A CONSTUCTIVIST APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING

THE CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING

The constructivistic approach to teaching and learning is based on the premise that learning occurs through an attempt to accommodate the complementarity between individual construction and social interaction.
What is Constructivism?
Constructivists view learning as an active process in which the learners actively construct knowledge as they try to comprehend their worlds.
Each of us generates our own mental models or schemas through which we make sense of our experiences. These mental models are constructed by our prior knowledge, current mental structures and existing beliefs. Learning is simply the adjusting of our mental models to accommodate new experiences. The basic premise is that an individual learner must actively "build" knowledge and skills and that information exists within these built constructs rather than in the external environment. However, all advocates of constructivism agree that it is the individual's processing of stimuli from the environment and the resulting cognitive structures, that produce adaptive behavior, rather than the stimuli themselves . John Dewey (1933/1998) is often cited as the philosophical founder of this approach; Ausubel (1968), Bruner (1990), and Piaget (1972) are considered the chief theorists among the cognitive constructionists, while Vygotsky (1978) is the major theorist among the social constructionists. Activity theory and situated learning are two examples of modern work based on the work of Vygotsky and some of his followers.
There are many approaches to Constructivist Learning.
Educational constructivism can be divided into personal and social constructivism. In personal constructivism it is the individual person doing constructing or the processing of cognitive and memory structures. The theories of Von Glaserfeld and Piaget fall mainly in this category. Social constructivism involves a group doing the constructing. The theories of Vygotsky and Bandura are of importance in describing these learning procedures.

Important theorists:

Max Wertheimer- Gestalt Psychology, emphasis on insight, laws of proximity and closure
Jean Piaget- Development of schemata; accommodation and assimilation; four stages of intellectual development; conservation
Lev Vygotsky- Social Development
Jerome Bruner -Constructivist Theory
Albert Bandura- Social Learning Theory, imitation, modeling,self-efficacy
Ernst Von Glaserfeld- Radical Constructivism
J Lave -Situated Learning
J Bransford- Anchored Instruction
C Rogers- Experiential Learning
John Dewey- Learning a result of disequilibrium
R Spiro- Cognitive Flexibility Theory
C Reigeluth- Elaboration Theory
T Sticht -Functional Context


POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM:
Learner uses active mental processes to develop meaning and knowledge.
Cross field/cross curricular integration.
Learning occur in life-like situations.
Learner develop holistic problem solving skills that can be transferred to other situations.
Reflective and metacognition abilities of learner are developed.
Learner is internally motivated to solve problems through discovery and experience.
Internal motivation leads to development of long term memory.
Learner is in control of own learning: learn to organize and manage him/herself.
Social and communication skills are developed.
Requires teamwork/cooperation among learners and educator.
Learner learns to accommodate various perspectives on an issue.
Higher cognitive levels, like analysis, synthesis and evaluation are developed



CRITICISMS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM:
Use unsuccessful metaphors to explain learning, e.g. human brain works like a computer
Different vocabulary mask similar theory
Theorists' verbal behavior is accepted without analysis
Very subjective
Assessment of learner's grasp of material is very difficult
Needs a very good infrastructure with many information sources/references e.g. books, software programs, internet access, laboratories (very expensive).
Learner must have a level of maturity: (If learner does not take responsibility for learning/ have weak self management skills, system fails)
Unpredictable: Incidental learning, outcomes are vague
Time consuming
Human resource intensive
Difficult to develop problems that will motivate all learners to participate in learning process
Information overload may intimidate and disorientate novice learners
Learners have difficulty in assessing which facts are important and relative
In a situation where conformity is essential, divergent thinking and action can cause problems
Intellectual anarchy: inference that each person constructs a unique reality, that is only in the mind of the knower.