Internet, Ecosystem, Cultural Tools: Teaching Learning Theory Through Metaphor

• In Event: Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Teaching Educational Psychology: Strategic Practices for Engaging Learners

Abstract

Teaching learning theory in undergraduate educational psychology courses can be challenging because the theories are abstract, contain unfamiliar ideas, and are comprised of an overwhelming number of specific principles. These challenges can be addressed by teaching core metaphors underlying the major learning perspectives. These metaphors provide a context for abstract and unfamiliar ideas and unite many diverse principles. The core metaphors include learning as natural selection (Skinner’s behaviorism), mind as computer (Information Processing Theory), mind as Internet and mind as patterned network (Information Processing theory, cognitivism), mind as ecosystem (Piaget’s theory, constructivism), and mind as cultural tools (Vygotsky’s theory, social constructivism). These metaphors are presented and discussed in the current presentation.

Author

• Kevin J. Pugh, University of Northern Colorado