Being in the centre, students actively become involved and empowered to take control of, evaluate and plan for the improvement of competences. Continuous learning is argued as the key solution to work challenges, especially because work patterns are in constant flux. In this case, quality learning could be that which orients students to further learning by building learning skills. Competence or capability has become a lifelong achievement, and individuals must become constant learners to live and work in the contemporary world. Furthermore, in relation to quality in learning, understanding not only concerns experiencing qualitative change in ways of viewing phenomena but also demands the capability to transfer the developed knowledge to other …show more content…
To some, for example Wilson (1997), it is not so obvious what a constructivist learning looks like, because one should ask in each case how construction of meaning can be facilitated in the best way. According to his viewpoint, teaching may include all kind of activities, including drill and practice, a lecture or prepared assignments (Tynjälä, 1999; Wilson & Lowry, 2001). But a constructivist learning should always be a ‘place where learners may work together, draw upon (information) resources using a variety of tools, supporting each other in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities’ (Wilson, 1995). According to Lin et al. (1996) a constructivist learning should be a learning community in which students have the opportunity to plan, organize, monitor, and revise their own research and problem solving in a collaborative way. To others authors, for example Savery and Duffy (1996), it is more obvious that constructivism implies specific learning activities or instructional principles, such as anchoring of all learning in large tasks or problems, activating the learners and challenging and supporting the learner’s thinking; and the opportunity to reflect on the content and the learning process, as it is embedded in problem or project-based learning (Brown & King, 2000; Dekeyser & Baert, …show more content…
Other examples of key skills include working with others and reflecting on one’s own work in order to improve learning and performance (Savin-Baden, 2000). According to Dunlap and Grabinger, (1996), problem solving skills are essential for today’s workforce. Modern societies are complex and fast developing, competitive, and multicultural, with shifting values and a profusion of information provided by media and information technology. To live and work in such a society, one should learn to “think critically and to analyse and synthesize information in order to solve technical, social, economic, political and scientific problems” (Dunlap & Grabinger; 1996, p. 65). Compared to the past, in today’s society there are more problems and more choices, and individuals are held more responsible for their choices. Where there was only one correct answer in the past, nowadays countless answers are possible. For students this means that they have to learn to be able to work with others constructively in complex situations to solve problems. As authors states, “Problem-based learning can help students to learn with complexity to see that there are no straightforward answers to problem scenarios, but that learning and life take place in contexts, contexts which affect the kinds of solutions that are available and possible” (Savin-Baden, 2000, p.
This approach emphasizes the student's prior knowledge. The strategy demonstrates the theory of constructivism, because the constructivist pedagogy proposes that new knowledge is constructed from old. It holds the educational belief that as teachers, it's essential that we make connections between what new is being presented with students' prior experiences.
Constructivism is a theory of learning that emphasizes the active construction of knowledge by individuals.
Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.
A. Behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism are relatively common theories used in the classroom as ways to approach student learning. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior, such as students answering questions correctly, or being able to follow directions to complete a task as instructed. Characteristics of a classroom that uses behaviorism might be memorization of facts, writing vocabulary words, or a token reward system to inspire the desired behavior and decrease undesired behaviors. Constructivism, as indicated by the root word “construct,” focuses on the construction of new ideas, or expanding on what is already known. Students in a classroom using constructivism as a means for learning might seem more actively engaged in the learning process; they often learn something new through applying what they already know about the content area, and exploring new matter to further their understanding. This type of classroom often uses hands on manipulatives to allow students to actually build, create, or experiment with what they are learning. A cognitivism approach to learning might be explained by the minds capacity to process information – such as how a learner might remember something, retrieve information, or store new concepts. Learning through this method often depends on how the student processes what the teacher is presenting. Classrooms using this approach might incorporate learning strategies that help students categorize and sequence information to assist with processing. Like constructivism, it can be an active style of learning.
Brooks, J. G., Brooks, M. G. (1999). In Search of Understanding: The Case of Constructivist Classrooms, with a new introduction by the authors. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10078162&ppg=28
Professor George Hein from the Lesley College in Massachusetts, USA states that the term “constructivism” refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves as well as meaning as he or she learns. Constructing meaning is learning (Hein 1991).
In this assignment the practitioner is going to plan and prepare two experiences in which they will implement and evaluate after each of the lesson. These two experiences will be based on current theory, it will be in a form of an appendix to illustrate the two experiences as well as to promote children’s and young people’s thinking skills, creativity and problem solving. Many researchers such as Wilson (2000 cited in Macleod-Brudenell and Kay, 2008, p.323) have suggested that thinking skills are ways in which a child or young person is looking at the problem. To which we use thinking as a way of processing what we as individual know as well as remembering and perceiving. As for the skills this is the way in which we act by collecting and sorting information to help make decisions and reflect after wards (Macleod-Brudenell and Kay, 2008, p.323). This will include the practitioner to use effective approaches as well as evaluate tools, resources which can help to stimulate children and young people learning as well as supporting children development. The term for creativity has been define as being the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness (Oxford Dictionary 2013). The definition of the term problem solving has been described as the process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues (Oxford Dictionary 2013).
Constructivist Learning Theory. According to this theory, teachers should provide learners enough time to construct their own meaning when learning something new and make wait long enough after posing a question so that the student will have enough time to think about their answers and be able to respond thoughtfully.
Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences. The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning. Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning. Assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress.
Constructivism is a somewhat new, but up-and-coming ideology that is progressing through education. In order to properly understand constructivism, one must understand the history. Then, building upon the history one begins to understand its progression through education. Then, building upon that knowledge we can begin to see the applications of constructivism in the modern classroom. In the process of establishing the layout this paper, a method of constructivism, also known as scaffolding, was shown. Scaffolding is the process of establishing what a learner's base knowledge is and then teaching them in a method that relates and builds upon that. This leads into the broader idea of Constructivism, which the view of learning is based upon the learner produces knowledge and form meaning based upon their experience. ("Piaget's Theory of Constructivism", 2006)
Problem-solving help the students to create their own representation or illustration (De Corte, Vrerschaffel, De Win 1985; Hegarty, Mayer, Monk, 1995; Pape, 2003) based on how they interpret or understand the given problem (Pape, 2003; Van der Schoot, Bakker Arkema, Horsley, Van Lieshout, 2009). Problem-solving also tests their critical thinking skills on how they look for another strategy or ways to solve the problem easier. Problem-solving helps the problem solver to develop characteristics of a good problem solver which includes open-mindedness, optimistic, persistent, not afraid to commit mistakes and systematic person since he is following a certain step in solving the
Pro: By using a constructivist approach to teaching, students will be “fully engaged in their own learning” (Rhinehart Neas). This allows the students to make sense of what they are doing by relating it to the real world and where they could use the information in their future.
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...
In today's constantly changing world, our children and youth need to learn inquiry-based, problem solving skills to that they may become successful members of society and live productive lives.
One of the most clearly seen and common aim of schooling is to develop individuals ‘who have skills an...