Constructivism

Team 3Erin G., John T.,

Noa F., Janet H., Lauren E.

Leading Theorists of Constructivism

Jean Piaget ~ Developed the cognitive learning theory

Jerome Bruner ~ Thought constructive learners are participatory learners

Lev Vygotsky ~ Introduced social cognition and collaborative learning

John Dewey ~ Believed that learning should engage and expand the experience of learners.

Giambattista Vico ~ Through Vico's writings that we take the term “constructivist”.

How DoesConstructivism Work?

New information is linked to to prior knowledge, thus mental representations are subjective.

Knowledge is constructed by students, not transferred from the teachers mouth to the students ear.

Lets the students show they have learned in different ways. Not just through written tests.

Let the students be active and do tasks that let them construct their own knowledge.

Social and CognitiveConstructivism

Social - which emphasizes how meanings and understandings grow out of social encounters.

Cognitive - how the individual learner understands things, in terms of developmental stages and learning styles.

Students and teachers use both social and cognitive constructivism to join together to “construct” new meaning to the information presented.

Be Social Kids

Learn the Thinking behind Social Skills

Teaching and Constructivism

As a teacher of constructivism you are more of a facilitator, rather than someone that stands at the front of a classroom drilling information to the students.

Present students with projects or activities and supervise them

Take them on field trips

Don’t simply recite words out of a lesson plan or books, the students need to “construct” the answers themselves and learn by doing an activity.

Make it fun! USE Technology…

Using Constructivismwith Technology

• If constructivism is teaching students through previous experiences and by “doing”, many different technologies can be used to make this happen.

• Many tools can be used in helping teachers effectively practice constructivism in the classroom such as: Wikis, Skype, Blogs, Prezi, Google Docs, PowerPoint, Virtual Zoo, etc…

The possibilities are endless….

Students and Constructivism

Confucius once said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” This is the basis of constructivism.

When students learn by constructing the information it will require them to usually be in collaborative groups.

The students will work on projects with teachers available to assist but not give the direct answer.

The goal is for the student to discover information using previous experiences, and by finding the answer themselves by “doing”

Encourages students to be motivated to learn.

Constructivismin action

There are many models that teachers can follow while practicing a constrictive way of teaching. Here are just a couple ideas for

creating lesson plans in the classroom.

Have students conduct a science project. The students would be placed in groups, they would be required to research a specific topic. They would interact with each other, gain the opinion of others and analyze their own point of view, answer each other’s questions, and one person from the group would present it to the classroom.

Bring math worksheets to the classroom. The teacher would also create a study guide. The students would solve the math problems, while the teacher observes and monitor the students. While monitoring the students, the teacher would guide the student to the correct answer; however the student would be required to use their own critical thinking skills to solve the problem. This would create an active learning environment for the classroom.

In a Nutshell

Constructivism is a way of teaching and learning. Students acquire new knowledge and learning skills by working on projects collaborating with peers and drawing from recent experiences. The teacher facilitates student learning by being supportive and offering input.

Today this is a lot like online classes. The information is presented and the students must create their own work without a teacher being there to simply give the answer.

Sources http://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html

http://www.illinoisloop.org/whatswrong.html

http://missgladish.tripod.com/page5.htm

http://www.groton.k12.ct.us/Domain/867

http://isilboy.edublogs.org/2012/02/20/my-forthcoming-educational-technology-course/

http://mason.gmu.edu/~wwarrick/Portfolio/Products/constructivism.html

http://social.webjam.com/Webjam-Enterprise-Social-Networking-Blog/?Tag=social%20networking

http://www.washingtonparent.com/articles/1210/short-stuff.php

http://casa47933.blogspot.com/2011/11/top-10-facts-about-early-brain.html

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm

Shelly, Gary B., and Glenda A. Gunter. Teachers discovering computers: integrating technology in a connected world. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.