Constructivism in Practice

I really enjoyed learning about constructivism and its uses in the classroom. I use project-based learning for the majority of my lessons in Art. So, I am very familiar with this concept and its success for subject matter retention. Seymour Papert, renowned expert on children and computing, asserts that "engaging students by starting with the concrete and solving hands-on, real-world problems is a great motivator" (D. Curtis, Edutopia: Project Learning). In this theory, the teacher serves as a facilitator, collaborator, and guide and students are free to explore curriculum, construct their own knowledge, and learning even becomes more cross-curricular. Dr. Orey states that "each individual actively constructs his/her own meaning" and "people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others" (Constructionist & Constructivist Learning Theories dvd). It is all about hands-on learning activities and projects, where students often collaborate and work together, assemble data, and assemble visual artifacts.

My thoughts on how the instructional strategies described in the resources explored this week correlate with the principles of constructivist constructionist learning theories:
All of the instructional strategies explored this week dealt with project-based, problem-based, and inquiry-based learning. Students are involved in constructing an artifact to share with peers. Some of the instructional strategies included student-created powerpoint presentations, student-created websites, blogs, and wikis, using software programs that "build" a learning artifact, Webquests, and other projects that utilize technology in the construction of a final product. An example of an instructional strategy that correlates with the constructionist theory is students working together ingroups of 2-3 constructing a poster or powerpoint on a particular artist, using online images, online research, and word processing.

Generating and Testing Hypothesis - reflection:
"When students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content" (H.Pitler, E.Hubbell, M.Kuhn, & K.Malenoski, p.202). This instructional strategy works with real-world problems and uses a variety of structured tasks that guide students to an answer. Technology can be used in this strategy through the use of spreadsheets, data collection tools, interactive applets and simulations, and other Web resources. Using technology, students "showed overwhelming enthusiasm while learning the material" (H.Pitler, E.Hubbell, M.Kuhn, & K.Malenoski, p.214) I do not use this particular instructional strategy much in Art, but it is good for other content areas and allows students to successfully engage in content learning.

In conclusion, this theory's basic assumption is that students learn best when the learning is student-centered, exploratory in nature, has multiple options and learning tasks, collaborative, and is real-world focused. Problem-based inquiry "provide students with strategies and experiences that empower them to become critical consumers of info. and tackle authentic problems through group problem-solving. Teachers should take the responsibility for facilitating learning so that analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and extension of info. by students assumes its proper role" (E. Glazer, Problem Based Instruction). When this takes place, instruction becomes "more creative, personalized, hands-on, meaningful, and effective for all participants" (S.Han & K. Bhattacharya, Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning).