Constructivist Strategies 4 Teaching Science

OVERVIEW
There are numerous opportunities in a science classroom for individual as well as social construction of knowledge.The individual construction of knowledge involves transforming, organising and reorganizing the previous knowledge.New knowledge should always be linked to the previous knowledge which can be facilitated by using strategies like concept maps as they help in the individual construction of knowledge.Individual explorations and discovery also help in the individual construction of knowlege.

Knowledge may also be constructed with the help of social interactions and experiences.In a classroom, strategies like co operative learning,guided discovery and problem solving help in the social construction of knowledge.

This project aims at exploring the opportunities of individual and social construction of knowledge in science classrooms.This project is specifically aimed for teacher educators involved in the teaching of science and school science teachers.

AIMS

 * To sensitize the science teachers to the constructivist approaches for teaching science.
 * To explain some strategies for applying the constrivist approaches in the classroom.
 * To initiate a discussion platform wherein the teachers can share their own experiences.

OBJECTIVES
You will be able to:
 * 1) Describe the main features of :
 * 2) *Individual Constructivism
 * 3) *Social Constructivism
 * 4) Give examples of individual as well as social constructivism.
 * 5) Briefly explain the advantages of using the constructivist approaches in the science classrooms.
 * 6) Describe the following strategies for applying the constructivist approaches in the science classrooms:
 * 7) *Concept Mapping
 * 8) *Cooperative learning
 * 9) *Guided Discovery
 * 10) *Problem Solving
 * 11) Give examples of each of the strategies listed in objective 4.
 * 12) giving in- service teachers training sessions on using constructivist appproaches.