This document provides an overview of constructivism in education. It discusses key aspects of the theory including that learning is an active process where students construct knowledge based on their experiences. It outlines some of the main founders of constructivism like Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky and Dewey. It also describes how constructivism is applied in classroom settings with a focus on student-centered and collaborative learning.

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2. CONSTRUCTIVISM MAIN MENU
 The theory
 The founders
 The classroom

3. THE THEORY
 Match teaching style to student’s learning style
 Learning is an active process of knowledge construction
 Influenced by how one interacts with and interprets new ideas
 Process of making sense of the world
 Social interaction plays a role in learning
"If children work toward pleasing the
teacher instead of satisfying their natural
search for understanding, they will not
progress toward intellectual autonomy“
-Waite-Stupiansky

4. HOW THE THEORY WORKS
 Learning is not the result of development; learning is development
 Teachers should thus allow learners to raise their own questions
 Students then generate their own hypotheses and models as
possibilities
 Students can then test their ideas for viability

5. THE FOUNDERS
 Jean Piaget
 Jerome Bruner
 Lev Vygotsky
 John Dewey

6. JEAN PIAGET
Children build knowledge based on what they already know during cognitive stages:
Sensorimotor: senses and motor actions
Preoperational: symbols and images; pretend games
Concrete operational: logic; learn facts; understand other’s
point of view
Formal operational: abstract; hypothesis and cause/effect
relationships

7. JEROME BRUNER
 Learner constructs new ideas based on past knowledge
 Learning is an active process
 Students learn best through a variety of activities

8. LEV VYGOTSKY
 Social cognition: learning influenced by social development
 Zone of proximal development: difference between problem solving ability
learned and the potential if collaborated with an advanced peer or expert
 Collaborative learning: working together with different perspectives creates
deeper understanding

9. JOHN DEWEY
 Child centered instruction with school as a community
 School as an extension of society with children as active participants
 Created University Elementary School (Laboratory School) with student directed
learning
 Progressive education: mentally, physically and socially

10. THE CLASSROOM
 Shift from whole class to small group instruction
 Coach rather than lecture
 Keep students are more actively engaged
 More cooperative and less competitive
 Integration of both visual and verbal thinking
 Pose questions that relate to real-life experiences and the community

11. THE CLASSROOM CON’T
 Actively engage students in discovery learning with Web Quests and
scavenger hunts
 Create discussions using the Socratic method to analyze problems and
think critically
 Build on what students already know through anchored instruction
 Use educational video games for problem solving and to simulate real
life activities
 Have students take ownership of their own learning

12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Matthews, William J. “Constructivism in the Classroom: Epistemology, History, and
Empirical Evidence”. Teacher Education Quarterly, Vol. 30, Issue 3. 2002.
Education Full Text
Powell, Katherine C. and Kalina, Cody J. “Cognitive and Social Constructivism:
Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom”. Education. Vol. 130 Issue 2,
p241-250. 2009. Education Full Text
Shelly, Gary B., Gunter, Glenda A. and Gunter, Randolph E. Teachers Discovering
Computers. Boston: Cengage Learning. 2012. Print.
Yilmaz, Kaya. “Constructivism: Its Theoretical Underpinnings, Variations, and
Implications for Classroom Instruction”. Educational Horizons, Vol. 86, Issue 3.
2008. Education Full Text.