Teaching

There are many different methods of teaching, and many ways to help students learn. This is called Pedagogy - the art or science of teaching. By considering the student's background, environment, and learning styles, a teacher is more effective in facilitating learning. Instructional Design, a subset of Information Design, concentrates on methods, processes and technologies used for effective teaching.

The Behaviorist, B.F. Skinner, originated many theories which were very instrumental in the early years of Instructional Design, such as stimulus-response learning which focused on observable behaviors. Tasks were separated into subtasks, with each subtask viewed as a separate learning goal. Learning methods were designed to reward correct and remediate incorrect performances.

Benjamin Bloom was another influential theorist in the development of Instructional Design. In the 1950s, he created a taxonomy of the three domains of learning: Cognitive (what we know or think), Psychomotor (what we do, physically) and Affective (what we feel or what attitudes we have).

These ideas were followed by those of the psychologist Jean Piaget in the 1960s. His ideas of the cognitive development stages in children were very influential in learning theory. Paiget identified several phases of learning from the concrete information processing in young children to the more abstract reasoning capabilities of older children.

One of the most influential theorists in Instructional Design has been Lev Vygotsky, a Russian developmental psychologist. In the 1960s his work introduced many key concepts such as the zone of proximal development and scaffolding. His research in the areas of concept formation, language, thought, art, play, higher mental functions, and learning disabilities have been very influential in educational theory.

Vygotsky believed that the inter-relationship between language development and thought was crucial and profound. He also developed his sociocultural theories, in which the culture and community of a child greatly affects development. These ideas lead to the theories of Constructivism and Social Constructivism which held that all knowledge is constructed from an individual's experience. •