Constructivism

John

Virginia

Matt

Lev S. Vygotsky (Virginia)

• 1896-1934

• A Russian Psychologist

• Commonly considered the “Father of Constructivism”.

• He was mainly concerned mainly with the social and cultural aspects in human learning.

• His work was mainly unknown, especially in the west, until its “rediscovery” in the 1960’s.

Jean Piaget

• 1886-1980

• A Swiss Cognitive Psychologist

• Founded four key concepts :

1.Assimilation

2.Accommodation

3.Equilibration

4.Schemas

Jerome Bruner

• 1915-Present

• An American psychologist

• His Principles on Instruction are:

1.Concerned with experiences and contexts to influence the student to be willing to learn. (readiness)

2.Structured to be easy for students to grasp.(spiral organization)

3.Designed to fill all gaps. (beyond basic instruction)

Learn by doing! –Trial And Error(Matt)• Constructivism is a theory to explain how knowledge is constructed

in the human being when information comes into contact with existing knowledge that had been developed by experiences. (Wikipedia) May require rephrasing

• Constructivism has implications for the theory of instruction. Discovery learning, hands-on, experiential, collaborate, project-based, tasked-based are a number of applications that base teaching and learning on constructivism. (Wikipedia) May Require Rephrasing

• Learning is based on the student’s experiences and interactions with the environment and the reflecting on those experiences.

• Knowledge is gained through personally doing the activities and constructing/forming knowledge based on success or failure.

• Constructivism is a Student-Based learning theory, not a teacher-based theory.

• Team activities are a key part of the Constructivism Model.• Learning online is benefitted greatly through the Constructivism

Model. IE. Team activities we’re doing right now!

Assimilation: Information is incorporated into the beliefs that already exist.

• Assimilation: Information is incorporated into the beliefs that already exist.

• Accommodation: If we try something and we do not get the expected reaction, then we change our beliefs to accommodate that new information.

• Equilibrium: Achieving balance of Assimilation and Accommodation.

• Spiral Curriculum: It is a constant learning process, constantly building information/knowledge on top of itself. Greater depth and higher learning. IE. 1st Grade Math, 2nd Grade math, 3rd grade math, etc.

• Socratic Method : Learning by asking questions, personal quest for knowledge.

Principles of learning (Constructivism)

• 1. Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs meaning out of it. 2. People learn to learn as they learn: learning consists both of constructing meaning and constructing systems of meaning.

• 3. The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental: it happens in the mind.

• 4. Learning involves language: the language we use influences learning. • 5. Learning is a social activity: our learning is intimately associated with our

connection with other human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including the people before us or next to us at the exhibit.

• 6. Learning is contextual: we do not learn isolated facts and theories in some abstract ethereal land of the mind separate from the rest of our lives: we learn in relationship to what else we know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears.

• 7. One needs knowledge to learn: it is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structure developed from previous knowledge to build on.

• 8. It takes time to learn: learning is not instantaneous. • 9. Motivation is a key component in learning.

What the teacher does under Constructivism (John)

• Makes it a point to understand students’ previous notions possessed on a topic, as to guide an activity to suit and expand them.

• Encourages students to think about how the presented activities are helping them learn and/or how they guide them through the learning process.

• Dissects whole understandings of topics to enable students’ ability to discover the “essentials” of an instance in different ways.

Continued….(with technology)

• Technology is viewed as a powerful teaching tool to constructivists.

• Real world relevance in primarily considered when integrating the use of technology in teaching methods.

• Teachers must be well versed in the technology prior to using it in the classroom so they can be explained to the students

• Teachers can create a page on the internet with relevant recourses for students to browse through and allow networking between students and the teacher.

What the students do under Constructivism

• Discovery activities such as a visit from guest who has a story to tell when learning how to tell a story. Also, a music database for the student to explore and a lesson from a trained musician to further the knowledge of music composition and/or performance.

• The opportunity to elaborate and explain.

• Lessons centered around general personal interests to promote meaningful and relevant work.

Continued…(with technology)

• Networking with fellow students and teachers.• Using information technology, students can

increasingly initiate searches.• Computers make learning material more readily

available.• Students can use the internet to maintain

currency with events as they unfold. • Powerful computer software such as word

processing, spread sheets and digital photo editing software.

Information Sources

• https://sites.google.com/site/constructivism512/Home/definitions-and-theorists

• http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Piaget%27s_Constructivism

• http://folk.uio.no/sveinsj/Constructivism_and_learning_Sjoberg.pdf

• http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/constructivist.html

• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/exploration.html

• http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/coxk/eportfolio/EdTech%20504%20Final%20Synthesis%20K&J.docx.pdf

Continued…

• Gunter, Glenda; Gunter, Rudolph; Shelly, Gary. Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. Boston: Course Technology, 2009.

• http://www.education.com/definition/spiral-curriculum/

• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/

• http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html

• http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Piaget%27s_Constructivism#Two_Major_Principles

Picture Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget

• http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/flemmerl/EDTECH575/jeromebruner.html