Assesment Post 3: Bruner

Jerome Bruner put forth that if students discover links/connections between what they have previously learnt and the new knowledge acquired, they will be able to make the content more meaningful for them and as such will to remember and recall the information more easily. This type of learning is known as Discovery Learning and recognises that we are able to remember and recall information, skills or content more easily, if we can form links with past knowledge/experience. One main feature of discovery learning is the inclusion of problem solving skills. When students are presented with a problem, they must evaluate the situation and develop an appropriate response. As a result, students are more motivated to increase their learning and apply it to new problems and scenarios. There are two types of Discovery learning, guided and open, both of these differentiated by the degree of assistance. Guided discovery Learning is problem solving accompanied by teacher direction, whereas open learning involves students learning on their own with minimal teacher interaction. [K Krause, S Bochner & S Duchesne, Educational Psychology, 2nd edn, Thomson, Melbourne, 2006, p.184]