Constructivism
Views of Learning

Individual constructivism

Social Constructivism

How knowledge is constructed?

The realities and truth of the external world direct knowledge construction

Information processing model

Internal processes such as organization, assimilation and accommodation direct knowledge construction

Both external and internal factors direct knowledge construction

Piaget

Vygotsky

Individuals construct their understanding of the world

Teacher’s role is to provide instructional materials and a supportive environment

Student interests and choice drive the process of learning

Individual Constructivism
in the Classroom

Discovery learning

Inquiry based learning

  1. Students develop questions that they are hungry to answer.
  1. Research the topic using time in class.
  1. Have students present what they have learned.
  1. Ask students to reflect on what worked about the process and what didn’t.

Pure discovery

Guided discovery

Vygotsky

Emphasizes the role of social context in knowledge construction.

Learners share individual perspectives with others to construct understandings together that would not be possible to construct individually

Distributed cognition

Distributed cognition

Teacher is the discussion facilitator

Different understandings may result from the same instructional materials

Situated learning

Cognitive Tasks in Constructivism

Discover flaws in their reasoning

Organize

Clarify

Elaborate

Entertain alternative perspectives

Social Constructivism
in the Classroom

  1. Tutoring and reciprocal teaching
  1. Communities of learners
  1. Cooperative learning
  1. Classroom discussion
  1. Problem-based learning
  1. Informal learning experiences

Elements for successful cooperative tasks

Face-to-face interaction

Individual accountability

Social skills

Positive interdependence

Group processing

Tasks for cooperative learning

Ill-structured, conceptual and problem-solving tasks

Social skills and communication tasks

Highly structured, review and skill-building tasks

Cooperative Learning Techniques

Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD)

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC)

Think-pair-share

Jigsaw

Cooperative scripting

Structured controversies

Group investigations

promote comprehension strategies

Clarifying

Generating questions

Predicting

Summarizing

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies

Appropriate for older, self-regulated students

Building a community of discourse

Participating in multiple zones of proximal development

Allowing students to become tutors for some and tutees of others

Seeding or suggesting ideas to the community

Taking individual responsibility

Sharing the gained expertise with the community members

Participating in the rituals and procedures adopted by the community

Teacher presents an ill-defined problem and students solve the problem

Teacher presents an ill-defined problem and students solve the problem

Problems chosen must be complex, ill-defined, interesting, and requiring the integration of knowledge from more than one domain

Uses problem solving strategies

Algorithm

Heuristics


Incubation

Initiate, Response, Evaluate

Roles of the teacher

Facilitate the materials and context for the discussion

Monitor the progress of the discussion

Arrange the groups and seating

Help students evaluate outcomes

Out-of-classroom learning

Not pedagogically planned

Student experiences tied in with lessons

Libraries

Museums

Zoo and gardens

Industrial sites

Sanctuaries

Field trips