Constructivism
Fundamental principles of constructivism
1. Constructivism sees learning as a dynamic and social process in
which learners actively construct meaning from their experiences in
connection with their prior understandings and the social setting (Driver,
Asoko, Leach, Mortimer & Scott, 1994).
2. The constructivist view of learning argues that students do not come to
the science classroom empty-headed but arrive with lots of strongly
formed ideas about how the natural world works.
3. In the view of constructivists, pupils should no longer be passive
recipients of knowledge supplied by teachers and teachers should
no longer be purveyors of knowledge and classroom managers (Fosnot,
1996).
What does constructivism mean?
• Learning is a process of acquiring new knowledge, which is active and
complex. This is the result of an active interaction of key cognitive
processes (Glynn, Yeany & Britton, 1991).
• It is also an active interaction between teachers and learners, and learners
try to make sense of what is taught by trying to fit these with their own
experience.
In simple terms constructivism:
• It’s a learning theory that emphasizes the active role of learners
in building their own understanding.
[Link]
Application of constructivism to teaching
A methodical technique to achieve constructivist learning.
a) Identifying students' views and ideas.
b) creating opportunities for students to explore their ideas and to test their
robustness in explaining phenomena, accounting for events and making
prediction.
c) providing stimuli for students to develop, modify and where necessary,
change their ideas and views; and
d) supporting their attempts to re-think and reconstruct their ideas and
views.
Goals of Constructivist Learning environment
(Honebein, 1996)
• To provide experience with the knowledge construction process (students
determine how they will learn).
• To provide experience in and appreciation for multiple perspectives (evaluation of
alternative solutions).
• To embed learning in realistic contexts (authentic tasks).
• To encourage ownership and a voice in the learning process (student-centered
learning).
• To embed learning in social experience (collaboration).
• To encourage the use of multiple modes of representation, (video, audio text, etc.)
• To encourage awareness of the knowledge construction process (reflection,
metacognition (awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes) ).
Goals of Constructivist Learning environment
(School environment)
Good science teachers are those who teach for deep understanding:
"They use learner’s ideas about science to guide lessons, providing
experiences to test and challenge those ideas to help learners to
arrive at more sophisticated understanding.
The classrooms of such teachers are learner-centered places where:
• group discussion,
• exploration and
• problem solving are commonplace."
Summary of the difference between our traditional
classrooms and constructivist classroom
Constructivism theorists
1. Johns Dewey: Learning is a social activity – it is something we do together,
in interaction with each other, rather than an abstract concept (Dewey,
1938).
2. Levi Vygostky: He believed that community plays a central role in the
process of “making meaning.” For Vygotsky, the environment in which
children grow up will influence how they think and what they think about
(Vygotsky, 1978).
• Thus, all teaching and learning is a matter of sharing and negotiating socially
constituted knowledge.
• For example, Vygotsky (1978) stated that cognitive development stems from:
- social interactions
- guided learning within the zone of proximal development (as children
and their partners co-construct knowledge)
3. Jerome Bruner: His work emphasized that learning is an active process where
learners construct new ideas based on their current and past knowledge.
He proposed the idea of a “spiral curriculum,” where students revisit basic ideas repea
tedly, building upon them to develop more complex and abstract concepts over time
(The Process of Education, 1960)
4. Jean Piaget’s: work on constructivism is foundational in the field of developmental
psychology and education. His theory emphasizes that learners actively construct
their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiences and
reflecting on those experiences.
Piaget proposed that cognitive development occurs through a series of stages:
Sensorimotor Stage (from birth to age of 2 years): Knowledge is acquired through sensory
experiences and manipulating objects.
Preoperational Stage (from age of 2 to 7 years): Children begin to use language to explore and
understand their worlds.
Concrete Operational Stage (from age of 7 to 11 years): Logical thinking develops, and children start
to understand the concept of conservation.
Formal Operational Stage (from age of 12 years and up): Abstract thinking and
deductive reasoning develop.
The difference between constructivism and cognitivism
The difference between behaviourism and constructivism
