3. THE THEORY
Match teaching style to student’s learning style
Learning is an active process of knowledge construction
Influenced by how one interacts with and interprets new ideas
Process of making sense of the world
Social interaction plays a role in learning
"If children work toward pleasing the
teacher instead of satisfying their natural
search for understanding, they will not
progress toward intellectual autonomy“
-Waite-Stupiansky
4. HOW THE THEORY WORKS
Learning is not the result of development; learning is development
Teachers should thus allow learners to raise their own questions
Students then generate their own hypotheses and models as
possibilities
Students can then test their ideas for viability
6. JEAN PIAGET
Children build knowledge based on what they already know during cognitive stages:
Sensorimotor: senses and motor actions
Preoperational: symbols and images; pretend games
Concrete operational: logic; learn facts; understand other’s
point of view
Formal operational: abstract; hypothesis and cause/effect
relationships
7. JEROME BRUNER
Learner constructs new ideas based on past knowledge
Learning is an active process
Students learn best through a variety of activities
8. LEV VYGOTSKY
Social cognition: learning influenced by social development
Zone of proximal development: difference between problem solving ability
learned and the potential if collaborated with an advanced peer or expert
Collaborative learning: working together with different perspectives creates
deeper understanding
9. JOHN DEWEY
Child centered instruction with school as a community
School as an extension of society with children as active participants
Created University Elementary School (Laboratory School) with student directed
learning
Progressive education: mentally, physically and socially
10. THE CLASSROOM
Shift from whole class to small group instruction
Coach rather than lecture
Keep students are more actively engaged
More cooperative and less competitive
Integration of both visual and verbal thinking
Pose questions that relate to real-life experiences and the community
11. THE CLASSROOM CON’T
Actively engage students in discovery learning with Web Quests and
scavenger hunts
Create discussions using the Socratic method to analyze problems and
think critically
Build on what students already know through anchored instruction
Use educational video games for problem solving and to simulate real
life activities
Have students take ownership of their own learning
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Matthews, William J. “Constructivism in the Classroom: Epistemology, History, and
Empirical Evidence”. Teacher Education Quarterly, Vol. 30, Issue 3. 2002.
Education Full Text
Powell, Katherine C. and Kalina, Cody J. “Cognitive and Social Constructivism:
Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom”. Education. Vol. 130 Issue 2,
p241-250. 2009. Education Full Text
Shelly, Gary B., Gunter, Glenda A. and Gunter, Randolph E. Teachers Discovering
Computers. Boston: Cengage Learning. 2012. Print.
Yilmaz, Kaya. “Constructivism: Its Theoretical Underpinnings, Variations, and
Implications for Classroom Instruction”. Educational Horizons, Vol. 86, Issue 3.
2008. Education Full Text.