Discover… Reflect…
Master….
Applying Learning Theories
of Dewey, Bloom and Bruner to Dental Hygiene Education
Tricia Moore
ETC 547
Northern Arizona University
February 26, 2003
Abstract
Discover…
Reflect… Master… Applying Learning Theories of Dewey, Bloom and Bruner to
Dental Hygiene Education
Jerome
Bruner believed it was important to provide a rich environment for learning and
freedom for students to set their own learning agenda, to discover learning for
themselves. To learn, students need to interact with the environment, explore
and manipulate, wrestle with questions and controversies and discover the
interrelatedness between ideas and concepts by using what they already know. He
emphasized an active role in learning. (Conway, 1997)
Bruner
emphasized teaching and learning of cognitive structure, or “schema” to
provide meaning and organization to experiences, rather than simply teaching
content and mastery of facts. For Bruner, the goal was competence rather than
the ability to perform particular behaviors. Competence was the ability to
perform in a variety of situations. He believed that providing a general picture
of relations between things would prepare students to transfer learning to other
situations so students could “go beyond the information given.” (Smith,
2002)
Bruner
believed intellectual ability was developed in stages through step-by-step
changes in how the mind is used. He described various modes of representation of
knowledge including inactive, iconic and symbolic. He believed any subject could
be taught effectively, in some form, at any stage of development if it was
structured so it could be readily grasped and made relevant. By simplifying
concepts and gradually increasing manipulation of the material, he believed
important areas could be taught rather than postponed due to difficulty. (Smith,
2002) Bruner thought instruction should be sequenced in progression from simple
concepts first, to formulating new propositions and finally to manipulating
information. Because learners construct knowledge based on past knowledge,
learning presented in a spiral manner allows the student to continually build
upon what they have already learned.
John
Dewey - Reflect
One
of Dewey’s most meaningful contributions to education is his work related to
reflective thinking. For Dewey, reflection is the tool that transforms experience
into meaning. He defined reflection
as a “meaning making process” that moves the learner from one experience to
the next with deeper understanding of relationships and connections to other
ideas and experiences. Reflection makes the continuity of learning possible,
where new experiences make sense based on prior learning or experiences, so
learning is not random or disconnected. (Rogers, 2002)
To
Dewey, learning is experiential. It is interaction between the learner and the
environment. The experience can be reading, discussing or anything that changes
the learner, however, experience alone is not enough. It is the meaning the
learner constructs from the experience that gives it value. This requires
thinking, reflection, the formulation of relationships and continuities between
experiences and knowledge. Without
reflection, a learner’s actions can become “routine,” without awareness of
the effect on the environment and the learner. (Rogers, 2002). The quality of
being present and being open to meaning is an important requirement of
reflective thinking. Dewey acknowledges that reflection takes time and
willingness to “endure suspense and undergo the trouble of searching”
(Rogers, p. 854). He proposes that reflection starts with the learner in a
disturbing state of perplexity (or “disequilibrium”) that is resolved
through inquiry and reflection to a harmonious state of settledness
(equilibrium) (p. 850). This component of reflection for Dewey, the systematic,
rigorous, disciplined way of thinking can also be referred to as scientific
inquiry. Dewey is well known for defining criteria for reflection or problem
solving. (Thomas, 1972, p. 7) Although many mistake his criteria as a series of
steps, Dewey preferred to think of them as criteria rather than rules of a
procedure. (Wiggins, 1998)
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Dewey’s Criteria for
Problem Solving |
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1)
A felt difficulty 2)
Locate/define the problem (the real problem) 3)
Suggest possible solutions/tentative hypotheses 4)
Develop reasoning of the bearings of the suggestion 5)
Further observe/experiment leading to acceptance or rejection |
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According to Dewey, a learner is not ready to engage in reflection until
demonstrating the attitudes of wholeheartedness, directness, open-mindedness and
responsibility. He describes
wholeheartedness, or single-mindedness, as a genuine enthusiasm and curiosity
about the subject; directness, as confidence to trust in the validity of one’s
experience without worrying about judgment from others; open-mindedness as the
willingness to entertain various perspectives and accept the possibility of
error in one’s beliefs and limitations of a single perspective. The fourth
necessary attitude according to Dewey was responsibility. He believed thought
should lead to action and that the purpose of education was to prepare students
to cooperate with others and be responsible members of a democratic community.
