A Comparison of Behaviorist and Constructivist-Based Teaching Methods in Psychomotor Instruction

The authors conducted an experimental comparison of two different teaching strategies, one based on behaviorist principles and the other on social constructivist principles, in teaching a linear psychomotor skill. Two randomly selected groups of gifted students were provided instruction on making an origami piece. The purpose of the study was to determine which teaching method produced better short-term retention of the selected task. The pieces were evaluated using a scoring rubric developed and field tested by the researchers. Analysis on the scores showed that there was no significant difference in the performance between the two groups. In addition, the University’s official teacher/course evaluation form was used to compare the students’ evaluations of the different teaching styles. Analysis of the course evaluation scores showed a significant preference for the behaviorist-based instruction. This study does not support the current trend of shifting instruction from the behaviorist method to the constructivist method of teaching for linear psychomotor tasks. However, there was a definite student preference for the behaviorist method of teaching.