the cone of experience is presented in its inverted form such that the base is broader than its...
TRANSCRIPT
The Cone of Experience is presented in its inverted form such that the base is broader than its apex. It is made up of eleven bands which are arranged in an increasing degree of abstractions as one move from the base to the apex
The Cone of Experience is a visual model, a pictorial device that presents bands of experience arranged according to degree of abstraction and not degree of difficulty. The farther you go from the bottom of the cone, the more abstract the experience becomes.
Dale (1969) asserts that the pattern of arrangement of the bands of experience is not difficulty but degree of abstraction - the amount of immediate sensory participation that is involved A still photograph of a tree is not more difficult to understand than a dramatization of Hamlet It is simply in itself a less concrete teaching material than the dramatization
What are the implications of the Cone of Experience in the teaching-learning process?1 We do not use only one medium of communication
in isolation. Rather we use many instructional materials to help the student conceptualize his experience.
2 We avoid teaching directly at the symbolic level of thought without adequate foundation of the concrete. Students' concepts will lack deep roots in direct experience Dale cautions us when he said "These rootless experiences will not have the generative power to produce additional concepts and will not enable the learner to deal with the new situations that he faces" (Dale, 1969)
3.When teaching, we don't get stuck in the concrete. Let us strive to bring our students to the symbolic or abstract level to develop their higher order thinking skills.
Three pitfalls that teachers should avoid with regard to the use of the Cone of Experience:
using one medium in isolation.moving to the abstract without an adequate
foundation of concrete experience. getting stuck in the concrete without
moving to the abstract hampering the development of our students' higher thinking skills.
Three –fold Analysis of Experience by Jerome Bruner
ENACTIVE- refers to the direct or actual experiences or encounter with what is. This is a life on the raw, rich and unedited. They form the bases for all other learning experiences.
ICONIC- Refers to the more abstract experiences which could be in the form of picture
SYMBOLIC- refers to the use of the words or printed materials which no longer resemble the subject under study.
THIRD THROUGH A SERIES OF SYMBOLS
SYMBOLIC
SECOND THROUGH A SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS ICONIC
FIRST THROUGH A SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS
ENACTIVE
BRUNER’S THREE- FOLD ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCE
BRUNER’S THREE- FOLD ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCE
ICONIC
SYMBOLIC
ENACTIVE
INCREASING ABSTACTIO
N
HE
NC
E I
NC
RE
AS
ING
D
IFF
ICU
LTY
• The BRUNER’S THREE-FOLD ANALYSIS suggests
• that learning is more impressive if one proceeds from the concrete to abstract, or from specific to general because more senses are involved and the relationships are built in a more pronounced manner.
If we want out students to remember and master what was taught, we cannot ignore what the Cone of Experience reminds us to make use of a combination of as many learning resources as we can and to proceed to the abstract only after we have presented the concrete. Do we have to end in the abstract'? Or should the abstract lead us again to the concrete and the concrete to the abstract again? So learning is from the concrete to the abstract, from the abstract to the concrete and from the concrete to the abstract again? It becomes a cycle.