THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

lLWRMNG THEORIES AND THEIR IMPUCARONS FUR

INSrRUCTlOhr

u MODEM OF TEACHING-DEFINITION

J CONCEPT ATTAINMENT MODEL

u THEORY UNDEI-ILYING ADVANCE ORGANlZER

MODEL

J INQUIRY TRAINING MODEL

CHAPTER 11

MODELS OF TEACHING- A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

This chapter is devoted to the presentation of the theoretical

background of Models of Teaching with special reference to the lnformatiori

Processiny Models. The three models of teaching coming under Inforrnati3n

Processing Familt are Concept Attainment Model (CAM). Advance Organizer hlodel

(AOM) and l n q u ~ r y Training Model (ITM) These three models are treated speciatly

in this chapter.

2.1 LEARNING THEORLES AND THEW IMPUCATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION

Learning theories come to focus as one begins to forlrlulate objectives

for a teaching-learning stimulation and ro develop instructional strategies in order to

realise the objectives formulated Though learning theories encompass affective and

psychomotor development to a certain extent, they are basically set f i ~ r the reahsation

of the objectives coming under cognitive domain

Learl-lit~g theories have evolved into two main bl-anches 1 )

Behaviourisric. the focus of which is on behaviour as evidence uf' cognitive growth

and 2) Cognitive, the focus of which is percept~on as evidence of cogn~tive growth

2.1.1. Behaviourist or Connectionist Theories

In stimulus-response approach. learning is assumed ro be a function of

stimulus-response connections, particularly as reflected i n corldition~ng and

psychologists who restrict themselves to studying overt behaviour are known as

behaviourists (Mum et a1 , 1972).

2.1.2 Gagne's Theory of Learning and lr~struction

fragne like Skinner, Iays emphasis on the I-ole of instrumental

ct>nditioninr: in Icarning. In Gagne's opinion, the factors that intluence yrowth are t o

a large extent generically determined, whereas the factors that influence learning are

determined chietlv by environmental events {Gagne. 1 985) From the enviro~lment.

the learner receiies stimulation that activates receptors and is transformed to rleural

intbrmation. During the course of an act of tearniny, a [lumber clf ditkrent processes

are ar work TIicse processes mav occur in a sequence Thc processes of learning

form the basic stl-ucture of information process in^ theories of iearning In Ciagne's

theory of learning, the instrumental conditionins i s largely a matter- of intbrnlarion

processing

EtYective instruction accordirlg tto Cjagi~e ( 1 085 ). rcqulr-es a caretill

ordering of learnmy tasks. According to Ciayne. for each task learners are to be

carefully prompted or guided in their attempt to respond correctlv Gagne gives

niuch importance to the external stimuli to activate the leal-ners' mindset and this

implies that the need for independent discover\' is mini~nised

Cia3ne identified six varieties of perforlnar~ces that can be the result US

learning They arc.

I sptutic respondins

2 . chalrling

, .+I multiple discrinlinatian

3. class~fying

5 rule learning and

b problem solving.

Gagne believes that these six classes of learning for111 an ascending

hierarchy; thus, learning occurs in the order of increasing complexitv. Gityne's

hierarchy is usefill in selecting models appropriate for varieties of educational goals

(Jovce and Weil. 1997).

2.1.3 Cognitive Theories of Learning

They belong to the Gestalt school of learning and cognitive school uf

psychology. Much of the work using coynitive approaches to learning finds its origin

in the work of Jean Piaget ( 197 1 ) and his colleagues. often referred to as the Genevan

school Their model of learning generally characterised as a stage theop,, in that the

thougWprocess ot' the child developed through four distinct stages- sensoq-motor.

pre-operational. concrete operational and formal operational- which unfold in a fixed

sequence. At each stage, the 'structures' of the previous stage are reconstructed in a

process called equilibration. This process sirllultaneously involves assimilation and

accommodation

Coynitive revolution brings forth the appearance of such important

works as Miller's paper on Processing Information (Milter. 1956). Bruner's volume

crrl *Thinking' (Bruner, 1961 ), Chomsky's Syntactic structures (C'homskv. I96S)

S tudy of cognition is the study of processes. The second aspect in

cognition is the faculty of knowing which includes such activities such as memop-.

imagination, judgement and reason. Meta cognition is the name for the knowledge

that people have about the way that cognitive processes work

7-he processes of learning forrn the basic slructure of inforri~atiun

processins theurrcs of learning

I.rarning theorists have been advocatiny the ~rnptovernetit of classrooln

instruction by the application of the insight gained from a related field of inqui ry

Skinner's progt-ammed instruction, Gagne's hierarchical learning. I'iaget's se1t'-

disci~verv learn~ny. Bruner's discovery learning .4usubel+s meat~ingfi~l reception

learning, Such~xan' s inquiry oriented process approach are the sigtii tican t

contributions to the improvement of classroom instruction

One of the important debates in the field of instrriction today revol\,es

around the rc la t i~e et'ficiency of varyins methods uf preser~tation of subject matter

2.1.4 Methods, Techniques and Strategies

There is tremendous semantic confusion in the use of such words as

methods. rechn~clues and strategies because they are used interchangeably in

educational I~terature Basically there are three method of teaching t ranslrliss~on

method. inqulq rnethod and eclectic method A method is an overall ~)rocedure 01-

process to achirie certain goals. A technique ut'teaching refers tu the spec~fic ways

of presenting ir~structional inaterial for a particular lesson On the other tiand a

strategy deals n ~ t h the organisation and co-ordination of ilarlous techniques ro

practlse the method which would involve rhe achievement of desired goals

hlodels of teaching are corlsidered as prescriptive teaching strategies

designed to acco~nplish particular instructional yoals There is a contir~uum in rht:

application of tcactiiny stt-ategies

Fig. 2.1 A Contirluum of Teaching Strategies

Expository strategies + Interactive strategies

+ Self-directed strate~ies

I'litcement on this continuum is deternlitled by the degree to which

teachers share w . ~ t h pupIJs control over the teaching situation arid the degree to which

certain a[-eas of decision making are left open to negotiation.

Models of teaching are a via-media between the two extremes of the

continuum that i s transmission or exp~s i to ry strategies and self-directed strategies

111 expository strategies pupils are exposed or presented with all facts.

concepts, and principles they are to learn. In ir~teractive strategies the teacher

integl-ates different strategies in accordance with curricuium requ~rements and pup~ l ' s

individual requirements. Reactive teaching strategy i s characterised by the teachers'

wiilingness to ad rust instructional objectives in accordance with the pup~ls ' colxerns

or reactions 111 discovery teaching, the teacher iv~thholds from the pup~ls the

concepts and pri~~ciples they are to learn but gives them the instances. example.;. and

problems frutli which they can induce these coriceprs and pr~nciplea

.4usubel (1963) devised the concept of verbal reception learnins

(expository strategy) which is characterised by instruction that presents to students the

entire content of the subject matter to be learned in final form. Students' role in the

expository strategy is to understand and internalise the information presented before

them in a receptive manner

Rmner and Suchman established the framework of process oriented

inquiry strategy The process oriented curricula emphasises discovery or inquin

learning.

The term discovery learning has two different conr~otations: learning to

discovery and discovery learning. Bmner (1961) asserts that in discovery learning the

learner becomes the organiser of his own knowledge. Discovery is a process: it is a

way of approaching problems rather than a product or a particular item of knowledge

lnquirv training was developed bv Richard Suchrrlan (1962) to teach

students the process for investigating and explaining unusual phenomena. I t is

designed to bring students directly into the scientific process Inquiry training

originated in a belief in the development of independent and self-directed learners.

2.1.5 Processes, Observation and Inferelices

Items of information gathered through senses are called observations

The observed ~nforniation is processed into more abstract and usehl forms by

constructing patterns, predicting future observations and through explaining events.

These extensions and interpretations are called inferences (Egyen. Kauchak and

Harder, 1979) The information gathered in one's brain from the world around him is

called knowledge Facts. concepts and generalisations are called the buildins blocks

of knowledge These forms of content often can isotate and taught individually using

specific instructional strategies Often, however, facts, concepts and seneralisations

are all embodied in larger contexts where the focus is on the interrelationship among

them We call these relationships as organised bodies of knowledse

2.1.6 Concepts, Facts and Generalisat ions

Concepts represent a major portion of our schooi curriculum How do

youns children learn concepts'? The process begins with exarnples and non-examples

In both cases t h u concept is learned by identi5ing its essent~al characteristics and

discriminating them from closely related concepts. Providing adequate examples is

the crucial element in coricept learning.

