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==History==
Constructivist approach teaching methods are based on [[Constructivism (learning theory)|constructivist]] [[learning theory (education)|learning theory]]. Along with [[John Dewey]], and [[Jean Piaget]] researched [[childhood development]] and education.; Both Dewey and Piagetboth were very influential in the development of informal education. Dewey's idea of influential education suggests that education must engage with and enlarge experience and the exploration of thinking and reflection associated with the role of educators. Contrary Piaget'sto rolethis, inPiaget the constructivist teaching suggestsargued that we learn by expanding our knowledge by experiences which are generated through play from infancy to adulthood which are necessary for learning. TheirBoth theories are now encompassed inby the broader movement of [[progressive education]]. Constructivist learning theory saysstates that all knowledge is constructed from a base of prior knowledge. ChildrenAs such, children are not to be treated as a blank slate, and knowledgemake cannotsense beof impartedclassroom withoutmaterial in the child making sensecontext of it according to his or her current conceptions. Therefore, children learn best when they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting on those experiencesknowledge.<ref name="thirteenorg">[http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index_sub5.html Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning]</ref>
==Constructivist teaching strategies==
In the constructivist classroom, students work primarily in groups to engage with daily activities. Constructivist teaching methods emphasize communication and social skills, as well as intellectual collaboration.<ref name="thirteenorg"/> This is different from a traditional classroom where students primarily work alone, learning through repetition and lecture. Activities encouraged in constructivist classrooms include:
* '''Experimentation:''' Students individually perform an experiment and then come together as a class to discuss the results.
* '''Campus wikis:''' These provide learners with a platform for curating helpful learning resources.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pascoe|first=Michael|last2=Monroe|first2=Forrest|last3=Macfarlane|first3=Helen|date=2018-06-14|title=Taking Constructivism One Step Further: Post Hoc Analysis of a Student-Created Wiki|journal=JMIR Medical Education|language=en|volume=4|issue=1|pages=e16|doi=10.2196/mededu.9197|pmid=29903697|pmc=6024102|issn=2369-3762}}</ref>
Constructivist approaches can also be used in online learning. For example, toolsTools such as discussion forums, wikis and blogs can enable learners to actively construct knowledge. Because existing knowledge schemata are explicitly acknowledged as a starting point for new learning, constructivist approaches tend to validate individual and cultural differences and diversity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pagán|first=Brian|date=2006-02-28|title=Positive Contributions of Constructivism to Educational Design|url=http://ejop.psychopen.eu/article/view/318|journal=Europe's Journal of Psychology|volume=2|issue=1|doi=10.5964/ejop.v2i1.318|issn=1841-0413}}</ref>
A contrast between the traditional classroom and the constructivist classroom is illustrated below:
The traditional classroom
Traditional testing is only one facet of constructivist assessment of student success. Assessment also consists of personal, thorough interpretation of students' performance in the context of what their out-of-school life.
*Begins with parts of the whole–Emphasizes basic skills
Non-traditional constructivist assessment strategies include:
*Strict adherence to fixed curriculum
*Textbooks and workbooks
*Instructor gives/students receive
*Instructor assumes directive, authoritative role
*Assessment via testing / correct answers
*Knowledge is inert
*Students work individually
The constructivist classroom
*Begin with the whole – expanding to parts
*Pursuit of student questions / interests
*Primary Sources / manipulative materials
*Learning is interaction – building on what students already know
*Instructor interacts / negotiates with students
*Assessment via student works, observations, points of view, tests. Process is as important as product
*Knowledge is dynamic / change with experiences
*Students work in groups Source : Thirteen Ed Online (2004)
Because existing knowledge schemata are explicitly acknowledged as a starting point for new learning, constructivist approaches tend to validate individual and cultural differences and diversity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pagán|first=Brian|date=2006-02-28|title=Positive Contributions of Constructivism to Educational Design|url=http://ejop.psychopen.eu/article/view/318|journal=Europe's Journal of Psychology|volume=2|issue=1|doi=10.5964/ejop.v2i1.318|issn=1841-0413}}</ref>
===Role of teachers===
In the constructivist classroom, the teacher's role is to prompt and facilitate discussion. Thus, the teacher's main focus should be on guiding students by asking questions that will lead them to develop their own conclusions on the subject. Parker J. Palmer (1997) suggests that good teachers join self, subject, and students in the fabric of life because they teach from an integral and undivided self, they manifest in their own lives, and evoke in their students, a capacity for connectedness".
