such as Karel the Robot ( Popyack , 1989 ). Unfortunately , studies aimed at investigating the effects of Logo have failed to demonstrate the cognitive advantages promised by Logo enthusiasts ( Pea & Kurland , 1987 ). Defenders of the " tutee " approach would maintain that the Logo implementations investigated in most studies were too brief and unfocused . Indeed , many applications of Logo described in the literature lack the " mindful engagement " that Salomon and Globerson ( 1987 ) argue is necessary for learning . More intensive Logo implementations where students are engaged in meaningful tasks over longer periods of time have demonstrated more impressive cognitive effects ( cf . Harel , 1991 ; Papert , 1993 ).
Constructivist Learning Theory
In recent years , learning theory has gone through what can be called a “ paradigm shift .” Constructivist learning theory is gradually gaining the same respect and attention long accorded to behavioral learning theory ( Duffy & Jonassen , 1992 ). Constructivism concerns the process of how students create meaning and knowledge in the world as well as the results of the constructive process . How students construct knowledge depends upon what they already know , their previous experiences , how they have organized those experiences into knowledge structures such as schema and mental models , and the beliefs they use to interpret the objects and events they encounter in the world . Cognitive tools help learners organize , restructure , and represent what they know .
For constructivists , the ultimate nature of reality does not matter as much as its local nature , i . e ., learners ’ unique and shared constructions of reality ( von Glaserfeld , 1989 ). According to constructivism , a teacher cannot map his / her own interpretations of the world onto learners because they do not share a set of common experiences and interpretations . “ Reality ” resides in the mind of each knower who interprets the external world according to his / her own experiences , beliefs , and knowledge . Learners are able to comprehend a variety of interpretations and to use them in arriving at their own unique interpretations of the world . The mind filters input from the world in making its interpretations , and therefore each learner conceives of the external world somewhat differently .
Whereas instructivists emphasize the transmission of standardized interpretations of the world by teachers and the educational media and technology they use as well as standardized assessments to test the degree to which students ' understandings match accepted interpretations , constructivists seek to create learning environments wherein learners use cognitive tools to help themselves construct their own knowledge representations . Cognitive tools and the goals , tasks , pedagogies , resources , and human collaboration integral to their use enable learners to engage in active , mindful , and purposeful interpretation and reflection .
Learners as Designers
Following the maxim that the surest way to learn something is to teach it to others , the process of designing instructional materials enables instructional designers to understand content much more deeply than the students whose
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