Constructivism is a theory of learning that suggests learners construct knowledge by interacting with their environment and experiences. It is based on the idea that learners build understanding based on what they already know. Key contributors to constructivism include Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky, and Dewey. In a constructivist classroom, the teacher acts as a facilitator by seeking students' perspectives and allowing questions, while students work collaboratively and are actively engaged in learning through activities like projects.

1. CONSTRUCTIVIS
M
A. Hutton, A. Warren, J. Scarborough

2. Constructivism
Five Tenets of Constructivism
THE • How might students entry points be identified?
CONSTRUCTIV
E THEORY IS
• What is involved in structuring the experiences
BASED UPON
that will build bridges from present
understanding to new understanding?
THE IDEA
THAT THE • How might the selection of projects pose
LEARNER questions that relate to students' real-life
“CONSTRUCT experiences?
S” WHAT IT IS • What are the major concepts that students
THEY should understand?
UNDERSTAND. • How might we move from right/wrong to
monitoring students' understanding?

3. Key People: Jean Piaget
 Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who studied
human development in the 20s. Dewey introduced
Constructivism, but Piaget further developed it.
Piaget stated that children have a holistic
approach to learning, focusing on the various
channels such as reading, writing, listening, etc.
 Children go through four stages of learning:
 Birth to age 2: sensorimotor, or using both
sensory and motor skills to explore things
 Age 2 to age 7: preoperational, or using
symbols and responding to things as they
see them
 Age 7 to age 11: concrete operational, or
beginning to think logically
 Age 11 to age 14: formal operational, or
beginning to think about thinking with
abstract and systematic thinking.
 The learner is then advanced through three
mechanisms: assimilation, accommodation, and
equilibrium

4. Key People: Jerome Bruner
 Bruner was an American
psychologist who believed that
learning is an active process in which
the learner constructs new ideas or
concepts based on his current or
past knowledge; learn by
participation.
 He developed the framework for
cognition, in which students learn by
building on past
knowledge, changing and shaping
what they already know to fit the new
information.
 Bruner also encouraged spiral
curriculum and organization of
curriculum that allows students to
build on what they've already
learned.
 The Socratic Method was developed
by Bruner as well. Using
this, teachers engage students which
forces them to answer their own
questions by thinking
critically, discussing, and finding
ways to back up their findings.

5. Key People: Lev Vygotsky
 Lev Vygotsky was a Russian educational
psychologist who focused on child cognitive
development. He created many theories and
concepts on learning.
 Social Cognition learning is significantly
impacted by social development.
Learning takes place in a child's social
development and culture. Socializing
ultimately produces consciousness and
cognition.
 Zone of Proximal Development refers to
the difference between a child's ability to
solve problems and his potential to learn
from an older or more advanced
person, such as a teacher.
 Collaborative Learning puts emphasis on
close instruction between a student and a
teacher, or students together. This gives
support for group projects, so that
students can bounce ideas off of each
other to learn and understand better than
they can on their own.
 Scaffolding is helpful when learning takes
place in a social setting. New information
builds a scaffold for the student to work
with so that he can develop his own set
of knowledge based off of the information
that has been presented to him.

6. Key People: John Dewey
 John Dewey was not only an
American educational
psychologist, but a philosopher, and
activist for instruction centered
around the child. His beliefs were
similar to Vygotsky in that he thought
education should be a social
process.
 Dewey was a forward thinking man
whose ideas on education favored
well rounded, practical education.
 Progressive education was a
movement Dewey took great part
in. It emphasized teaching
children not facts, but educating
them physically, and socially as
well.
 Pragmatism was another
movement Dewey has been
linked to. It stressed that theories
are only valuable for their
practical applications.
 Many progressive American schools
were founded by John Dewey.

7. Classroom Implications on
Constructivism
What the Teacher Does What the Students Do
 Behave  Work in groups
interactively, mediating the
student’s interactions  Are encouraged to ask
 Seek the student's point of questions
view rather than the correct  Students become more
answer
actively engaged with
 Teachers in constructivist technology than in a normal
classrooms with technology
can let students learn classroom setting and can
different things at the same learn different things at the
time, increasing the zone of same time.
proximal development.

8. What We Think About Constructivism
As far as teaching in my own classroom, it's important as an English Language Arts
teacher to allow your students to ask questions and mention their own points of view.
Having a constructivist classroom increases their willingness to do so, therefore making
the lesson more effective and interesting for all. Constructivism also plays on parts of the
student's minds that may not have been used as effectively before. Not only does this
make for more interesting discussions, but it also opens up new areas of their mind that
can be used in future learning. I definitely plan to use constructivism in some way in my
classroom.
- A. Hutton
This is a perfect way of teaching in my I became interested in teaching because
own classroom, because it demands my I wanted to inspire thought within my
students' attention and they cannot help students. With some of the theories of
but learn something because they are constructivism I can get my students to
actively pursuing answers. actively participate and use their minds.
- J. Scarborough -A. Warren

9. Credits
 Shelly, Gary, Glenda Gunter, and Randolph Gunter.
Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the
Classroom. Sixth Edition. Boston: Course
Technology, 2010. 376-382. Print.
 "Constructivism Theorists." The San Francisco State
University.N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2011.
<http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects
/eitankaplan/pages/theorists.htm
 Photographs retrieved from Google:
 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html
 http://www.phillwebb.net/topics/human/Bruner/Bruner.
htm
 http://01.edu-
cdn.com/files/static/g/pcl_0001_0002_0_img0146.jpg
 http://dewey.pragmatism.org/dewey.gif