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Discuss the educational implications of constructivist theory and critique its use in the classroom
Discuss the educational implications of constructivist theory and critique its use in the classroom
Discuss the educational implications of constructivist theory and critique its use in the classroom
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Effective Teaching strategies In order to be an effective teacher there needs to be an understanding that we all learn differently, this means that no single teaching strategy is effective for all students/learners all the time. This makes teaching a complex process because you need to understand and meet the requirements of all of your learners. Students learn best when they aren’t asked to simply memorise information but when they form their own understandings of what is being taught. When a student has successfully learnt a new idea they are able to then intergrate this information with their previously learnt information and make sense of it. To be an effective teacher you need to work jointly with students to asses where they are at, …show more content…
Constructivism view is that knowledge is obtained and understood through a student’s mental framework (Abbott & Ryan, 2001). Learning is not a passive process but it is a deliberate and progressive process that deepens meaning (Abbott & Ryan, 2001). The student does not only reply on a teachers lectures but also on their interactions with the environment around them (Abbott & Ryan, 2001). In this view it is important that the teacher sees the student as the centre of teaching endeavours, by assisting them to obtain information they can integrate into their already known knowledge. There are many ways that a teacher can assist their students, one example is Scaffolding. Scaffolding is where a teacher provides students with just enough help in order to complete the tasks themselves, then over time decreasing the amount of help so that a student can master this …show more content…
Through planning and setting up your classroom ahead of the lesson you can eliminate a lot of problems that may occur through disorganization. Corrective strategies are used for short term solutions for misbehavior, without prevention strategies there can be an endless cycle of short term solutions (Canter, Paige, Romero, & Carroll, 2004). In the first few weeks of the school year students are getting used to a new situation, new teacher, new students and this can cause some uncertainty in what is expected of them. It is important in the first few weeks that students develop and understanding of what is expected of them as well as what desirable behaviour is. Often Behavioural problems are caused by a student’s lack of understanding or boredom. Never assume that because the students have been at the school for a few years that they know what you want them to do in your
If you are a parent or plan to be a parent, Do you want your child to sit in a desk all day while the teacher lectures them on information that they need to know for life or would you rather have your child learn constructively? Constructivism has been labeled as the philosophy of learning that proposes learners need to build their own understanding of new ideas (Constructivism and the Five E?s,2001). Learning something new, or attempting to understand something familiar in greater depth, is not a linear process. The purpose of this research paper is to explain the theoretical foundations of the constructivist approach to teaching and learning, and to provide concrete examples to show the effectiveness of the constructivist approach with respect to student learning.
Scaffolding is a term that appears frequently in the field of psychology. It is a term that is used to describe a form of teaching. According to Firestone, it is a technique in which teachers show their students how to find a solution to a problem. The teacher then “steps back” and allows for the student to try it on their own. This process is done to teach independence in problem solving onto the students (Firestone n.d.). Through the use of scaffolding, students are able to work on problems on their own, without having to necessarily “hold hands” with their instructor or teacher. Scaffolding is worth examining in the field of psychology because it is useful to see the development in the growth and knowledge of a child. The results of scaffolding are worth examining as well in order to see what the most effective ways of teaching are. There are many different ways in which teachers or instructors can inform their students how to solve a problem. In other words, there are many different scaffolding techniques. Because of this, the question of “what is the most frequently used scaffolding technique?” arises.
Powell, K. Kalina, C. (2009). Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom. Education, 130(2), 241-250. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?did=1937522441&Fmt=7&clientId=22212&RQT=309&VName=PQD. (Document ID: 1937522441).
We as educators must always plan, create, update information, learn new things, observe other teachers, meeting the student where they are. If we don’t take the time out to teach them they will never know. Giving back to our students what was giving to us. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 11:19-20 says ”And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and thou risest up”www.biblegateway.com. It’s our duty to teach them everything we know. Even when they don’t want to learn it. We must teach even when we don’t feel like it. They must know. God will hold us accountable for what we have not given them. Our lesson plans must be in order to get them to work, learn and come away with an understanding and skills they need in life to make it. To give our students what they need to go to the next phase or level in their life. We are part of the puzzle. We are the one piece they need to move ahead. Teaching them how to problem solve. “Teachers should provide opportunities for students to be successful in completing tasks they value and see as challenging. Teachers who are intentional about involving students in goal setting and self-assessments will enhance student’s motivation to learn” (McCullough, 2008). We they learn this they will become independent. It’s like reaching their goals and objectives when they get it
Constructivism theorists believe that learning is an ongoing collective application of knowledge where past knowledge and hands on experience meet. This theory also believes that students are naturally curious. If students are naturally curious, their curio...
