Constructivism is a learning theory based on the idea that people actively construct their own knowledge through experiences and reflecting on those experiences. Key beliefs of constructivism include that people build their own understanding by actively experiencing and reflecting on new information as they work to integrate it with their prior knowledge, and that people learn best through collaborative activities like asking questions, exploring, and assessing their own knowledge. Major contributors to constructivism thinking include Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Lev Vygotsky, and Jerome Bruner from the 20th century. Critics argue that constructivism may not work as well with all populations or could lead to "group think".

1. CONSTRUCTIVIS
M
An Overview

2. BEFORE WE BEGIN
How do you learn?
How do you come to understand something
new?
Write on a piece of paper and add more as we
go along today. Keep the list running.

3. CONSTRUCTIVISM IS…
 A learning theory
 A theory of how people gain
knowledge
 Based on observation and scientific
study and supported by decades of
research

4. BELIEFS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
 People build or construct their own understanding, knowledge and
learning. (clay)
 People learn best by a repeated and active process of experience
and reflection.
 When people come across new information, they have to figure
out how and where it fits in or does not fit in with their existing
knowledge.
 People are active creators of their own knowledge. To do this,
they must ask questions, explore, and assess their own
knowledge.

5. CONSTRUCTIVISM IS NOT…
And….

6. AND IS CERTAINLY NOT…
Sheldon Teaching Penny Physics

7. WHAT ARE SOME OF IT’S
COMPONENTS?
 Construction
 Activity
 Reflection
 Collaboration
 Inquiry
 Emerging Quality

8. THE WHO’S WHO OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Early Thinkers

9. CONFUCIUS
“ Learning without
reflection is a
waste, reflection
without learning is
dangerous”.

10. SOCRATES
He asked
directed
questions that led
his students to
realize for
themselves the
weaknesses in
their thinking.

11. THE WHO’S WHO OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM
20th Century – Big Names

12. JEAN PIAGET
 Swiss-born professor of
psychology and sociology,
 How does knowledge
grow?
 Found humans learn
through the construction of
Progressively complex
logical structures, from
infancy through to
adulthood.
 His work is considered the
foundation of
Constructivism.

13. JOHN DEWEY
 American philosopher and
educator
 Rejected authoritarian
teaching techniques and
worked to change pedagogy
and curriculum.
 Dewey called for education
to be grounded in real
experience.
 Inquiry is a key part of
constructivist learning.

14. THE WHO’S WHO OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM
20th Century – Other Thinkers and Contributors (just to name a few!)

15. MARIA MONTESSORI
 First woman to attend medical
school in Italy and to achieve
Doctor of Medicine.
 Through her work with
handicapped and socially
deprived children, she
developed her educational
method and found it to be
applicable to all children.
 She has had an impact on the
field of education.
 Piaget received Montessori
training and even the head of
the Swiss Montessori Society
and was the director at a
modified Montessori school.

16. LEV VYGOTSKY
 A prominent Russian scholar
 Founded a psychological
laboratory in the Teacher
Training Institute.
 Vygotsky proposed a theory of
cognitive development that
emphasized the underlying
process of development.
 He examined the relationship
between the cognitive process
and the subject's social
activities,
 Vygotsky introduced the social
aspect of learning into
constructivism.

17. JEROME BRUNER
 An American psychologist
 Emphasized the student's
active role in the learning
process.
 Asserted that the learner
formulates hypotheses,
constructs new ideas, and
selects information that is
integrated into existing
knowledge and experience.
 Advocates teaching activities
that allow students to
discover and construct
knowledge.

18. WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
It works with more privileged populations.
Leads to "group think”.
There is not enough hard evidence that
methods aligned with constructivism work.

19. CLOSING
Your lists
Beliefs of Constructivism
 Questions
Thank You

20. REFERENCES
 Tracey, Diane H., and Lesley Mandel Morrow. Lenses on reading:
An introduction to theories and models. Guilford Publications,
2012.
 http://www.delsolschool.org/
 http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/ind
ex.html
 http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v01n03/1.html
 Images from Google Images