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Hence, pedagogy of school science has tended to be didactic, authoritarian and non discursive
with little room for active learning or development of critical reasoning. Research on cognitive
learning, neuroscience and constructivist epistemology asserts that learning occurs being active,
through senses in the brain. Consequently, the science educators have accepted inquiry-based
constructivism as a method of teaching science.
In this paper an attempt has been made to search about constructivism in biology education.
History of Constructivism: Constructivism as applied to education is a more recent
development derived from the work of development psychologist Jean Piaget (1973), Russian
psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) and John Dewey. According to John Dewey, education
depends on action. For him, mind is a means of transforming, reorganizing, reshaping, accepted
meanings and values, a means of attending to the lived situations of life. Dewey kept telling
his readers, Mind is active, a verb and not a noun. Dewey stressed the importance of having a
students knowledge grow from experience. Knowledge and ideas come only from a situation
where learners had to draw them out of experiences that had meaning and importance to them.
Jean Piaget was another psychologist who had a great influence on the theory of Constructivism.
Piaget was interested in the way that children think. Piagets constructivism was based on his
view of the psychological development of children. He believed that the fundamental basis of
learning was discovery: To understand is to discover, to reconstruct by rediscovery, and such
conditions must be complied with if in the future individuals are to be formed who are capable of
production and creativity and not simply repetition.
Meaning of Constructivism: The Verb to construct is derived from the Latin word Con
struere which means to arrange or to give structure. Ongoing structuring (organizing) processes
are the conceptual heart of constructivism. Constructivism is a learning theory based on scientific
observation and research and explains how people learn. They construct their own knowledge of
the world around them through reflection on their experiences. When we are faced with new
knowledge, we tend to relate it to our previous experiences and either modify our ideas or
discard the new information. In the process we tend to create new knowledge by asking
questions, explaining and assessing what we already known. Constructivist epistemology
assumes that learners construct their own knowledge on the basis of Interaction with their
environment. Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction, and not on knowledge
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reproduction. Our view of the external world differs from others because of our unique set of
experiences. We dont describe the world we see; we see the world we can describe.
Constructivist Learning Model
Introduction Engage students in activities: dialogue discussion.
Explain Search new ideas through interaction and engage in meaning making.
2.
Learners actively construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas to existing
The structuring and restructuring of ideas are essential features as the learners progress in
learning.
4.
The engagement of learners, through relevant activities, can further facilitate in the
Collaborative learning provides room for negotiation of meaning, sharing multiple views
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Constructivist view is potentially more sensitive to the needs of a diverse student population;
they need to understand two basic tenets of constructivism. First, constructivism is a
philosophical view on how knowledge is acquired or constructed. Second, knowledge is
constructed by individuals to make sense of their world. Knowledge is acquired by our senses
and mental images we carry in our mind. These mental images facilitate what and how we learn.
Teachers need to bring these two understandings in the classroom. This leads to constructivism
based inquiry.
From a constructivist perspective, biology is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us
to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, it is an active, social process of
making sense of experiences, as opposed to what we now call school biology. Indeed, actively
engaging students in science (we have all heard the call for hands-on, minds on science) is the
goal of most science education reform. Also science knowledge as accepted today in scientific
communities in principle is tentative in nature and open for revision. There is a shift in the goals
of science teaching from students simply creating a knowledge base of scientific facts to students
developing deeper understandings of major concepts within scientific discipline. For example,
what is the use of detailed working knowledge of the chemical reactions of the Krebs cycle
without a deeper understanding of the relationship between these chemical reactions of cellular
respiration and an organisms need to harvest energy from food?
Implications of use of Constructivism in life science Teaching are:
1.
Tools available to a knower are the senses. It is only through seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling and tasting that an individual interacts with the environment. With these messages from
the senses the individual builds a picture of the world. Students should be given ample
opportunities for visiting bio-diversity parks, bird sanctuaries, lakes, agricultural fields,
grasslands as well as ridge areas. They should be taken for nature walks.