Faits are units of information that are used to timn concepts and

.. generalisations. Facts are isolated pieces of information I hey are the budding

blocks of more advanced form of knowledge Meaningfulness is a term used to

describe the number of associations or connections between one idea and other ideas

in our mcmory The most powerful and widely applicable way of teaching facts

stresses their meaningful integration into large cotlceptual framework.

2.1.7 Forms of Discovery-Reception Strategies

a) lnductive-deductive approach.

Discovery and reception, as methods of instruction. have most ofierl

been equated with indlictive and deductive learning. Inductive learning [nay bc

defined as being .based on the presentation, to the learner. of a sufficient number of

specific examples to enable him to arrive at a definite rule or principle o r fact". On

the other hand. deductive learning is a method '-that proceeds from rules or

yeneralisatiot~s to the examples and subsequently to conclusions ur applicat~ons O K thc

reneralisations'* ( (hod, 1973 ) L

'I'hc first systematic approach to reasoning> attributed to :Instotie anti

the GI-eeks. was the deductive method. Inductive learning is chal-acterised b y i t s

emphasis on the verbalisation of what has been discovered by the learner The

deduc~ivu method of Aristutle and the inductive method of' Racur~ here full\

integr-ated in the uurk of Charles Darvin in the nineteenth centuq. I-hls induct1i.e and

deductive method is now recoynised as at1 example u f scientific approach

Eleduction and induction are clearly distinguishable and at rht. same

ti~tte are a par-! of the continuous process of csplanation Jotltl Ilewey ( 1938)

suggested a paltern that is helpfbl in identifying rhe elernerlts of ~nducti\,c and

deduct i\.e prucekis

i ~dentitlcation and definition of the problenl

i i ) tiwnmulation of a hypothesis

i t i ) collect~on, oryanisation and analysis of data

ic) lorn~ulation of conclusio~ls and

v) \,erification. rejection or modificatioli of the hypothesis bv rhe test of

i t s consequence in a specific situation

Ll any modern curriculum destgners at tempted to translate O e w e ~ ' s

ideas into educational practice, by giving much stress on problem solving as l)e\ve!

wanted to develop children's thinking ability.

b) Egrule and Ruleg Presentation

:inother variation of inductive and deductive learning or discover?.-

expository dichotomy is egmte and ruleg presentation Egrule secluerlce i s erluated

with inductive or- discovery learning and nlleg with expository or deductive learnins

The essential features of egmle presentation i s that "certain numbel- of examples are

siven with instnrctions to derive a concept. principle or generaiisation" The essential

features of ru1t.g presentation is that "the concept. prirlciple o r generalisation i s

presented tirst fi~llowed by examples (Turney, et al . 1977)

C ) Problem Solving and Discoveq

1'1 c~blem solving as a method of learnins requires that r l~c learners

discover the higller order rule without specitic help .4 s tudy b!. Wc)rthen ( 1968)

strongly suggests that achieving a higher order rule by means of n problem solving

PI-oduces a hiuhlv k ef'fectivt. capability that is well retained and tr.ansferred o\.er

considerable per~ods of lime A studv . bv . Gutliri (1'167) ot' probleln solv~ng irl

cryptugranls showed a marked advantage of the discover). method uf instruction for

retention and transfer of the newly acquired information.

Prc~blem solving is not the automatic applicatiorl of established habits

ul- behaviour pat len is to stereotyped situatiuns. nor i s it the appllcatloti ut' definite

principle (U'ertheimer. 1945). In his opinion. problem solviny is [lot lusr the sum of

several steps not an aygregate of several opera~inns. but thc yrowth of' one line o f

thinking ou t of the gaps in the situation Suchman's inquiry training model is based

# o n Wenheirner'r insight on problem solving,

Problem solving occupies highest position in the hierarchy of learning

proposed by Gagne (198.5) Thinking. learning and problem solviny are closel?

related Psvch~~loyis t s study thinking by examining the behaviour of people

attempting to sake problems and by manipulating the characteristics of the prohlem.

the problem solcer. and the nature of the information given to rhe subject (Solso.

1995). In Gapnc's opinion, problem solving is a natural extension of rule learnitig

(Gagne, 1985). l'he sequence of events involved in problem solving is often referred

to in the writings of john Dewey (Dewey. 19 16)

d Piaget's and Neo-Piagetian View on Cognitive Development

In Piaget's opinion cognitive development occurs as an orderly process

in a bio-soc~al context and it i s a long term, cor~tinuous and dynamic interactior~

between the orga~lisnl and the physical environment. The ~itlpurtaut factors which

account far the sey uence of development being maturation (bioloyical). experierlce of

the physlcal environment and the equilibration by the organism.

Neo-Piagetians. such as Sinclair (1973) and John (1990) have

attempted to combine the Piagetian and the irlformation processiu~ approaches They

proposed staye theories but have incorporared the development of work~ng memo?.

from the inf i~rmat~on processiny approacii

e) Rote Mode (Learning by rote) Learning and Meaningful Learning

Rore learning involves injecting isolated bits of' information into

existing cogniti\~c. structures, whereas. meaninskt learning involves relating and

connecting newly ~ntraduced knowledge and information to more general and prior-

learned material [.earning becomes rote whene\,er and to the eutcnt that the material

to be learned lacked logical meaninghlness, the learner lacks relevant ideas in his

cognitive structure and the learner lacks a rneaninghl mindset (Miller et a1 . 1982).

The nleaninghlly learned material would have more retention puwer- and transfer

ability They ;ire rnore relatable and anchorable to relevant and rnclre irlclusive

concepts in the cxisting cognitive structure

f) Concept n~apping: A Metacognitive Strategy

Based on Ausubel's ideas and theories on concept learning and

cognitive structi~re, and meaningful learning has been evolved siving rise to difyerent

strategies for Ivarning the concepts namely, Govin's Vee Heuristic and C'oncep~

mapping. Conc*ept mappins is a learning strategy that was developed first as a

research tools t c l represent learner's prior knowledge, and later as a tool to enhance

n~eaningful learr~~ng Concept maps attempt to render a corlcrete representation of the

structural knowledge of an individual and the ways in which these concepts are

perce~ved to he connected to one another and to the existing structures Concept

mapping is a mela learning strategy based on the Novak and G o w n ( 1984) theory of

rneaninghl learn~ng. I t relates directly to such theoretical principles as prior

knowledge, subsumption, progressive diRerentiation, integrative reconciliation and

cognitive b r idg in~ . Concept map provides a schematic summa- of what has been

learned Concept maps are designed to parallel human cognitive structure in that they

show concepts uryanised hierarchically because concepts are subsumed under

broader. and more inclusive concepts In its simplest form. a concept map woi~ld be

just two concepts connected by a linking word to form a pruposition Concepts al-e

generally isolated by circles and connected by lines, Lines are labelled with linking

wnrds which describe how the connected concepts are related tn each other In short

cur~cept rnapplllg is a technique for externatising cuncepts and prr,pr,sitir)ns

2.1.8 Evolutiori of lnfornlation Processing Heseiarch

I t the tinic u f World War 11, many psychologists were asked t o desigrl

equipment and devise training progranltnes for mil i tan personnel +\her the war

s w e ut' thest. psychologists were asked t o perfi~rrn sllriilar task5 for iridustr-ral

concerns I)unng these posr-war applications of' psycholog?,. c r ~ t i c ~ s t ~ i s 01.

behavioural leatniny theory began to accumulate. The major crit~cisln raised against

bella~ioural learning tbeuv was that the nlajor conclus~otis shoulci he b;~scd o ~ i

obsenat~ons of o\.eI-t hehaviour

1!i the late 1960s and 1970s techniclues iji' education f:dvoured bj,

cogrittive psychr~logists such as Piayet. Bruner and hunlanistic psychi~l~~gis ts iucll ;is

Abraham Mas lou. and Carl Rogers became popular (Bichler. I OBh) Many

psychologists ot that time were interested In speculat~ng about what p?es or) in thc

learner's mind \\,hen he corlfronted with a problem But they were dissatisfied wit11

the vague descl-~ptlons of cognitive process proposed b?. P ~ a y r t and 13runer The!

