Abstract
The constructivism theory is a theory that is relatable to something students are interested in and to real life experiences. Students need to get excited every day about learning. It needs to be fun and relatable so they get and stay engaged. As teachers, we must focus on our students learning what we are teaching no matter what it takes. Keeping the students focused and excited about school important. This theory is great for all students, because it is more focused on the individual child; and because there are no two students that are alike and that learn in the same manner. After all, God made each child special, and each child is their own person and they all learn and accept things in a different matter.
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This theory helps to bridge the gap between what a child already knows and the new things are being taught. This theory is “about how we learn and the thinking process, rather than about how a student can memorize and recite a quantity of information” (Liu & Chen, 2010, p. 65). It also helps “children to ask their own questions” (Naylor & Keogh, 1999, p. 101) and is a way “for children to apply their ideas in a new situation” (Naylor & Keogh, 1999, p. 101). After all, when children ask questions this is how they learn. We should, and I will, always encourage my students to ask questions on anything and everything. This theory is very non-structured in what the teacher teaches a student to learn, not only in the classroom setting, but in the real world. This “theory of constructivism says children are actively engaged at something new and innovative” (Ramesh, 2013, p. 62). When you talk about something in their life it makes them feel very important and like you, as their teacher, actually care about their interests. Children not only acquire knowledge…but also their learning is affirmed when they practice it whatever they have learned” (Ramesh, 2013, p. 62). The students then are able to solve problems for themselves. Using this theory helps to strengthen a students learning. Let us say, for example, there is a class full of student’s and half of them have a learning disability and half of them do not, this theory would be effective, because the half that have the disability do not learn the say way as the ones that do not. So, each child is able to learn; at their own speed, their own level, and it encourages them to ask the questions that they need help
I identify with being a white, Catholic, straight, teenager girl living in Owensboro, Kentucky. I considered those my cultural and societal groups. There is no objective way to pick my real group. With my taste, opinions, characteristics and age constantly changing so are my cultural and societal groups.
While reading the Windschitl & Hirsch articles, I felt both informed and interested on the different positions on the main question. The main question asks about if schools should have their own educational constructivist approach. The article written by Windschitl agrees having an educational constructivist approach, while Hirsch on the other hand disagrees. Each other others did a wonderful job on elaborating their positions on the point, and provided excellent examples, and great detail. Each of these articles exhibited both similarities and differences regarding the main question.
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.
You have taken a lead teacher position in a preschool program. A parent asks you to explain the program’s constructivist philosophy.
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.
Empiricists and rationalists have proposed opposing theories of the acquisition of knowledge, which appear unable to coexist. Each theory holds its own strengths but does not demonstrate a strong argument in itself to the questions, “Is knowledge truly possible?” and “How is true knowledge obtained?”. Immanual Kant successfully merged the two philosophies and provided a convincing argument with his theory of empirical relativism, or what some may call constructivism. His theory bridges the gap between rationalism and empiricism and proves that empiricists and rationalists each present a piece of the full puzzle. In order to truly understand Kant’s epistemology, one must first review and understand both empiricism and rationalism on an impartial basis.
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.
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
One of the theorists that I strongly believe in is Jean Piaget. Piaget’s theory is based on Constructivism, a theory b...
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...
The second developmental theory is the sociocultural theory. The major theorist for this theory is Lev Vygotsky. Who was born in 1896 and died in 1934. He was a Russian theorist whose work didn’t actually get out until after his death because of the communist nature of Russia. The biggest part of this theory is that it’s less trial and error learning and more a person with more knowledge teaching the child. It really puts an emphasis on the teacher. He does say though that a peer with more knowledge can teach the child too. The weakness of this theory is he basically ignores the biological side of development. Also he makes it seem like the child has no control over their own future. The biggest pro is that it shows adults, primarily educators, that the world around them heavily effects the child’s education and life. That pro is also affecting the way we use it from an education stand point. We have to realize that each kid has a different upbringing and different culture outside the classroom. While I am not saying make a lesson plan for each kid. just try to be more individual with each
Lutz, S., & Huitt, W. (2004). Connecting cognitive development and constructivism: Implications from theory for instruction and assessment. Constructivism in the Human Sciences, 9(1), 67-90. Retreived from: http://www.teach.valdosta.edu/whuitt/brilstar/chapters/cogdev.doc
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.
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...
Like stated before this theory does not fit into behaviorism. It fits into constructivism which is “[N]ot believe in innate ideas, but in knowledge that is constructed by each individual in interaction with his or her environment” (Pulaski, 1980, p). Cognitive Development Theory uses the environment help to construct knowledge. “[T]hrough their make-believe were assimilating and consolidating as part of their experience the customs and manners observed in their environment” (Pulaski, 1980, p. 28). In just playing make-believe the child had learned about manners and customs without knowing it at the time. As they get older, they go into the next stage and can understand more complex concepts. With constructivism, they need to be active learner and this is something that happens in Cognitive Development Theory. With that is a need to socialize with other people or students. At a young age “[C]hildren 's verbal interactions are primarily composed of collective monologue conversations”(Wadsworth, 1970, p.69). So at a young age they are becoming active learners so when older they can have better discussion about topic and go deeper into