“Preparation of the paper on comparing the implications

of any two theories in the context of Knowledge

Construction”

An assignment submitted to the

School of Education
For partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of
Education

Central University of Odisha, koraput Session- 2021-22

Guided by:-. Submitted by:-
Mr. Akshay K. Bhoi Chandan Nayak
Dependent of Education. Roll No:- 21/03/DEDN/68
 CONTENT
1. Meaning of Knowledge
2. Concept of Knowledge
3. Knowledge Construction
4. Piaget’s Theory
5. Vygotsky’s Theory
6. Conclusion
7. References
 Meaning and concept of Knowledge
• Knowledge stands for:-
• facts information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.
• theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
• awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.
• The philosopher Plato defined knowledge as… justified true belief
• Let us compare knowledge with wisdom. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and information. Wisdom is a synthesis of knowledge and experiences into insights.
Wisdom deepens one’s relationships and the meaning of life. Education is a means of discovering new things which we do not know and hence it increases our
knowledge. So, knowledge is a meaningful structure of facts into some relationships. We can define knowledge as
• the fact of knowing . information or what is already known- the whole of what can be learned or found out.
• Terms knowledge, information, and wisdom are interrelated to each other. We can further define knowledge as
• assured belief information enlightenment
• practical skill and acquaintance.
• As used by teachers and educators the term ‘concept of knowledge’ refers to
• the information that teacher teach and students are expected to learn in given subject or content area. Knowledge is related to the facts, concepts, theories, and
principles that are taught. It is not related to the skills such as reading, writing or researching that students learn in academic courses.
 Construction of Knowledge
• Knowledge construction is an active process by which individuals
incorporate new content into their existing cognitive frameworks,
formulating new conclusions and pieces of evidence as a result. The
construction of knowledge is an active process, in that the learner is
constantly being forced to reconsider what they know in the wake of new
information, cultural understandings, and experiences. Old information is
frequently reconsidered, rearranged, and reevaluated according to newly-
acquired information. In many ways, the construction of new knowledge is
dependent upon the knowledge an individual already possesses; what
one individual takes away from an experience might be very different
from what another takes away, simply because of their differing prior
knowledge.
 Construction of Knowledge
• Knowledge construction happens when students do more than reproduce what they have learned; they go beyond knowledge reproduction to
generate ideas and understandings that are new to them.
• The skills of knowledge construction are often considered “critical thinking.” Activities that require knowledge construction ask students to interpret,
analyse, synthesize, or evaluate information or ideas
• Interpretation means drawing inferences beyond the literal meaning. For example, students might read a description of a historical period and
infer why people who lived then behaved the way they did.
• Analysis means identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to each other. For example, students might investigate local environmental
factors to determine which are most likely to affect migrating birds.
• Synthesis means identifying the relationships between two or more ideas. For example, students might be required to compare and contrast
perspectives from multiple sources.
• Evaluation means judging the quality, credibility, or importance of data, ideas, or events. For example, students might read different a ccounts of an
historical event and determine which ones they find most credible.
• If an activity asks students to practice a procedure they already know, or if the activity gives students a set of steps to follow, the activity does NOT
require knowledge construction. To determine whether students already know a certain procedure, consider what is typically ex pected of students
of their age. If an activity asks students to devise a procedure themselves, the activity DOES require knowledge construction.
 Piaget’s Theory
• Jean Piaget is known as one of the first theorists in constructivism. His theories indicate that humans
create knowledge through the interaction between their experiences and ideas. His view of constructivism is
the inspiration for radical constructivism due to his idea that the individual is at the center of the knowledge
creation and acquisition process. The vast majority of Piaget’s theories develop through working with
children where he would challenge the idea that children are inferior thinkers compared to adults. His work
provides evidence that children are not cognitively inferior to adults. He proves that children develop
differently by establishing a theory involving cognitive stages.
• Piaget’s cognitive theory explores how children develop. His theory splits development into four discrete