David Jonassen identified three major roles for facilitators to support students in constructivist learning environments:
* Modeling
* [[Coaching]]
* [[Instructional scaffolding|Scaffolding]]<ref name="Jonassen">[http://www.moe.gov.sg/edumall/mpite/edtech/papers/d1.pdf Jonassen, D. H. (1999).]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Constructing learning environments on the web: Engaging students in meaningful learning. ''EdTech 99: Educational Technology Conference and Exhibition 1999: Thinking Schools, Learning Nation.'' {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
A brief description of the Jonassen major roles are:
'''Modeling''' – Jonassen describes Modeling as the most commonly used instructional strategy in CLEs. Two types of modeling exist: behavioural modeling of the overt performance and cognitive modeling of the covert cognitive processes. Behavioural modeling in Constructivist Learning Environments demonstrates how to perform the activities identified in the activity structure. Cognitive modeling articulates the reasoning (reflection-in-action) that learners should use while engaged in the activities.
'''Coaching''' – For Jonassen the role of coach is complex and inexact. She acknowledges that a good coach motivates learners, analyzes their performance, provides feedback and advice on the performance and how to learn about how to perform, and provokes reflection and articulation of what was learned. Moreover, she posits that coaching may be solicited by the learner. Students seeking help might press a "How am I Doing?" button. Or coaching may be unsolicited, when the coach observes the performance and provides encouragement, diagnosis, directions, and feedback. Coaching naturally and necessarily involves responses that are situated in the learner's task performance (Laffey, Tupper, Musser, & Wedman, 1997).
'''Scaffolding''' - Scaffolding is a more systemic approach to supporting the learner, focusing on the task, the environment, the teacher, and the learner. Scaffolding provides temporary frameworks to support learning and student performance beyond their capacities. The concept of scaffolding represents any kind of support for cognitive activity that is provided by an adult when the child and adult are performing the task together (Wood & Middleton, 1975).
===Constructivist learning environments (CLEs)===
Jonassen has proposed a model for developing constructivist learning environments (CLEs) around a specific learning goal. This goal may take one of several forms, from least to most complex:
* Question or issue
* Case study
* Long-term Project
* Problem (multiple cases and projects integrated at the curriculum level)
Jonassen recommends making the learning goals engaging and relevant but not overly structured.
In CLEs, learning is driven by the problem to be solved; students learn content and theory in order to solve the problem. This is different from traditional objectivist teaching where the theory would be presented first and problems would be used afterwards to practice theory.
Depending on students' prior experiences, related cases and scaffolding may be necessary for support. Instructors also need to provide an authentic context for tasks, plus information resources, cognitive tools, and collaborative tools.<ref name="Jonassen" />
Traditionally, assessment in the classrooms is based on testing. In this style, it is important for the student to produce the correct answers. However, in constructivist teaching, the process of gaining knowledge is viewed as being just as important as the product. Thus, assessment is based not only on tests, but also on observation of the student, the student's work, and the student's points of view.<ref name="thirteenorg"/> Some assessment strategies include:
*Oral discussions. The teacher presents students with a "focus" question and allows an open discussion on the topic.
*KWL(H) Chart (What we know, What we want to know, What we have learned, How we know it). This technique can be used throughout the course of study for a particular topic, but is also a good assessment technique as it shows the teacher the progress of the student throughout the course of study.
*Hands-on activities. These encourage students to manipulate their environments or a particular learning tool. Teachers can use a checklist and observation to assess student success with the particular material.
