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MISTBusters!

Mini-report #2
IST524: Dr. Su

Team Roles
Coordinator: Jan Clark
Explorer A: Cord Bynum
Recorder: Cynthia Sargent
Explorer B: Michele Alaniz
Elaborator: Alton Stevens

Constructivism
A Guide for New Teachers:
Practical Suggestions for the Classroom

Learning Theory Continuum


Knowledge Acquisition

Higher Level Thinking


and
Application

Complex meaning-making
Critical analysis
Creative problem-solving

Behaviorism

Cognitivism

Constructivism

Some Best Practices:


Frequent feedback and
reinforcement
Link less desirable
activities with more
desirable activities
Provide immediate
reinforcers for close
responses.

Some Best Practices:


Call the learners
attention to the new
learning
Use scaffolding
strategies
Limit amount of info
presented before an
opportunity for practice

Consider This . . .

Constructivism
As a philosophy:

In the classroom:

Learning is a constantly evolving


process that results from a learners
interaction with the environment.

Learning is an active process; there


is emphasis on hands-on learning,
social collaboration, and selfdirected learning.

That is to say, learning is


context specific and learners
make meaning from their
own experiences.

Tasks or problems given to


students are authentic and
prompt team-based inquiry
or problem-solving.

Is constructivism a research-based practice?


Meeting this criterion has become a requirement for decision-making regarding
changes to classroom practices and lesson design.

What the experts say:


Constructivisms depiction of learning through
active engagement and meaningful activity is
generally corroborated by findings in neuroscience,
anthropology, and education (Reiser & Dempsey,
2011, p. 47).

More from the experts . . .


...Constructivism is considered the dominant educational theory;
it has been embraced by nearly every educational reform initiative
within the last two decades (Karagiorgi & Symeou, 2005, as cited
in Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 67).

Teaching methods that incorporate the use of communities of


practice have been very effective (Brown, 1992, as cited in Ertmer
& Newby, 2013, p. 68).

From Theory to Classroom:


Recognized Benefits of Constructivism
Strong emphasis on student-centered learning; students are actively
engaged in hands-on inquiry and other problem-solving activities that
require higher-level thinking.
Frequent social interaction between pupils expands knowledge base for
all and promotes development of 21st century skills, preparing students
for rapidly shifting environments and the demands of future job markets.
Learning is a fluid process where ones understanding of complex ideas
and concepts is able to evolve, in light of new experiences and dialogue
with others.

Potential Costs of Constructivism


Students can sometimes flounder and outcomes can be poor
Assessment can be difficult to create and it may be difficult to evaluate
learning outcomes.

The time needed to design constructivist-based activities, such as projectbased learning, is significant and greater than traditional lessons.
There can also be hard costs associated with materials, field trips,
adaptive e-learning pathways, and so forth.
Often, the risks are high and a return on investment may not be realized
even after a resource-intensive implementation of constructivist practices.

Our recommendations for your classroom & ID


Find a balance between sage on the stage and
guide on the side
Carefully evaluate the skills and capabilities of your learners to
determine readiness for inquiry learning.
Do not forget the validated benefits of Behaviorism and
Cognitivism; consider taking a systematic eclecticism
approach (Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 62) to designing lessons.
Avoid pure discovery-learning in most lessons; plan to provide
appropriate structure and guidance

Our recommendations for your classroom & ID


Adopt constructivist-aligned classroom practices
Todays learners have hypertext minds due to being digital
natives. They prefer to learn by doing, being much more
comfortable exploring than reading an owners manual.
(Prensky, 2001, p. 6)
ID aligned with this learner characteristic increases motivation and
learner engagement

Structure the learning process to avoid the detrimental effect of


multitasking on learning outcomes. (Gorlick, 2009)

References

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