Constructivism

 Constructivism

1.     meaning and definitions

2.     The nature of constructivist learners

3.     the role of teachers

4.     the nature of learning process,

5.     collaboration among learners

6.     pedagogical approaches to constructivism

7.     Gagne’s eight levels of learning.

Constructivism- Meaning making

Knowledge has personal meaning. It is created by individual students.

Learners construct their own knowledge by looking for meaning and order; they interpret what they hear, read, and see based on their previous learning and habits. Students who do not have appropriate backgrounds will be unable to accurately “hear” or “see” what is before them. Learning is successful when students can demonstrate conceptual understanding.

Definition

Teaching philosophy based on the concept that learning (cognition) is the result of ‘mental construction’-students construct their open understanding by reflecting on their personal experiences, and by relating the new knowledge with what they already know. Each student creates his or her own ‘schemas’ or mental-models to make sense of the world, and accommodates the new knowledge(learns) by adjusting them. One of its main principles is that learning is serach for meaning,therefore to be effective,a teacher must help the student in discovering his or her own meaning.

"The central principles of this approach are that learners can only make sense of new situations in terms of their existing understanding. Learning involves an active process in which learners construct meaning by linking new ideas with their existing knowledge." (Naylor & Keogh)

Constructivism  sees learning as a dynamic process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts on their current/past knowledge and in response to the instructional situation. Constructivism implies the notion that learners do not passively absorb information but construct it themselves. _Retrieved July 2006 from UNESCO:

Fundamentally, constructivism says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.

Major Contributor of Constructivism

1. Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980)
2. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896 – 1943)
3. John Dewey (1859 – 1952)
4. Jerome Seymour Bruner (1915 – 2016)

Constructing Meaning

Constructivism's perspectives on the role of the individual, on the importance of meaning-making, and on the active role of the learner are the very elements that make the theory appealing to educators. Teachers are typically acutely aware of the role of prior knowledge in students' learning, recognizing that students are not blank slates or empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge. Instead, students bring with them a rich array of prior experiences, knowledge, and beliefs that they use in constructing new understandings.

Constructivism offers teachers instructional approaches that are congruent with current research on learning. By viewing learning as an active process, taking students prior knowledge into consideration, building on preconceptions, and eliciting cognitive conflict, teachers can design instruction that goes beyond rote learning to meaningful learning that is more likely to lead to deeper, longer lasting

understandings.

Constructivist view on learning

1.     Learning is an active process

2.     Knowledge is constructed from (and shaped by) experience

3.     Learning is a personal interpretation of the world

4.     Emphasizes problem solving and understanding

5.     Uses authentic tasks, experiences, settings, assessments

6.     Content presented holistically –not in separate smaller parts

7.     New knowledge depends on Previous knowledge

8.     Reorganization of prior conceptual schema.

9.     Facilitated by social interaction

10.Meaningful Learning with in authentic task

11. Involves higher order thinking

12.Self directed.

Role of a student

1.     Adaptive learner

2.     Collaborator/co‐learner

3.     Co‐developer of goals and objectives

4.     Knowledge seeker

5.     Knowledge creator

6.     Reflective learner

7.     Learning through discovery

8.     Negotiator of knowledge

9.     Team member

10.  Help develop own goals and assessments

11. Create new understandings (via coaching, moderating, suggesting)

12. Control learning (reflecting)

13.Member of community of learners

14.  Collaborate among fellow students

15.  Learn in a social experience –appreciate different perspectives

16.Take ownership and voice in learning process

Role of Instructor

1. Facilitator of knowledge

2. Co‐learner/collaborator

3.  Developer of instruction

4. Reflective instructor

5. Discovery facilitator

6. Negotiator of knowledge

7.Team member

8.  Information receiver

9.  Coach / facilitator

10.  Active learner

11.  Responsible learner

12. Adapt curriculum to address students’ idea

13.  Help negotiate goals and objectives with learners

14.Pose problems of emerging relevance to students

15.  Emphasize hands‐on, real‐world experiences

16.   Seek and value students’ points of view

17.  Social context of content

18. Provide multiple modes of representations / perspectives on content

19.  Create new understandings via coaching, moderating , suggesting

20.Testing should be integrated with the task and not a separate activity

21. Use errors to inform students of progress to understanding and changes in ideas

Principles of learning
There are certain guiding principles of constructivist thinking for the teachers

They are as follows

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. Physical actions, hands-on experience may be necessary for learning,

4.       Learning involves language: the language we use influences learning. On the empirical level. researchers have noted that people talk to themselves as they learn.

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:

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. For significant learning we need to revisit ideas, ponder them try them out, play with them and use them.

9.       Motivation is a key component in learning. Not only motivation helps learning, it is essential for learning.

Process of Learning Constructivism

1.     Engage

     Teachers must engage students in their lessons in order for them to learn. Engage students by: guiding whole group discussions, asking students to explain what they learned, working together in small groups to complete projects or tasks. 

2.     Explore

     Students inquire, work together, form hypotheses, learn about new ideas and concepts on their own before coming together as a whole class. Students develop an idea of what they may think an object or idea is, then explore it further to see if their idea was accurate. Students use tools such as textbooks, the internet, scientific instruments, and their creative minds to explore new concepts.  

3.     Explain

     The student will define and explain the current concept using their own words.  The student will accomplish this using informational readings, group discussions, and teacher interaction.  Learners will support each other by sharing their ideas, observations, questions, and hypotheses.

4.     Elaborate     

     Students will expand their learning on the concepts by making connections to related concepts and applying their understanding to the world around them.  This will help students make connections that will lead them to more inquiry which will lead to new understandings.

