Vygotsky and Piaget

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses some of the different views of psychologists, Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget. It focuses on their views on learning and the factors that influence learning. The paper looks into the roles of the learner, the physical environment, culture and the instructor regarding an individual's ability to learn. It discusses Vygotsky's and Piaget's views of learning in relation to Piaget's theory of cognitive thinking as an endpoint compared to Vygotsky's theory, which applies mainly to mental development.

Table of Contents:
Learning
Factors that Influence Learning
Role of the Learner
Role of Physical Environment
Role of Culture
Role of the Instructor

From the Paper:

"Vygotsky's approach is termed "sociocultural." He approached development differently from Piaget. Piaget believed that learning through discovery and supporting the interests of the individual are important techniques for the development of the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Piaget's theory proposes that development of the child's interests should be enhanced, as the child develops biologically. His theory has a cognitive thinking endpoint as a goal. Vygotsky's theory applies mainly to mental development, and mental abilities and rational abilities are analyzed and developed instead of viewed as a product to be obtained. Vygotsky's development process begins at birth and has no stages, as it is too complex to be defined, but eventually reaches the ZPD (Driscoll, 1994; Hausfather,1996)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Crawford, Kathryn. Vygotskian Approaches To Human Development in the Information Era. Educational Studies in Mathematics. (31) 43-62, 1996.
• Driscoll, Marcy P. (1994). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Needham, MA: Allyn, Bacon.
• Hausfather, Samuel J. "Vygotsky and Schooling: Creating a Social Contest for learning." Action in Teacher Education. (18) 1-10, 1996.
• Riddle, Elizabeth M., Lev Vygotsky's Social Development Theory, March, 1999. <http://chd.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.htm>.
• Saettler, P. The Evolution of American Educational Technology. Egnlewood, Co: Libraries Unlimited. 1990.

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