When conducting academic research it is imperative researchers identify the theoretical and philosophical framework they are embracing. This assists the reader in developing a contextual understanding of the study, and an appreciation of how the results are analyzed and interpreted. The purpose of a theoretical research framework is to help researchers structure their observations, identify biases, and provide a means to analyze and interpret their data. Most importantly, these frameworks provide an environment where researchers can reflect upon their experiences and internalize their results. It is my intent to define constructivism as a research framework and pedagogy, identify relative strengths and weaknesses of this approach, and analyze papers employing a constructivist methodology.
Constructivism, both as a pedagogy and research model helps researchers and students better understand and build upon the knowledge and experiences around them. This approach is founded on the belief individuals construct knowledge based on the social and environmental experiences they face. As a research methodology, constructivists tend to focus on the narrative of participants’ experiences to develop a theory explaining a phenomenon (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006). This view is shared by, Mills, Bonner, and Francis (2006), who show individuals are influenced by their historical and present day contexts, which in turn influences their views and understanding of experiences. In short, we are subjective beings who will interpret and construct knowledge in our own individual ways. In research, the constructivist approach is used to induce theories based on our interpretation of the research experience.
Constructivist design is often categorized as a g...
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... Teacher Preparation: Staking out the Theoretical Mid-Ground. International Journal Of Teaching And Learning In Higher Education, 23(1), 60-71.
Ciampa, K. (2012). Electronic Storybooks: A Constructivist Approach to Improving Reading Motivation in Grade 1 Students. Canadian Journal Of Education, 35(4), 92-136.
Podcasting http://www.ifets.info/journals/15_4/16.pdf
Levin, T., & Nevo, Y. (2009). Exploring Teachers' Views on Learning and Teaching in the Context of a Trans-Disciplinary Curriculum. Journal Of Curriculum Studies, 41(4), 439-465.
Wildemuth, B. (1993). Post-positivist research: two examples of methodological pluralism. Library Quarterly, 63450-468. ANUMBE EJ471252 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4308866 http://web.b.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2fe65cdc-263f-412a-afd2-c2adfbaccb68%40sessionmgr113&vid=2&hid=103
Making a good and persuasive argument is very much an acquired skill. It requires much practice and perfecting. It takes more than just having passion and making good points. Just because a person is passionate about the topic or has supporting details does not mean they can make a successful argument. Much more thought and skill is required. Gordon Adams, in his letter to the Arizona State University standards committee, demonstrates this quite well. Gordon Adams writes a passionate argument, yet his argument lacks several critical aspects.
Watching a young child grow from infancy to toddler hood, we marvel at the amount of learning that has allowed her to understand her expanding environment. Those early years provide the basis for language, physical dexterity, social understanding, and emotional development that she will use for the rest of her life. All of this knowledge is acquired before she even sets foot in school! This child has taught herself by gathering information and experiencing the world around her. This is an example of constructivism. Constructivism emphasizes the importance of the knowledge, beliefs, and skills an individual brings to the experience of learning. It recognizes the construction of new understanding as a combination of prior learning, new information, and readiness to learn. Individuals make choices about what new ideas to accept and how to fit then into their established views of the world (Brooks & Brooks, 1995).
Constructivism is a theory of learning that emphasizes the active construction of knowledge by individuals.
The concept describes that our knowledge is something to be constructed internally rather than reflected from external realities. After the initial proposition of constructivism there came about the idea that “a reasonable conclusion is that at least three levels of constructivist advocacy appear frequently in contemporary educational literature”, according to Null 2004. Those three levels include epistemological constructivism, which focuses on issues like race, gender, and class and how issues like these need to be fixed. Next is instructional constructivism, which focuses on individual learning in the classroom. The last is prescriptive constructivism, which focuses on the relationship between teacher and student and proposes that teachers instruct with their students rather than at their students. No matter what level it is being taught, the basis of constructivism is to move away from the traditional practice of teaching the classroom through lecture primarily, and to adopt teaching the classroom through
This section will include the entire approach or philosophy of the researcher used to collect, analyze and interpret the data in this research and involves the researcher’s assumptions related to Ontological, Epistemological, Axiological, and Methodological assumption towards the research. The research will also reflect constructivism perspective as realities will be constructed by participants rather than what objectively observed by the researcher.
