examples of music, and attending several campus concerts. He helps students understand and recognize the similarities and differences in composers and types of music. He guides them in identifying and following themes in a composition. He also relates the music and its creator to the social and political context in which it was developed.

The final exam consists of project presentations and essay questions which ask students to summarize, compare and contrast, and reflect upon what and how they’ve learned.

Two models

If we were to list the teaching strategies used in these two scenarios, we might include these characteristics:

Scenario 1 – Traditional model / Scenario 2 – Constructivist model
Class is teacher-centered and driven by teacher-talk. Relies heavily on textbook for structure of course. / Class is learner-centered and learner experience, prior knowledge, interests, and goals are recognized and integrated into the curriculum. Students are encouraged to think independently and to work cooperatively with others.
Teacher’s role is to impart a fixed body of knowledge which student must learn; teacher must “cover” the material. Teacher is the dispenser of information, goal setter, manager. / Teacher’s role is that of facilitator, coach or guide, helping students connect new learning to what they already know. Teacher is a resource, scaffolder, coach.
Student’s role is to be a listener, receiver, novice. / Student’s role is to be a collaborator, problem-solver, explorer, goal setter, participant.
Little interaction among students. / Frequent opportunities for Interaction among students.
Learning through inquiry not promoted. / Learning through inquiry promoted.
Learning is passive. / Learning is active.
No attention is paid to reflective thinking; emphasis instead is on retention of information. / Students reflect on their learning and are encouraged to be aware of how their concepts about music have changed and grown through the course.

Bringing it all together

The chart shows some important characteristics of constructive teaching and learning. But what exactly is constructivism? The following definition may be useful:

“Constructivism is an approach to teaching and learning based on the premise that cognition (learning) is the result of ‘mental construction.’ In other words, students learn by fitting new information together with what they already know. Constructivists believe that learning is affected by the context in which an idea is taught (the classroom, the technology, etc.) as well as by students’ beliefs and attitudes. Constructivist teaching is based on recent research about the human brain and what is known about how learning occurs.”

-- from North Central Regional Educational Library

We do much of what the definition describes in adult education intuitively and by learning from our experience as teachers. For example, we….

Build on our students’ individual experience

Create learner-centered classrooms

Employ active learning strategies

See learning as a process

Use curricula that are oriented to adult interests and experience

Foster an environment that encourages students to express their own questions,

frame their own interpretations of what they hear, read, and view; and make their own meanings by combining new information with what they already know

Knowing the theory behind our practice, however, enhances our ability to enlarge our range of strategies.

The following paragraphs provide more insights into the theory.

“Constructivism is a view of learning based on the belief that knowledge isn't a thing that can be simply given by the teacher at the front of the room to students in their desks. Rather, knowledge is constructed by learners through an active, mental process of development; learners are the builders and creators of meaning and knowledge. [We can] define constructivism by reference to four principles:

Learning, in an important way, depends on what we already know

New ideas occur as we adapt and change our old ideas

  • Learning involves inventing ideas rather than mechanically accumulating facts
  • Meaningful learning occurs as we rethink old ideas and come to new conclusions about new ideas that conflict with our old ideas

A productive, constructivist classroom, then, consists of learner-centered, active instruction. In such a classroom, the teacher provides students with experiences that allow them to hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose questions, research, investigate, imagine and invent. The teacher’s role is to facilitate this process.”

-- from Constructivist Teaching and Learning by Audrey Gray

If you would like to read more about constructivist learning, click here for excerpts from the above article.

Activity 4.1: Recalling experience
  1. Describe an experience you’ve had as a student with a constructivist view of learning. Where was this? What were you learning about? What were some of the instructor’s strategies? What was your reaction to this learning experience?
  1. From your point of view as a teacher do you think the constructivist approach works well with the learners you have?
  1. What, if any, teaching strategies would you add to the chart above to make it more complete (for, either or both of the traditional or constructivist approaches)?

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Making learning visible through cognitive apprenticeship