Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Instruction based on constructivism and constructionism
Since constructivism means, " knowledge is built by the learner, not supplied by the teacher", (Han, 2008), lessons in which the students pose a question or problem and then investigate it and try to create solutions are examples of constructivist thinking. The workshop led by Kayla, (Han,2008), is an example in that it was focused on the participants, allowed them to research and form a plan with the instructor providing feedback and guidance. Pitler (2007) discusses constructivist strategies when writing about coming up with and testing hypotheses such as the class that investigated the pH of local water. Inquiry based learning is a way for students to construct information in a way that is relevant to them and their world. Constructionism goes hand in hand with constructivism, in that it creates an end result, conclusion or product that can be shared, considered and analyzed by others. The science class investigating pH's, produced graphs to compare their findings and tried to find reasons for the differences. Having a learner process a question in his/her own way and then make a product by using and applying the gained knowledge is at the heart of both constructivism and constructionism.
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Good post. How many state standards do you think would fit an assignment like that? I know that my principal gets aggravated when I turn in assignments with a dozen or more standards. "How can you be expected to cover that many standards in one lesson?" is what I hear all the time. Come watch... Any time students follow a process, more standards are covered. Better than that, more learning occurs.
ReplyDeleteYour summary of the constructivist process was great. The students get more information when they "discover" it themselves, and they internalize it, too. I love seeing the "aha" moments on my students faces when I incorporate this type of activity.
ReplyDeleteI agree that when a students discovers and constructs knowledge, it is more meaningful. I wish administration would agree. I know it is possible to cover standards using constructivism, but often teachers are criticized for this type of inquiry-based learning because we are not simply portraying facts. Students do not learn as well through lecture, and they will remember facts they discover for themselves better, while retaining the information longer and better relating to it.
ReplyDeleteGinger
Cathy - If this inquiry based learning works so well, why aren't we all on board? Is it because it is so hard to show quantitative results? I agree that having a learner process a question in his/her own way and then make a product by using/applying knowledge is both effective and powerful. I believe if we had more administrators that believed this as well we could get more data to prove it true. Constructionism allows teachers to address multiple standards thus covering more required material more thoroughly. What a wonderful idea!
ReplyDeleteSusan R.