300 Word Reflection

How the curriculum is underpinned by established learning theory.

Learning how living things can be differentiated is a pivotal part the

biological sciences unit and crucial for children understanding of
scientific concept. The theory of social constructivism places emphasis
on learning being dependent on interactions and conversation with
others (Eggen and Kauchak,1999) and is heavily featured within the
inquiry based lessons. Primarily, it is encouraged through classroom
discussion, in particular the think pair shares with peers in which it
encourages collaborative thinking between students in the classroom
and allows for students to broaden ideas and ways of thinking. The
think pair share allows students to first accumulate their thoughts to
themselves, before conversing with a partner and then sharing amongst
the whole class, in which this is linked to social constructivism as it
places emphasis on learning through the interaction with others. Social
constructivism is also evident through the wrap up activities of the
lessons. Students engage in a WINK (What I Now Know) with small
group sharing time, by doing this; students are made able to learn off
peers thoughts and consider differing viewpoints often of things not
even considered before. It also provides opportunity for consolidation of
information particularly for extension students by allowing them to
teach others, which again highlights this notion of learning through
interactions with others. In the science classroom, collaboration in
experiments and sharing data is crucial to making sure studies carried
out are fair and subjective. The learning of biological sciences in the
Science curriculum can be underpinned by the learning theory of social
constructivism.

Reference:
Eggen, P. and Kauchak, D. (1999). Educational Psychology: Windows on
Classrooms (4th ed.).Prentice Hall.