stages. Although Piaget never linked his research on cognitive development to education directly, his theory
plays a pivotal role in his contributions to learning theories.
• Based on the research into children’s cognitive development Piaget identified processes of accommodation
(reframing one's mental representation of the external world to fit new experiences) and assimilation (the
process by which a person or persons acquire the social and psychological characteristics of a group)
which are key in the interaction between experiences and ideas. These two processes focus on how
learning occurs rather than what influences learning.
 Lev Vygotsky’s Theory
• Lev Vygotsky’s work contains a central scope focused on the social aspects of acquiring knowledge. He suggests that one
learns best through interacting with others. Through the process of working with others, learners create an environment of
shared meanings with peers. By being immersed in the new environment, the learner is able to adapt subjective
interpretations to become socially accepted. Vygotsky especially emphasizes that culture plays a large role in cognitive
development. He believed infants were born with basic abilities to develop cognitively. Those basic abilities are then
enhanced through interaction with others and eventually grow into more sophisticated mental processes. For example, a
child is born with the basic ability to memorize. As the child interacts with its environment and peers, the methods of
remembrance adapt. If the child is in a learning setting that emphasizes flashcards, the child will use similar methods of
repetition to improve memory.
• Similar to Piaget’s adaptation of radical constructivism from his theory of cognitive development, Vygotsky draws from his
own theory of social development. Vygotsky believed that learners could achieve much greater level of learning through the
help of a More Knowledgeable Other (instructor). Figure 1 offers a visual of where the instructor can offer the most support
and enhance the learning process. The area where the instructor should be most sensitive to guidance is the Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD). As Figure 1 displays, the ZPD straddles the line between what the student already knows and a
new concept unable to be mastered without the help of the instructor.
• The Zone of Proximal Development is not confined to solely a learner and an instructor. Vygotsky encourages learners to
form groups. The formation of groups allows for the less competent children to learn from those who already have mastered
a specific skillset.
 Different between Piaget’s Theory and
Vygotsky’s theory
• First of all both of the Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories interested in particular aspect of the cognitive
development. However, Piaget’s theory emphasizes the importance of stages (sensorimotor(0-2 years),
pre-operational(2-7 years), concrete operational(7-11 years) and formal operations) for cognitive
development, and learning as a function of age; according to Vygotskian perspective, development
process from birth to death is too complex to to be defined by stages( Driscoll, 2005). Also, both of the
theories belived that learning occurs from birth to death so it is a continous process. For both of the two
theories, knowledge is internal for learner. For Vygotksy, learning occurs begins as social activities by
interacting with other people and people internalize these processes and can use them independently.
For Piaget, individual acquire knowledge from their interaction with the world and then take those
concepts and makes sense the world through cognitive schemes and these schemes are changed as a
result of individual actions on objects in the world. So, children might even learn playing his toys.
• Piaget and Vygotsky also differ in terms of the view of learning and development. While Piaget’s theory
suggests that after cognitive development, learning occur, Vygotsky’s theory claims that learning can
lead development and sometimes after development learning occurs.
 Conclusion
• In conclusion, constructivism is a learning theory which affirms
that knowledge is best gained through a process of action,
reflection and construction. Piaget focuses on the interaction of
experiences and ideas in the creation of new knowledge. Vygotsky
explores the importance of learning alongside peers and how
culture affects the accommodation and assimilation of
knowledge.
 Reference
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(pp. 37-63). Heidelberg, NY: Springer US.
• Hackathorna, J., Solomon, E. D., Blankmeyer, K.L., Tennial, R.E., & Garczynski, A. M. (2011). Learning by doing: An empirical study of active teaching
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• Jonassen, D. H. (1992). Evaluating constructivistic learning. Constructivism and the technology of instruction: A conversation (pp. 137-148).
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
• Mascolo, M. F., & Fischer, K. W. (2005). Constructivist theories. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development (pp. 49-63). Cambridge, England:
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