Constructivism learning theory

Ozer Gurpinar s3920119

Constructivism refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for
themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning-- -as he or
she learns. (George E.Hein, 1991). As constructivism is measured by the person
and what theyre able to articulate throughout the physical world based on social
interaction, experiences and processing these experiences, Constructivism in the
classroom can be referred as encouraging students to use active techniques
(experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to
reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is
changing. (Wnet education, 2004). As were able to reflect upon these experiences
we collate these ideas with previous experiences and create our own sense of
understand. Constructivism has been one that has been on educators minds and
to be applied in the classroom to benefit the development of learning for students.
In order to get students to develop themselves and have this sort of thinking, they
need to have prior knowledge to be able to construct meaning and build upon their
knowledge. Constructivism aims to provide students a way of thinking that is not
just remembering why the answer is that answer, but to have some meaning behind
the answer and have deep understanding and conversations with peers and
educators. It is said that Jean piaget believes that cognitive development is a
continual process that involves transitions and states (Rowland, Takeesha L, 2012).
Jean Piagets theory consists of four stages, these stages are sensorimotor,
preoperational, concreate operational stage and formal operational stage (Rowland,
Takeesha L, 2012). The sensorimotor period is comprised of primary circular and
secondary circular reactions and tertiary circular reactions. These stages are
comprised of the infant being able to identify perception and avoidance the moment
theyre able to crawl and theyre able to also curious about sound and function
(Rowland, Takeesha L, 2012). These examples on the development of an infant refer
back to how an individual is able to grow based on their surroundings and the world
they articulate, as the infant grows they begin to learn and grow themselves and
continue to develop and continuing throughout an individuals lifespan and to
progressively move towards intellectual maturity. It has also been stated that
Although intellectual maturity is a complex concept, Piaget was able to break this
concept down into practical stages that provide a comprehensive overview of how
cognitive development takes place. Lev Vygotsky who was a social scientist and
communist his theory was more based on the social experiences in which shapes
the way of thinking and interpreting of the world and that individual cognition
occurs in a social situation (James A Marillo 1995) Vygotskys version of
constructivism is described as a non-developmentry view of constructivism then, a
non-developmentry view of education whereby a childs intellectual personality and
socio-moral knowledge is constructed by students internalizing concepts through
self-discovery (James A Marillo 1995). Vygotskys view looking at the development

and the way individuals perceive the world in somewhat a social standpoint, a
different approach to Piaget, Both comprising to what is the theory has been
developed into.
The key elements of constructivism are addressed as learning to be an active
process that consists of constructing meaning and understanding and also
demonstrate hands on experience through physical actions. Its most effective by
being social with others and being able to decipher from previous knowledge and to
build on future learning and to also be motivated to help optimise learning. For
constructivism to be applied in the classroom it has to be set out in a way that will
help promote the idea of constructivism; it can be developed through the formation
of groups set in the classroom and students given a topic. The topic given needs to
be a topic in which as mentioned, one that students have prior knowledge, as
discussion and expansion of theories and ideas will be collated throughout the
lesson it is vital to ensure the correct topic is picked for all students to have an
optimum experience. As all students will be doing the same lesson it has been
stated Despite having the same learning experience, each individual will base their
learning on the understanding and meaning personal to them (Dublin 2016).
Showing the effectiveness of constructivism and how it can develop students on an
individual level by social means. A study that looks at critical thinking and the
application of constructivist theory for secondary students in Thailand focused on
trying to improve their critical thinking for students in Thailand who were weak in
different variations of thinking such as analytical, synthetic and creative thinking
(Chaipichit, 2015). It was conducted by doing two periods a week of a class that
was designed to help the student to develop their thinking skills by using the model
of constructivism. The results found that after the semester students improved as
the average score was higher in the post test results (Chaipichit, 2015).Indicates the
strength in which if used correctly and teachers are able to present students
correctly to be in an environment that helps the development of constructivism to
be taken place is beneficial for student.
Other strengths for the application of constructivism in the classroom is that it
moves away from the traditional approach of listening to the teacher and trying to
absorb the information given, it allows students to help discover something new to
better themselves and able to build upon what they already know. It helps with
being able to be part of a group and to develop their development in a social setting
and to challenge ideas. It also is an effective method of teaching with kids who need
special needs, as other forms of teaching is not effective for their learning it can be
utilized in the curriculum for them. The weaknesses in the classroom can be that as
mentioned students need prior knowledge and this cannot be as effective for some
students as it is for others, as students are also put in a group setting they might
not be able to work as effectively as other groups. Student may find it hard to
articulate the method of thinking and sharing ideas and have no motivating for selflearning and self-discovery. Teachers who try to implement this theory to their

class will find it hard if their class has a behaviour problem, as students need to be
independent and be mature enough to be working part of a group and discuss
things and to share ideas and lastly some student might need a lot of structure in
order to learn thus this application will not be effective for them.
As Constructivism focuses on the individual to construct their own understanding
and learning it is also effective to put it in a social setting such as groups in a
classroom to help optimise constructive learning. Students are able to grow and
develop based on their experiences in the world; application of this method of
teaching can help in trying to move towards intellectual maturity it can also have its
disadvantages if not applied in the correct setting in the classroom.

References:
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Chaipichit, Dudduan; Jantharajit, Nirat; Chookhampaeng, Sumalee,2015,

Development of Learning Management Model Based on Constructivist Theory and
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