CONSTRUCTIVISM

A. Hutton, A. Warren, J. Scarborough

Constructivism

THE CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY IS BASED UPON

THE IDEA THAT THE LEARNER

“CONSTRUCTS” WHAT IT IS

THEY UNDERSTAND.

Five Tenets of Constructivism

• How might students entry points be identified?• What is involved in structuring the

experiences that will build bridges from present understanding to new understanding?

• How might the selection of projects pose questions that relate to students' real-life

experiences?• What are the major concepts that students

should understand?• How might we move from right/wrong to

monitoring students' understanding?

Key People: Jean Piaget Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who

studied human development in the 20s. Dewey introduced Constructivism, but Piaget further developed it. Piaget stated that children have a holistic approach to learning, focusing on the various channels such as reading, writing, listening, etc.

Children go through four stages of learning: Birth to age 2: sensorimotor, or using

both sensory and motor skills to explore things

Age 2 to age 7: preoperational, or using symbols and responding to things as they see them

Age 7 to age 11: concrete operational, or beginning to think logically

Age 11 to age 14: formal operational, or beginning to think about thinking with abstract and systematic thinking.

The learner is then advanced through three mechanisms: assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium

Key People: Jerome Bruner

Bruner was an American psychologist who believed that learning is an active process in which the learner constructs new ideas or concepts based on his current or past knowledge; learn by participation. 

He developed the framework for cognition, in which students learn by building on past knowledge, changing and shaping what they already know to fit the new information. 

Bruner also encouraged spiral curriculum and organization of curriculum that allows students to build on what they've already learned. 

The Socratic Method was developed by Bruner as well. Using this, teachers engage students which forces them to answer their own questions by thinking critically, discussing, and finding ways to back up their findings. 

Key People: Lev Vygotsky Lev Vygotsky was a Russian educational

psychologist who focused on child cognitive development. He created many theories and concepts on learning. Social Cognition learning is significantly

impacted by social development. Learning takes place in a child's social development and culture. Socializing ultimately produces consciousness and cognition.

Zone of Proximal Development refers to the difference between a child's ability to solve problems and his potential to learn from an older or more advanced person, such as a teacher.

Collaborative Learning puts emphasis on close instruction between a student and a teacher, or students together. This gives support for group projects, so that students can bounce ideas off of each other to learn and understand better than they can on their own.

Scaffolding is helpful when learning takes place in a social setting. New information builds a scaffold for the student to work with so that he can develop his own set of knowledge based off of the information that has been presented to him.

Key People: John Dewey

John Dewey was not only an American educational psychologist, but a philosopher, and activist for instruction centered around the child. His beliefs were similar to Vygotsky in that he thought education should be a social process.

Dewey was a forward thinking man whose ideas on education favored well rounded, practical education. Progressive education was a

movement Dewey took great part in. It emphasized teaching children not facts, but educating them physically, and socially as well.

Pragmatism was another movement Dewey has been linked to. It stressed that theories are only valuable for their practical applications.

Many progressive American schools were founded by John Dewey.

Classroom Implications on Constructivism

Behave interactively, mediating the student’s interactions

Seek the student's point of view rather than the correct answer

Teachers in constructivist classrooms with technology can let students learn different things at the same time, increasing the zone of proximal development.

Work in groups Are encouraged to ask

questions Students become more

actively engaged with technology than in a normal classroom setting and can learn different things at the same time.

What the Teacher Does What the Students Do

What We Think About Constructivism

This is a perfect way of teaching in my own classroom, because it

demands my students' attention and they cannot help but learn something

because they are actively pursuing answers. 

- J. Scarborough

As far as teaching in my own classroom, it's important as an English Language Arts teacher to allow your students to ask questions and mention their own points of view. Having a constructivist classroom increases their

willingness to do so, therefore making the lesson more effective and interesting for all. Constructivism also plays on parts of the student's minds that may not have been used as effectively before. Not only does this make

for more interesting discussions, but it also opens up new areas of their mind that can be used in future learning. I definitely plan to use constructivism in

some way in my classroom. - A. Hutton

I became interested in teaching because I wanted to inspire thought within my students. With some of

the theories of constructivism I can get my students to actively

participate and use their minds.-A. Warren

Credits

Shelly, Gary, Glenda Gunter, and Randolph Gunter. Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Sixth Edition. Boston: Course Technology, 2010. 376-382. Print.

"Constructivism Theorists." The San Francisco State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2011. <http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/eitankaplan/pages/theorists.htm

Photographs retrieved from Google: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html http://www.phillwebb.net/topics/human/Bruner/Bruner.htm http://01.edu-cdn.com/files/static/g/

pcl_0001_0002_0_img0146.jpg http://dewey.pragmatism.org/dewey.gif