*Pre-testing. This allows a teacher to determine what knowledge students bring to a new topic and thus will be helpful in directing the course of study.<ref name="templeedu"/>
==An example of a lesson taught with a Constructivist background==
A good example of a lesson being taught in a constructivist way, with the teacher mediating learning rather than directly teaching the class is shown by the example of [[Michael Faraday|Faraday]]'s [[The Chemical History of a Candle|candle]]. There are various forms of this lesson, but all are developed from the Christmas lectures Faraday gave on the functioning of candles. In open constructivist lessons using these lectures as a basis, students are encouraged to discover for themselves how candles work. They do this first by making simple observations, from which they later build ideas and hypotheses which they then go on to test. The teacher acts to encourage this learning. If successful, students can use this lesson to understand the components of combustion, an important chemistry topic.<ref name="faraday">* {{cite journal|
doi=10.1021/ed085p59|
author=[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed085p59 Walker, M et al.]|
year=2008|
title= A bright spark: open teaching of science using Faraday's lectures on candles|
journal= Journal of Chemical Education|
volume=85|
issue=1|
pages=59–63}}</ref>
==Constructivism for adults==
Constructivist philosophy has a long history of application in education programs for young children, but is used less frequently in adult learning environments. As humans develop, there are qualitative changes in their ability to think logically about experiences, but the processes by which learning occurs, [[Jean Piaget|cognitive adaptation]] and [[Vygotsky|social mediation]], are believed to be continuous or remain the same throughout the life.<ref>Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: MA, Harvard University Press.</ref> At the heart of constructivist philosophy is the belief that knowledge is not given but gained through real experiences that have purpose and meaning to the learner, and the exchange of perspectives about the experience with others<ref>Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books, Inc.</ref> ([[Jean Piaget|Piaget]] & Inhelder, 1969; [[Vygotsky]],1978).
Learning environments for adults based on constructivist philosophy include opportunities for students to make meaningful connections between new material and previous experience, through discovery. One of the simplest ways to do this is asking [[Closed-ended question|open-ended questions]]. Open-ended questions such as "Tell me about a time when... ." or "How might this information be useful to you?" cause learners to think about how new information may relate to their own experience. Student responses to such questions are opportunities for experiencing the perspectives of others. For these questions to be effective it is critical that instructors focus on teaching content that is useful for participants. The importance of using these types of strategies with adults contributes to what<ref>Bain, Ken. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> Bain(2004 p. 4) noted as critical learning environments where instructors "embed" the skills they are teaching in "authentic tasks that will arouse curiosity, challenge students to rethink assumptions and examine their mental modes of reality". Mezirow J. (1997) who asserts that learners need to practice in recognizing frames of reference and using their imaginations to redefine problems from different perspectives. (pg. 10) I made the connection by also adding the point that "to promote discovery learning, the educator often reframes learner questions in terms of the learner's current level of understanding. Learning contracts, group projects, role play, case studies, and simulations are classroom methods associated with transformative education." Such approaches emphasize that learning is not an "all or nothing" process but that students learn the new information that is presented to them by building upon knowledge that they already possess. It is therefore important that teachers constantly assess the knowledge their students have gained to make sure that the students' perceptions of the new knowledge are what the teacher had intended. Teachers will find that since the students build upon already existing knowledge, when they are called upon to retrieve the new information, they may make errors. It is known as reconstruction error when we fill in the gaps of our understanding with logical, though incorrect, thoughts. Teachers need to catch and try to correct these errors, though it is inevitable that some reconstruction error will continue to occur because of our innate retrieval limitations.
In most pedagogies based on constructivism, the teacher's role is not only to observe and assess but to also engage with the students while they are completing activities, wondering aloud and posing questions to the students for promotion of [[reasoning]] (DeVries et al., 2002). (ex: I wonder why the water does not spill over the edge of the full cup?) Teachers also intervene when there are conflicts that arise; however, they simply facilitate the students' resolutions and [[Self-control|self-regulation]], with an emphasis on the conflict being the students' and that they must figure things out for themselves. For example, promotion of literacy is accomplished by integrating the need to read and write throughout individual activities within print-rich classrooms. The teacher, after reading a story, encourages the students to write or draw stories of their own, or by having the students reenact a story that they may know well, both activities encourage the students to ''conceive themselves'' as reader and writers.
==Arguments against constructivist teaching techniques==
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