Teachers continually learn about ways people learn – the processes of learning and how individuals learn best. They learn about their students and individuals, and learn with as well as from their students when they seek knowledge together. (Principles of effective learning and teaching, 1994). Through continually discovering new and exciting ways to help mould a constructivist classroom, the students will be able to achieve their outcomes with great ease and learn to enjoy education.
How do people learn? A question of interest for both students and teachers. People are different so it should be obvious that there are different methods of learning and teaching. This paper will focus on the Social Cognitive Learning Theory (SCLT), the Constructivist Learning Theory (CLT) and their connection to practice. How each theory can be used to guide and plan educational programs will be discussed with examples to demonstrate how learning outcomes can vary with theory application.
Vygotsky theorized that interaction and language are two central factors in cognitive development (Corpus & Lucas, 2010). (Beriones, 2010) emphasized that effective learning happens through participation in social activities, making the social context of learning crucial. Parents, teachers and other adults in the learner’s environment all contribute to the process. When children with special needs are given an environment that is conducive to learning, they too will become fruitful members of the community. In addition, Lev Vygotsky Socio-Cultural Theory states that students’ learning could be more effective if it is provided with support or scaffold. Information processing theory supplies the scaffold theory which is also a cognitive theoretical framework that focuses on how knowledge enters and is stored and retrieved from our memory. Cognitive psychologist believed that processes influence the nature of what is learned. They considered learning as largely an internal process, not an external behavior change. They looked into how learners receive, perceive, store and retrieve
This mentions that learning is likely to occur in an internal process isolated from the social environment. Nevertheless, it is prevalently seen that in PBL learners frequently employ the power of collaborative learning skills in groups to culminate the projects or partake in social interactions with others for mutual learning discussions, so PBL also lend some characteristics of social-constructivism of Lev Vygotsky (1980). The salient point of social constructivism is the significance of social interactions that influence on the individual cognitive development and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as well as the role of scaffolding (Barge, 2010). He valued social interaction as an integral role in one’s cognitive development and argued that learning is not merely through assimilation and accommodation processes of new knowledge of learners, but it should be integrated or combined in a social community where learners can interact (Harmer, 2014). In other words, based on Vygotsky’s arguments, one’ s world knowledge is bound to his/her individual experiences while mediated by social interplay with
The introduction of policies and legislations in regards to inclusion within the classroom demands teachers to reassess their learning environments in order to cater to the diverse range of students within our classrooms. As a teacher it is our responsibility to set up our learning environment to maximise student learning and teaching providing varying strategies to cater to our students’ differences.
A technical definition for scaffolding can be, "a process through which a teacher adds supports for students in order to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks." (Reid, para. 1, 2017). This basis of learning that the teacher adds support for is known as the Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development can be defined as the difference where a student can perform currently to what they can achieve with the proper instruction and resources. In comparison to athletics, this would be considered a learner’s 'floor' vs their 'ceiling.' Before one can look at the application of constructivism and scaffolding in the classroom, one must understand what it is not. Constructivism is not direct instruction. It is not built around a teacher giving a general lecture to a class on a daily basis with little to no peer communication. This established thesis, and antithesis can let one see what this teaching method looks like in a
The overall essence of education or knowledge acquisition is reflected in an axiom by Confucius which says “Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I will remember; but involve me, and I will understand. Back then, it was clear that learning was a comprehensive process which involves passionate exchanges between students and their teachers; unfortunately this is not the case in most modern classrooms. Instead of the expected bidirectional communication between learners and teachers, in the modern learning environment there is a unidirectional system which involves the teacher incessantly hurling facts at students who, due to their passive roles as mere receptacles, have fallen asleep or; in the case of “best” students are mindlessly taking notes. This leads to a situation where knowledge has neither been conferred nor acquired.
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
As a teacher if your students can make a connection to prior knowledge they will have a better chance at remembering the information you are trying to teach. This can be achieved through teaching
In order for learning to take place in the classroom the teacher has to put in place an effective teaching and learning strategy. Being an effective teacher is not something that can be achieved instantaneously but rather something that has to be continuously developed and improved upon over time. Petty mentions how good teachers are not born but rather make themselves and that effective teaching comes from learning from your mistakes and successes. Petty, p. 516, 2009. This process involves teacher reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of different teaching strategies used in the classroom. It is only then that teachers can learn and advance themselves.