M,ere kindled w ~ t h the sudden outburst of computers o n the scenc :Is a cor~sequsnuc.

researchers beyan to study how humans transfnrrn input into outpirt arld hot$ they

encode. store. pr i)cess and retrieve information

Iiilbrtnatiun Processing psychologj, asserts that learnung IS an

interactive ptoccis between the learner and the environment (Narrang and .-Irora.

19%) inform at^^)^^ Processing Psychotogists suggested several tnodels of the relation

between ditlkrent coynit~ve processes. The metaphor ot'hunian n ~ m d as a campurer is

subject to several criticisms and also leads to extensive debate on the potential

advantage of the computer. A series of provocative studies on how hurnan nlemac

functions triggered a veritable landslide of research. Eventually several tliuorists

developed flab charts similar to those used in the computers to describe how the

human mind works. The best general purpose model of human memory was

developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). In this model the human mernury \%as

categorised into three inter related systems. t i ) the sensory register b e ~ n g the tnosr

tern1 transient (ii) short term or primary memory being more enduring and (iii) lon,

memory or secondarly store as the most permanent

Intormation Processing Model has a distinct point of view about how

people think and how to afTect the ways they operate on information (Weil and Joyce.

1985) The word information is used to refer to the signals that underyo various kinds

of processins a h a Television receives signals that undergo various kinds of

processing until a picture is produced. 'The second meanins of inforrnat~on is

something that is simply available in the world.

2.2 MODELS OF TEACHING-DEFINITION

Jovce and Weil (1985) define models of teaching as a plan or pattern

that can be used to shape curriculum, to design instructional materials, and to guide

instruction in the classroom and other settings Most of the ideas incorporated in this

chapter from the \cork of Joyce and Weil( 1997).

Egsen, Paul e t al. (1979) describe Models as prescriptive teaching

strategies designed to accomplish particular instructional goals.

I r is a step by step procedure that leads to specific learrling csuicomes

(Gunter. Estes atid Schwab. 1990).

A model of teaching is a description of a learning environment (Joyce

and Weil, 1997)

Dunn and Ounn ( 1979), Fischer and Fischer ( 197')) Ellis ( 1970). Joyce

and Weil (1980) Ausubel, Hruner and Skinner (learning Theorists). Hunt. Knhlberg

and Piayrt (Devc.lopmsnta1 Psychologists); Broivdy. Dewey and James ( Phi1ost)phers)

contributed much to the develaprnent of ditierent strategies and teaching models

Models of teaching are the forerunner of probable t h e m e s Since the

early 1960s, t h e ~ e has been an increased use of models and rnodel building In

educational reseal ch.

Toisten Husen (1994) investigated and give a brief surnmary of the

madeis developed by Kaplan ( 1964) and Tatsauoka ( 1968): They are ( i ) Analogue

Model.; 'They arc widelv used in physical sciences. but rarely used 111 the field of

education. ( i i ) Sernantic Models. They are in common use in the field of educarronal

research. They are expressed in verbal form and they empioy figures of speech 01-

metaphors ( i i i ) Schematic Models: They serve as a link between theory arid the real

world It is like a map and generally serves to group and cluster constructs into an

ordered relationship (iv) Mathematical hlodels These models lay the foundat~c~ns

for a more forrnal theory. built around the causal relatiunships that art: ~r~iplicitlv or

explicitly contained within the model.

i,) Casual Modcls Since the early 1970s there has been wide L I S ~ of these ~nodels

irl the field of educat~onal research.

vi) ront luet~ce model- This is an applicatiori of mathrrnaticiil mudel to i tn

educ.ationa1 prol>lern

- 1 he International Encvclopaedia of I<ducaticl~l (1W4) gives r i h , . j~ f '

description of r i b o rnore reaching models The! ar-r t h e models ciei.eloped bi.

Mosstons t 1972) and Stallings I t 977), hli~sstons in his enliyllteniny ivur l i .-l-r-om

f'ornmand to Discovery" discussed seven teachin2 models

1 ) C'o~nn~and style

11) 'Fasli htyle

i i i ) Reciprocal stvle

i ) Indi1.1 dual programme (Teacher's Desigli)

I ) Guided discovery model

I P T O ~ I ~ I T I ~ I v ~ I I ~ modet

i . 1 I ) l n d i ~ ~ ~ r i i ~ a l P r u ~ r a t n m e (Pupil's desiyn)

Stallitlgs ( 1977) developed five teaching nlodels

1 ) The expository models

. .

11) The group process modets

~ l i ) The dc\~eloyrnental cognitive models

i v ) The prc)yramrned models

V ) The hndarnental model skills.

2 Kaptan's Irlformation Processing Modcl

.Among the various rnodels developed by Kaplan and Talsuoka. the

Information Processing Model developed by Kaplan. a sentantic model i s elf' foruniost

Ilnportalice Kapliirl used the nletaphor ut' Ia~~dscapu preference t i ) r this I t 1 5 hiiscd

011 the concept [hat landscape preference must have evolved as an adapt~ve prllcess as

hutl~ans evolved the mental and perceptual capabilities f o r processing information

which is importiint for survival. In his opinion hunians are constantly building rriodels

of the environment they experience. The rnental models which one develops froni

environmental crlcounters are in turn. instrumentill in ~ c ) \ L urle interprets fut i~rc

envirol~mental t~ncounters This mental model or cuyniri\.c ]nap proi ides lirlh

betiveen human r hought process and the phvsical etivirr>nment

1 1 1 order to function and thrive in an environment hul-nan he~ngs must

be able to makc sense of that environtnent and then hecnmu involi~ed 111 i t I'his 1s

acconiplished b\ relating the perceived structure of' a landscape to a cognitiic rnap

which is built ~n mtnd. This mapping enables at1 indi\,idual t i 3 PI-ed~cr ilnd anrlcipatr

the illformarion l3einy presented

Iiaplan's Four Fiictors from the Framework

1 1 1 order to make sense of an environment Kaplan suggested tbur

factors from the ir,arnework of his theory l'hey are-

Coherence - thc extent to which the scene -hang together- through repetlt~on of'

elements. textureh. and structural factors which facititate comprehension

CumpIexlty -- the ar~iount o f variety and diversity in a scene

Legibility -- the recognition of an envirorilnerit that looks as ~f une could explore i t

extunsively 141t110ut yettiny lost.

Mystec - the deyree to which more information may be gained by proceeding further

in to the scene

1 1 1 addttion to the four factors t u make an envlr.onmellt sensjbJt., ccrtaln

additional factors such as prior experience. context and fanliliaritv are also i1nportant

Int .ol~e~nent also requires additional mapping to process lie& infbrmatiorl beirtg

present

2.2.2 Goals arid Assumption of Information Processing klodels

l-rorn amon3 the seven models belonging t o the tnhrrnation

Prncessiny Modcis three models were selected for tlie st i~dy 'i'hey al-v (1) {'l~ncepr

.4ttainment Moctel developed by Jerome Bnrncr ( i i ) Advance Or~an ize r \lode\

(David Ausubel) share a common view about the nature ijf concepts and about

conceptual learn~lig Ausubel's ideas on hob knoxvledge i s organlsed 111 the rnirid

constitute a ven usehl tia~nework fbr teaching concepts .4usubel'.s model i s

concerned exclus~vely with acquisition and retention of infc)rrna~ion 7'he general goal

r,f Inclui* T ~ ~ I I I I I I ~ hlodel is to help students develop the intellectual discipline and

skills necessag t t l raise cluestions and search uur answers stel-t~mtng ti-or11 ci~rli)sit?.

Inquiry Training i.)riyinated in a belief in the de\:elopment of' independent leiil-riel-t;

(Sugandhi and D' I.irna. 1986)

Major Goals o f 1 I'M

Helpins children learn concept?; and teaclung then1 h o ~ , to team

conceprs is the t 'unda~~~ental purpose of schimling f Weil and Jovcc.. 197X)

According to Eggen et a1 ( 1079) the ~ l ~ a j o r yoals of Intbrmat~im

Processing Models rn the classroom are the folloivi~~g.

I Developmrnt of intellectual capabilities such as the ability t o reason and think

morc l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ l l \ '

7 the acqu~s~tiori of conrent

; The mas ivy of tnethods of inquiry

2.2.3 Hurnau I tlforrnation Processi~lg (H 1 P)

The Human Information Processing brands of co~n i t ive psvcholoyy

a]-e Inure doma~n specific compared to Piagetian domain general In approach

lnformatian processing beyins when an individual encounters with his environment

and begins to oryanise the information he sathers fro111 i ~ .

