Constructivism Where learners are creators of knowledge

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Constructivism Where learners are creators of
knowledge

• Rebecca Gammill, Peg Riley, and Mary Young

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SoConstructivism is

• Constructivism is a philosophy of learning
  founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our
  experiences, we construct our own understanding
  of the world we live In. Each of us generates our
  own "rules" and "mental models," which we use to
  make sense of our experiences. Learning,
  therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our
  mental models to accommodate new experiences.

Source http//www.funderstanding.com/constructivi
sm.cfm
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History Early Influences

• Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and John Dewey
  (1859-1952) developed theories in childhood
  educational that led to the evolution of
  constructivism. Particularly, Piaget believed
  that people, especially children, learned through
  construction of one structure to another while
  Dewey asserted that education should be grounded
  in real experience, where inquiry maintained a
  key role in the learning process.

Source http//www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2c
lass/constructivism/index_sub4.html
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HistoryModern Influences

• More recent influences on developing
  constructivist theories are Lev Vygotsky (1920s)
  , Jerome Bruner (1960s) , and David Ausubel
  (1960s)
• Vygotsky and Bruner emphasized the social
  aspects of constructivism, with the importance
  placed on the Zone of Proximal Learning and the
  use of a More Knowledgeable Other.
• Seymour Papert earned widespread approval in the
  educational community when he introduced using
  computers to teach children in constructivist
  environments.

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Characteristics and Best Environments for Use

• Self-regulated learning
• Solving problems in the context of real-world
  environments
• The instructor supports, coaches, and analyzes
  the strategies used to solve the problems
• Learners uses multiple perspectives through tools
  and their environment.
• Learners negotiate instructional goals and
  objectives, based on their experiences.
• Self-assessment or project based
• Collaboration is encouraged for problem-solving,
  feedback purposes, and reflecting.

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Example of Constructivism

• Drivers Education class
• When anyone learns to drive, there are
  incremental steps along the way that are built
  from previous learning experiences.
• MKO Driving Instructor
• Real world environment
• Changing technology can have an impact on driving
  techniques, and how the course is taught.
• Never a mastered skill
• Conceptual learning helps develop problem solving
  skills.

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ImplicationsImpact on Teaching and Learning

• The teachers role in the classroom becomes that
  of the facilitator, providing an environment
  where the learning process and then
• Provide multiple representations of reality -
  avoid oversimplification of instruction by by
  representing the natural complexity of the world
• Present authentic tasks - contextualize
• Provide real-world, case-based learning
  environments, rather than pre-determined
  instructional sequences
• Foster reflective practice
• Enable context- and content-dependent knowledge
  construction
• Support collaborative construction of knowledge
  through social negotiation, not competition among
  learners for recognition

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Implication of Constructivism

• Melissa N. Matusevich of Montgomery County Public
  Schools notes that constructivism was a technique
  that really caught on with the teachers in their
  educational community for now over a 10 year
  period. Pedagogical philosophies have shirted
  from a traditional teaching philosophy to a
  constructivist philosophy. She notes some of the
  benefits of that change

• mathematics based on NCTM standards and
  incorporating discovery learning
• real world audiences
• peer review and cooperative learning where
  students naturally collaborate on projects
• curriculum focused on broad-based themes
• Self- evaluation with portfolios and other forms
  of alternate assessment

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Implications of Constructivism Continued . . .

• student-developed plans for learning
• students as active learners and teacher as
  facilitator
• authentic activities
• higher level thinking skills
• life-long learning
• teacher as learner

Source http//pixel.cs.vt.edu/edu/fis/techcons.h
tml
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Critics Say

• Constructivism may lead to group think.
• There is little evidence that support that
  constructivist theories work. Furthermore, there
  are studies that students who have been exposed
  to constructivism environments actually lag
  behind other students that have had a more
  traditional education.
• Since constructivist reject tradition sources for
  assessments, they have made themselves less
  accountable for student progress.

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Advocates Insist

• In studies that compare students higher order
  thinking skills, constructivist students
  outperform their peers.
• Students learn more and enjoy the process more
  when they are actively engaged.
• Constructivism focuses more on learning to
  understand, not learning rote memorization.
• Because of real world applications, learning is
  transferable from the classroom to real world
  environments.
• Promotes social and communication skills through
  collaborative learning activities.
• Knowledge is constructed, not reproduced.

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Other Benefits

• IT characteristics make constructivism ideal for
  fostering
• Conceptual development
• Higher-level application of content
• Construction of hypotheses
• and knowledge
• Problem solving
• Cognitive Strategies
• Decision making