Positivism Paradigm is considered the “scientific method”; Interpretivist Paradigm approaches understanding using the world of “human experience”. Critical and Transformative researchers "believe that inquiry needs to be intertwined with politics and a political agenda" (Creswell, 2003, p.9). Pragmatism theorists are not committed to any specific system of philosophy or model that use the most relevant theory applicable to their research. Understanding paradigms is essential to preparing for dissertation research. Paradigms provide a framework to write and explain my philosophies, accurately support the data compiled and structure the narrative research. Selecting the paradigm will determine if the research will include qualitative data, quantitative data or a mixed method which will incorporate a blended method approach. Choosing an incorrect approach can lead to research flaws and
Spigner-Littles, D., & Anderson, C.E. (1999). Constructivism: A paradigm for older learners. Educational Gerontology, 25(3), 203-209
Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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.
When examining a study from a constructivist lens, the researcher must ask themselves: How does learning occur? What is the mechanism behind learning? Is it external? Internal? Due to social connections? These are example guiding questions constructivist researchers seek to answer. Constructivism is defined as individuals constructing their own knowledge of the world either internally, or externally by interacting with individuals. When individuals encounter a new experience, it causes them to compare it to their previous idea or experience. This interaction leads to a change in what the individuals believe, or a discardment of the new information. At some point every human tests and revises their knowledge through interactions and experiences. Examples of these experiences can be the classroom, home, and interactions with people. The mechanism of how an individual construct
The term constructivism has been used to explain everything from school reform to teaching styles, and most importantly related to a learning theory. As you can imagine the term Constructivism has the potential to develop many misconceptions since it lacks a universal definition. “Constructivism is an important theory of learning that is used to guide the development of new teaching methods”(Baviskar, Hartle & Whitney, 2009, p.541). The framework of constructivism is built upon the understanding that “learning is an active process that is student centered in the sense that, with the teachers help, learners select and transform information, construct hypothesis’, and make decisions”(Chrenka, 2001, p.694). It is important to understand that when speaking about constructivism we are referring to a learning theory not teach...
Educators as a whole have begun to stray away from solely utilizing traditional teaching approaches as new technology and science concepts demand that teaching approaches change with the times. (Zeynup & Alipasa, 2012) Further, allowing students to take control of their own learning and explore their world is of more relevance to the students than a traditional approach. (Garbett, 2011) By using constructivism, students may see the relevance of the science concepts they are learning, which may in turn inspire interest in science itself. (Milner, Templin & Czerniak, 2011) By using a constructivist approach in science classrooms, the students may gain a deeper understanding of science concepts, and students may take that knowledge and apply it to their career paths, their community, and their world. (Yager, Lim & Yager, 2006)
Constructivism is a defined, when referring to the learner, as a "receptive act that involves construction of new meaning by learners within the context of their current knowledge, previous experience, and social environment" (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). Also, real life experiences and previous knowledge are the stepping stones to a constructivism, learning atmosphere. (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). Constructivism involves the learner being responsible for learning the material and, not necessarily, the teacher (Ely; Foley; Freeman & Scheel, 1995). When learning occurs, the goals, values, and beliefs of the individuals need to be linked to the new data. Also, in constructivism, the person, who is taking in the knowledge, can somehow filter, amend, and reformat the information that he or she feels is important to the schema (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). A constructivist learner uses the creative approach to apply their own meaning to a topic using the social and cognitive circumstances around themselves (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). A short and sweet summary of constructivism is "how one attains, develops, and uses cognitive processes" (Airasian & Walsh, 1997).
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
Constructivist learning theory is creating meaning from experience. Learning is an active process within a context. Knowledge is constructed as opposed to being acquired. Our personal experiences subjectively shape our knowledge with each learning experience from the time we are born until we die. Constructivism is organic in nature because our learning is developed from prior knowledge within our mind while also constantly broadening with each new life experience. Learning is an autonomously controlled cognitive system, which interacts with its own conditions; this differentiates and modifies the independence of its own structure (Juvova et al., 2015). We as educators must turn away from the mindset that we are simply pouring knowledge