5.     Evaluate

      Constructivism encourages teachers to assess their students learning on an ongoing basis.  In traditional classrooms, assessment would be paper tests taken by the students after the content was taught and in which they received a grade.  In a constructivist classroom the teacher assesses the students work and adapts the lesson plan to meet the needs of the learner.

     Teacher engages students by providing knowledge expansion tools the students use, collaboratively and cooperatively through inquiry, exploration, teamwork, whole group discussions, and evaluation.

Advantages:

1.     Each person in the world builds their own knowledge.

2.     Focuses on student- centered learning

3.     Teacher guides students in building their own understanding and knowledge.

4.     Students actively engaged in their learning process

   Disadvantages:

1.     Lack of teacher preparation for constructivist classrooms

2.     Difficult to break the cycle of those who have been taught in a classroom where they were expected to solely absorb information 

3.     Requires extensive planning time

Methods of Learning

1.     Top-Down Processing

Constructivist approaches to teaching emphasize top-down rather than bottom-up instruction. The term top-down means that students begin with complex problems to solve and then work out or discover (with the teacher’s guidance) the basic skills required. For example, students might be asked to write compositions and only later learn about spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

2.     Cooperative Learning

Constructivist approaches to teaching typically make extensive use of cooperative learning, on the theory that students will more easily discover and comprehend difficult concepts if they can talk with each other about the problems. Again, the emphasis on the social nature of learning and the use of groups of peers to model appropriate ways of thinking and expose and challenge each other’s misconceptions are key elements of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s conceptions of cognitive change.

3.     Discovery Learning

Discovery Learning was introduced by Jerome Bruner, and is a method of Inquiry-Based Instruction. This popular theory encourages learners to build on past experiences and knowledge, use their intuition, imagination and creativity, and search for new information to discover facts, correlations and new truths. Learning does not equal absorbing what was said or read, but actively seeking for answers and solutions.

The 5 Principles of Discovery Learning Model

integrates the following 5 principles:

·         Principle 1: Problem Solving.
Instructors should guide and motivate learners to seek for solutions by combining existing and newly acquired information and simplifying knowledge. This way, learners are the driving force behind learning, take an active role and establish broader applications for skills through activities that encourage risks, problem-solving and probing.

·         Principle 2: Learner Management.
Instructors should allow participants to work either alone or with others, and learn at their own pace. This flexibility makes learning the exact opposite of a static sequencing of lessons and activities, relieves learners from unnecessary stress, and makes them feel they own learning.

·         Principle 3: Integrating and Connecting.
Instructors should teach learners how to combine prior knowledge with new, and encourage them to connect to the real world. Familiar scenarios become the basis of new information, encouraging learners to extend what they know and invent something new.

·         Principle 4: Information Analysis and Interpretation.
Discovery learning is process-oriented and not content-oriented, and is based on the assumption that learning is not a mere set of facts. Learners in fact learn to analyze and interpret the acquired information, rather than memorize the correct answer.

·         Principle 5: Failure and Feedback.
Learning doesn’t only occur when we find the right answers. It also occurs through failure. Discovery learning does not focus on finding the right end result, but the new things we discover in the process. And it’s the instructor’s responsibility to provide feedback, since without it learning is incomplete.

The discovery learning educational sessions should be well-designed, highly experiential and interactive. Instructors should use stories, games, visual aids and other attention-grabbing techniques that will build curiosity and interest, and lead learners in new ways of thinking, acting and reflecting.

The techniques utilized in Discovery Learning can vary, but the goal is always the same, and that is the learners to reach the end result on their own. By exploring and manipulating situations, struggling with questions and controversies, or by performing experiments, learners are more likely to remember concepts and newly acquired knowledge.

Discovery learning has many key advantages, such as:

·         It encourages motivation, active involvement, and creativity

·         It can be adjusted to the learner’s pace

·         It promotes autonomy and independence

·         It ensures higher levels of retention

However, as all models, it has also few drawbacks that can be summarized as follows:

·         It needs a solid framework, because the endless wandering and seeking for answers might be confusing.

·         It shouldn’t be used as a main instruction method, because it has limitations in practice and might produce inadequate education.

·         Instructors need to be well prepared and anticipate the questions they may receive, and be able to provide the right answers or guidelines.

·         At a certain level, it rejects the idea that there are significant skills and knowledge that all learners should need to learn.

4.     Self-Regulated Learning

          A key concept of constructivist theories of learning is a vision of the ideal student as a self-regulated learner. Self regulated learners are ones who have knowledge of effective learning strategies and how and when to use them. For example, they know how to break complex problems into simpler steps or to test out alternative solutions. They know how and when to skim and how and when to read for deep understanding; and they know how to write to persuade and how to write to inform. Further, self-regulated learners are motivated by learning itself, not only by grades or others’ approval, and they are able to stick to a long-term task until it is done. When students have both effective learning strategies and the motivation and persistence to apply these strategies until a job is done to their satisfaction, then they are likely to be effective learners (Williams, 1995; Zimmerman, 1995) and to have a lifelong motivation to learn (Corno & Kanfer, 1993).

5.     Mediated learning

In assisted learning, or mediated learning, the teacher is the cultural agent who guides instruction so that students will master and internalize the skills that permit higher cognitive functioning. The ability to internalize cultural tools relates to the learner’s age or stage of cognitive development. Once acquired, however, internal mediators allow greater self-mediated learning. In practical terms, scaffolding might include giving students more structure at the beginning of a set of lessons and gradually turning responsibility over to them to operate on their own. For example, students can be taught to generate their own questions about material they are reading.