The
generative learning model is a teaching sequence based on the view
that knowledge is constructed by the learner. It is therefore, a
conceptual-change model. As James Minstrell, a high school physics
teacher and cognitive researcher says, "restructuring students'
existing knowledge has become the principal goal of instruction."
Minstrell shows how he begins a unit of teaching based on the
generative model with this "preliminary phase" lesson:
Teacher: Today we are going to explain some rather ordinary events that you might see almost any day. You will find that you already have many good ideas that will help explain those events. We will find that some of our ideas are similar to those of scientists, but in other cases our ideas might be different. When we are finished with this unit, I expect that we will have a much clearer idea of how scientists explain those events, and I know that you will feel more comfortable about your explanation.
Teacher: A key idea that we are going to use is the idea of force. What doe the idea of force mean to you? (A discussion follows. My experience suggests that the teacher should allow this initial sharing of ideas to be very open)
Teacher: You've mentioned words that represent many ideas. Most of them are closely related to the scientist's idea of force, but they also have meanings different from the scientist's ideas. Of the ones mentioned, probably the one that comes closest to the meaning the physicist has is the idea of push or pull, so we'll start with that. We'll probably find out that even that has a slightly different meaning to the physicist. (the teacher should allow the class to begin with this meaning for force rather than present an elaborate operational definition)
Teacher: OK, let's begin. (dropping a rock): Here's a fairly ordinary event. We see something like this happening every day. How would you explain this event, using your present ideas about force? Instead of speaking right now, make drawings of the situation and show the major forces acting on the rock when it falls. Use arrows to represent the forces, and label each as to what exerts the force.
Students (naming the forces they have represented: Gravity by the earth. Weight of the rock. Both gravity and the weight. Air. Friction. The spin of the earth. Nuclear forces.
Teacher: Which of these is the major force, or which are the major forces acting on the rock while it is falling?
Students: Its weight. Gravity.
Teacher: Is the falling rock moving at a constant speed, or is it speeding up or slowing down? How do you know? (Teacher waits three to five seconds)
Students: The same speed. (More wait time) No wait, if two things fall, they both fall equally fast. I don't know. I think the rocks speeds up. (Students continue making suggestions. The teacher encourages as many students as possible to comment.
Teacher: During the next several days we will look more closely at the idea we call force. Many of the ideas you've suggested today will be useful, but we may also find that we will want to change some of our notions about force to make them more consistent with the phenomena.
The "preliminary phase" of the generative model of learning is designed to identify existing student ideas. In the example cited here, the teacher, performing a simple demonstration, asked students to make a drawing of the event, and then engaged the whole class in a discussion designed to identify the students existing ideas. No attempt was made by the teacher to "correct the student responses or label them wrong" or give the scientific meaning of the concepts. Student existing ideas can also be determined by giving a diagnostic test at the beginning of a course, or a short pre-instruction quiz at beginning of a unit.
Osborne and Freyberg, advocates of the generative learning model have identified three distinct phases to the the model, in addition to the preliminary phase, namely: focus, challenge, and application. The generative learning sequence is shown in Figures below.
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Preliminary------------>Focus------------->Challenge-------------->Application |
The focus phase is designed to help the teacher and student clarify the students' initial ideas. Osborne and Freyberg suggest that the focusing phase is the time to involve the students in activities that focus on phenomena related to the concepts, to get the students thinking about these phenomena in their own words. The teacher's role is a motivational one, as well, during this phase. As I mentioned earlier, motivation to learn, in the cognitive view, is related to the intrinsic nature of learning. Providing interesting activities that focus attention on getting the students involved is suggested.
The challenge phase focuses attention on challenging student ideas. The teacher, through small group discussion, or with the class as a whole, creates an environment whereby students can articulate their ideas, and hear other students' points of view. The students are challenged to compare their ideas to the scientists' view. The discussion during the challenge phase centers on the experiences students encountered during the focusing phase. During this phase, some degree of conceptual conflict will occur as students accommodate new ideas. It is in the words of the cognitive psychologists, the tension or struggle that occurs mentally to accommodate new structures, or modify existing ones.
The application phase is the instructional period in which students can practice using the new idea in differing situations. The teacher's role is one of creating problem situations for student application of the new ideas. Designing small group activities and independent investigations that challenge students to apply the new concepts to different phenomena will facilitate the accommodation of the new idea, and provide the time students need to reflect or think about their new learnings.
By now you should have noted the high degree of similarity between the generative model of learning described here and the learning cycle model. Note that the major difference is the identification of a preliminary stage in the generative model, otherwise the phases correlate.
Ascertain students'
views Complete surveys,
quizzes, or activities to ascertain existing
ideas Provide motivation
experiences. Asks open ended
questions. Interpret student
responses. Interprets and
elucidates students' views. Engage in activities
in order to become familiar with phenomena related to "new
concepts." Ask questions about
phenomena and activities. Describes what they
know about events and phenomena. Clarifies own views
on concepts. Presents own view to
small groups and whole class. Challenge Facilitate exchange
of views. Creates an
environment in which all views are considered. Demonstrates
procedures, phenomena, if necessary. Presents evidence to
support scientists ideas. Explores the
tentative nature of students' reaction to new
view. Considers the view
of another student, as well as all students in
class. Compares the
scientists' view with the class's view. Application Designs problems and
activities which can be solved with the new idea or
concept. Helps students
clarify views on the new ideas. Encourages an
atmosphere whereby students verbally describe solutions to
problems. Solves practical
problems using the new concept as a basis. Presents solution to
other students. Discusses and
debates the solutions. Suggests further
problems arising from the solutions presented.