Constructivism is a theory of learning that argues humans generate knowledge through interactions between their experiences and ideas. There are two views: individual constructivism focuses on internal knowledge construction, while social constructivism sees knowledge as socially constructed initially and shared. Key characteristics are that learners actively construct understanding, new learning builds on prior knowledge, social interaction facilitates learning, and meaningful learning occurs through authentic tasks. Concepts are organized as feature lists, prototypes, or exemplars, and are best taught with examples, definitions, and opportunities to identify instances. Facilitating constructivist learning involves focusing on key ideas in-depth, providing varied examples and hands-on activities, and relating topics to real-life.

1. Constructivism:
Knowledge Construction /
Concept Learning

2. “ Teaching is not about filling up the pail, it is
about lighting a fire”
Constructivism: focuses on knowledge
construction .It is a theory of knowledge that
argues that humans generate knowledge and
meaning from an interaction between their
experiences and their ideas

3. 2 views of constructivism
• Individual constructivism
• Social constructivism

4. • Individual
constructivism:
also called
cognitive
constructivism.
emphasizes
individual,
internal
construction of
knowledge

5. • Social
constructivism:
knowledge exist
in a social
context and is
initially shared
with others
instead of being
represented
solely in the
mind of an
individual

6. Characteristics of constructivism
1. Learners construct understanding
2. New learning depends on current
understanding
3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction
4. Meaningful learning occurs within
authentic learning tasks.

7. Organizing knowledge
Concepts: a concept is a way of grouping or
categorizing objects or events in our mind.
• Concepts as feature lists –learning a concept
involves learning specific features that characterize
positive instance of the concept
a. Defining feature- characteristic present in ALL
instances
b. correlational feature-present in many positive
instances but not essential for concept membership

8. • Concepts as prototypes – prototype is an idea
or visual image of a “typical example. It is
usually formed based on the positive
instances that learners encounter most often.
• Concepts as exemplars – exemplars represent
a variety of examples. It allows learners to
know that an example under a concept may
have variability

9. • Making concept-learning effective
a) Provide a clear definition of the concept
b) Make the defining features very concrete and
prominent
c) Give a variety of positive instances
d) Give negative instances
e) Cite a “best example” or a prototype
f) Provide opportunity for learners to identify
positive and negative instances
g) Ask learners to think of their own example of
the concept
h) Point out how concepts can be related to each
other

10. • Schemas and scripts
-schema is an organized body of knowledge
about something
-script is a schema that includes a series of
predictable events about a specific activity.

11. Applying constructivism in facilitating
learning
• Aim to make learners understand a few key ideas in
an in-depth manner, rather than taking up so many
topics superficially.
• Give varied examples
• Provide opportunities for experimentation
• Provide lots of opportunities for quality interaction
• Have lots of hands-on activities
• Relate your topic to real life situations
• Do not depend on the explanation method all the
time.