2.
in the universe; an interaction of the senses with things, a personal construction which fits some
of the external reality but does not provide a match. Students prior science conceptions are
sometimes in stark contrast to the science conceptions to be learned.
a.
For example, when students see water droplets on the glass of water, they think that it
must be coming out from inside the glass. They need to formulate a problem, hypothesis,
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experiment, observe and then must be able to conclude on their own Teachers role is very
important here.
3.
A cooperative learning strategy allows individuals to test the fitness of their experiential
world with a community of others. Others help to constrain our thinking. The interactions with
others cause perturbations, and by resolving the perturbations individuals make adaptations to fit
their new experiential world.
a.
Group work given in the class provides opportunities to read, express or ask to listen and
to interact. Projects and activities that can be carried out by groups need to become a feature of
learning in the schools.
4.
The process of learning should not stop at what has been learned in the negotiation of a
class consensus. This process can involve accessing other learning resources such as books,
videotapes, and practicing scientists.
a.
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to relate the concept of ecosystem to their own experiences? Were these opportunities in Teacher
As lesson plan were provided to negotiate meanings and build a consensus of understanding?
Teacher A spent one class period covering the concept of ecosystem; is that sufficient time for
students to learn a concept with understanding?
CLASSROOM B
Teacher B is another teacher whose class (Classroom B), in contrast, was inspired by
constructivism. Her classes were always student entered and activity-based. At secondary level,
she introduced students to above mentioned biology topics with short lectures, textbook readings,
and laboratories. After the introduction she would ask students what interested them about the
topic and encouraged them to pursue and test these ideas. Students usually divided themselves
into groups and then, conducted a library research, formulated questions/problems, and
procedures to test the questions/problems. In other words, the students were acting as scientists
in the classroom. In one class she was teaching students about ecosystem. Included in Teacher B
lessons were activities to get the students involved. Students were shown the Aquarium in
the biology laboratory. They discussed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What happens if any particular trophic level is missing in the food chain?
Students were also involved in role-play activity where they played the roles of different plants
and animals in different food-chains. They used certain props and few dialogues in the role-play
activity. Then a few animal sanctuaries were discussed to highlight the importance of habitat for
wild animals. Teacher B spent two weeks teaching this topic on ecosystem. Were Teacher B
students given opportunities to make sense of the concept of ecosystem? Were they able to use
personal experiences? Whose students do you think had a deeper understanding of ecosystem?
A close understanding of the two classrooms has revealed the following points of difference
between them.
CLASSROOM A
NOV - DECEMBER, 2014. VOL-II/XV
CLASSROOM B
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Materials
Primarily textbook.
Teacher's
Role
Based on repetition,
explanation by the
teacher.
Seen as inert, to be
passed on from teacher
to taught.
Giver of information,
rooted in authority.
Student's
Role
Passive recipients of
knowledge.
Transaction
Strategies
Approach
Learning
Knowledge
Learning
Process
and
Conclusion
From a constructivist perspective, science is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us
to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, teaching biology becomes more
like the biology that biologists do -it is an active, social process of making sense of experiences.
It is an enjoyable activity and the role of the teacher is very challenging. Just as teachers have to
learn how to teach from a constructivist point of view, so too must students learn how to learn.
Educating students to be effective learners is an important priority in establishing environments
conducive to effective learning of biology.
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References
Dogra, B.(2010). Constructive Classroom Activities for Biology Learning. Journal of Indian
Education, 36(2), 111-120. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
Kumar, R. & Gupta, V.K. (2009). An Introduction to Cognitive Constructivism in Education.
Journal of Indian Education, XXXV(3), 39-45. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
NCERT 2005. National Curriculum Framework 2005. New Delhi. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
_____2005. National Focus Group on Teaching of Science. New Delhi. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
Prabha, S.(2010). Characteristics of a Constructivist Classroom in the Context of Science
Education. Journal of Indian Education, XXXVI(1), 20-28. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
Sood, J.K. & Saraswat, A.(2013). Teaching the Nature of Science : Restructuring Science
Instruction. School Science, 50-57. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
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