(Field, 2003)
Benjamin
Bloom – Master
Benjamin
is most well known for his hierarchical classification system of knowledge. His
levels go from knowledge (memory), comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation. (Krathwohl, 2002).
Perhaps even more notable than the hierarchy, however, is Bloom’s
development of theory and practice of mastery learning. (Guskey, 2001) Bloom
believed that everyone has the potential to learn and that variations in
learning are determined by one’s learning history and quality of instruction
received. His theory of mastery learning recognized the fact that some take
longer than others to learn and that modification in instruction can increase
the level and effectiveness of learning. For
Bloom, quality instruction includes the use of cues, participation,
reinforcement and feedback or “correctives” (Guskey). Bloom recommended the
use of formative assessment as a diagnostic tool to provide information that can
be used to extend learning and provide enrichment where needed (Anderson, 1994).
He emphasized that corrective activities should be qualitatively different from
the initial instruction, involve students differently, incorporate different
learning styles or modalities.
In
addition to feedback, correctives and enrichment, Bloom emphasized the
importance of alignment of instruction al components. (Guskey, 2001) The
learning goals or objectives, instruction and evaluation should be aligned. That
is, if the objective is at the higher cognitive level, the instruction and
evaluation should also be at that level.
All
three of the learning theorists address the issue of sequencing in learning.
Bruner proposed the idea of a “spiral curriculum,” and that one should begin
“with an ‘intuitive’ account that [is] well within the reach of a student,
and then circle back later to a more formal or highly structured account, until,
with however many recyclings [are] necessary, the learner [masters] the topic or
subject.” (Bruner, 1992, p. 7) I think Bloom would agree and add that some may
need more “recyclings” than others to reach mastery. Although Bruner has
been credited with this idea of the spiral curriculum, Dewey may have been first
to use the metaphor of a spiral, (Dewey, 1938, p. 79) to describe how learning
material should be presented with increasingly sophisticated and self-refined
ideas building on each other. Dewey described reflection as cyclical. When a
learner tests a theory more ideas and questions arise that result in refinement
of theory, and so on. Dewey believed education consists of reconstruction or
reorganization of experience so that meaning is added and therefore subsequent
experiences are affected. Bruner, too, believed learners construct new ideas or
concepts based on their current or past knowledge. Dewey defined reflection as a
“meaning making process” that moves the learner from one experience to the
next with deeper understanding of relationships and connections to other ideas
and experiences.
Readiness and Mastery
Bruner,
Dewey and Bloom also each discussed readiness to learn. Bruner believed learning
should be set up in relation to the learner’s experience and contexts or
“preposition to learn”. He said “any subject could be taught to any child
at any age in some form”. (Bruner, 1992, p. 7) To him, readiness was “not
only born, but made” (p. 7) He believes that knowledge can be constructed at
various levels of abstractness or complexity and that the teacher’s job is to
know the learners current state of understanding so he or she can translate
information into the appropriate format for the learner. This is similar to
Dewey, who believed experiences should be organized so that the learner was
ready for what was to happen next. Bloom developed a hierarchy that helped
educators understand the degree of difficulty of various cognitive tasks,
however, he did not necessarily recommend that material be sequenced according
to his hierarchy. (Wiggins, 1998) Bloom believed it was important to assess a
student’s level of performance through formative examination and teach content
in different ways depending on the level of the learner. Bruner and Dewy both
acknowledge a difference between the novice and experienced learner or expert.
