Constructivism

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Constructivism

• Presented to Dr. Hilda White
• By Carmen Pinkney Taylor

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Constructivism and Education
Ormrod, J. E., Educational Psychology Developing
Learners, Fourth Edition. 2003, p. 227

• In education and psychology, learning theories
  help us understand the process of learning
• There are three main perspectives in learning
  theories. They are behaviorism, cognitive
  information processing, and constructivism.

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What is Constructivism?
(2000). Constructivism. The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton
Mifflin Company.

• In education, constructivism holds that knowledge
  is not transmitted unchanged from teacher to
  student, but instead that learning is an active
  process of recreating knowledge.

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Where did this come from?
Dalgarno, B. (1996) Constructivist computer
assisted learning theory and technique,
ASCILITE Conference, 2-4 December 1996,
retrieved from http//www.ascilite.org.au/conferen
ces/adela ide96/papers/21.html

• Jean Piaget (1896 1980)
• Piagets theory implies the process of building,
  creating, or making mental structures instead of
  just absorbing or reproducing products

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Assimilation and Accommodation
Beilin, H. (1992). Piaget's enduring contribution
to developmental psychology. Developmental
Psychology, 28, 191-204.

• Assimilation occurs when individuals experiences
  are aligned with their internal representation of
  the world.

• Accommodation is the process of reframing ones
  mental representation of the external world to
  fit new experiences.

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Constructivism and Classroom Instruction
Chapman, M. (1988). Constructive evolution
origins and development of Piaget's thought.
Cambridge Cambridge University Press.
THE CONSTRUCTIVISM POINT OF VIEW HAS FOUR
DISTINCT PERSPECTIVES.

• Knowledge is active
• Individuals construct knowledge
• Meaningful learning is useful and retained
• Teacher serves as coach and/or mediator

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Implementation of Constructivism
Bruer, J. (1993). Schools for thought a science
of learning in the classroom. New York MIT
Press.

• More active approach
• Students have more accountability
• Teachers have more accountability

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You Might Be a Constructivist If You.
Bruer, J. (1993). Schools for thought a science
of learning in the classroom. New York MIT
Press.

• encourage and accept student autonomy and
  initiative.
• use raw data and primary sources, along with
  manipulative, interactive, and physical
  materials.
• use cognitive terminology such as "classify,"
  "analyze, "predict," and "create."
• allow student responses to drive lessons, shift
  instructional strategies, and alter content.
• inquire about students understandings of
  concepts before sharing their own understandings
  of those concepts.

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You Might Be a Constructivist If You.

• encourage students to engage in dialogue, both
  with the teacher and with one another.
• encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful,
  open-ended questions and encouraging students to
  ask questions of each other.
• seek elaboration of students' initial responses.
  
• engage students in experiences that might
  engender contradictions to their initial
  hypotheses and then encourage discussion.
• provide time for students to construct
  relationships and create metaphors.
• nurture students' natural curiosity through
  frequent use of the learning cycle model.

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Now What?

• In what ways can you implement constructivism in
  your classroom?
• How can you better implement constructivism?
• Pros and Cons and constructivism

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Useful Sites

• Constructivism (learning theory) - Wikipedia, the
  free encyclopedia
• Assessment in a Constructivist Classroom

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Thank you!