CONSTRUCTIVISM AND
DESIGNING LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
Chapter Ten
OUTLINE
I. COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
II. DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
III. COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
IV. DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN A DIGITAL WORLD
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Constructivist Views of Learning
◦ Psychological Constructivism: Individuals construct their own cognitive structures as they
interpret their experiences in particular situations
◦ Focuses on:
◦ How individuals build up elements of their cognitive or emotional apparatus
◦ The inner psychological life of people
◦ The outside world acts as a source of input
◦ First-Wave Constructivism – Piaget
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Piaget focuses more on meaning as it is constructed by the individual (not necessarily a correct representation)
Thinking becomes more organized as children age
Concern with logic : Such knowledge comes from reflection
Social environment important factor, but social interaction was not the main mechanism for changing thinking
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Constructivist Views of Learning
◦ Radical Constructivism: Perspective that holds that individuals can never know objective reality or truth;
they can only know what they perceive and believe
◦ Learning is replacing one’s own construction with another that better explains the person’s perception of reality
Reflect:
◦ Social Constructivism: Social interaction, cultural tools, and activity shape individual development and
learning
◦ Second-Wave Constructivism – Vygotsky
◦ Learning meaning means belonging to a group and participating in the social construction of knowledge
◦ was a mix between psychological/social constructivism
◦ Zone of proximal development: area in which a child can solve a problem with the help of an adult or more able peer
◦ Culture creates cognition – when adults use tools and practices to steer the child
◦ Cognition creates culture – adult and child generate new practices and
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Constructivist Views of Learning
◦ Constructionism: How public knowledge in disciplines such as science, math, economics, or
history is constructed
◦ Social constructivists do not focus on individual learning Focus on public knowledge
◦ Knowledge is socially constructed
◦ Some people have more power
◦ Diverse viewpoints encouraged
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
How Is Knowledge Constructed?
◦ How is Knowledge Constructed?
1. Building mental representations
◦ The realities and truths of the external world direct knowledge construction
2. Gradual development
◦ Internal processes such as Piaget’s organization, assimilation, and accommodation direct knowledge
construction
◦ New knowledge is abstracted from old knowledge
3. Through Interactions
◦ Both external and internal factors direct knowledge construction
◦ Internal (cognitive)
◦ External (environmental and social) Vygotsky – Use of cultural tools
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Knowledge: Situated or General?
◦ General
◦ Knowledge is transferable to other situations
◦ Examples of transferable knowledge?
◦ Situated – Vygotsky
◦ Situated Learning: The idea that skills and knowledge are tied to the situation in which they were learned
and that they are difficult to apply in new settings
◦ Some ideas may be useful within a specific area, but useless outside that area
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Knowledge: Situated or General?
◦ General
◦ Knowledge is transferable to other situations
◦ Community of practice Social situation or context in which ideas are judged useful or true
◦ Over time, the current practice may be questioned and even overthrown, but until such major shifts
occur, current practice will shape what is considered valuable, and even what is considered knowledge.
◦ Situated – Vygotsky
◦ Situated Learning: The idea that skills and knowledge are tied to the situation in which they were learned
and that they are difficult to apply in new settings
◦ Some ideas may be useful within a specific area, but useless outside that area
COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Common Elements of Constructivist Student-Centered Teaching
◦ Complex Learning Environments and Authentic Tasks
◦ Give problems with many parts
◦ Social Negotiation
◦ Be able to defend their own positions
◦ Respect the positions of others
◦ Multiple Perspectives and Representations of Content
◦ Gain different ways of viewing content
◦ Understanding the Knowledge Construction Process
◦ Make students aware of their own role in constructing knowledge
◦ Student Ownership of Learning
◦ Students’ effort to learn is the main focus
DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
Facilitating in a Constructivist Classroom
◦ Elicit students’ ideas and experiences in relation to key topics, then fashion learning situations
that help students elaborate on or restructure their current knowledge.
◦ Provide students with a variety of information resources as well as the tools (technological and
conceptual) necessary to mediate learning.
◦ Make their own thinking processes explicit to learners and encourage students to do the same
through dialogue, writing, drawings, or other representations.
◦ Encourage students’ reflective and autonomous thinking in conjunction with the conditions
listed above.
◦ Employ a variety of assessment strategies to understand how students’ ideas are evolving and
then give feedback on the processes as well as the products of their thinking.
DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
◦ Scaffolding: Teachers and students make meaningful connections between what the teacher
knows and what the students know and need in order to help the students learn more.
◦ Three main characteristics
1.
Contingency Support: The teacher is constantly adjusting, differentiating, and tailoring responses to
the students.
2.
Fading: The teacher gradually withdraws support as the students’ understanding and skills deepen.
3.
Transferring Responsibility: Students assume more and more responsibility for their own learning
◦ Inquiry learning: Approach in which the teacher presents a puzzling situation and students
solve the problem by gathering data and testing their conclusions.
◦ formulate hypotheses to explain the event or solve the problem,
◦ collect data to test the hypotheses,
◦ draw conclusions, and
◦ reflect on the original problem and the thinking processes needed to solve it.
DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
◦ Problem-based learning: Students are confronted with a problem that launches their inquiry
as they collaborate to find solutions and learn valuable information and skills in the process.
