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Workshop 3: The Role of Constructivism in the Coming Decade
Coordinator–Maria Groves
Elaborator –Selwa Alkadhi
Explorer – Li Fang Wang
Explorer – Yaniv Oded
Recorder – Robin McMullen
Some experts trace beginnings of Constructivist thought to classical antiquity and the Socratic method (Brooks, 2004)
The writings of philosopher Immanuel Kant (1997; 1998) and of developmental theorist Jean Piaget (1995) provide theoretical foundations for the Constructivist philosophy
A cornerstone of Constructivism is Vygotsky’s (1997) theory of the ‘zone of proximal development’
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Objectivism/Positivism
Transfer knowledge from outside to inside the learner
Arrange conditions to promote specific goals
Pre-design knowledge externally
Teacher directs; learner receives
Learner produces; teacher assesses
Constructivism/Relativism
Learner constructs own knowledge with guidance
Arrange conditions to promote construction of meaning
Construct knowledge internally
Teacher facilitates; learner controls
Learner constructs; assessment contextual
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Views learning as a social, collaborative endeavor(Phillips, 2006)
Scaffolds learning by building on existing knowledge (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996)
Acknowledges learner as an independent agent (Phillips, 2006)
Focuses on learning process as well as outcomes (Reiser & Dempsy, 2007)
Adapts to learners, cultures, environments, resources (Brooks, 2004)
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Encourages critical thinking (Brooks, 2004)
Sets the stage for development of higher order cognitive skills (Brooks, 2004), i.e., analysis, synthesis, evaluation
Builds collaboration skills (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996), e.g., communication, negotiation
Empowers learners by giving them ownership of their learning (Brooks, 2004)
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Learners want and need active guidance
Positioning the teacher as ‘collaborator’ deprives learners of the benefits of the teacher’s superior training and experience
Collaborative learning may suffice for learners within one standard deviation of the mean; it does not well serve learners whose abilities fall in the two tails of the distribution
Faster learners have limited opportunity to acquire new knowledge; they’re too busy teaching classmates what they, themselves have already learned
Slower learners need help from a trained, professional teacher, not a colleague or a collaborator.
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Does not facilitate learning what to learn
May be inadequate preparation for the real world, in which what one knows is more important than how one learned it
Psychomotor skills don’t fit the model; learners must not decide for themselves how to fly an airplane or do CPR
Taken to its postmodern conclusion, leaves the existence of objective reality open to question. Nevertheless, 2 + 2 = 4 in all cases; objective reality exists and learners need a certain set of knowledge to cope with it effectively.
Absence of objective assessment guarantees that Constructivism’s shortcomings cannot be empirically evaluated; the Constructivist classroom is a perpetual, undocumented experiment from which only anecdotal evidence can be gleaned
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Enriching the environment to facilitate each individual learner’s personal construction of the knowledge that each chooses to acquire costs money and takes time; nor is it clear that such enrichment is even possible
Evolving and describing context takes time
Collaboration takes time
Experimentation takes time
Compensating for documented shortfall in basic skills (Brooks, 2004) costs money and time
Critical periods for acquiring basic skills may be missed, in which case those skills are never fully developed
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Objectivism Constructivism Integration
Teacher is authority
Teacher and learner are colleagues
Teacher provides information, consciously engages learners
Objective standards
Contextual constructs
Objective standards, sensitive to context
Transfer knowledge
Build knowledge Build on transferred knowledge
Pre-design knowledge
Construct knowledge on the spot
Deepen knowledge via guided exploration
Teacher directs Learner controls Teacher presents content & facilitates learner synthesis
Learner produces
Learner constructs
Learner produces assessable evidence of mastery and construction
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Alesandrini, K., & Larson, L. (2002). Teachers Bridge to Constructivism. Clearing House, 75(3), 118.
Brooks, J. G., Matsuoka, B. M., & Doyle, A. (2004). Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Concept to Classroom: A Series of Workshops Retrieved July 6, 2008, from http://www.13.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
Duffy, T. M., & Cunningham, D. J. (1996). Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. In D. J. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of Research of Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 170-198). New York: McMillan Library Reference USA.
Kant, I. (Ed.). (1997). Critique of Practical Reason. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (Ed.). (1998). Critique of Pure Reason. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, D. (2006). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism. Philosophy of Education: An Anthology.
Piaget, J. (Ed.). (1995). Sociological Studies. New York: Routledge.
Prefume, Y. (2007). Constructivism in foreign language learning. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 11(1), 5.
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2007). Constructivism and Instructional Design: The Emergence of the Learning Sciences and Design Research. Columbus, OH: Pearson Education.
Vygotsky, L. S., Rieber, R. W., & Hall, M. J. (1997). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol. 4: The history of the development of higher mental functions. New York, NY, US: Plenum Press.
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