CONSTRUCTIVISM: A TEACHING APPROACH

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CONSTRUCTIVISMA TEACHING APPROACH

• California State University, Bakersfield
• EDEL 413 Spring , 2002
• Dr. Beatrice Gibbons
• Maureen Meade Mattias, M.A

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Constructivism Theoretical Perspective Proposing
That Learners Construct a Body of Knowledge From
Their Own Experiences

• Student driven curriculum vs.
• Teacher/textbook driven curriculum

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Constructivism

• Students are active participants in their own
  learning rather than absorbing the knowledge at
  face value.
• Students are actively engaged in a variety of
  meaningful problem-solving activities with
  real-world applications.
• Students construct knowledge and meaning from
  active physical and mental activity.

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Constructivism Handout

• What are the goals of constructivism?
• Popcorn read aloud

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Constructivism

• Student-centered instruction.
• Teacher serves as a facilitator.
• Guide on the side rather than the sage on the
  stage.

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Constructivism

• Scaffolding.
• Adults and other more competent individuals
  provide some form of guidance or structure that
  enables children to perform tasks that are in
  their zone of proximal development.
• The teacher provides ladders that lead to higher
  understanding, yet the students must climb these
  ladders.

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To understand the concept scaffolding used in
the construction of a new buildingthe scaffold
is an external structure that provides support
for the workers ( A place where they can
stand)until the building itself is strong enough
to support them. As the building stability, the
scaffold becomes less necessary and so is
gradually removed
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Constructivism

• Students have an active role in their own
  learning.

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Historical Roots of Constructivism

• Socrates.
• Jean Piagets theory of cognitive development
  (children are active and motivated learners).
• John Deweys theory of learning by doing.

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Historical Roots of Constructivism

• Lev Vygotskys theory of cognitive development is
  referred to as the
• Socio-cultural perspective

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Socrates

• Fifth century B.C.
• Developed a systematic method of discovering
  truth by combining questioning and logical
  reasoning.

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Key Ideas in Piagets Theory

• Children literally construct and reconstruct
  their knowledge of the world as they mature and
  advance their levels of cognitive functioning.

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Key Ideas in Piagets Theory

• Children are active and motivated learners.
• Students continuously organize, structure, and
  restructure experiences in relation to existing
  schemas of thought.

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Key Ideas in Piagets Theory

• Children adapt to other
• environments through the process of
• assimilation accommodation.

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Key Ideas in Piagets Theory

• Assimilation is a process of dealing with an
  object or event in a way that is consistent with
  an existing scheme that the child has created
  through his/her experiences.

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Accommodation Two Forms

• Children will either modify an existing scheme to
  account for the new object
• or
• Children will form an entirely new scheme to deal
  with it.

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Accommodation Two Forms

• For example, the infant may have to open her
  mouth wider than usual to accommodate a teddy
  bears fat paw. The 13-year old may have to
  revise her existing scheme of fashion according
  to changes in whats hot and whats not. The 7
  year-old may find a long, slithery thing that
  cant possibly be a snake because it has 4 legs.
  After some research, the child develops a new
  scheme salamander-for this creature.

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John Dewey

• Progressivism.
• Education should be child-centered.
• Emphasizes the importance of student interest and
  direct experience in education.
• Students should be given opportunities for
  inquiry, discovery and problem-solving within a
  social context.
• Hands-on activities that promote.
• Active participation.

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Lev Vygotsky

• Russian psychologist (1896-1934).
• Researching in Moscow during the same time as
  Piaget was researching.

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Lev Vygotsky

• Proposed that adults promote childrens cognitive
  development by engaging them in meaningful and
  challenging activities, helping them to perform
  those activities successfully, and talking with
  them about their experiences.
• Believed that childrens mental, language, and
  social development are enhanced by learning that
  occurs through social interactions.
• Because he emphasized the importance of society
  and culture for promoting cognitive growth.

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Levine Vygotskys Theory

• His theory is sometimes called the socio-cultural
  perspective because he emphasized the importance
  of society and culture for promoting cognitive
  growth.
• Although he never had the chance to develop his
  theory fully, his ideas are clearly evident in
  our views of child development and classroom
  practices.

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Key Ideas in Vygotskys Theory

• Complex mental processes begin as social
  activities As children develop, they gradually
  internalize the processes they use in social
  contexts and begin to use them independently.
• Thought and language become increasingly
  interdependent in the first years of life.

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Key Ideas in Vygotskys Theory

• Through both informal interactions and formal
  schooling, adults convey to children the ways in
  which their cultures interprets and responds to
  the world.
• Children can perform more challenging tasks when
  assisted by more advanced and competent
  individuals.

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Additional Key Ideas

• Challenging tasks promote maximum cognitive
  growth.
• Play allows children to stretch themselves
  cognitively.

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Current Perspectives on Vygotskys Theory

• Vygotsky focused primarily on the processes
  through which children develop, rather than on
  the characteristics that children of particular
  ages are likely to exhibit during specific
  cognitive developmental stages
• 1)Multisensory 2)Pre-operational
• 3) Concrete Operational
• 4) Formal Operational

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Current Perspectives on Vygotskys Theory

• He did identify stages of development but
  portrayed them in only the most general terms.

