How does the 21st Century Learner Learn?

The theories surrounding how we learn are explained in the following article: Connecting Cognitive Development and Constructivism: Implications from Theory for Instruction and Assessment This is an extremely informative article, as explained in the first paragraph "this paper provides an overview of the developmental theories of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner that provide the basis for the educational application of constructivism. Activities for developing instruction and assessment built on constructivistic theories are also discussed."

 

In his talk "The divided brain" (TED Talk, 2011) Iain McGilchrist explains that in order to 'activate' the imagination, you need both hemispheres of the brain. For a learner to have that 'light-bulb' moment the teacher must present information that inspires the learner to learn and draws them into the learning experience... the learning must engage both hemispheres of the brain. Einstein said "the intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant", McGilchrist states that "we have created a society that honors the servant but has forgotten the gift."

In his book "Imagine How Creativity Works", Jonah Lehrer explains that creativity begins with a problem and "before there can be a break-through there has to be a block." He questions "what allows us to transform a mental block into a break-through, why does the answer appear when it is least expected?" His short video on the subject "Imagine: How Creativity Works" briefly summarizes the main ideas of his book, which are:

• Creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few - it's a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.
• Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation.
• The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.
• Critical feedback is absolutely necessary to improve upon ideas, and therefore brainstorming is not an effective path to innovation.
• Creativity is a group process.
• Risk and failure must be embraced.

References:

1. Lutz, S., & Huitt, W. (2004). Connecting cognitive development and constructivism: Implications from theory for instruction and assessment. Constructivism in the Human Sciences,9(1), 67-90.

2. McGilchrist, I. (2011)  The Divided Brain, TED Talk www.ted.com

3. Lehrer, J. Imagine (2012). How Creativity Works. Houghton Mifflin HArcourt Publishing Company.