3. What is Constructivism?
“Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded
on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences,
we construct our own understanding of the world we
live in”(Brooks&Brooks)
It is “based on a type of learning in which the learner
forms, or construct, much of what she learns or
comprehends”( Cashman et al 390)
4. What does that mean?
Constructivism is the idea that learning doesn`t just
happen by the traditional methods of teachers
standing in front of the class and lecturing
5. • It is best described by Confucius’ quote: “I
hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do
and I understand.” (Cashman et al 390)
6. Constructivism posits general concepts of
individuality, such as:
Learners construct knowledge based off of past experiences .
Each learner has a unique interpretation and construction of
knowledge processes.
It also emphasizes active learning, such as:
Group Activities
Constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it
Debates
Reflecting on experience
Socialization
7. TEACHERS:
Instructors are meant to be facilitators, not teachers.
Facilitators provide an environment for the learner to construct
their own conclusions.
Instructors make use of group work
Instructors may utilize Socratic methods for student oriented
discussions.
Instructors might utilize the internet to research current events.
Instructors could assign collaborative research projects and
Powerpoint presentations.
How is it Used
8. How is it Used
STUDENT:
Learner should be active in classroom discussions.
They could reflect on the material with one another.
They could relate the lesson to a past experience.
They could utilize the internet to research connections
between the material and the current events.
9.
10. • The best known theory of cognitive developed
by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who
became interested in how children think and
construct their own knowledge. Based on his
studies and observations, Piaget theorized that
children proceed through four distinct stages
of cognitive development: the sensorimotor
stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete-
operational stage, and the formal-operational
stage.
11. Developmental Stages
• Sensory-motor - understands his environment
through the basic senses.
• During the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth
to about age 2, understanding is based on immediate
sensory experience and actions. Thought is very
practical but lacking in mental concepts or ideas
12. • Pre-operational - Thoughts more flexible, memory
and imagination begin to play a part in learning,
capable of more creativity
• In the preoperational stage, which spans the
preschool years (about ages 2 to 6), children’s
understanding becomes more conceptual. Thinking
involves mental concepts that are independent of
immediate experience, and language enables children
to think about unseen events, such as thoughts and
feelings. The young child’s reasoning is intuitive and
subjective.
13. • Concrete Operational – Can go beyond the
basic information given, but still dependent on
concrete material and examples to support
reasoning
• During the concrete-operational stage, from
about 7 to 11 years of age, children engage in
objective, logical mental processes that make
them more careful, systematic thinkers.
14. Formal Operational stage
• Around age 12 children attain the formal-operational
stage, when they can think about abstract ideas, such
as ethics and justice. They can also reason about
hypothetical possibilities and deduce new concepts.
15. • According to Piaget, children progress through
these four stages by applying their current
thinking processes to new experiences;
gradually, they modify these processes to
better accommodate reality. This occurs not
through direct instruction, but rather through
the child’s own mental activity and internal
motivation to understand.
16.
17. WHAT IS BEHAVIORISM?
This theory implies that the learner responds to
environmental stimuli without his/her mental
state being a factor in the learner’s behavior
Individuals learn to behave through conditioning
Two types of conditioning
-Operant
-Classical
18. IVAN PAVLOV
Researched the physiology of
digestion in mammals
This research led to his interest in
conditioned reflexes
Discovered classical conditioning
Pavlov’s dog is a well-known
experiment in which Pavlov used
classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov trained the dogs to
salivate when they heard a bell
after he associated the sound of
the bell with the dogs being fed
Awarded the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine in 1904
19. • One of the most widespread and important types of
learning is operant conditioning, which involves
increasing a behavior by following it with a reward, or
decreasing a behavior by following it with punishment.
• Unlike classical conditioning, in which the conditioned
and unconditioned stimuli are presented regardless of
what the learner does, operant conditioning requires
action on the part of the learner. The term operant
conditioning refers to the fact that the learner must
operate, or perform a certain behavior, before receiving a
reward or punishment.
20. OPERANT CONDITIONING
Learner is able to make a connection with
the consequences associated with his/her
behavior through positive and negative
reinforcement and punishment
Positive reinforcement- offering a rewarding
factor to increase a response
-Words of encouragement or physical
rewards
21. Negative reinforcement-relinquishing a negative
factor to increase a response
-A teen cleans his room after being nagged
by his mom.
Punishment- decreases the chances of a
negative behavior happening again
-A child is spanked by his/her parent after
behaving inappropriately
22. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Another form of learning is classical conditioning, in
which a reflexive or automatic response transfers from
one stimulus to another.
Pavlov`s Experiments
23. • Example, a person who has had painful experiences at the
dentist’s office may become fearful at just the sight of the
dentist’s office building. Fear, a natural response to a
painful stimulus, has transferred to a different stimulus,
the sight of a building. Most psychologists believe that
classical conditioning occurs when a person forms a
mental association between two stimuli, so that
encountering one stimulus makes the person think of the
other. People tend to form these mental associations
between events or stimuli that occur closely together in
space or time.
24. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS:
WHAT THE TEACHER DOES UNDER THIS THEORY
A teacher uses behaviorism to manage his/her
classroom.
Teacher could use operant conditioning to reward or
punish his/her students
-When a student does well on a test, the
teacher could use candy as an incentive to
continue do well on a test (positive
reinforcement)
-Whenever a student misbehaves, the teacher
may prevent the student from going outside
during recess (punishment)
25. MY CLASSROOM
Under this theory, a student learns what behaviors are or are not
appropriate
-A student received a bad behavior mark for talking during
class. The bad behavior mark (or punishment) will teach the
student that talking while the teacher is talking is not an
appropriate behavior.
A student could also be classically conditioned to behave a certain
way in a classroom
-If students realize that they always have pop quizzes when
their teacher is carrying an orange-colored folder, they will learn to
prepare for a pop quiz at the sight of the orange-colored folder,
even if there is not a pop quiz.
26. MY CLASSROOM
I would use this theory in my classroom for classroom
management purposes.
Providing positive reinforcements to reward appropriate
behavior, and punishments to demean inappropriate
behavior will allow students to become familiar with my
classroom expectations
-As positive reinforcement, I would reward my
students with “Kelly Dollars” when he/she get A’s on
tests or ask thought- provoking questions
-Kelly Dollars could be exchanged for bonus
points, candy, or a free homework grade (if a
student missed a homework assignment)
27. MY CLASSROOM
I would use this theory in my classroom for classroom
management purposes.
Providing positive reinforcements to reward appropriate
behavior, and punishments to demean inappropriate
behavior will allow students to become familiar with my
classroom expectations
-As positive reinforcement, I would reward my
students with “Kelly Dollars” when he/she get A’s on
tests or ask thought- provoking questions
-Kelly Dollars could be exchanged for bonus
points, candy, or a free homework grade (if a
student missed a homework assignment)