◦ Designed to help students develop knowledge that is useful and flexible
◦ Cognitive apprenticeship : A relationship in which a less-experienced learner acquires
knowledge and skills under the guidance of an expert.
◦ Students observe an expert model the performance
◦ Students get support through coaching or tutoring
◦ Students receive scaffolding that gradually fades
◦ Students articulate their knowledge
◦ Students reflect on their progress
◦ Students explore new ways to apply what they are learning
DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
◦ Reciprocal teaching : Learning to apply the strategies of questioning, summarizing, predicting,
and clarifying; designed to help students understand and think deeply about what they read.
◦ Designed to help students understand and think deeply about what they read
◦ Strategies in Reading:
◦ Summarizing the content of a passage
◦ Asking a question about the central point
◦ Clarifying the difficult parts of the material
◦ Predicting what comes next
◦ Guidelines for effective reciprocal teaching:
◦ Shift gradually – Shift from teacher to student responsibility must be gradual
◦ Match demands to abilities – Difficult tasks and responsibility must match the abilities of each student
◦ Diagnose thinking – Student thinking should be observed
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
◦ Collaboration : A philosophy about how to relate to others—how to learn and work.
◦ Cooperation : Way of working with others to attain a shared goal.
◦ Cooperative learning: Situations in which elaboration, interpretation, explanation, and
argumentation are integral to the activity of the group and where learning is supported by
other individuals.
◦ Five elements that define true cooperative learning groups:
◦ Positive interdependence
◦ Promotive interaction
◦ Individual accountability
◦ Collaborative and social skills
◦ Group processing
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
◦ WHAT CAN GO WRONG: MISUSES OF GROUP LEARNING.
◦ Students often value the process or procedures over the learning. Speed and finishing early take
precedence over thoughtfulness and learning.
◦ Socializing and interpersonal relationships may take precedence over learning.
◦ Students may simply shift dependency from the teacher to the “expert” in the group; learning is
still passive, and what is learned can be wrong.
◦ Status differences may be increased rather than decreased. Some students learn to “loaf”
because the group progresses with or without their contributions. Others become even more
convinced that they are unable to understand without the support of the group.
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
Tasks for Cooperative Learning
1. Positive interdependence
◦ Members can attain their goals only if the others in the group do as well
2. Promotive interaction
◦ Members encourage each other’s efforts
3. Individual accountability
◦ Students are responsible for their own learning
4. Collaborative and social skills
◦ Giving constructive feedback, reaching consensus, and including other members
5. Group processing
◦ Members ensure the group is working effectively
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
Tasks for Cooperative Learning
Assigning Roles
◦ Possible Roles:
◦ Encourager
◦ Coach
◦ Checker
◦ Recorder
◦ Gate Keeper
◦ Taskmaster
◦ Can assign audience members listening roles
◦ Roles support learning, not ends in themselves
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION
Design for Cooperation
◦ Reciprocal Questioning: Students work in pairs or triads to ask and answer questions about lesson
material
◦ Jigsaw classroom: A learning process in which each student is part of a group and each group
member is given part of the material to be learned by the whole group. Students become “expert”
on their piece and then teach it to the others in their group.
◦ Constructive/Structured controversy: Students work in pairs within their four person cooperative
groups to research a particular controversy.
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Each pair researches the issue
They develop a pro and con position
They present their position and evidence
The pairs discuss the issue together
The pairs reverse positions
Total group forms a final report
DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN A DIGITAL
WORLD
Technology and Learning
◦ Virtual learning environments (VLE): A broad term that describes many ways of learning in virtual
or online systems.
◦ Learning management system (LMS): Systems that deliver e-learning, provide tools and learning
materials, keep records, administer assessments, and manage learning.
◦ Personal learning environment (PLE): Provides tools that support individualized learning in a
variety of contexts and situations.
◦ Personal learning network (PLN): Framework in which knowledge is constructed through online peer
interactions.
◦ Immersive virtual learning environment (IVLE): A simulation of a real-world environment that
immerses students in tasks like those required in a professional practicum.
◦ Massive multi-player online games (MMOG): Interactive gaming environments constructed in
virtual worlds where the learner assumes a character role, or avatar.
DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN A DIGITAL
WORLD
Developmentally Appropriate Computer Activities for Young Children
◦ Is digital media appropriate for preschool children?
◦ Hotly debated
◦ Potential danger: Visuals or sound effects could interrupt with the development of concepts
◦ Might make children better at multitasking but worse at deeper thought processes
◦ Students have to be media/digital literate
Computational thinking & Coding
◦ Computational thinking: The thought processes involved in formulating problems so you can
represent their solution steps and algorithms for computing.
◦ computational thinking is a skill that students should begin to develop in elementary school
◦ Media / Digital Literacy: Today-to be able to read, write, and communicate—children have to read
and write in many media, not just printed words.
DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN A DIGITAL
WORLD
◦ Flipped classroom—lessons, lectures, note taking, worksheets, direct teaching—is moved outside
class, and what usually happens at home—homework, projects, practice—happens in class under the
teacher’s supervision and support.
◦ Allows the individual student to learn at his or her own pace away from school, and transforms the classroom
into a more dynamic and interactive group learning space where time can be spent reviewing and applying
concepts studied at home, getting further teacher or peer explanation and scaffolding, and assessment with
feedback.
◦ Invention and creativity should be encouraged.
Tambalo, Lester John T.
BSBIO4YA-1
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY