cep900 10.30.06

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cep900 10.30.06

• Constructivism
• Bruner, J. (1960). A Process of Education (Chap 1
  2)
• Phillips, D. C. (1995). The good, the bad, and
  the ugly The many faces of constructivism. 
  Educational Researcher, 24 (7), 5-12.

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assignments

• Continue rdp work Check the list
• Cognitive perspectives
• Phillips, D. C., Soltis, J. F. (1991). Problem
  solving, insight, and activity.
• Phillips, D. C., Soltis, J. F. (1991).
  Piagetian structures and psychological
  constructivism.
• Miller, P. H. (1993). Piaget's cognitive-stage
  theory. (skim)
• Buy Vygotsky, Mind in Society

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jerome bruner

• TIP Theories
• jerome bruner and the process of education
• What was the context of A Process of Education?

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key ideas of A Process"

• "Any subject can be taught effectively in some
  intellectually honest form to any child at any
  stage of development"
• Spiral curriculum
• Structure of a discipline
• Intuitive and explicit forms of knowing
• Learning by inquiry/discovery

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bruner's structure

• If students have a limited time with education,
  what should we teach?
• To learn structure is to learn how things are
  related
• Powerful ideas that represent key relationships
  in a discipline. Apply to many different
  phenomenon
• Knowledge of structure facilitates memory,
  comprehension, transfer, etc.
• Examples of structure in a discipline?

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" any subject can be taughtto any child

• Learning quadratic equations
• Consider some examples in your discipline. What
  are some advanced ideas and do you think that
  it can be taught to any child?

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spiral curriculum

• From enactive (actions), to iconic (pictures), to
  symbolic (words, symbols) level of representation
  and understanding
• Bruners perspective on development influenced by
  Piaget
• Important subject-matter ideas/structure are
  taught early and often

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structure schwab's version

• Joseph Schwab's (philosopher, science educator)
• Substantive structure of a discipline (theories,
  concepts, facts)
• Syntactic structure (process by which knowledge
  is adjudicated, I.e. its validity determined)
• Consider substantive and syntactic structures of
  your discipline

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intuitive and explicit knowing

• Intuitive knowing without explicit words, or
  formal conceptualizing
• Enactive (actions), iconic (pictures, signs),
  symbolic (words, symbols) representations
• Later, Bruner wrote about Narrative and
  Paradigmatic forms of knowing, another way of
  distinguishing different kinds of thought.
• modes of understanding,communicating,-narrati...

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constructivism

• Currently the dominant epistemology (theory of
  knowledge) and ideology (system of values
  beliefs) in colleges of education
• Not as dominant in educational practice
• As the dominant paradigm, constructivism is often
  unquestioned, taken for granted, insensitive to
  variation

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constructivism

• Not really a single theory, but more of a broad
  collection of shared beliefs about learning and
  teaching. What are those beliefs?

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constructivism some common qualities

• Where does knowledge come from? People create
  knowledge, as opposed to Nature as instructor or
  instinct as instructor
• Who constructs knowledge? Either individuals or
  groups of people (social constructivism)
• Is learning active? Learning is an mentally
  active activity, as opposed to a receptive,
  mechanical activity

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phillips concern

• It could be argued here that a weak or at least
  controversial epistemology has become the basis
  for a strong pedagogic policy. p11
• The bad constructivism can lead to relativism,
  disconnecting from reality, diminishing role of
  reason

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activity assessing different kinds of
constructivism

• Although many people say they are
  constructivists, they may be different in some
  ways. Develop some assessment items that could
  help you describe in more detail the nature of
  someones constructivist beliefs.
• Work in teams to develop a few items.

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phillips 3 dimensions of constructivism

• Where does knowledge come from? Nature as
  instructor vs. people as creator vs. instinct as
  instructor
• Who constructs knowledge? Individual vs. social
  construction
• Active vs. passive process. To what degree is
  knowing a physical mental activity vs.
  receptive, mechanical activity

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the ideology of constructivism

• Knowledge is a human construction, not something
  external, unchanging, independent of human
  activity
• Legitimates individual interpretation, individual
  experience (e.g. misconceptions are now
  alternative conceptions)
• Emphasizes the role of social, political,
  institutions in determining what is considered
  true (truth is determined by consensus or power
  in addition to reason and evidence)

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roots of constructivism

• R. Descartes importance of reason in search for
  Truth. Age of Enlightenment, age of Reason.
• I. Kant categories of thought, never being able
  to see the world as it is
• J. Piaget knowing as adaptive functioning
  operating on a representation of the world

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roots of constructivism

• K. Popper theories can never be proved, only
  falsified. Knowledge is never certain, always
  tentative

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social construction of knowledge

• Not only is knowledge constructed, it is
  constructed by groups.
• T. Kuhn Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
  science knowledge is socially constructed in
  disciplinary communities
• Influences from literary criticism, critical
  theory, feminist scholars
• When viewing knowledge as a social construction,
  one attends to issues of power, politics,
  culture, context, history, gender, ethnicity,
  etc.

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social construction of knowledge

• Examples IQ, disability, literacy. To what
  extent are these constructs real?

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constructivist terminology

• knower is an actor, spectator or player man
  proposes nature disposes prewired cognitive
  processes knowledge as an adaptive function
  child as scientist knowledge as consensus
  knowledge as rational empirical knowledge as
  politics or fashion reality as social
  construction

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posner et al. conceptual change

• One of the most cited articles in science
  education
• Conceptual change perspective was very prominent
  around 1980 to 1995
• Stimulated research on students conceptions,
  misconceptions, alternative conceptions,
  epistemological beliefs

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conceptions and misconceptions

• Bodies in motion
• Plant growth
• Light and vision
• Density

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conceptual change theory

• Characteristics of the theory
• Learning is assimilation and accommodation of
  concepts
• Assumes learner is rational and motivated to
  resolve logical problems
• Conditions of conceptual change Dissatisfaction
  with existing conceptions. Alternative
  conceptions must be intelligible, plausible, and
  suggest fruitful research

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constructivism self-assessment

• To what degree to you believe
• There is a real world out there
• We perceive the real world
• The real world is knowable
• Agree (1).Disagree (5)

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constructivism self-assessment

• There is Truth out there.
• There is one real world
• It can be accessed sooner or later through
  inquiry (reason, and observation, action)
• The process of understanding the world involves
  mainly the person and the world
• Science is the best way to progress towards the
  Truth
• Unbiased observation is possible
• What we know, what we do, do not alter what is
  real out there.
• Agree (1).Disagree (5)

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constructivism self-assessment

• In an English class, one students interpretation
  of a poem is as good as another
• In a science class, one students explanations
  about why a plant withers in a dark room is as
  good as another
• In a social studies class, one students
  attitudes about immigrants is as good as another
• Agree (1).Disagree (5)

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constructivism self-assessment

• How do you know something to be true?

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constructivism self-assessment

• How are you certain about these truths?
• the world is round
• humans have free will
• the older woman you grew up with is your mother
• humans have the right to life, liberty, and the
  pursuit of happiness
• the love you get is equal to the love you make

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constructivism self-assessment

• My beliefs and knowledge come from
• A) experience and reason
• B) social pressures to agree with others
• C) emotion or intuition
• D) other sources

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