Constructivism - In Education - details

1. Constructivism
Suresh Babu G
Assistant Professor
CTE CPAS Paippad, Kottayam

2. Constructivism
 Constructivism is the name given to a set of
learning theories which fall somewhere between
cognitive and humanistic views.
 The term constructivism refers to the idea that
learners individually construct meanings and
knowledge (from experience) for themselves as
they learn.
 Constructivism emphasizes the
building of meaning and
knowledge that occurs in
people’s minds when they learn.

3. • Constructivist teaching is based on the belief
that learning occurs as learners are actively involved
in a process of meaning and knowledge construction
as opposed to passively receiving
information. Learners are the makers of meaning and
knowledge.
• Constructionist learning is when learners construct
mental models to understand the world around
them. Constructionist advocates student-centered,
discovery learning where students use information
they already know to acquire more knowledge.

4. Definition of Constructivism
Constructivism is 'an approach to learning that
holds that people actively construct or make
their own knowledge and that reality is
determined by the experiences of the learner'
(Elliott et al., 2000:256).

5. Principles of Constructivism
 Knowledge is socially constructed.
 Learning is an active process.
 Learning is an interpretive,
recursive, building process.
 Knowledge is not a fixed object.
 People learn to learn as they learn.
 Learning is done on reflective activities.
 Learning involves language.
 Learning is social activity.
 Learning is contextual.
 One need knowledge to learn.

6. Educational Implications of
Constructivism
 Curriculum : It promotes using curricula customized
to the students prior knowledge . Also emphasizes
hand on problem solving.
 Instruction : Focus on making connections between
facts and fostering new understanding in students .
Emphasizes teaching strategies to students response
and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and
predict information.
 Assessment : Elimination of grades and
standardized test instead assessment as a part of
learning process that students have major role in
judging their own progress.