'flhc raw r~iaterials gathered fiori~ the er~i,irontnt.~~t are processed OI

oryar~ised into rnort: uriderstandable forrn. The ir~tellecti~al skill o r capabilitiex

required to a n a l ~ x information are called process arid include tht. ability tn make

ahser-vations and ~r~fererlce Of these. observation 1s the h a s ~ c The kn{ji4:lcdgt. that

results from prtlzessing of information depends upon the tvpe of pruct.ssing which

was used to fort11 i t ( Eggen. 1 979).

U eil and Joyce ( 1978) developed Inore than 20 mocicls uf tei~cl~i~is

which are gl-ouped on the basis of their chief' emphasis-the ivays the! approached

educatiorlal yoalx and means They have or~arlised these niodels Into four fatnilies

They are

I Information Processing nlodels

? -. Social irlteraction models

.? Personal models and

4 Behaviour Modification models and

1. Information Processing Models

Inhrmation Processing Models are oriented towa~-d the infcis~natir,n

capacity of the students Information Processing refers to the \cay people handle

stlrnuli from thc environment. organise data. sense problems. yeneratc concepts, and

sulutinns to problems and employ verbal and 11011-verbal sy~nbc~ls (Weil and .lavct..

10781 Silnle ~r~forrnation processing models are t o corlcern with the ability of the

learner to soltr: problems and thus en~phasise productive rh~rlk~~lg, others are

concerned with yenerat intellectual ability.

2. Social Interaction Models

The models in this farnilv emphasise relationships of t h u ~nd~vidual to

society or to other persons. With respect to goals. models this cmentatlon gi\.es

pr~ority to the i t~~provrment of the individual's ability to relate to others, to engage In

democratic proccsses, arld work productively it1 society While social relatio~~s may

be etnphasised Inure than other domains, social theorists are also concerned \ + ~ t h the,

development of the mind and the self and the learning of acader~iic subjects

3. Personal Models

- f i le persorlal models of teaching pay great attention to the individual

perspective and wek to encourage productive independence so that people bcctxne

~ncreasinglv self-aware and responsible for their own destinies

4. Behaviour Modification Models

Tlic theoretical base of this family is commonly called social learning

theol-y. behaviou! therapv and cvbernetics. These models take the stance thar humati

beings are self-correcting cornmun~cation svste~ns that moditj, behaviour in response

to ~nforrr iat~on about l l o u successhlly tasks ale navlyated

Tahle 2 I descr~bes models that come under the i~ i fo~r r ia t ion Processing

family. the name o f thc major theorists. goals or iniission ol'each model (M'eil and

Joyce. 1985) Table 2.2 displays the ne\+ version o f l n fo r~na t io~ i Processing Model

\rirh nalnes o f the developers and redevelopers (Weil and Joyce. 1997)

Table 2.1

l~~iorrnation Proressil~g Model -- .--"-A,..

Rlodel Major Theorists ~ o a l s which illtended

. . ~ ..... ~~ ~... . . . ~ ....... ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... ~~

~es iyneb. primary for de"elopm&t o f Inductive thinking Hi lda Taba inductive mental process and Classif icat~ol~ oriented academic reasoning o f theory

huildiiig, hut these capacities are Inquiry Training Richard Suchmari useful for perso~ial and social goals as

\+ell

Scientific l t ic lu iy Jusepli J Schwah Designed to teach the research svsteln o f disciplirte, but also expected to have e lkc ts in other domains

Designed primarily to develop Concept Attainment Jeronie S Bnlner inductive reasoning but also for

concept development analvsis

Designed to increase general Cognitive Growth Jcan P i a ~ e t iritellectual developnient especially

Imin!: Sigel logical reasoning Edmund Sullivan

Designed to increase eficieticy o f Advance Organizer Uavld P A:lsubel infornmation processing capacities

meaningfully, absorbing and relate bodies o f knowledge

Deslglied to increase capaclty to h le rnoq J e r y Lucas ~ ~ i e r n u r ~ s e

Table 2.2

Iaformation Processing Models (Modified Versiou) ,.... ............................................. .. ..................................................................................................... h.1 ode1 Developers and Redevelopers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , , , ,

Inductive Thinking Hilda Taba

Crlt\cept .Attainment Jerome Rr-urler (Fred l..lyhthall)

Tennvson (Cocchiarella)

Mnenlonics Bruce Joyce (Michael Pressley)

( ~nt~rnon; assists) John Levin

Advance Organizers R~cha rd .Anderson

David Ausubel

(Lawton ar~d Wanska)

Sc~cnt ific I~~quiry Joseph Scliivab

Inc(uir.y Training Richard Suchtnan

Sy~lectics Bill Gorden .......................... ..................................... ........ ...................................... - ..". ...................................

2.2.4 Sources of Information f rocessirig Model

hlodels focussing on Information Processing come from several

I Metrrcr)gnition: It is the name fur the knowledge that people have about the wav

that cognitive pr-ocess works. Philosophers have thought about thuught. and about

how inductive and deductive thinking function etc and these come under

2. I,eirrninl; Theorists: The belief that we use previousiy learncd concepts to

process incoming information is the heart of these theories Davrd Ausubel and

Jerotne Bruner and his associates evolved certain strategies which provide ;I set u f

concepts that alter an individual's thinking processes.

3. TItr acudvmic discipline.$, Many models have been developed to teach either

the major concepts or the systems of inquiry used bv the disciplrnes

4. f)uveiupnr~*nttit sfu(1ic.s of humun intellect Investigatuts have also studied the

develnpment at- iatellectuat processes. In the place of purely mechanical ur

instrumental approach the developmental theories of human ~ntellect enlphasise the

role of purpose. might , understanding, reasoning, memory and other ct~gnitive factors

in the process of ,learning This school of thought mainly belongs to Gestalt

psychalog~sts. a ~ ~ c i cognitive psychologists f'iayet's and Erickson's work senCe as a

foundation for these models.

iletinitirnn of l n fi~rnration Processing iWude1.v

Cienerally the Information Processing Models refer to the information-

processing capatl~lity of the students and the ways by which the): can improw t h e ~ r

ability to master ~nforrnation. I t deals with the ways people handle st~muli from the

environment. organise data, sense problems, geuerate concepts. and solutic~ns to

problems, and eniploy verbal and non-verbal symbols (Weil and Joyce. 1985). Some

Information Processing Models are concerned with the ability of the learner to soive

problems and others are concerned with general intellectual ability

1 1 1 Information Processing Theory. the individual is i i eued as a

prvcessor of intormation (Broadbent. 1958. 107 1 . Lach~nan t.1 a1 . 1 ll7'). M a ~ s a l - ~ .

1975 Wetsser. 1 Ob7)

7-he processing of information depends un the nature of' henson

svstem. prior ekperience. context, and the goals of the participanr The central

assu~nptiun in intbrmation processing model is that teaching 1s a process by which

teacher and students create a shared environment in the classroo~n

Intbrmation Processing psychotogists assert that learninp 1s an

interactive prucrss between the learner and rhe environment .3iccor-ding to the

schema theory. [he learr~er is nut just a passive receiver of stimuli. he organiseh wlli~t

he learns accord~r\g to the patterns ur schema, ivhicll help him to ~nakc sense uf the

multiple stimuli he constaritly receives ti-om the eni,irotlment So learn~ng becunies ;I

co~rrinuous process by which the student either relates neu data to es~s t~ng pattern ot-

must create new schema in order to understand.

2.2.5 Cumputel. Analogy in lnformatiun Processing Model

C'oy~itive psychology has replaced behaviourisni as tlie dominant

school of thouyht In American Psychology regarding learntns and development The

~netaphor of' the human mind as a computer coupled with the central role of the

computer today f:d~,ours the use oflnformativn I'rocessins Model

2.2.6 Major Corlcepts Underlying the lPM

Each model can be analysed in terms of fbur tnqior concepls i ) svntax

l i ) social svsteln i i ~ ) principles of reaction v i ) support svstem I'liese descriptic~ns are

all ope~-ational lieart of each model I t stands as a wav of communtcating the basic

procedure in implementing any instructional model.

