Constructivist and Constructionist Instructional Strategies

Constructivism in theory is centered on the concept that each unique individual formulates an understanding of objects or ideas based on their personal experiences.  Dr. Michael Orey examines how his mental understanding of a chair is not exactly like my depiction of a chair simply because we have had different experiences with the object (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010).  In my geometry classroom, I may use a problem that involves the construction of a roof truss and picture examples from my prior work in construction.  Students, however, may not have encountered a truss before, and would have a higher degree of difficulty in understanding the problem because the object is foreign.  These differences in our schema regarding the shape may call for more images or hands on activities that embed the idea into their brains.

In relation, constructionism is a learning theory that has students designing their own artifacts, and is an active builder of their own knowledge (Han and Bhattacharya, 2001).  This building can be hands-on or technology oriented and usually revolves around a central theme or problem.  There are a lot of great tools to use in this learning model, and we explored several of them this week.

The first strategy I will examine is problem-based learning.  This approach has countless applications in the classroom, and an important one for this week is WebQuests.  A WebQuest is defined as “a web-based, inquiry-oriented activity through which students examine evidence about a particular topic and then respond to an issue or make a decision from a particular point of view” (Glazer, 2001).  This is a tremendous tool for lessons that have students problem solving and investigating independently or collaboratively.  In any case, the students have a real-world task to explore through a series of resources links and guides to hypothesize and construct their own solutions.  Through active investigation, students will accommodate their finding to any prior knowledge to generate valuable and meaningful solutions.

A valuable constructionist strategy is project-based learning, and it offers immense opportunities for students to build artifacts.  To fully utilize this approach, the process should take numerous lessons and have complex tasks (Han and Bhattacharya, 2001).  Ideally, the end result of this task is an elaborate artifact that showcases the learning that has taken place.  I can remember one example from my middle school years in which I investigated Switzerland in a project called the Festival of Nations.  I created a detailed and colored coordinated map of the country, cooked a recipe from the native culture, designed a cheese pamphlet in Microsoft Publisher, and much more.  I still have many of the artifacts today because they had a lot of personal meaning to me.

 Lastly, generating and testing hypotheses is a great tool in activating prior knowledge and connecting it to real-world problems.  In one classroom example, 5^th grade teacher Mrs. Omar uses real spreadsheet data to have her students consider a scenario of the best way to invest a ten thousand dollar inheritance (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  After the students’ make their hypotheses of the best choice, they use interactive spreadsheets to compare and contrast the outcomes over time.  Such learning experiences require the students to make a choice based on their prior knowledge, and test the validity of their ideas.  This strategy, like the others, results in genuine learning through active participation, while building an understanding of logical reasoning.         

     

References

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <March 24, 2011>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Han, S., and Bhattacharya, K. (2001). Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <March 24, 2011>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.