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Competency 1: Synthesize Knowledge

Artifact: 53100 Final Paper-The Learning Continuum


Artifacts assignment detail (provided by the instructor):
During the first week of class and again during the final weeks we will be
reviewing the Ertmer and Newby (1993) article (Behaviorism, Cognitivism,
Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design
Perspective). The article was a review/synthesis of several theories that helps us
"see" how some of these theories fit together and contribute to the work of
instructional designers.

Artifact Overview:
For this Final Paper for 53100, it was expected of us to read, understand, and
describe Ertmers three key theories to learning, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and
Constructivism and apply those theories to an actual case. The artifact includes
a summary of the theories and the application of them as a solution to an actual
three-week corporate training class in the Education Sales industry.

Competency 1a
Demonstrates ability to read and understand educational literature related to
Educational Technology
I recall this paper specifically as it was one of our first big projects for this
course. While I was familiar with the key concepts for each learning theory, I had
not studied them in great detail nor applied the concepts to actual work. Upon
reading Ertmer and Newbys article, I was able to more fully understand the
relationship between the theories. As additional evidence of understanding, I
was able to apply the facets of each key theory to Vygotskys Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD).
Ertmer provides a comparative chart map (Figure 1.0) that delineates the level of
a learners knowledge vs. the level of cognitive processing required by a given
task based upon the three learning theories. Utilizing this figure, I demonstrated
understanding of the theories strategies to that of a learners ZPD to reflect the
correlation between the two concepts.

Competency 1b
Demonstrates ability to describe fundamental theories of human learning
In addition to the reading and understanding of the learning theories, in this
paper I described them using citations from the text and relating each as they
compare and contrast to one another. I feel that I effectively demonstrated this

competency through the use of key phrases extracted from the text and the
application of the theories to the case study included.
In the case analysis, I broke down the core concepts from an actual three-week
training program into its parts and associated each learning theory to that part.
This use of association helps demonstrate my ability to describe these theories
through this application.

Competency 1c
Applies knowledge of human learning, diversity, and effective pedagogy to solution
of problems
Within this assignment, while understanding and describing the fundamental
theories of learning, I applied the knowledge to a particular problem. The
problem presented is with the effectiveness of a three-week sales training
program. Much of the course is spent using cognitive and behavioral approaches,
but it does not include sufficient constructivist approaches, activity, concept, and
culture. The solution suggested is to incorporate more real-world simulations
for the learners to which activities, concept, and cultural considerations are
applied.

Continued Learning
One great aspect of this program is the myriad of reading references provided
whether from an academic text, case study, or article. I have saved every article
and book and plan to use them as reference for the rest of my career. However, I
feel that I need to continue with my personal development of the discipline as there
are so many aspects and semantics to the field. My next step will be to assimilate
all the knowledge into a unified theory, so to speak, in my mind, or technically to
bridge all the schemas created during this program. This will come in time through
experience and reflection.

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