I Syotax

Suntas or phasing of the model describes the [nodel in action I t I S

described tn ternis of sequences of events which are called phases Eacll rnodel has a

distinct f ow of ~jhase

3. The Sucivl Systeru

The social svstem describes the student and teacher role^ and

relationships and the kinds of norms that are encouraged 111 srmie models the t ract~cr-

I S the centre of ac-tlvity In some other tnodels teacher takes the rule of'a f i~ci l~tator . in

uthers a counsellor or a task niaster. The teacher can tighten ur 1ooser1 the str~lcture

considerably

j Pri~~ciples of Reaction

Prrr~ciples of reaction tell the teacher hob to regard the learner and to

respond to what the learner does.

4 Support Systet~i

- 1 ' 1 ~ - support svsteln refers rn additional recluirerllents beyc.~nd the iisual

human skills, ci~piicit~es and technical facilitie:. necessary to ~nlplelrlcnt tlie n~cdel

Without the use ut support system the n~odel will be empty

2.2.7 Oescriptiorl of the Effects o f the Model

ThC effects of the model car1 be caceyorised as t l lr direcr c ~ r .

instructiorral eft'cct. and the indirect or nunurant effects

Ilirect or Iristru r .tiontrl Effect

7 he lnstruct~onal ett'ecrs are those directly achieved h~ leading the

learner in certain directions It is designed to come Urom the content and sLills o n

which the acti\;itles are based I t is more explicit in the learnins etiviroi~~i~cnt

lntliruar or I2iurlr4r(ttti Efic t

1 h c indirect or nurturaut ef'f'ect coriles from experienclrig t he

environrl~ent cl-cntcd by the model. I t is possible to defend the selectiotl of' t hc model

chiefly on the b i i s~s ut' its rlurturant eftects. cwll tl louyl~ ~t r n i y l l ~ not have high direct

The direct and indirect effects are u s u a l l ~ ~rldicateti with the

help ot'a diagrar~i as follows.

7

MODEL r EFFECT C' A=i -

Direct or lnstructional

Indirect or Nurturant

big. 2.2 l~istructional and Nortur:~nt Effect o f a Model

2.3 <:(INCEPT ATTAINMENT MODEL

'T'lrr~.c~ I)omirins r ! f - Erlucrrtiuntrl (;ocrls

Lducational goals are typically di i ided Into three t'dmilies o r domains

vlz l-c~grl~tlvt. dc)inaitl, atkctive domain and pst.choniot or do~nairi Cognitive goals

addl-esh tlw development of students' intellect Uilr hit1 t h e coyt~i t~ve fanlily an

I I I I ~ X ' I I ~ I I ~ set r ) f goals is called infbrmarion processing lnforinatiorl processing call

he thought uf' as the way people gather atld organise irltbrrnation frotn thc

environment. in order to form useful patterns wllich can be used to explain and predic~

ckerlt s 111 their ow11 experience Since the establishnlerlr of the co~rlitive paradig111 111

psychology. nlodels are increasingly used in educatio~litl research which i.ely un the

ilssumpt Ion that Inan IS ail i~iforrnatior~ processing systthln (Karlingel-. 1 08 1 } Modcls

ar-L. heur~s t~cs fi>i- theorisrs and researchers They g u ~ ~ i c thinking by sin~plifying and

representmg c o ~ t ~ p l e x phenoinena as a set of relatioi~ships among a feh- Iitlportant

i ariables

Teachers who focus on itlformatiun prtl~essing goals have dual set uf

oiyectii es, the first one i s to help students acquire bodies of i~seful inforrnation and

~ t le second otle is to help them develop the thinking sh~lls The long-term goal of all

infurit~atiun processing models is to teach students hou to think etfectively Complex

I nrellecr ual strategies allow students to absorb mol-l: concepts and ir~for~r~arior~

Iiitbl-mation processinrr, rnodels are basically apprt~~iches to ttrctrrc'o~nititlrl- i e .

learnir~g to learn 11 increases the capability to learn more easily and eRectivell; in the

future The range of information processing ~nodels 1. considerable They otfer the

~eacher several views as to h o ~ studer~ts think and a ?nod variety of techniques l i j r

trylny to imprtlve thit~king skill^. Frorn the days of earliest Greeks. philost,phcr-s

t heorised about how the mind works and hoic ind~dcrive us rrlrll (1s rl~rluctive iiritlkinx

functions. In 111odern times computer sirnulatio~~s are widely used to represetlt huu

mental processchs art: suing on. C'r~~nitir~n irrltl cognifilv pram>.u I 5 st~-esse~l i 11 I ht'

information prtlcessing inodels of teaching B!, adopting ~nfbl-marion processing

r~lodel students learn the processes and ideas of the disciptine. they irlcr~ryoratt. thcln

into their own >\:;tern and behave different!?

-1 he models selected from the inf i ) r~~~at ion fam~ly art. desiyrled ti) teach

both contenr a l ~ d tilinking skills. The core of infornlat~orl processing in the

ar,rangemer>t of he environmet~t within which the student can Interact and study h o ~ $

to learn effectivelv and efficiently.

2.3.1 Discoven Learning in CAM

H i selecting concept attainment model. it is desiyrled that the learnel-

takes up thc pus~rton of a discoverer. whereby he controls his o\+n attellding. Iearrling

a d th~nkins ~ L ~ V C I - llere the major stress is an the process tnvolved i t ] and the

strategies tb1lowt.d ~n attaining the concepts. C'oncept .4trainmunt blodel also helps

students to learri concepts for oryanising information and helps students to buconle

efikct~vt. at learri~rl~ ctlncepts I t includes an etticient methoci t i j r prcset~tiny

organ~sed information fionl the wide range of areas of studv to sti~derlts rlf eve? staye

of'de\!elopme~it

2.3.2 Bruner's Theorq. of Learning and of l~lstruction

Jel i lrrle S Bruner ( 1960) developed a cognitive developmental t heon

01' learnins and in+truction as an alternari\,e t o that of I'iaget i r ~ his tlook the I'rr~cess

of Education and subsequent publications -1'he themes around wliicii hrs theot-v ol'

learnrng r e v o l ~ t . ~ arc ma~nly four They ;ire the thernes c ~ t ' stnictur-e. I-c;tdirit.s~

irlruition and interest

,-lccordiny to Bruner (1966). a theon of insrructrun has four- main

features They <\re as follows

1 ) 1'1-edisposition to learning

3) Structure of knowledge

-3 ) Sequence

-4 1 f<eiriforcetner~t

I+r.uner recognises three important sequential stages in the intellectual

development 111 rtle child. They are enactive. icoliic at~d symhol~c There i s a closer

cutllparison bet i ~ e c n thy stages of developinent prupused bv Piaget and Bruner

Bruller's enactl\,e stase corresponds to Piaget ' s sensori-mutor and preoperar~onal

stages. i co~~ic stage corresponds to Piaget's concrete operat~c.rnal and symbolic stage

corresponds ro 101-ma! operations

Iristr-uction according to Bntner. should make learners self-sutticient

prohleni solvers o r discoverers But it should be noted that Hrutict- does nor restrlcr

discovery to arl act of finding out something that before h a s unkrioivn to illar~kind

Discoven ~nclutles all fbrnms of obtainable knouledse tbr. oneself h!. the use of one.\

nwn mirid (Brur~er and htlglin, 1973).

