Learning Theory Statement

As educators, it is imperative that our teaching practices are informed by learning theories. As such,
our information communication and technology (ICT) integrated unit has been planned around
aspects of the Constructivist learning theory, the Zone of Proximal Development and Blooms
Taxonomy.

Constructivism can be described as a learning theory based on the notion that students actively
construct their own knowledge (Prawat, 2008). This education philosophy differs from the
'transmittal model where good teaching is believed to consist of presenting facts and
interpretations, giving exercises, reinforcing correct answers, and correcting incorrect responses
(Kamii & Kato, 2007). Construcivism however, views knowledge as a state of understanding that
can only exist in the mind of the individual; as such, knowledge must be constructed (King, 1993).
In this constructivist view of learning King (1993) suggests that:

Students use their own existing knowledge and prior experiences to help them understand the new
material; in particular, they generate new relationships between and among new ideas and between
the new material and information already in their memory (p.30)

With this at the forefront, a classroom must therefore be active, reflective and social (King, 1993)
to inspire students to construct their own knowledge. Evidently, these cornerstones to
constructivism have been imbedded into our unit of work. By its very nature, the Web-Quest design
of our lessons inspire students to be active in their learning. Through the Web-Quest, students are
required to connect, explore, inquire and problem solve throughout the entirety of the unit. As such,
the inherent dynamism of the Web-Quest design automatically engenders students into being
active.

Furthermore, the design of our lessons inspire students to be both reflective and social. The
lesson closures particularly encourage students to reflect though the deliberate review and
discussion of what has been learnt and what has been achieved. Likewise, the collaborative work
throughout the lessons promote the social aspects of constructivism, enabling students to build
their own knowledge through interaction with their peers.

This aspect leads fluently into the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory, which refers to
the conceptual space or zone between what a child is capable of doing individually and what he or
she can achieve with support of an adult or more capable peer (Sanders & Welk, 2005). This theory
further supports our decision to create learning experiences, which are collaborative and shared.
Likewise the ZPD refers to concepts of readiness and scaffolding (Zone of proximal
development, 2009). Evidently, by developing our lessons from the Australian Curriculum we were
able to judge the students readiness and structure our lessons around this. Likewise, by building on
students prior knowledge across the lessons or scaffolding, the students will be gradually moved
to a qualitatively different and functionally more sophisticated level of performance (Zone of
proximal development, 2009).

Finally, aspects of Blooms Taxonomy have been imbedded into our unit of work. This taxonomy
is essentially a classification that categorises questions that frequently occur in educational settings
by their level of abstraction (Collins & OBrien, 2011). From the lowest level of abstraction to the
highest level of abstraction the six levels include: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis and evaluation (Collins & OBrien, 2011). Based on this educational theory, we were able
to structure our lesson activities and questions around the higher levels of abstraction or levels that
promote higher-order thinking. For example in lesson 3, students are required to not only
comprehend the scientific information from Britannica Online yet they must synthesise this

information into a poster format. As such, many of our lessons have been planned to promote
higher-order thinking; a skill which will allow students to thrive in the 21st century.

In conclusion, it is evident that the planning stage of our ICT integrated unit has been informed by
numerous educational theories. Through Constructivism, The Zone of Proximal Development
and Blooms Taxonomy our lessons are founded on rigours researched theories, making them rich
and valuable learning experiences.

References:
Collins, J. W., & O'Brien, N. P. (2011). Greenwood Dictionary of Education (2nd ed.). Westport,
CT, USA: Praeger.
Kamii, C. and Kato, Y. (2007). Constructivism. In Early childhood education. Santa Barbara, CA:
Praeger.

King, A. (1993). From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side. College Teaching, 41(1), 30-35.
Prawat, R. (2008). Encyclopaedia of educational psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Sanders, D., & Welk, D. S. (2005). Strategies to scaffold student learning: Applying vygotsky's
zone of proximal development. Nurse Educator, 30(5), 203-207.

Zone of proximal development. (2009). The Penguin dictionary of psychology. London, United
Kingdom: Penguin.