Imagination as a neglected cognitive tool essential to Constructivist instruction (Egan)¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The paper presents imagination, following Egan (1992), as a cognitive tool representing Constructivist instruction as higher-order learning. Imagination enables transcendence of conventional representations, which is necessary to constructing one's sense of any area of knowledge; accepting conventional representations keeps knowledge inert rather than incorporated into one's life. Egan distinguishes human learning from computer operation, warning against thinking of learning as recording symbols for later retrieval, and holds that flexible thinking yields richer and more effective meaning, with memory supplying the material imagination draws on to construct.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Education must incorporate imagination and allow freedom of mental activity for transcendence of conventions

Constraints¶

• Egan remarks on a tension between conventions and imagination that he marks as a problem that has to be worked out

Target Learners¶

• learners in educational settings

Target Learning Objectives¶

• higher-order learning
• knowledge construction

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Egan's developmental understanding model: later understandings build on and incorporate the Somatic
• Constructivism as a theory of knowledge and learning with individualistic, social, and combined branches
• Play and Cognitive Development

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Luppicini, Rocci; Schnackenberg, Heidi. (2000). In Support of Constructivism: Utilizing Rational, Moral and Communicative Frameworks to Address Frequently Posited Criticisms. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED455777