Cognitivism Learning Theory

The most widely used theories of cognitivism in education are based on Bloom’s taxonomies of learning objectives (Bloom et al., 1956), and Bloom claims that there are three important domains of learning:

  • cognitive (thinking)
  • affective (feeling)
  • psycho-motor (doing)

Human Cognitive Nature

People never halt their desire for the unknown because we believe that exploration is the best approach to acquire knowledge and satisfy our cognitive nature in the meantime. This kind of cognitive desire drivers us to think about what we saw, feel what we experienced, and practice what we learnt.

Experiential Learning Model

I believe, human cognitive nature, as one of the basic elements of the cognitivism learning theory, brings out a natural and scientific approach which is experiential learning. Learning through practice is common sense now, and thanks to the progressive development of technology, we could have some virtual experiential learning activities in class or even outclass, which can cover history, geography, etc. Without a digital reconstruction, students are not able to see a world war II battlefield, so they can not realize how cruel that the war is; without a digital reconstruction, students are not able to see the fascinating animal world under the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so they can not feel the obligation on them to protect the oceans.

To me, the combination of technology and cognitivism provides educators with an opportunity to revivificate the wonderful environment and events that happened on these lands to our children. No matter the technology is simple (an artistic picture) or complex (a set of VR), as long as they are helping us to know our world better, they are valuable because all the knowledge that we are delivering now generates from this beautiful blue planet.

Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company