CHAPTER III- CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING: Interactive, Collaborative,

Integrative and Inquiry-based

Constructivism- states that "learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge
rather that acquiring it". Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypothesis of the
environment. Constructivist Theory - suggest
that "humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences".
Constructivist Teaching- is based on constructivist learning theory. It is based on the belief that learning
occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed
to passively receiving information. Learners are the makers of meaning and knowledge.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING

1. Authentic activities and real-world environments

 Learning situations, environment, skills, content and tasks are relevant, realistic, authentic and
represent the natural complexities of the 'real world'.
 Primary sources of data are used in order to ensure authenticity and real world complexity.
 Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching.
 Learners are provided with the opportunity for apprenticeship learning in which there is an
increasing complexity of tasks, skills and knowledge acquisition.

2. Multiple Perspectives- Learning environment "should support multiple perspectives or interpretations

of reality, knowledge construction, and context-rich , experience-based activities" (Jonassen, 1995)

3. Wholistic, integrative- Knowledge complexity is reflected in an emphasis on conceptual

interrelatedness and interdisciplinary learning.

4. Self-directed learners

 The student plays a central role in mediating and controlling learning.

 Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system.
 Exploration is a favored approach in order to encourage students to seek knowledge
independently and to manage the pursuit of their goals.
 Scaffolding is facilitated to help students perform just beyond the limits of their stability.

5. Meaningful Learning

 Knowledge construction and not reproduction is emphasized.

 The learners' previous knowledge constructions, beliefs and attitudes are considered in the
knowledge construction process.
 Errors provide the opportunity for insight into students' previous knowledge constructions.

Constructivist teaching is interactive, collaborative, integrative and inquiry-based.

INTERACTIVE TEACHING- is a means of instructing whereby the teachers actively involve the students
in their learning process by way of regular teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, use of
audio-visuals, and hands-on demonstrations. The students are constantly encouraged to be active
participants.

INTERACTIVE TEACHING

 Involves facilitator and learners

 Encourage and expect learners to participate
 Use questions to stimulate discussion, emphasizing the value of answers
 Give participants hands-on experience
 Use teaching aids to gain and retain attention

Why do we promote Interactive Teaching?

1) Learning is an active process. Only the student can do the learning for himself. The more
intense the involvement, the better the learning.
2) Learning is also a social process. Vygotsky's (1998) Social Learning Theory states that we
learn from others. No one has the monopoly of the truth. Then it must be good to listen to other
perspectives in our search for answers and for truth.
3) Every student can serve as a resource person. Every student has so much to share. Just ask
the right questions.

Teacher's tasks in Interactive Teaching-Learning

Teacher:

1. must ask specific, non-intimidating feedback questions and HOTS questions.

 2. must make the focus of interaction clear.
3. must create the climate favorable for genuine interaction clear.
4. must do less talk so students talk more.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING- an educational approach to reaching and learning that involves groups
of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product.

An effective class interaction paves the way to collaboration. Interaction is the beginning of
collaboration." Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together
is success,'' says American pioneer of the assembly line production method, Henry Ford. Collaboration
goes beyond interaction. When students collaborate for learning, they do not just interact, they work
together and help one another for a common goal. This is peer-to-peer learning. In collaborative learning
each one is his "brother's/sister's keeper”. It takes on many forms:

1) twinning or partnering or forming dyad ( collaboration of two)

2) triad
3) tetrad (the musical quarter)
4) small group (beyond four but less than ten)

Teacher's Task in Collaborative Learning

Teacher must:

1. begin with the conviction that every student can share something in the attainment of a
goal. Collaborative learning operates on respect and trust . Respect is basic for any relationship
to prosper. It is being convinced of the basic goodness of every person in the group. Trust is
being convinced that every member of the group will help in the realization of the common goal.
2. structure tasks in such a way that the group goal cannot be realized without the members
collaborating.
3. make the goal clear to all. What is the dyad, tryad, tetrad or small group supposed to deliver at
the end of the collaborative process? This must be understood by the group.
4. ensure that guidelines on procedures are clear especially on how their performance is
assessed.
5. must make clear that at the end of the activity, they have to reflect together.

INTEGRATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Integrative Teaching and Learning- means putting together separate disciplines to make whole. This
affirms the "boundlessness" of disciplines.
Integrate- comes from the Latin word "integer" which means to make whole.

Interdisciplinary teaching- is a method , or set of methods, use to teach a unit across different
curricular disciplines or "the bringing together of separate disciplines around common themes, issues or
problems".For example, the seventh grade Language Arts, Science and Social Studies teachers might
work together to form an interdisciplinary unit.

Transdisciplinary teaching- Integrative teaching is also transdisciplinary. This means connecting lifeless
subject to life itself. When the subject matter gets connected to real life , it becomes alive and interesting.

Three-level teaching- Integrative teaching is also done when you integrate knowledge , skills and
values in a lesson. Three-level teaching is a student-centered model of teaching with a focus on what the
student does. Learning is collaborative activity between student and teacher.

values

concepts, more
complex skills

facts, skills
 The three-level teaching is teaching information for formation and transformation. Whatever
information a student learns must somehow form and transform his/her way of thinking, acting, and living.
It is making teaching whole by integrating the cognitive, psychomotor and affective dimensions of
teaching and learning.

Formation

Information

Transformation

Multiple Intelligences-based and Learning Styles-based teaching- If integrative teaching is making

things whole, it also means putting together the multiple intelligences (MI) of the learner as identified by
Howard Gardner. It is also considering varied learning styles (LS).

Teacher's Task in Integrative Teaching

1. To do integrative teaching, a teacher needs a broad background for him/her to see readily the
entry points for interdisciplinary integration. A multi-specialist teacher will definitely have an
advantage over that one with just one field of specialization.
2. To do integrative teaching by transdisciplinary and 3-level teaching mode, a teacher must be able
to connect subject matter to values and life as a whole. This calls for a grounding in the
humanities.
3. To be able to integrate MIs and LSs and must have a reservoir of teaching activities to be able to
cater to students with diverse MIs and LSs.

INQUIRY-BASED TEACHING- teaching that is focused on inquiry or question. But effectively inquiry is
more than simply answering questions or getting the right answer . It espouses investigation, exploration,
search, quest, research, pursuit and study.

" If we are only teaching what we know, our children can only do as bad as we are doing, and this is the
challenge we are facing- we have to go beyond it". -Pauli, 2009

Teacher's Talk In Inquiry-Based Teaching-Learning

When using inquiry-based lessons, teachers are responsible for:

1. starting the inquiry process

2. promoting student dialog
3. transitioning between small groups and classroom discussion
4. intervening to clear misconceptions or develop student's understanding of content material
5. modeling scientific procedures and attitudes

Inquiry-Based Learning Activities

 Creating questions of their own

 Obtaining supporting evidence to answer the questions
 Explaining the evidence collected
 Connecting the explanation to the knowledge obtained from the investigative process

Inquiry-Based Learning covers a range of activities in learning and teaching, including:

 Field-work
 Case studies
 Investigations
 Individual and group projects
 Research project

*A constructivist approach to teaching has the following features: authentic activities and real
world tasks, multiple perspectives, wholistic and integrative, self-directed learners, meaningful
learning, collaborative and interactive learning. These features are found in interactive and
collaborative, integrative and inquiry-based teaching-learning activities,