Constructing Knowledge

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Constructing Knowledge

• The single most important factor influencing
  learning is what the learner already knows.

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Constructing Knowledge

• How do we come to know what we know?

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Constructing Knowledge

• The Picture
• The Secondary Mentality
• Is teaching a science or an art?

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Constructing Knowledge

• What techniques do you use to learn new material?

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Constructivism

• Constructivism is based on the principle that
  individuals cannot simply be given knowledge.
  Rather individuals must create knowledge as they
  interact with the world around them. A students
  construction of knowledge is rooted in their
  prior knowledge.

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Constructivism Piaget

• Humans Possess Two Basic Tendencies
• Organization
• Adaptation
• Assimilation
• Take in new information and making it fit into an
  existing scheme.
• Accommodation
• Opening new scheme for new information.
• Schemes
• Equilibration
• Disequilibrium
• Key disequilibrium must take place for learning
  to happen.

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Constructing Knowledge
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Roles of Constructivism

• Active Learners
• Social Learners
• Creative Learners

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Roles of Constructivism

• Active learners - learning is actively acquired
• Discuss
• Debate
• Hypothesize
• Investigate

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Roles of Constructivism

• Social Learners
• Knowledge and understanding are socially
  constructed

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Characteristics of Constructivism

• Learners construct their own understanding
• New learning depends on current understanding
• Learning is facilitated by social interaction
• Meaningful learning occurs within authentic
  learning tasks

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Constructivism - Active Learners

• Constructivism suggest that learners should be
  active participants in learning activities that
  learning should be guided rather than presented
  by teachers, and that interaction and discussion
  are critical components in the learning process.

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Implications for Constructivism for Teachers

• Provide a variety of examples
• Promote high levels of interaction
• Connect content to the real world

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Constructivism

• Steps Toward a Constructivist Approach to
  Teaching
• Teacher presents an invitation to learn
• Teacher gives students the opportunity to
  explore, discover, and create
• Students propose explanations and solutions
• Students take action on what they have learned

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Constructivism

• A Constructivist Learning Teaching Model
• The 5 Es
• Engage
• Explore
• Explain
• Elaborate
• Evaluate

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Constructivism

• Considerable research shows that active
  engagement in learning may lead to better
  retention, understanding, and active use or
  knowledge.

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Constructivism

• Furthermore. . . Research shows that the best way
  to remember a body of information is to organize
  it actively, looking for internal patterns and
  relating it to what you already know.

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C o n s t r u c t i v i s m

• In this constructivist approach to science
  education, learning is an active process that is
  student-centered . . . With the teachers help,
  learners select and transform information,
  construct hypotheses, and make decisions (p.
  187)
• Chrenka, 2001

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A Final Thought

• This instructional approach maybe more useful in
  enhancing conceptual growth than the traditional
  use of worksheets and note taking
• (Holloway, 2000)