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Largely for These Reasons, Vygotskys Theory Has
Been More Difficult for Researchers to Test and
Either Verify or Disprove

• than has Piagets Theory.
• In Fact, the Most Frequent Criticisms of
  Vygotskys Ideas Are His
• Lack of Precision and His Inattention to Details.
  (Haenan, 1996Hunt,1997,Wertsch, 1984).

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Despite such weaknesses, many contemporary y
theorists and practitioners have found Vygotskys
theory both insightful and helpful.

• Children benefit from working in groups and
  participating in dynamic lessons that include
  hands-on manipulatives as well as conversations
  about the activity.

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Four Principles of Vygotsky

• Social nature of learning
• Zone of proximal development
• Cognitive apprenticeship
• Mediated learning

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Social Nature of Learning

• Childrens learning is enhanced when they can
  work with a supportive adult such as a teacher,
  parent, teachers aide or even with a more
  capable peer.

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Social Nature of Learning

• Cooperative learning groups.
• Partnering of students.
• Cross-age tutoring /looping (NAEYC).

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Zone of Proximal Development ZPD

• Defined as the range of tasks that one cannot yet
  perform independently but can perform with the
  help and guidance of others. (I.E tying a shoe
  lace).
• Such as engaged in tasks that a child could not
  accomplish on his/her own, but can complete with
  the assistance of a more capable peer or an adult.

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Zone of Proximal Development ZPD

• Cooperative learning group.
• (3-5 Ss).
• Partner/paired work.
• State report example.

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Cognitive Apprenticeshipcan show children how
adults typically think about a task or activity

• Student teaching.
• In the process of talking about various aspects
  of the task or problem, the teacher and the
  student together analyze the situation and
  develop the best approach to take , and the
  teacher models effective ways of thinking about
  and mentally processing the situation.

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Mediated Learning Experience

• A joint discussion of a phenomenon or event that
  an adult and a child have mutually experienced
• Such as interaction encourages a child to think
  about eh phenomenon or event in particular ways
  to attach labels to it, recognize principles
  that underlie it, impose certain interpretations
  on it

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Self-Regulated Learning

• Promote self regulations by teaching children to
  use self talk and inner speech to direct and
  regulate their own behaviors especially through
  difficult situations.
• Students are taught strategies for gaining
  control of their own learning through
  self-management.

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Self-Regulated Learning

• Students have knowledge of effective learning
  strategies and know when to use them.
• A self-regulated learner is a person who is able
  to learn well throughout life They direct their
  own learning.

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Children who talk themselves through challenging
tasks pay more attention to what they are doing
and are

• More likely to show improvements in their
  performances
• (Berk Spuhl,1995).

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Meichenbaum (1977, 1985) has successfully used 5
steps in teaching children how to give themselves
instructions and thereby guide themselves through
a new task.
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Self-regulated LearningFive processes that
students learn

• 1. Setting goals.
• 2. Observing their your own work.
• 3. Keeping records of their progress.
• 4. Evaluate their own performance.
• 5. Select and deliver self-reinforcement.

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Reciprocal Teaching

• A widely used technique for teacher and student
  (one-on one strategy).
• Teaching students to monitor their reading
  comprehension.
• Students learn four specific questioning and
  discussion strategies that are modeled by the
  teacher.
• These questions are asked after both the teacher
  and student.

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Reciprocal TeachingFour strategies students
learn

• 1. Think of important questions and be sure you
  can answer those questions.
• 2. Summarize the most important information that
  you have read.
• 3. Predict what the author might discuss next.
• 4. Point out unclear material that doesnt make
  sense and see if you can make sense of it.

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Discovery Learning Jerome Bruner

• Teaching method in which students are encouraged
  to discover principles for themselves.
• Active involvement in learning.

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Discovery Learning Advantages

• Arouses students curiosity.
• Motivates students to work until they find
  answers.
• Develops independent problem-solving skills.
• Improves critical thinking skills.

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Cooperative Learning

• Mixed-ability grouping.
• Students work together to complete a task
  independent of the teacher.
• Highlights the value of collective wisdom.

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Cooperative Learning, cont.

• Showcases the contributions that every student,
  strong or weak, can make.
• Teacher sets up the developmentally appropriate
  activities and manipulatives and then proceeds to
  circulate and monitors the process.

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Cooperative Learning, cont.

• Students enjoy working together.
• Appropriate for EL (English learners).
• Students learning centers promote time on task
  and active participation.

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Cooperative Learning, cont.

• Teacher cannot easily assess the quality of
  individual students work.
• Students must possess adequate self-control for
  appropriate behavior.
• Expectations must be taught to students.
• Canters suggestions.
• For managing cooperative learning groups.

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Cooperative Scripts

• A study method in which students work in pairs
  and take turns orally summarizing sections of
  material to be learned.

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Cooperative Learning Video

• Discuss with your group members, after viewing
  this video, the question
• Why is cooperative learning an effective teaching
  strategy?