Constructivism

What is meant by constructivism? The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she learns. 3 Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic consequences of this view are twofold;  ( @http://exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html )  Jean Piaget stated that “play” was very important part of children’s cognitive development. He said that knowledge can be internalized by two important mechanisms; accommodation and assimilation.  When individuals assimilate, they incorporate the new experience into an already existing framework without changing that framework.  According to the theory, accommodation is the process of reframing one's mental representation of the external world to fit new experiences. Accommodation can be understood as the mechanism by which failure leads to learning  Fitting into the constructivist framework, conversational theories of learning place the emphasis on the learner as an active “maker of meanings”. The role of the teacher is to enter into a dialogue with the learner, trying to understand the meaning to that learner of the material to be learned, and to help her or him to refine their understanding until it corresponds with that of the teacher. When translated to educational approaches, constructivism advocates “discovery learning” or the ”student-centered” approach to teaching. The approach sees students collaborating as partners or in groups, and teachers acting as “facilitators” rather than as “instructors.” Students are expected to come up with their own multiple solutions to problems and to ask fellow students for resorting to help from the teacher. ( @http://educationinjapan.wordpress.com/of-methods-philosophies/constructivism-student-centered-learning/   )   Many educators especially traditionalists have qualms with constructivism. Where does the approach have room for drill, practice or repetition for a grounding grasp of basic concepts? For traditionalists, constructivism seems to defy certain common sense principles like: These principles conflict with the spiral technique where teachers touch briefly on a new concept, don’t give students to practice it, but will present the concept again later with added information or a new twist. Laurie Rogers suggests in her article “The Laws of Learning” that the two seeming opposing approaches (constructivism and traditionalism) can be reconciled and proposes six laws of learning as follows: 1.Make sure the students are ready for the lesson. 2. Prepare an experience that they’ll enjoy. 3. Teach students the most efficient, most effective methods first. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">4. Make the lesson exciting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">5. Have students practice the lesson. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">6. Build on recently learned concepts. ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">@http://educationinjapan.wordpress.com/of-methods-philosophies/constructivism-student-centered-learning/ <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But the most significant bases of a **social** constructivist theory were laid down by <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">[|Vygotsky [1896-1934 (1962)]], in his theory of the "Zone of Proximal Development" (ZPD). "Proximal" simply means "next". He observed that when children were tested on tasks on their own, they rarely did as well as when they were working in collaboration with an adult. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It is common in constructing skills check-lists to have columns for "cannot yet do", "can do with help", and "can do alone". The ZPD is about "can do with help", not as a permanent state but as a stage towards being able to do something on your own. The key to "stretching" the learner is to know what is in that person's ZPD—what comes next, for them. []
 * Constructivism **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Problems with constructivist approaches to learning **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The Law of Primacy **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – people tend to draw on the skills they learned first. What is learnt and what the teachers teach must be correct the first time because unteaching is more difficult than teaching; Or …
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The Law of Exercise **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – practice is critical to learning - things most often repeated are best remembered … this is the way the mind works. A student learns by applying what he has been taught and every time he practises his learning is deepened and continues.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The Law of Recency **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – which requires repeated practice and drill as soon as possible because the longer we go without practicing something, the sooner we forget it.