Jean Piaget approached the epistemological question from a biological and psychological standpoint (Good et al, 1978).

Jean Piaget was a biologist and child psychologist. He theorized that children learn through active interactions with their environment, "organisms create their environment and are created by it" (Fosnot, 2013, p. 11).

Piaget's theory includes four invariant stages of development (Good et al, 1978):

1. Sensorimotor (Birth to age 2): discovery of environment with senses and activity, language comes in the later months

2. Preoperational (2 to 7 years): develop language but thoughts are still centred on self, symbolic function and intuitive thought begins - children start to understand symbols and become curious about their environment

3. Concrete operational (7 to 11 years): intuitive thought moves to logical reasoning

4. Formal operational (11 years+): higher levels of thinking, abstract thought, problem-solving

As children progress through these stages they construct schemas, or cognitive frameworks, through a process of assimilation, the intake of new knowledge, and accommodation, the transformation of their current beliefs with these new ideas (Powell, 2009).

Lev Vygotsky was a sociocultural theorist who proposed that social interaction occurred before individual processing during the learning process (Fosnot, 2013). Sociocultural theory states that human activities take place in a cultural context, mediated by semiotic systems, and are best understood when investigated through their historical development (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996).

Vygotsky's well-known Zone of Proximal Development theory describes the distance between a child's actual development and a child's potential development (when they are guided by capable peers) (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996).

Jerome Bruner's theories of learning evolved through his 100 years. He agreed with both Piaget and Vygotsky and believed learning is individual and achieved through processing culture, but also that, "intellectual work is almost always a continuation of a dialogue" (Takaya, 2008, p. 9). Bruner felt meta-cognition was important for learners to understand how they learn, "discovering what is in their own heads" (Takaya, 2008, p. 10).

Bruner saw discovery learning as inquiry that takes place in problem-solving situations (Ozdem-Yilmaz & Bilican, 2020). Students are encouraged to investigate information and make discoveries with minimal guidance from instructors. Characteristics of discovery learning include (Ozdem-Yilmaz & Bilican, 2020):

• Students are active learners participating in hands-on, problem-solving activities.

• Focusing on process rather than product enhances mastery and application of skills.

• Chance for learning from failure increases motivation for developing solutions to the problem.

• Discovery learning supports natural human curiosity and interest for learning.

• Feedback, collaborations, and discussions are vital parts of discovery learning thus promoting deeper understanding.