Dr. Alice Christie's
Constructivist Learning Site |
|
|
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation
and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people
construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through
experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we
encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous
ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe
discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are
active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask
questions, explore, and assess what we know. In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them. |
|
|
![]() |
|
Articles
|
|