Constructivism

Lindsy Gratz

June 23, 2015

2|Page Gratz

Constructivism

Constructivism is a learning theory that suggests that people produce knowledge and form

meaning based on their experiences. Instead of having students rely on someone elses

information and then accepting it as truth, the constructivism theory supports students being

exposes to data, resources, and interacting with other students so they can learn from their

experiences. One of the main activities in a constructivist classroom is solving problems.

Through solving problems students need to ask questions, investigate a certain topic, and use

many resources to find answers. Rather than sitting and being a passive learner, the students are

being active learners and building on some things they may already know. The constructivism

learning theory is all about being an active learner rather than a passive learner. As I continue I

will dive into a few of the founders of the constructivist learning theory, some key principles,

and some examples of how this theory could be used in a classroom environment.

Jean Piaget was a philosopher from Switzerland. At the age of eleven he attended the high school

at Switzerland Latin where he started his scientific career. He was famous for the work he did

studying cognitive development and learning theories. Jean Piaget is one of the people who

founded the Constructivism Learning Theory. He had suggested that through the processes of

accommodation and assimilation, people construct new knowledge through their experiences.

When people assimilate, they put the new experience into the already existing framework of

what they already know without changing that framework. The can happen when individuals

experiences already align with what they already know about the world. For example, when a

child sees a furry four legged animal that barks that child knows that is a dog. They know this
3|Page Gratz

because they have seen a dog before and it fit into their already existing framework.

Accommodation, on the other hand, is when individuals experiences contradict what they

already know or think they know. According to Constructivism, accommodation is the process

of reframing ones knowledge about the world to fit new experiences. Such as, when a child sees

a slimy creature in the back yard but they know it cant be a snake because it has four legs. After

some research they find out that the creature is a salamander. They needed to accommodate and

create new framework or change the existing framework for this new thing they learned.

Another of the founders of the constructivist theory was Jerome Bruner. Burner was born in New

York City in 1915 and received his degree from Duke University in 1937 and his Ph.D. in 1947

from Harvard. Bruners theory is based on the theme that learners construct new ideas based on

their existing knowledge and that learning is an active process. His theories stressed the

significance of categorization in learning. Interpreting information and experiences by their

similarities and differences is a key concept. Burner was influenced by Piagets ideas about

cognitive development in children. His early work hugely focused on the impact of needs,

motivations, and expectations and their impact on perception. He suggested that children are

active problem-solvers and are capable of exploring difficult subjects. At that time this was very

different from dominant views in education but somehow found an audience.

There are four key themes that emerged in Bruners early work. The first is that he emphasized

the role of structure in learning and how it could be made central in teaching. Structure refers to

the relationships among the factual elements and techniques. Second, he introduced the idea of
4|Page Gratz

readiness for learning and spiral curriculum. He believed that any subject could be taught at

any stage of development in a way that is fit for the child and their cognitive development at that

time. Spiral curriculum is the idea of revisiting basic ideas over and over, building on them until

a full level of understanding and mastery is reached. Third, he believed that analytical and

intuitive thinking should be encouraged and rewarded. Finally, fourth, he investigated motivation

for learning. He felt that interest in the subject matter is the best motivation for learning. Bruner

did not like that competitive goals such as grades or class rankings.

Later, Bruner was largely influenced by Vygotskys writings and began to turn away from the

intrapersonal focus he had for learning and began to focus on the social and political view of

learning. He argued that aspects of learning are through language. He stressed the importance of

a social setting in the acquisition of language. Bruners views are very much influenced by

Piaget, but Bruner places more emphasis on the social influences on development. From this he

thought that learning is an active, social process that caused student to construct new ideas and

concepts based on their current knowledge.

Lev Vygotsky introduced a social aspect of leaning into the constructivist learning theory. He

founded the zone of proximal development. This was a theory that stated that children can

solve problems that are beyond their current development with the help of an adult or someone

who is more capable. Vygotskys theory states that learning is active and social and builds upon

knowledge that is already known to the learner.

5|Page Gratz

From the previous information here we have seen that constructivism is based on the thought that

people create their understanding and knowledge through things they already know or

experience. They need to change and adapt what they know as they learn more about their world.

When they encounter something new they need to try to incorporate that new information

through assimilation or accommodation. We also saw that learning is both active and social

according to a few of the founders of constructivism.

In the classroom there are many different approaches to the constructivist method of teaching.

Most of the time active approaches are encouraged (e.g. experiments) to create new knowledge

and then they talk about what happened and how their understanding has changed because of it.