2.3.3 Theory Iinderlying Concept Attainment Model

'I he Concept Attainment Model #:as developed from the works nt

lerome Hruner I;icrluelinc Gnodnow, arid George :\ustine ( I ' I trb. I 06 I . lob(,. 1 07 1: )

Therr work 'The Studv of Thinking' leads tn tnl-llijl of' vears of research on the

processes by wtl~ch people acquire concepts. nature of concepts. collcept learnmy.

elements of' concupts and the teach~ng strategy used for altatntny cunceplh

I n Webster's Dictionary a cuncepr is defined as a '-a mental miage o f

things formed b~ yeneration from particles. also all idea of M hat a t h ~ n p in getlrt.al 15

to bc"

concept may be viewed initially as a sumnlary uf' an essential

characteristic ot' (1 group - ideas or facts that clptiln~st. important common f e a t ~ ~ r e s of

factors from a la1 se number of ideas (Ausubel. I 978)

'. 1-he process of primitive categurisation is called conccpl tbr-rnation

(Bruner. 1960) :lccording to Bruner. categorising activity has two coi-nponents \he

act of' concept fol-mation and the act of concept atta~nment C'oncept t i~rmation is thu

firs1 step toward concept attainment. Bruner and his associares are mainly co t l~ernud

with the process ~ d c o n c e p t attainment

2.3.4 ELenients of the Conce1)ts

HI ilner sees any concept as haciny three element 5

I E kamples (also exemplars or instances)

2 Artributes

1 .A! tribute values

1 1 1 concept attainment model t l ~ c positive and nesatlvt. csar~lples art.

tested and searctied for their features Each esaiuple is described in terms of its basic

characteristics I'hest: basic characteristics are called attributes 7'hese attributes car1

be class~fied as zshe~ltial attributes and riorl-csserlt~al attributes -1 ' 11~ distingu~sh~rly

attributes and their value ranges are called criteria1 attributes The non-essential

attribute uf a cuncept i s also called noisy attribute

2.3.5 Strategies Used for Attaining Concepts

?-he term 'strategy' is used to refer to the sequence of dcc~sions people

make as they encounter each instances of a concept (Bruner and his associates. 1967)

In their opinion. an ideal strategy i s one that is most etficient in attaining the co~~cept

but has the least <imount of cognitive strain due to memory o\;erload and a n ~ b i g u ~ ~ y

2.3.6 Types of 'Thi~lkiag Strategies

Bruner and his associates have identified six strategies for attaining

concepts Out o f these. four of them are selection strategies and twu are reception

strategies In selcction conditions the exarnples of the concept art. riot niarked as .yes'

fur the positive and 'no' for the negative examples. In reception strategies the

examples are marked as 'yes' or 'no'

2.3.7 Selection Strategy

1 Simultaneous scanniny

2 Succl-ssive scarlniny

3 Conservative focusing

4 Focu-, gambling

2.3.8 Reception Strategy

1 Whol~st

2 Parts>!

'I he two scanning strategies followed in selection cnnditions used

concept hypothesis as a basis of searchit~g, in the sirnultancous scanntng rnany

Ilyputheses are used at a time, i n successive scanniny only one hypothesis is taken at a

tinlc In cotlser vative focusing attributes art. used as a basis of' searchit19 i ~ n d in

ctlnservalive fnc11sir13 manv attributes are taken at 3 tirrle and in fi)cus ganibliri~ - ~ o t ~ l \ 1

one altribute is taken at a tirne for searching tile concept I ' i ~ r ~ ~ o s e ul' thinking

str-ateyies

1 to unders~and the nature of concepts

2 to teach hpecitic concepts

. to be con^^. t1ior.e aware uf conceptualistr~g activity

B<lsed on the six strategies of' thinking process f3111nel- artd h15

associates formulated three versions of concept attair~rnent model namely

I R e c e p t ~ n ~ Oriented Concept attaintnerlt hlc;del

2 selectiorl ( kiented Concept attaintnent Mudel and

3 Llrlorganized Material Model

I n the reception strategy, the Inosr sti-uctured. students must hc guided

carefull\ 111 earl! classes. Students analyse the positive exemplars tilr cominun

attributes. contrasting then1 with absence of those attributes I n negat1t.e exemplars

I'hetl students must identify unlabelled senter~ces or examples as positive or negative

exemplars

'I'hl* tnajor diflerence between reception and selecti{,t~ o r ~ e n ~ e d tnodels

o r concept ilttain~nt'nl is in the labelling a t ~ d sequencitig of the t.xarnples The third

verliion is much t ~ ~ o r e a yroup discussion than an ir~stmctional game In this 1-ersicon

the teacher's rob, is to facilitate discussion and insure that 11 focuses on the

develuptnent of a c oncept in tht: material.

The selectiotl strategy begins i ~ i r h i~r~labelled exe~nplars. the st i~dcnt s

trlust group them and develop hypotheses about their attributes

I'l~t. utiorganised materials strntesy requires students t o identifi-

attributes of concepts asserted verballv in the text

.A11 three strategies use analytical and evaluative thinking skills during

tht: concept atta~nlrlent lesson, focusing on teacher ob,jectives, yeneral content. and the

process being useti i t helps them think and panicipate rnore activelv

2.3.9 Definition of CAM

C'oncept Attainment Model ( C A M ) is a teachiny strategy based on

analysis of the naiure uf concepts and how they are acquired I t also llelps studunts to

de\;elop skills t i31 inductive and deductive thinking while leat-nin~ subject matter 111

atiy field it1 a constructive and meaningful way

tJl;~tlning for teaching with the concept attainment model involi es (I)

~ d e n t i ~ t n y concept (ii) analysing its essential and defining features and {ill) dcsig111i13

exemplars from ii hich the concept can be derived.

2.3.10 Allalysis of C:o~lrept Attainnlerit hlodel

1 . Syntax

Phase one: Presiantation of data and Identification o f concept

'Teacher 111-esents labelled examples

Students compare attributes in positive and nesati\;e exa~noies

Students getierate and test hypotheses

Studer~ts state a definition according to essent~al attributes

Phase two: Testing attainment o f the corlcept

Students identifv additional unlabelled examples as 'ves' o r ' r ~ o '

Teacher confrrms hypotheses, names concept. and restates detinitlons, according

to essential attributes

Students generate examples

Phase three: Aealysis of Thinking Strategies

Students describe thoughts

Studerlrs dihcuss the role of hypotheses and attributes

Students discuss type and number of hypotheses

2. 'fhe Social System

I three major function of the teacher during cutlcept attalnlnel11

act~vjtv are 1 0 record, prompt. and present additional data In the initial stage ot'

concept att,linrr~ent. it i s helpful for the students if the teacher selects and

organizes the material into positive. negative and also decides the sequence of

the examples as reception or selection.

3. Principles of Ke;iction

During th:: flow of the lesson, the teacher needs to be suppor-ti\-e and

should encourage arlaiysis of the merits of \i.arious strategies rathet- than

attempting t o seek the one best strateyy for all people in all situatic>ns

4. Support Systrnl

7'hc concept attainment lessorls require material that has been designed

so that concepts dre embedded in the material. The data source need to be known

hcfi)re hand and the aspects of the concept attainment acriv~tv made visible 7'he

students need w r k shaels to record the attr~butes of the concept when the students are

presented with pos~tive and negative examples

Nurturant ' !

Fig. 2.3 Effects of Concept Attainment Model

2.4 THEORY 1jNDERLYING ADVANCE ORGANIZER MODEL

The. Advance Organizer Model of Teaching i s based on the Theory r ~ t '

hleaniriyful Verbal Learning propounded by David P. Ausubel Meanir-rgfht Lear.njng

Presupposes two things- first, the learner manifests a meaningful learning set, i e . a

disposition tu relate new material non-arbitrarily and substantivell; to his cognitlce

structure and tha[ material he learns be pot en ti all^ meaninghl tu him. name!\:.

relatable tu his st~ucture of knowledge on a 11on-arbitrary and non-verbatim basis

(Ausbel. 1961) 1 h e central idea in Ausbel's theory i s that ot' meaningful learning,

which he defines as non-arbitrary, substantive. i.erbatin1 incorporation of neu

knowledge into coynitive structure. Based on Ausbel's ideas and theories concept

learning has been evolved which gives rises to different tvpes of strategies tor

teaching and learning namely. advance organizer rnodel of teaching and a concepr

learnins strateyy called Gowin's Vee Heuristic and Cor~cept Mapping

2.4.1. Rote-Meaningful Dimension of Learning

Rote learning involves ingestiny isolated bits of information lllto the

existing cogni t~~t . structures whereas meaningful learning involves I-elating new

r~laterials to the existing structure (Ausubel, 1963)

Ausubel has contributed much to the field of meaningful learning of

concepts through his two theories namely.

1 ) Psychology of meaningful verbal learning

i i ) Assimilation theory of cognitive learning

2.4.2 Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Lear~~irlg

kleaningful verbal learning cor~sists of two process concerned with

perception and cognition The distinction between perceptual arid cogtiitive process is

dificulr to definc because both kinds of processes involve interaction between verbal

stimulus input arid cognitive structure Perception involves an immediate content

awareness before the intervention of complex cognit~ve processes On the other hand,

cognition involves such processes as relating the new material to relevant aspects uf

existins coyniti~e structure and recording i t in Itlore hmiliar and idiosyncratic

language.

