Constructivism

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Constructivism

• One Learning Theory

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Warm Up
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Kids Say the Darnedest Things

• The following are actual responses from students
  at a Catholic elementary school on a test about
  the Old and New Testaments. They were published
  by www.LOLFun.com .

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Adam and Eve were createdfrom an apple tree.
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Noahs wife was called Joan of Ark.
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Lots wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a
ball of fire by night.
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Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the
Apostles.
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Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they
made unleavened bread which is bread without any
ingredients.
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The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to
eat the apple.
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The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit
adultery.
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The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua
told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
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David was a hebrew king skilled at playing the
liar He fought the Finklesteins, a race of
people who lived in Biblical times.
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Solomon, one of Davids sons, had 300 wives and
700 porcupines.
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When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus,
she sang the Magna Carta.
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St John the blacksmith dumped water on his head.
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Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to
do one to others before they do one to you.
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The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
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St Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached
holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.
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Christians have only one spouse. This is called
monotony.
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Have you ever had similarly hilarious or
nonsensical responses from students?Why do you
think this happens?
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Principle Learning is an active process.
Students construct meaning based on previous
knowledge and constructs.

• Research Long term memory requires many
  connections to the new knowledge. For example, a
  mnemonic can help you remember a random list of
  numbers. The brain is a self-organizing system,
  not a computer with RAM.
• Implication Teaching by telling can result in
  unintended learning by students. The instructor
  must focus on the student in designing the
  learning experience. Activities must challenge
  incorrect beliefs without being overly
  frustrating.

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Principle The act of constructing meaning
occurs in the mind of the student.

• Research The brain changes with use, the
  billions of neurons and dendrites making new
  connections or strengthening existing ones.
• Implication A good activity asks students to
  reflect on their learning.

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Principle Learning involves language that
influences learning. Learning is a social
activity.

• Research People talk to themselves when
  learning. All students, but especially women and
  minorities, benefit from cooperative learning in
  which the students can exchange ideas about a new
  concept.
• Implication We should structure the learning to
  take advantage of the social nature of learning
  e.g., using small group projects or pairing
  students.

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Principle Learning is contextual.

• Research Learning that has no context becomes
  what neuroscientists call inert memory this is
  memory that cannot be transferred for use in
  another problem, discipline, or context.
  Flexible memory has context and a structure and
  can be transferred.

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Principle Learning is contextual.

• Implication New concepts should be taught in
  the context of a problem. We should start with a
  problem or application and proceed to the
  generalization later.

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Principle Learning takes time and concentration.

• Research Two groups of similar ability students
  spend the same amount of time learning new
  material (a list of meaningless terms), but one
  group studies for a short period of time while
  the other revisits the material over a period of
  several weeks. The retention rate is 2.5 times
  as much for the second group.

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Principle Learning takes time and concentration.

• Implication To assure new learning goes into
  long term memory a spiral approach to teaching
  should be used. Depth and additional complexity
  is added each time the concept is revisited.

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Principle Motivation is a key aspect of
learning.

• Research Students learn what they are thinking
  about when they are encountering new material.
• Implication Students need to know how the new
  concepts will be used. We have to be careful
  that students do not concentrate on peripheral
  ideas such as focusing on the unfairness of the
  death penalty rather than interpreting a table or
  graph.