Teachers need to encourage the students to be constantly assessing how the activity is helping

them gain new understanding of the material. This is done by questioning themselves and the

strategies being used and by doing this these students typically become expert learners.

You may be asking, What is the role of the teacher? The role of the teacher is simple. The role

of a teacher of a constructivist classroom is to guide the students into asking questions about the

topic, allowing them to lead in ways of finding the answers, and helps the students gain their

own understandings of the topic being taught. This is to be done without giving a direct lecture

and direct answers to the questions. Think of the teacher as a guide rather than a lecturer.
6|Page Gratz

Now we will dive into a few examples of how you could use constructivism in the classroom.

Its all about letting the students guide, lead, and interact with the teacher and other students to

come to new knowledge about the subject being taught. For example, students are studying the

dinosaurs in science. They have many discussions about what could of happened to them, how

big they were, what they ate, and may other questions. Their teacher decides to take them to the

science museum for some interactive learning. The trip to the museum aides in the learning

process by giving some answers to the students questions and by, possibly, providing more

grounds for class discussion. This is constructivism because it builds on the students previous

knowledge as well as being active learning.

Another example for you is a group of high school students are working together to learn about

the Revolutionary War. The students know that the war was about the colonies wanting

independence from England. This would be their current knowledge. Their teacher asks the

groups to pick a topic about the war such as different battles fought, battle strategies, or after

affects of the war. One group picks battle strategies of the colonial army. The group starts

building information about the battle strategies used and then decides to make a model of one of

the battles to demonstrate some of the strategies used. The group works together to make a

model of a battle and then presents their finding to the class. This gives the students opportunity

to gather new information, incorporate it into their current knowledge, and then present what

they learned in a mini lesson to their class. The hands on, social and teaching aspect of this

project, helps to solidify what the students learned while doing this project.
7|Page Gratz

And lastly, in an elementary classroom a teacher is teaching about the five senses. She wants her

students to really grasp what the five senses are so she comes up with a fun activity for this topic.

She decides to test the senses of each student. First, to test their sense of hearing she plays a

sound from a CD and asks the students what they hear. She explains that hearing is one of the

five senses. Next, she blind folds her student to test touch. She has the students touch mystery

items and they have to try and guess what they are. The teacher then asks the students tell her

what they could do to demonstrate the last three senses. One student says that sight is already

demonstrated just by taking the blind fold off. Another student says that they could taste and

smell food while being blind folded to demonstrate the last two senses. Because of these

activities the student then had a better understanding of what the five senses are and how they

work together to help us better understand our world.

In conclusion, Constructivism is really based on the fact that people tend to learn better in active,

social settings rather than in passive settings. When coming to a new piece of information people

need to figure out if or how that fits with their current knowledge structure and if it does they

may need to adapt some things they thought they knew. I think that this learning theory is right

on! A lot of people seem to learn and take in information better when they are active, social,

forming ideas and questions themselves and finding the answers as well as thinking critically.

Using this form of teaching could greatly benefit students and teachers by allowing students to

be free to ask question and to search for the answers themselves. Students need to rely on

themselves for their learning and not always lean on someone else to spoon feed them

information.
8|Page Gratz

References

Constructivism (learning theory). Retrieved from the Internet June 17, 2015 from
ccti.colfinder.org/sites/default/files/constructivism.pdf

Hein, Prof. George E., (1991). Constructivist Learning Theory. Institure for Inquiry. Retrieved from the
Internet June 15, 2015 from http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html

Cronstructivism Learning Theory. Retrieved from the Internet June 17, 2015 from www.teach-
nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism

Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from the Internet June 15, 2015 from
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology: Jerome Bruner, Constructivism and Discovery Learning.
Retrieved from the Internet June 18, 2015 from www.lifecircles-
inc.com/learningtheories/constructivism/bruner.html

Education Theory: Constructivism and Social Constructivism in the Classroom. Retrieved from the
Internet on June 17, 2015 from
www.usdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/constructivisim_and_social_constructivism_in_the_classr
oom

Constructivist Theory. Retrieved from the Internet on June 15, 2015 from
www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm

Constructivism in Piaget and Vygotsky. (2004). Retrieved from the Internet on June 18, 2015 from
www.fountainmagazine.com/Issue/details/CONSTRUCTVISM-in-Piaget-and-Vygotsky

Ormrod, Jeanne E. Essentials of Educational Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.,
2006. 142,137,19