Dialogue:
Toward a Unified Theory of Instruction
in the Cognitive Domain
Paul Gorsky and Avner Caspi
Open University of Israel
Today’s Presentation
-
On theories of learning and instruction
What the Unified Theory is, what it isn’t
Propositions, assumptions, and variables
Research and research findings
Research agenda
References
On Theories of
Learning and
Instruction
BA-LA-GAN
Theories of Learning and
Instruction
BALAGAN? WHY?
The Sciences of the Artificial
Simon, H. (1969).
(economics, medicine, architecture
and INSTRUCTION)
What the Unified Theory is,
what it isn’t
The theory is a general theory of instruction
in the cognitive domain; it is not a theory of
instructional design.
• Describes how instructional systems work.
• Predicts outcomes given initial conditions.
The Unified Theory:
Propositions
1. Every element in an instructional system
is either a dialogue or a resource which
supports dialogue.
2. Certain structural and human resources
correlate with the amount and type of
dialogue that occurs both in-class and out.
3. Specific, situated dialogue types correlate
with learning outcomes.
The Unified Theory: Assumptions
1. Instruction is a set of purposeful activities directed
toward achieving learning.
2. Learning is an individual activity characterized
by internal mental processes.
3. Learning is mediated by intrapersonal dialogue.
4. Learning is facilitated by interpersonal dialogue.
5. Dialogue is enabled by structural and human
resources.
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Intrapersonal Dialogue
Interaction between student and subjectmatter as the student purposefully tries
to learn.
Intrapersonal dialogue mediates learning.
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Intrapersonal Dialogue (internal processes)
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•
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•
•
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internalizing the consequences of behavior, Skinner
assimilation or accommodation, Piaget
accretion, structuring or tuning, Rumelhart & Norman
intra-psychological processes, Vygotsky
internal didactic conversations, Holmberg
self-instruction, Gagne, Briggs & Wagner
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Interpersonal Dialogue
Verbal interaction between instructor and
student or between student and student.
Interpersonal dialogue facilitates learning.
“We cannot teach another person directly;
we can only facilitate his learning” (Rogers).
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Interpersonal Dialogue
• Subject-matter oriented dialogues
Inquiry; Conversation; Instruction; Debate
• Non-subject-matter oriented dialogues
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Intrapersonal Dialogue: Structural Resources
Any instructional material of any kind specifically
and intentionally made available to students.
Type (book, lecture, computer simulation, etc.),
extent of interactivity and extent of utilization
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Intrapersonal Dialogue: Human Resources
“Each individual learner is characterized by a
constellation of variables that include his or her
goals for the course, prior knowledge, motivation,
intelligence, learning styles and anxiety, among
others. These variables differ for each learner
and they determine the extent of intrapersonal
dialogue that occurs and its quality”.
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Interpersonal Dialogue: Structural Resources
• Instructional strategy (in-class dialogue)
• Group size (in-class dialogue)
• Student/instructor accessibility (out of class)
These determine a “POTENTIAL DIALOGUE”
The Unified Theory:
Constructs and Variables
Interpersonal Dialogue: Human Resources
• Instructors: "conceptions of teaching"
"facilitation skills"
• Students:
"autonomy"
"need"
Research
Distance Education
• Interviews: 28 Open University students
studying introductory physics and chemistry
• Questionnaires: 521 students at the Open U,
Israel studying a wide range of courses
• Questionnaires: 121 students at the Open U,
UK studying Quantum Mechanics
Campus-based
• Interviews: 24 university and college students
studying introductory physics and chemistry
Findings
Difficulty
success?
Intrapersonal Dialogue
failure?
Interpersonal Dialogue
Additional Findings
Interpersonal Dialogue: Structural Resources
Campus-based
Distance Education
f-2-f meetings
telephone
telephone
asynchronous resources
Interpersonal Dialogue: Human Resources
Campus-based
Distance Education
fellow students
Israel: fellow students
UK: instructors
Research Agenda
• Structural resources and dialogic behavior
• Optimizing instructional systems:
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•
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Group size (perceived course difficulty)
Out-of-class instructor accessibility
Out-of-class student accessibility
The role of in-class interpersonal dialogue
• Dialogic behavior and learning outcomes
• Constructivism: Dialogue types? How many?
• And lots more …
References
1. Gorsky, P. and Caspi, A. (2005). Dialogue: A theoretical framework for
distance education instructional systems. British Journal of Educational
Technology, 36(2), 137-144.
2. Gorsky, P. and Caspi, A. (2006). Dialogue: Toward a unified theory of
instruction in the cognitive domain. (Submitted).
3. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Trumper, R. (2004). Dialogue in a distance
education physics course. Open Learning, 19(3), 265-277.
4. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Tuvi-Arad I. (2004). Use of instructional dialogue
by university students in a distance education chemistry course. Journal
of Distance Education, 19(1), 1-19.
5. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A., and Trumper, R. (2006). Campus-based university
students’ use of dialogue. Studies in Higher Education, 31(1), 71-87.
6. Caspi, A., and Gorsky, P. (2006). Dialogues and resource: Distance
education students’ dialogic behavior. Studies in Higher Education. 31(6),
(In Press).
Contact us
paulgo@openu.ac.il
avnerca@openu.ac.il