2.4,3 .4ssimitation Theory o f Cognitive Lerlrning

~ ~ t i s u b e t ' s (1963) Assirnilation Theon; of Cuynitlvc. Leariling has been

a suide to research in concept teaching. Ausilbel enlphasis that each o f the academic

disciplines has ii structure of concepts that are oryanised hierarchically Ausubel

conceptualises a discipline as levels of these hierarchically oryanised concepts tha t

begin with perceptual data at bottom and proceed through increasing lei,els of

abstraction to the most abstract concepts at the top. 'I-hus we may itnaglrle a discipltne

as having composed of a pyramid of concepts all linked together 1.v1th ~ h u most

concrete concept5 at the bottom and more abstracr concepts at the top

Tt~e Advance Organizer Model is designed to strengthen stud en^'^

cognit ivc: structut zs, which i s the forelnost factor governing whet her thy new nlaterial

i111I hc n~eaningful haw well it can be acquired and retamed

2.4.4 Defixlitiorl of Advance Organizer Model

.4d\.ance Organizer Model is a deductive information processing

model designed ru teach interrelated bodies of content. Ausubel believed that

acquisition of information is a valid goal of school in^. The learner's primary role is

to master ideas and information.

I n order to explain his ideas Ausubel introduces certain concepts that

can be applied to the d e s i ~ n of instruction and research in educat~ori

Influenced by the German Gestalt psychologists and Wuzberg school

In Europe, cognitive psychnlr~gists began to vieu- the learner as an actlvt. ~nforrnation

processor. 'I'he bcstalt school of psychologists believed that esperience could not be

understood by bre;~king it dawn into simpler unirs When people perceive things the!

tend to do so holistically People organize their experience so as ro make it as simple

and coherenr as possible (Flavel, 1978) The Genevan school proposed that tliou$~t

processes depended upon the ability to create. hold and modify internal

representations r j f things which are experienced in the environtnent In their opinion

the meaningful learning o f complex material I S an active. constructive. curnulatn.e.

self-regulated antl goal oriented process (Weiner and Lerman, 1970) In order to be

meaninyful and capable of being understood the body uf knowledge must be

structured and organized

2.4.5 Hierarchical Arrangement of Content

In Advrrnce Orjiunizer Alollcl. David Ausubel is of the vie& that each

of the disciplines has a structure of concepts that are arranged hierarchically The

methods used to torm the structure of the content are

i ) Organ~ting the content through the use of inter-related and inter connected

conceptual systems and

- . 1 1 ) .4nalys1~ of concepts into subordinate, co-ordinate and super ordinate

relationships

The. advance organizer model is desi~ned to strenythen the student's

ct~gnitive structures Ausubel maintains that a person's existins cuynitivc structure 1s

he foremost factor governing whether the new material will be rnranrngful and hoic

well i t can be acquired and retained By cognitive structut-e Ausubel means "a

person's knowledye of a particular subject matter at any _riven t ~ m e and h o ~ well

or~anized. clear and stable it is" (Ausubel, 1963) Ausubel holds the viei i that like

academic discipl~nes mind is a hierarchically organized set uf ideas that provide

anchors for information and ideas and that s e n e as a storehouse fur them Ausubel

used certain inlportant terms to explain his theor?; of rneaninyful verbal learnins.

namely.

I , .-ldvance Organizer

1 he .Advance Oryanrzer Model of teaching i s a der~cativt. of the theon

of rnean~nyful :,erbal learning developed by David P. Ausubel -kcording to

.4usubel's theon of meaninghl verbal learnins, advance organizers are introduced in

advance of neiv learning tasks. Ausubel describes 'advance organizer' as

"lntroductorl; rnaterial that is presented ahead of the learnrug task and at a higher lebel

of abstraction and inclusiveness than the learning rask itself ' (.4usubel. 1 068)

111 the actual teaching situation the use of advance orsantzers is the

( ~ r ~ r ~ ~ u r ! niearlh rj i ' strerlythening the cosnitivt. structures and enhancing retention of'

new mformation

Purpose of Adv:wce Organizer

The purpose of introducing Advance Organizers 1s to expla~n. integrate

and interrelate the rnaterial in the learning task with the previously learried rnaterial

An A d ~ a n c e Oryanizer 1s a bridging strategy that provtdes a conrlectlvn h e t w c n the

known and the unknown tt IS a means of capltallziny on student-5 prior knouledse

about the material and i t acts as a tech~iique for aiding learning and retrieval uf

lnfbrmation and i~lt~marely it leads to transfer of knowledge .An ..id\*ance Organ~zer

acts as a b r ~ d y ~ n g strategy by allowtng the learner ro bridge the yap berweerl what

they have ahead\ known and what they must learn This connecriv~tv IS ach~eved

through the use of advance organizer whlcli organizes the neli nlaterlal to ht.

presented by outlining, arranging, logically sequencing the main ideas or procedures

in the new mater~al based on the learner's prior knowledge

Form of Advance Organizer

.An Advance Organizer can take any of the forms. viz

l i ) a concept definition (ii) an analogy (iii) a generalization

(i) Concept definition

Advance Organizers are general ty based upon the major curlcepts,

propositions,prir~ciples and laws of a discipline When the new material to be taught

is new or unfam~liar to the student, definitions are valuable organizers of the content

The defining statement should possess the characteristic of a concept definition i e . it

states rhe concepts, super ordinate concepts and characteristics of the concepts

(i i) Analogy

The most effective type of Advance Organizer is analog Analogies

are effective as oryanizers because they can be custornised to fit the back g o u n d of a

particular subject population.

( i i i ) Generalizations

Generalizations can also be used as Advance Organizer O r ~ e niilst be

certairl that each of the concepts in the generalization is familiar to the students

Types of Advance Organizers

l ' t ~ t r above three forms of Advance Organizers were classified into

expository and comparative organizers (Ausubet, 1 978) .

E~pusitory organizer.^ They are used when the learnmy mater ia l i s

relatively new I'hey provide ideational scaffolding for unfamiliar mater-ial hl;. sii,irug

a general model ot ' class relationship or ~erleral subsumer for a ne\4 class before more

* I I ~ , ~ I A I I ~ C I I, arc pr i I JcJ (or a particular class

C;tttrp(rr(~tivc Orgt~niters: Comparative organizers are designed t o

integrate new concepts with basically similar concepts exist i r lg 111 the coglut~\,t.

structure, vet they are destyned to discrimiriate beween the old and t h e l ieu concept3

to prevent the cunfusion caused by similarity

C'clticepts form the major portion of o u r school curr-~culum ro teach

concepts meaningfullv. we link the concepts with other concept3 ('uncepts are

chided into super ordinate co-ordinate and suburdlnate concepts Thc expositon

orgaiuzers prov~rle a basic concept at the highest l e ~ e l of absrt-actiurl. viz rhe super

ordinate concepts the co-ordinate and subordirlilte concepts

2. Cognitivr Structure

R! cognitive structure .4usubel means -'a pel-son's Lnuwledge nf a

particular sut!ject lnater at any given time and hot\ iveil organized. clear. and stable 11

IS" (Ausubel. I Oh - )

3. Progressive Differentiation

I t Ineans that the most general ideas u f the disc~plines are presented

first. tbllowed by < I gradual increase in detail and specificity" (Jovct. and U'cil. 1997)

4 Integrative Reconciliation

i r means that new ideas should be consciousl\ reconciled and

~ntegrated with pr ~ ~ L . ~ o u s I ~ learned content

5. Subsun~ptit~n

FC)I tearning to be meaningfill the infor~nation should he frecluen~lv

linked or anchorcbd ro relevant aspects ot' an ~ndividual's exist ~ n g structure 7'111s

111 I K ~ S ~ o!' linkinF rwt ir~tilrnmtion to pre-es~sting segments u t' cuynttii t. stluct~ire is

I c1'crrt.d to as s u b b u ~ ~ ~ p r ~ o n (Ausubel. 1968)

6. Intellectual Scaffolditig

Thr. Advance Organizer contains Inany subordinate ideas that can be

linked to a paniL:ular characteristic of the subiect rnatter PI-esented earher The

hierarchical organrzation of the cognitive structure is ana la~oua tu the conci~ptual

structure of an academic discipline. These hierarchically organized &as l ~ l - o v ~ d e

anchors t'or nelb ~~nformatiotl and ideas as they are received mid i t also I-cursanizcs

. . itsclf to receive 1 1 ~ 1 % ideas I hus this systeni i a 111 ii constant slate of cha~igc '1.0

provide ideational anchors to the new informatiotl. the new information shoi~ld be

related to the already available concepts or propositions The teacher nu st organize it

seclumct. of knoivledge and present i t in such a way that the ~deariclnal anchors art.

