Constructivism Basics:

Before we begin, click on the link to complete a short quiz to see how much existing knowledge you already have about Constructivism. (Don’t worry – you may use a fictitious name and email address for the purposes of this quiz!) 

Now that you have reflected on the knowledge you already have about constructivism, let’s take a minute to review and solidify some of the basics.

1) Definition: “Constructivism is an educational philosophy which holds that learners ultimately construct their own knowledge that then resides within them, so that each person’s knowledge is as unique as they are.” (Asynchronous Learning Networks Magazine Volume 1, Issue 1 – March 1997.)

In other words: Students actively construct their own knowledge and understandings based on their past and present experiences.  Therefore the learning process is dynamic: the teacher can’t give away knowledge and the student can’t passively receive it.  

Get involved: Using this definition, decide whether the following situations are examples of constructivist learning: Click Here!

2) Key Points: In constructivist pedagogy, eight factors are considered essential (Brooks & Brooks, 1993):

• Learning is an active, constructive process in which content and skills should be made relevant to the learner
•  Learning should take place in authentic and real-world environments 
• Learning should be collaborative and involve social negotiation and mediation.
• Content and skills should be understood within the framework of the learner’s prior knowledge
• Students should be assessed formatively, serving to inform future learning.
• Students should be encouraged to become self-regulatory, self-mediated, and self-aware
• Teachers serve primarily as guides and facilitators of learning, not instructors. 
• Teachers should provide for and encourage higher level thinking skills (multiple perspectives and representations of content, problem solving, reasoning, reflection etc.) 

3) Contributing Theorists:

Piaget: Browse the following webquest to discover more about Jean Piaget.

Additional information (Video on Jean Piaget) can be found here: http://www.davidsonfilms.com/piaget.htm 

Vygotsky: Two key terms:

•  Social Negotiation of Meaning: Learners test their own understandings against those of others, notably those of teachers or more advanced peers
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The gap between what a learner has already mastered (the actual level of development) and what he or she can achieve when provided with educational support (potential development)

 Additional Information (Video on Lev Vygotsky) can be found here: http://www.davidsonfilms.com/vygotsky.htm 

Dewey: Key beliefs were were centered around education as not only a place to gain content knowledge but also a place to learn how to live.   He argued that learning is a social and interactive process and all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning.

• “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” (Dewey)
• “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another” (Dewey)

Bruner: Believed students would be more likely to remember concepts discovered on their own (examples: exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments.)

Glasersfeld: Key belief was that knowledge is not passively received, but instead actively constructed.

Additional information (Video on Ernst von Glasersfeld) can be found here: http://youtu.be/YozoZxblQx8

 Get involved: Use your prior knowledge, and the information you just reviewed, to complete the following -

Constructivist education is …… at AnswerGarden.ch.