In nurse education typically, information is presented to students within the classroom and then applied within a clinical situation. Acquisition of the knowledge required to inform the student’s early practice is the focus of this research. This paper centres upon the construction of a cognitive model that is recursive in nature, and forms an integral part of a qualitative research study. The primary study investigated how first year student nurses use the information received in the classroom to underpin their early practice. Data were collected from 10 students and 4 of their lecturers, via blogs and interviews and used iteratively to create a model that is recursive in nature. Recursion is a process of repeatedly revisiting the same thing, in this case the data, which are considered in an iterative or progressive way. Recursion thus facilitated the development of a model, which was seen to change and develop in sophistication as more data were considered and evaluated. Visual devices were used throughout to bring clarity during the construction of the model. This visual process was pivotal to the analysis. This paper chronicles the development of an analytical device through the medium of the study presented. Viable knowledge is represented as the synthesis of concepts, as presented in the classroom, and practice, as experienced within the clinical area. It illustrates how conceptual material delivered within the classroom has become embedded within an individual student’s consciousness and is used during a clinical placement to make sense of a specific situation. The study identifies how students use information and makes recommendations as to how appropriate curricula integrate all the facets of the recursive model. The process of recursive modelling is thus offered as an analytical devise, which may be applied by researchers to other qualitative data.

Key words: acquisition, viable, knowledge, recursive, model, methodolosocial.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to explain some phenomena observed in the acquisition of motor skills: the loss of conscious access to knowledge of the structure of a skill and the awareness that an error has been made prior to the receipt of knowledge of results. Although there are rich descriptive accounts of skill acquisition in the literature, there are no satisfactory explanatory models of the cognitive processes involved. The paper provides such a model. Method: In the 1970s, the first author implemented a computer program model of the cognitive processes involved in learning and skill acquisition, based on a series of empirical investigations. Recently, with assistance from the second author, the model has been reviewed, updated and re-implemented. The paper sets this work in the broader context of a theory of learning and teaching, conversation theory. Findings: The model provides a constructivist account of skill acquisition and associated phenomena. The model provides theoretical foundations for conversation theory. Implications: The model adds to the understanding of motor skill acquisition and to the understanding of processes of learning and teaching in general. Originality/value – The model and its interpretation are an original contribution to the skills acquisition literature.

Key words: skill acquisition, learning, second-order cybernetics, cognitive model, conversation theory

This bachelor thesis has its focus on the theoretical aspects of Radical Constructivism, as well as on the criticism against the theory. The first chapters will discuss the main principles of the theory which have been set by Ernst von Glasersfeld. It will argue the importance of the term “viability” in the radical constructivist epistemology as well. Jean Piaget’s cognitive model, along with his theory of learning will also be examined, as they represent the foundation of radical-constructivist ideas. Afterwards, the dissensions about the position of Radical Constructivism in the academic world will be thematized, where opinions about its representation as either a “tool” or a “paradigm” will be discussed. Furthermore, this thesis deals with the questions of the social aspect in the radical constructivist discourse, where the main differences between the radical and social form of constructivism will be demonstrated. Claims of it representing a solipsism and relativism, while apparently also pleading for a “nowrong- answer-approach”, will be challenged as well. To conclude, this thesis will end with a discussion about the challenges of the practical implementation of the radical constructivist theory in schools.