Importance of Discovery, Inquiry and Reflection
Both
Bruner and Dewey emphasized an active role in learning and believed strongly
that students are to be encouraged to discover principles by themselves. Bruner
emphasized teaching and learning of cognitive structure, or “schema” to
provide meaning and organization to experiences, rather than simply teaching
content and mastery of facts. He believed that providing a general picture of
relations between things, would prepare students to transfer learning to other
situations so students could “go beyond the information given” (Smith,
2002). He thought one of the “great triumphs of learning is to get things
organized in your head in a way that permits you to know more than you
‘ought’ to.” (Bruner, 1992, p., 12) He
admitted that this takes reflection or “brooding” about what it is that you
know. Bloom also, valued the “higher order” matters of analysis, syntheses
and evaluative judgment. Both Bruner and Bloom would agree that experiences of
this nature are more likely to result in transfer of learning and the learning
that “goes beyond” information given.
Problem-Based Learning
Portions
of the theoretical background for questioning in case-based and problem-based
teaching can be traced to John Dewey and his criteria for reflective thinking,
often referred to as steps in problem
solving. Dewey also emphasized the importance of multiple perspectives and
learning from others that is such a large component of problem based learning (PBL).
Bruner believed that when students are confronted with different interpretations
of a situation, their learning is increased. (Gokhale, 1995). He advocated
cooperative learning to improve problem-solving strategies.
PBL also has roots in Bruner’s discovery
learning and the teaching of structure, or process, as opposed to facts. To
Bruner, the “art of raising challenging questions is easily as important as
the art of giving clear answers.” (Bruner, 1992, p. 11)
Bruner,
Dewey and Bloom’s Effect on Teaching
From
Bloom, I have learned to use tests in more of a formative manner, and to design
a greater variety of qualitatively different “correctives” for those who
need them. The
nature of testing in WebCT is such that I can provide feedback and suggest
“correctives,” or alternative approaches to learning, for those who are
unsuccessful the first time and may “take more time” to master the material.
I will also remember to align my goals,
instruction and evaluation so that students can master learning with the minimum
amount of time and effort.
From
Dewey, I have been inspired to encourage reflection and struggling with concepts
or problems until there is finally “understanding” or the “aha”
that accompanies insight when the learned material finally becomes
useable. After reading Dewey’s
requirements and necessary components of reflection, I am better able to design
criteria that will encourage reflection and may be useful in evaluating
reflection.
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Criteria for Encouraging
and Evaluating Reflection |
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For
Dewey, interaction with others is an important component of reflection. Because
I agree that a variety of perspectives and experiences leads to a broader
understanding, I will encourage more cooperative group learning in my teaching.
I feel this is especially important for health care providers who must learn to
collaborate, consult, and communicate effectively with patients and other
professionals.
From
Bruner, I have been inspired to give special attention to helping students
identify cognitive structure or “schema”
to make their learning more meaningful and to improve the transferability of
what they learn. Bruner stressed the importance of cognitive structure and
providing meaning and organization to experiences, as opposed to simply teaching
content, to facilitate extrapolation and/or fill in the gaps so students could
go beyond the information given.
Conclusion
Based
on what I have learned from studying theories of Dewey, Bloom and Bruner, I hope
to introduce more discovery learning, reflection and mastery in the dental
hygiene curriculum by using a problem-based approach to learning. Dental
hygienists, and other health care providers, can no longer rely on facts and
information learned in school to prepare them for future practice. Many of the
drugs and products they will recommend have not yet been developed; diseases and
conditions they will diagnose are not yet manifested. Problem-based learning is
a method that prepares students to think, create hypotheses, and make good
decisions. Essential components of PBL include: real ill structured problems
(ones that may not have “correct” answers), small group collaboration,
self-directed learning, and tutors that serve as a facilitators rather than
content experts (Barrows, 1998). Students critically analyze problems, identify
content needed, and complete necessary research to learn material, and develop
and analyze solutions. PBL is an approach to teaching that helps students “go
beyond” what they learn in school. It is a beautiful blending of theoretical
principles of Bruner, Dewey and Bloom: the inquiry and reflective thinking of
Dewey, the discovery and cognitive structure of Bruner, and mastery learning of
Bloom.
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