Constructivism

CONSTRUCTIVISM

You may like to perform the following activity.

Activity

Define a bottle. Please hold the bottle in your hand and define it again. Identify the differences between your first definition and the second one. The first one is an expression of learnt knowledge and the second one is the knowledge of your own experience. This experiential knowledge is knowledge construction.

Activity

"Knowledge is only perception". Socrates (470-399 B.C.)

Socrates liked to work with students. His approach essentially consisted of leading them through a series of questions in order to promote critical thinking. On one occasion, the philosopher purportedly led a group of students to a difficult conclusion through his Socratic method. Socrates then pointed out that, since he had reported no facts, the students must have known the conclusion all along. Socrates is not generally associated with constructivist philosophy. Nonetheless, this anecdote highlights the fact that discussions which link epistemology and learning have been taking place for thousands of years. From the perspective of psychology, epistemology considers the genesis and the nature of knowledge and includes learning (Ernest, 1995). Knowledge, its nature and how we come to know, are essential considerations for constructivists. Von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as a "theory of knowledge with roots in philosophy, psychology and cybernetics" (p.162). In the constructivist perspective, knowledge is constructed by the individual through his interactions with his environment and the experience which they got in daily life . How we perceive knowledge and the process of coming to know provides the basis for educational practice. If we believe that learners passively receive information then priority in instruction will be on knowledge transmission. If, on the other hand, we believe that learners actively construct knowledge in their attempts to make sense of their world, then learning will likely emphasize the development of meaning and understanding. Constructivists generally claim that knowledge is not discovered and that the ideas teachers teach do not correspond to an objective reality. While the preceding paragraphs provide a seemingly simple explanation of constructivism and its relation to educational practice, the pages in this site will illustrate that the link between the philosophy, on one hand, and educational practice, on the other.

Reading

Below is the site of a Constructivist notes of lesson as an example. You may like to visit the site or read the book listed below.

Designing Constructivist Lesson plan.

ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಿಕೆ ಅನುಕೂಲಿಸುವುದು:ಎರಡು ಆಯಾಮಗಳು

Activity

Read the chapters one and two from the National Curriculum Framework and answer the following: Describe constructivist pedagogy. How does a constructivist teacher teach? [1]Chapter 2 : NCF - 2005 [2]Click here to read the Kannada version of NCF 2005

You may like to see these videos on

1. An Introduction to Constructivism[3]
2. The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature[4]
3. Instruction for developing schemas[5]
4. Constructivist learning event[6]
5. Naturalistic or Constructivist Inquiry[7]