Human Development
1
Md. Mehadi Rahman
Protiva Sultana
Israt Jahan Sumi
18th Batch
Evaluation and Educational Research(EER)
IER
University of Dhaka
Constructivism
• Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on
observation and scientific study -- about how people
learn. It says that people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through
experiencing things and reflecting on those
experiences.
• When we encounter something new, we have to
reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience,
maybe changing what we believe, or maybe
discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any
case, we are active creators of our own knowledge.
To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess
what we know.
Founder of Constructivism : Jean Piaget
History
• Early educational philosophies did not place much
value on what would become constructivist ideas;
children's play and exploration was seen as aimless
and of little importance.
• Jean Piaget did not agree with these traditional
views, however. He saw play as an important and
necessary part of the student's cognitive
development and provided scientific evidence for his
views.
• Today, constructivist theories are influential
throughout the formal and informal learning sectors
Influential Constructivist
• John Dewey (1859–1952)
• Maria Montessori(1870–1952)
• Jean Piaget (1896–1980)
• Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934)
• Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002)
• George Kelly (1905–1967)
• Jerome Bruner (1915–)
Theory of constructivism
Formalization of the theory of constructivism is
generally attributed to Jean Piaget, who articulated
mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by
learners. He suggested that through process of
accommodation and assimilation individuals construct
new knowledge from their experiences.
Assimilation and Accommodation
• Assimilation occurs when a learner adds new
information, basically layering it on top of the old.
• Accommodation occurs when a learner must
change previously learn information before
placement of new information is possible.
• Explanation: Assimilation is like placing files in a
file cabinet, while accommodation is like needing to
add new folders or rearranging existing ones.
Constructivism is a learning theory
• Learning is an active process
• Knowledge is constructed from (and shaped by)
experience.
• Learning is a personal interpretation of the world
• Emphasizes problem solving and understanding
• Uses authentic tasks, experiences, settings,
assessments
• Content presented holistically –not in separate
smaller parts
Constructivism is a process –the instructor
• Adapt curriculum to address students’ suppositions
• Help negotiate goals and objectives with learners
• Pose problems of emerging relevance to students
• Emphasize hands‐on, real‐world experiences
• Seek and value students’ points of view
• Social context of content
Constructivism is a process –the instructor
• Provide multiple modes of representations /
perspectives on content
• Create new understandings via coaching,
moderating , suggesting
• Testing should be integrated with the task and not a
separate activity
• Use errors to inform students of progress to
understanding and changes in ideas
Constructivism is a process –the student
• Help develop own goals and assessments
• Create new understandings (via coaching,
moderating, suggesting)
• Control learning (reflecting)
• Member of community of learners
• Collaborate among fellow students
• Learn in a social experience –appreciate different
perspectives
• Take ownership and voice in learning process
Constructivism is an instructional strategy
• Involves collaboration between instructors, students
and others (community members)
• Tailored to needs and purposes of individual learners
• Features active, challenging, authentic and
multidisciplinary learning.
Constructivism is an instructional strategy
• Constructivism can help students
– Pursue personal interests and purposes
– Use and develop his or her abilities
– Build on his or her prior knowledge and experiences
– Develop life‐long learning
• Constructivism encourages instructors to provide for
each student’s
– Preferred learning style
– Rate of learning
– Personal interactions with other learners Source
Applying constructivism in the classroom
• Pose problems that are or will be relevant to students
• Structure learning around essential concepts
• Be aware that students’ points of view are windows
into their reasoning
• Adapt teaching to address students’ suppositions and
development
• Assess student learning in context of teaching
Pedagogy
Various approaches in pedagogy derive from
constructivist theory. They usually suggest that
learning is accomplished best using a hands-on
approach.
Learners learn by experimentation, and not by being
told what will happen, and are left to make their
own inferences, discoveries and conclusions.
