Knowing and Learning in STEM

Comparing Psychological Perspectives

Narrative describing the
perspective and its
components
(200-300 words): Provide a
concise description of the
perspective and its
components.

Beliefs
What is the general belief
system guiding this
perspective? What are the
beliefs about the nature of
knowledge and knowing?

Behavioral
Behavior and learning are
described in as a cause and
effect relationship. There is
generally a stimulus which
will create a response, this
response will influence the
learning and later lead to an
observable change. There
are two conditions which
makeup this perspective:
classical and operant.
Classical conditioning
involves our emotional and
psychological responses to
a stimulus. Operant
conditioning focus on the
behavior and how it is
acquired. The behavior is
prompted by cues and could
result in positive or negative
reinforcement.
It is generally believed that
learning is a change in
behavior which must be
observable. The learner
may be influenced by
modeling, shaping, or
cueing.

Cognitive
This perspective focuses on
the internal mental changes
which occur when learning
rather than the behavior
changes which take place.
Learning does not
necessarily have to be
visible in order to prove that
it is occurring. The cognitive
perspective states that
learning has occurred when
there is a change in
knowledge. This perspective
applies to what is going on
in our classrooms as
students organize, process,
and adapt their new
knowledge.

Constructivism
The constructivist
perspective is dependent
upon what the learner
already knows. The learner
will take the new knowledge
and build upon what they
already know. They will
assimilate where to place
the new information based
what is already known.
Changes will be made if
there is no direct place to
put the new information.
Social constructivism states
that social encounters will
affect how ones
understanding will grow.

It is generally believed that

the outcome of learning is a
change in knowledge which
does not need to be visible.
It is going to be the beliefs,
desires, and motivation of
the individual acting as the
stimulus which will translate
into learning.

It is believed that learning is

based upon what is already
known and how the new
information is organized with
the old. Knowledge is
constructed when students
are actively engaging with
the new information.
Student centered learning
environment would be one

Knowing and Learning in STEM

Principles
What ideas are used to
explain why events or
objects exhibit what is
observed.

Limitations
What are known or accepted
limitations to the depth or
scope of what can be
explained by this
perspective?

The response to the

stimulus may be repeated
several times if the outcome
is pleasurable or it may only
be carried out once if the
outcome is not pleasurable.
The response which is being
looked for must be followed
by reward in order for the
learner to make the
connection between the
correct responses to
different stimuli.
This perspective is centered
on behavior change which
exhibits learning. This could
be a limitation because not
all learning is visible.

Since you cannot directly

observe the change in the
mental state of the learner it
is going to depended upon
what they do with the new
knowledge. We can observe
what is learned based on an
individual speaking about
the new knowledge, or
problem solving using the
newly acquired knowledge.
One possible limitation could
be that this perspective is
dependent upon on changes
in ones mental state. We
are relying on them to be
able to produce a product
which illustrates their
learning.

way to apply this perspective

in a classroom.
The idea of learning by
doing would be observed in
the constructivist classroom.
Students will learn because
of the interactions that they
have with the content, in
addition to, their desire to
learn. As a facilitator,
teachers allow students to
collaborate and learn
through problem solving.
A limitation to this
perspective is that it is
partially dependent upon the
students own desire to learn
and how they interact with
the new knowledge in a
social setting.