Constructivism

Modified learning scenario

An organization wants to make sure that their organizational Safety and Hygiene Policy is being continuously and strictly applied. The Management has developed a safety and hygiene manual and made sure that every staff member reads it and receives a training on how to apply it.

The management then notices that employees tend to ignore the policy and act carelessly with regard to the restrictions it withholds. The Management decides to do spot checks at random intervals (Stimulus), praising staff members that are sticking to the right behaviors (Positive reinforcement) and, on seeing a violation, they make use of it as a learning opportunity for the management to receive feedback from the employees, as well as applying the consequence that has been stated in the policy (Negative reinforcement). By the end of every month, the team with the least violations is rewarded with a bonus (Positive reinforcement). After practicing this in a consistent manner for 6 months, the rate of violations has dramatically decreased (Response). However, the management decided to keep following the procedure to maintain the reached level of compliance. (BEHAVIORISM)

To maintain, develop and build on the knowledge acquired by the employees during the initial training, the management decides to hold a monthly training session where staff members are divided to groups, each group representing a department. Each group is asked to come up with an idea of a mini-project related to the work of its department. Another team will have to implement this mini-project during the month. Every team's projects objective should be reinforcing the organizational safety and hygiene policy in a way related to its department's work. With the help of one individual from the team who created the mini-project as a more knowledgeable individual (scaffolding strategy), another team should implement the project and come up with findings, conclusions and ideas that can be used to enrich and develop the initial safety and hygiene manual.

During this activity, every team worked collaboratively to construct a project idea (social constructivist strategy). Another team worked collaboratively with the help pf a MKO from the team that created the project to build on their prior knowledge, and to learn more about the work of the other team (Skills in ZPD), and then to come up with conclusions and findings (social constructivist strategy) that will have a positive impact on the organization and support the overall learning objective.

References

McLeod, S. A. (2019). What Is the zone of proximal development? . Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html