Traditional Classroom Constructivist Classroom
Begins with parts of the whole – Begins with the whole – expanding to
emphasizes basic skills parts
Strict adherence to fixed curriculum Pursuit of student questions / interests
Textbooks and workbooks Primary sources / manipulative
materials
Instructor gives / students receive Learning is interaction‐building on
what students already know
Instructor assumes directive, Instructor interacts / negotiates with
authoritative role students
Assessment via testing / correct Assessment via student works,
answers observations, points of view, tests.
Process is as important as product
Knowledge is inert Knowledge is dynamic / changes with
experiences
Students work individually Students work in groups
Strengths of Constructivism
• Children learn more, and enjoy learning more when
they are actively involved, rather than passive
listeners.
• Education works best when it concentrates on thinking
and understanding, rather than on rote memorization.
Constructivism concentrates on learning how to think
and understand.
• Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist
classrooms, students create organizing principles that
they can take with them to other learning settings.
• Constructivism gives students ownership of what they
learn, since learning is based on students' questions and
explorations, and often the students have a hand in
designing the assessments as well.
• Students in constructivist classrooms learn to question
things and to apply their natural curiosity to the world.
• Constructivism promotes social and communication
skills by creating a classroom environment that
emphasizes collaboration and exchange of ideas.
• Constructivist assessment engages the students'
initiatives and personal investments in their journals,
research reports, physical models, and artistic
representations.
.
Weakness of Constructivism
• The biggest disadvantage is its lack of structure. Some students
require highly structured environments in order to be able to
excel.
• Constructivism calls for the teacher to discard standardized
curriculum in favor or a more personalized course of study based
on what the student already knows. This could lead some students
to fall behind of others.
• It also removes grading in the traditional way and instead places
more value on students evaluating their own progress, which may
lead to students falling behind but without standardized grading
and evaluations teachers may not know that the student is
struggling. Since there is no evaluation in the traditional sense,
the student may not be creating knowledge as the theory asserts,
but just be copying what other students are doing.
Weakness of Constructivism
• Another disadvantage is that it can actually lead
students to be confused and frustrated because they
may not have the ability to form relationships and
abstracts between the knowledge they already have
and the knowledge they are learning for themselves.
• Constructivism can have its place in the learning
system, but as an absolute learning system it has
some flaws. Students may benefit with some
constructivism principles integrated into the
classroom setting, however, most students need more
structure and evaluation to succeed.
Constructivism summary
• Shifts emphasis from teaching to learning
• Individualizes and contextualizes students’ learning
experiences
• Helps students develop processes, skills and attitudes
• Considers students’ learning styles
• Focuses on knowledge construction, not reproduction
• Uses authentic tasks to engage learners
• Provides for meaningful, problem‐based thinking
• Requires negotiation of meaning
• Requires reflection of prior and new knowledge
• Extends students beyond content presented to them
Thank you all
Reference
• Christie, A. (2005). Constructivism and its implications for educators.
http://alicechristie.com/edtech/learning/constructivism/index.htm
• Clarkson, B., & Brook, C. (n.d.). I can’t understand why I didn’t pass:
Scaffolding student
activities.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/pdf/clarkson.pdf
• Grabowski, B. (2004). Generative learning contributions to the design of
instruction and
learning. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational
communications and technology (3rd ed.), pp. 719-743. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
• Grennon Brooks, J., & Brooks, M. G. (1999). In search of understanding:
The case for
constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and
Curriculum Development.
• Honebein, Peter. C. (1996). Seven goals for the design of constructivist
learning
environments. In Wilson, Brent. G. (Ed.). (1996) Constructivist learning
environments:
case studies in instructional design. Educational Technology Publications
Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey
• Lorsbach, A. (n.d.). The learning cycle as a tool for planning science
instruction.
http://www.coe.ilstu.edu/scienceed/lorsbach/257lrcy.htm
• Murphy, E. (1997).
Thirteen Ed Online (2004). Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and
learning.
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
