Course Identification

Description and discussion of the main approaches to learning mathematics and sciences: behaviorism, cognitivism, socio-cultural, interactional, ecological, complexity, and socio-political theories. In each case, instructional implications will be considered and analyzed.

The course will be based on intensive critical reading of journal articles and students will be in charge of leading some discussions.

This course syllabus is a dynamic and fluid document, subject to changes to accommodate the evolving interests and research areas of the students and the group as a learning community.

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1. List the different approaches to learning and the differences thereof.
2. Appraise, in a critical way, each of the learning approaches.
3. Read both effectively and critically articles and scholarly argumentation from both within and outside the paradigms being discussed.
4. Suggest instructional implications by integrating topics discussed in class.

ויגוצקי, ל. (1935/2000). חינוך והתפתחות שכלית. חינוך החשיבה, 19. 55-67.

כהן, א. ופרידמן, ד. (2009). פסיכולוגיה התפתחותית: התיאוריה של פיאז'ה. הספרייה הוירטואלית של מט"ח. https://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/printitem.asp?item=13545 

נחליאלי, ט. וטבח, מ. (2016). הקדמה: הוראה ולמידה בראי הגישה התקשורתית. מחקר ועיון בחינוך מתמטי, 4. 12-20.

סקינר, ב. פ. (1964). מדע הלמידה ואמנות ההוראה. מגמות, 13. 57-63.

פורת, ד. (1982). התחדשות חידוש ופיתוח תורת פיאז'ה. עיונים בחינוך, 34. 91-114

Barron, B. (2006). Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of development: A learning ecology perspective. Human Development, 49(4), 193-224.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press.

Cochran-Smith, M., Ell, F., Ludlow, L., Grudnoff, L., & Aitken, G. (2014). The challenge and promise of complexity theory for teacher education research. Teachers College Record, 116(5), 1–38.

Danish, J. A., & Gresalfi, M. (2018). Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives on learning: Tensions and synergy in the learning sciences. In International handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 34-43). Routledge.

Davis, B., & Sumara, D. (2014). Complexity and education: Inquiries into learning, teaching, and research. Routledge.

Ehrenfeld, N. (2022). Framing an ecological perspective on teacher professional development. Educational Researcher, 51(7), 489-495.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum. [The book is also available online here.] 

Gleick, J. (1987). Chaos: making a new science. Penguin Books.

Gutiérrez, R. (2009). Framing equity: Helping students “play the game” and “change the game”. Teaching for excellence and equity in mathematics, 1(1).

Gutstein, E. (2003). Teaching and learning mathematics for social justice in an urban, Latino school. Journal for Research in Mathematics education, 34(1), 37-73.

Jacobson M. J. & Wilensky, U. (2006) Complex systems in education: Scientific and educational importance and implications for the Learning Sciences, The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(1), 11-34.

Johnson, P. A. (2014). Education psychology: Theories of learning and human development. National Science Press.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge university press. 

Lefstein, A. (2010). More helpful as problem than solution: Some implications of situating dialogue in classrooms. In Educational dialogues (pp. 182-203). Routledge.

Lemke, J. L. (2001). Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(3), 296-316.

Lindström, B., Bellander, M., Schultner, D. T., Chang, A., Tobler, P. N., & Amodio, D. M. (2021). A computational reward learning account of social media engagement. Nature communications, 12(1), 1311.

Piaget, J. (1964). Development and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching (2). 176-186.

Piaget J. (1976). Piaget's theory. In B. Inhelder et al. (Eds.), Piaget and His School (CHAPTER 1 pp. 11-23). Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Pinkard, N. (2019). Freedom of movement: Defining, researching, and designing the components of a healthy learning ecosystem. Human Development, 62(1-2), 40-65.

Greeno J.G., Collins, A.M. & Resnick, L.B. (1996) “Cognition and Learning” in D. Berliner and R. Calfee (Eds.) Handbook of Educational Psychology, New York: MacMillian, pp. 15-41. 

Schoenfeld, A. H. (1987) What's all the fuss about metacognition? In A. Schoenfeld (Ed.), Cognitive science and mathematics education, pp. 189-215. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Schwarz, B. B., & Baker, M. J. (2017). Dialogue, argumentation and education: History, theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.

Scott, P. H., Mortimer, E. F., & Aguiar, O. G. (2006). The tension between authoritative and dialogic discourse: A fundamental characteristic of meaning making interactions in high school science lessons. Science Education, 90(4), 605-631.

Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational researcher, 27(2), 4-13.

Sfard, A. (2018). Commognition. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education (pp. 95-101). New York, NY: Springer.

Shabani, K., Khatib, M., & Ebadi, S. (2010). Vygotsky's zone of proximal development: Instructional implications and teachers' professional development. English Language Teaching, 3(4), 237-248.

Skinner, B. F. (1950). Are theories of learning necessary?. Psychological Review, 57(4), 193-216.

Skinner, B. F. (1961). The science of learning and the art of teaching. In B. F. Skinner, Cumulative Record (Enlarged ed., pp. 145–157). Appleton-Century-Crofts. https://doi.org/10.1037/11324-010 

Smith III, J. P., DiSessa, A. A., & Roschelle, J. (1994). Misconceptions reconceived: A constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(2), 115-163.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1935). Interaction between learning and development. In M. Cole et al. (Eds.) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (Chapter 6, pp. 79-91). 

Webb, P. K. (1980). Piaget: Implications for teaching. Theory into practice, 19(2), 93-97

Wilensky, U., & Jacobson, M. J. (2014). Complex systems and the learning sciences. In The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences, Second Edition (pp. 319-338). Cambridge University Press.