provided and Auhrlbel called it *'intellectual scatYaldlng" for- unfan~iliar ~naterial 011

which studetlts will hand the new infont~at~on as t l ~cy encountel- i t

2.4.6 Analysis of Advance Organizer Model

Symtax

Phase one: Prese~atatioi~ o f Advance Organizer Model

C l a ~ ~ f y the aims of the lesson

Prehent Organizer

lderltify defining attributes

( 11ve examples or illustrations

I'rrwide context

Repeat

PI ompt awareness of learner's relevant knowledge and experlencc

Phase Two: Presentatio~~ of Advance Organizer Model

Pr-esent material

hlake logical order of learning material explicit

1. I 11 k material to organizer

Phase three: Strengthening cognitive organization

I i e princ~ples of integrative reconciliat~on

F l ~ c i t critical approach to sub,iect matter

('lal-ie ideas

:ZppIy ideas actively

Social System

Tile tirst two phases are highly str-uctured However. it recluires act i i -c

collaboration beriveen the teacher and the students tn the third phase the teacher acts

as a facilitator. and suidu The learning situation is much tnore interactive

Prirlciples uf Reaction

I l t t . teacher's reaction to the 1earner.s reactrons will t)e guided ty the

purpose of' clarifi~ng the meaning of the new mater~al l 'he teachel- helps the students

to connect the or-ganizer and the learniny material and the teacher prompts critical

appn'ach ot' knoii,ledye

Support System

Data-rich, well-organized material is the critical supput? recluirernent

of this modet. I'reparation and use of concept mapping technique and the collection

and use of paper cuttings. audio and visual aids serve as support systern

Fig. 2.4 Effects of Advance Organizer Mudel

- Conceptual structures , 1 , Advance

Meaningful assirnilat1011 of information and ideas

-- ,A

4[ intersst in inquiry

r--- v

J 1

p a b i t s o f Precise thinking

2.5 INQUIRY TRAINING MODEL (I'1'M)

T h ~ h model was first developed by Richard Suchman (lOh7) it was

dca~gued to teach .~ludents to engage in causal reasoning, and tr! become more fluent

in asking questions. building concepts and hypotheses and testing them ( Weil and

Joyce. 1997)

puzzling situation is the critical task. because it transforms curriculum content into

prohlcms to be explored Discrepant events can be developed throuph pri~it. film ol-

audio means. and task cards directing student to I-cspond according to the model call

be developed

Although its emphasis is on process. inquir). training results. too. in the

learning of content in any curriculunl area from which problems are selected (\Veil a n d

Joyce. 1997) While the individuals are faced with a puzzling s~tuation. they are

n~otivated to pursue meaning in it In order to understand the puzzling situations.

individuals must increase the complevitv of their thinking and understand better how

lo link data into concepts and hv\v to apply these concepts towards the identification

of principles of causation. While we prepare the puzzling situation. when objects 01

other learning materials are not available, or appropriate to the problem situation the

teachers can make up a problem statement for students and prepare discrepant event

and the fact sheet provides further intorrnatio~~ about the problem. Co-operative

inquiry enriches thinking and helps students to learn about tentative. emersent nature

of knowledge and to appreciate alternative exlila~~ations

2.5.1 Analysis of Inq l~ i ry Training klodel

Svutax

Phase One: Confrontation with the problen~

Evpla~n Irlquir). procedures

Present Discrepant Event

Phase Two: Data gathering-$r.erificatio~~

L'eriti. thc nature of objects and conditions

L'eril\- the occurrence of the probleln s i t i~a~ ion

Phase l't~ree: D;~ta Gathering-Experimentation

I.\olate relevant variables

Hvpotlleses and test casual relationships

Phase Four: Organizing, Fornlulati~lg wild Eapliinatitro

For111ulate rules or explanations

Phase Five: .4nalysis of the Inquiry process

4r-lalyse Inquiry Strategy and develop Inore effec~ive ones

Social System

I nclui? Training model can he highly structured. w ~ t h the cache^-

con1 I-olling the r~ireractioil and prescribing t llc ~rlc~uirv pt ocedu~-us Inrcllecrui~l

environnlent is 1 I o all r.clevant ideas I tlteract 10tl alrlorly s t ~ i d e n t s ~ l l o ~ ~ l d hc

encouraged.

f'rinciplcs o f He:~ttiot~

I ) ~ ~ r , ~ n g t t ~ c ~ ~ O C C S S o"L 11nclii11.y t llc \uachcr should ens111 c I hat r l u c s t ~ c j ~ l >

al-c phr;ised In such a way that thev can be ansirercd hy -vcs' or -tin-

I There shuilld be no double barrel cluest~uns

2 Ask stude~lts to rephrase in\,alid cluestiunh

; 1.'se the lancuage of the Inquiry Process

4 - I ' ? to pro\ ~ d t . a fiee intellectual environnlent h!, riot uvaluat ~ n g theor-ics

5 Ask tt-le students to make clear statement of the theorle5 and proieide for the11

generalisa t roil

Encounter with the Problem

Ui11-ing the phase one of the niodel. the teacher PI-esents tlie proble111

sltuat~on and explains the i nqu iy procedure to the students The teacher esplains rhe

rules of the game and the type of questions they should ask

Data Gathering :rnd Verification

During the phase two of thc rtlodel the teacher suides rile students 11)

ask fact finding cluestions. Data gathering and theorisins are the two 1naic11

i~ltellectual operations in the second phase. D u r ~ n g data gatherins, studenls verifv aiid

experiment with four types of information-~nforinatim about objects. properties.

conditions and e i ents Students' inquiries d u r q data gatherins arc usuall\- yuided b\

theones To enable the pupil to think in definite lines and thereby rnake the incluii-y

process an easy i ~ n d systematic one. the teacher should guide the students' ~nquiries

towards the aboi e mentioned four types of info]-mation- informatioil abwt objects.

properties, condit ~ons and events

Arl object type of question is one which verities and tests the naturt. ur

identity of object\ The question-what the ub-ject is-tells us the ~ d e n t ~ t y of the ol~ject

I'he cluestion-what the object is made of-tells us the nature of the oblect

,211 event question i s one which verifies and tests the occurrence and

nature of all ac t~on Condition questions are those which verit) ur test the state ot'

oblects or eventh a particular time. When a cpestions seeks to find r)ut-what rht.

generalissd behal~ouf- of'an object is under specified conditions. 11 is called a propert!

question.

2.5.2 Level of Theory Building

Suchman identified four levels of theory buildins

I Sinlple linear causation

7 - , I't~cories of properties

-1 .4rialoyses

3 Al)l>lication of a generalisation or principle

Llhe Brur~er and Ausubel, Suchrnan believes that students can beconit.

mure and Inore alvare of the process of inquiry and that this process can be taught to

then1 directlv I11 his opinion the conscions awareness of the pi-ocess arid the

strategies oi' incl111ry i s an essential aspect of autotlomous i l~qu in . I'hrough this

awareness of the process of irlquiry students become conscious of'thcrr o w n th ink i l l2

strategies and learn to analyse them.

Dur.~ng phase Three of the ]nodel. the teacher yuides the students ru ask

cluestions which will te l l them what would happen to the situation i f ' the elerncri~ I S

added or renloved or if elements are rearranged in it In this phase experitnentation is

the process whrr ebv students gather irlformation about an event the\: see nr-

experience

Experiments sene two ~UI IC~~OI IS

Esploraiion and d~rect testing, Expioratinn-charl~it~s things to see wlli~t will happen

1111-ec1 testing o c c ~ ~ ~ . s when students try out a t h e o n or hypothesis

I n pliase Four, the teacher calls on the students ro oryanlse t l x data arid

to i'ornlulate an explanation.

Finally, in phase Five. the students are asked to analvse their patterns

uf i ~ q u i r l ; This ~ ~ t ~ a s e is essential if we are t o make the i n q u i y pr-ocess a conscious

one and systemat~cally try to improve i t .

Support System

1 1 I-eiers to a!! the specific conditions recluil-ed for the stnooth lunning

of the phases of rhe nod el which include books. films, poster a l ~ d iippat-atus reiluired

for experiment

Flg. 2.5 Effects o f Inquiry Training Model

Strategies fix crcarlve i n q u i n

training

Tentative Nature of Knowledge