This document summarizes the constructivist learning theory and its key figures. It discusses Jean Piaget's cognitive stages, Jerome Bruner's view of participatory learning, and Lev Vygotsky's social cognition theory including the zone of proximal development. The document outlines constructivism's view that learning is an active process where students construct their own understanding through experience. It provides implications for constructivist classrooms, including collaborative work, hands-on activities, and facilitating student-led discussions and conclusions with or without technology.

1. CONSTRUCTIVIS
M
By Ashley and Katie

2. Key People Associated With
Constructivism
 Jean Piaget – Cognitive stages/schemas
 Jerome Bruner – Constructive learners
are participatory learners
 Lev Vygotsky – Developed social
cognition; ZPD
 John Dewey – Advocate for child-centered
instruction; progressive education

3. Jean Piaget
 Psychologist who
developed the
cognitive learning
theory
 He felt that children
were active learners
and did not need
motivation from adults
to learn
 He developed four
cognitive stages
(sensory-motor,
pre-operational,
concrete operational
and formal

4. Lev Vygotsky
 Educational psychologist that was
interested in children’s cognitive
development
 He believed that learning was
influenced significantly by social
development
 He proposed that children have a
Zone of Proximal Development,
which is the difference between
the problem solving ability that a
child has learned and the potential
that the child can achieve from
collaboration with a more
advanced peer (collaborative
learning)

5. Key Points of Constructivism
 Theorists believe that students learn
by doing
 Students create or construct their own
understanding of a topic
 Learning is an active, constructive
process
 New information is linked to prior
knowledge
 Subjective (different for each person)
 Learning is an active, contextualized
process of constructing knowledge
rather than acquiring it

6. Classroom Implications for
constructivism – What the teacher
does
Without Technology
 Assigns group collaborative work
 Gives assignments that build upon students’
previous knowledge
 Teacher’s role is to facilitate discussion, not
lecture to the class
 Asks students questions that will lead them to
develop their own conclusions
 Modeling, coaching and scaffolding
 Assigns KWL charts and mind-mapping
 Assigns hands-on activities

7. Classroom Implications for constructivism-
What the teacher does
With Technology
 Create collaborative online projects
 Lesson formats that incorporate
technology and constructivist
methods, such as WebQuest
 Virtual field trips by using internet
connection and a projector
 Provide virtual simulations of real life
situations
 Create lessons that utilize databases,
spreadsheets, publishers, electronic
mail, and word processors.

8. Classroom Implications- What
students do under the
constructivism theory
With Technology Without Technology
 Work in collaborative  Work in collaborative
groups groups
 Have digital pen-pals  Do assignments that
lead them to their own
 Interactive conclusions, for
assignments example: science fair
projects.
 Creating graphs,
charts, and tables  Analyze, predict, and
justify their ideas
using computer
programs  Generate varying
hypotheses about
 Utilize and interact natural phenomena
with the SmartBoard

9. Our opinion about constructivism
for our own classrooms
 We would implement constructivist learning
based theories in our own classroom
 Group work and hands-on activities are
beneficial to many students
 Using critical thinking skills to develop their own
conclusions and justify their ideas enhances
their learning development

10. References
 Shelly, G.B. & Gunter, G.A. & Gunter, R.E. (2012). Teachers
Discovering Computers; Integrating Technology In a
Connected World. Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.
 (2007.) Index of Learning Theories and Models. Retrieved
from: www.learning-theories.com.
 [Untitled photograph of children working in groups] Retrieved
April 11, 2013:
http://becs126.edublogs.org/files/2009/04/classroomphoto.jp
g
 [Untitled photograph of Lev Vygotsky] Retrieved April 11,
2013: http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/lev-
vygotsky.html
 [Untitled photograph of Jean Piaget] Retrieved April 11, 2013:
http://nursingcrib.com/wp-content/uploads/jean-
piaget1.png?9d7bd4