Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Students are more engaged because they have more ownership over learning (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996; Honebein, 1996; Hannafin, Land and Oliver, 1999 as cited by Driscoll, 2005)
  • Students gain the ability to apply knowledge and thinking skills in different settings (Thirteen/ed.online, 2004; Tynjala, 1999).
  • Students learn material through a variety of intelligences (Spiro et al., 1991; as cited in Driscoll, 2005)
  • Students work more collaboratively building social and cooperation skills (Thirteen/ed.online, 2004; Tynjala, 1999).
  • Cunningham (1992) said that students learn to hear, understand and respect perspectives other than their own (as cited in Driscoll, 2005).
  • Students are able to think more critically (Tynjala, 1999).
  • Students become more self-aware through reflection and goal setting.  “Helping learners to become more aware of their thinking processes is thought by many, including Gagné, to be essential in the development of mindful, strategic behaviour or cognitive strategies.” (Driscoll, 2005).
  • This video is by a graduate student taking a pro-constructivist stance in a debate against traditional teaching methods.

Cons

  • Teachers have to spend time getting to know each student’s strengths and limitations in order to provide material within their zone of proximal development (Perkins, 1991 as cited in Driscoll, 2005).
  • Clark (1982) said students are not the best judges of their own learning needs (as cited in Driscoll, 2005).
  • Discovery learning may require instructional tools that are not always available (Abadzi, 2006).

Reference

Abadzi, H. (2006) Efficient learning for the poor: Insights from the frontier of cognitive neuroscience. Washington:The World Bank. Available from: http://books.google.ca/books?id=kn62phyvFpwC&lpg=PP1&dq=Efficient%20learning%20for%20the%20poor%3A%20Insights%20from%20the%20frontier%20of%20cognitive%20neuroscience&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Driscoll. M.P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (pp. 384-407; Ch. 11 – Constructivism). Toronto, ON: Pearson.

Thirteen/Ed.Online (2004) Concept to the classroom. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved from: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index_sub6.html

Tynjala, P. (1999) Towards expert knowledge? A comparison between a constructivist and a traditional learning environment in the university. University of Jyvaskyla, Institute for Educational Research, Finland: International Journal of Educational Research, 31 (1999) 357-442.