This week I read a few articles that outline three learning theories. Objectivism, constructivism and cognitivism.
In short objectivism can be defined as a learning theory that includes formulas, terminology, and information to be passed from a teacher to student. This can be closely related to the curriculum, orientation, known as product. The curriculum orientation of product is the idea of passing information from teacher to student through assessments with an end goal in mind. This method is present because an objectivist approach to teaching states that a “student’s responsibility is accurately to comprehend, reproduce and add to the knowledge handed down to him or her” (2.3 Objectivism).
Constructivism is the idea that what we learn from experiences we have had in the past. For example, students taking pre-Calc 20 are expected to have taken pre-Calc 10 and understand the material so they can now build on it. This demonstrates the praxis method because teachers need to work with their students to ensure they have the previous knowledge (2.5 Constructivism).
Cognitivist thinking believes that there is a journey to learning that require students to memorize, understand, analyze, evaluate, and then create. I believe this demonstrates a process method of curriculum orientation. This orientation focusses on working with students and building a journey/process of learning. This education theory works to help students understand why we are learning what we are and how it works (2.4 Cognitivism).
In my experience I have witnessed all of these education theories in various subjects. I think it is very common to begin with memorizing the material and then working towards understanding it.