Cognitivism & Connectivism

I taught a college Humanities class for many years in which I instructed students on how to analyze songs (as one would do poetry). I developed the “12 Terms of Interpretation” as a structure for breaking down each song we tackled. The students practiced and built their skills at interpretation until they were ready to prepare and present a favorite song of theirs to the class.

 
I employed the concept of Cognitivism when modeling interpretation for the students (including how their final presentation should look) and in breaking the concepts into digestible chunks until they could competently interpret a song without necessarily needing to specifically reference the “12 Terms.”

 
Interestingly, Connectivism came in strongly when students began to share their songs and interpretations at the front of the class. Not only did students engage in lively discuss following each presentation, I too developed a growing knowledge of pop culture and the values of the up and coming generation with every quarter’s passing. Indeed, it was a unique form of “research” to hear from the students. I emphasized to the class that even if a song played up front is one they would never choose to listen to, simply knowing it’s a fellow classmate’s favorite makes a discussion of it rather intriguing; indeed, we gained insight into one another and into American culture with each song.