Constructivism

Constructivism is the idea that, in their search for meaning, students construct their own view of the world based on personal experiences. Learners construct knowledge by interacting with their environment and with other people.

As students explore information they sort knowledge, meaning, and understanding into patterns that are meaningful to them. Each student has their own idea of the world and sets of rules that they use to make sense of their experiences. Consequently, learning is simply adjusting their idea of the world and their set of rules to accommodate new experiences. It follows that learning is individualized and each student may be unique.

For example, a constructivist approach may be most useful when:

• You will teach interactively.
• Students will use current knowledge to understand new situations.
• You have enough resources and time.

Your methods will more likely be:

• Case studies
• Problem solving
• Presenting different viewpoints
• Collaborative learning
• Discovery learning
• Simulations

Teaching strategies:

• Build on students' prior knowledge.
• Draw mind-maps or diagrams to connect the bits into a big picture.
• We've mentioned elsewhere the idea of forward planners: an overview of what the lesson or series of lessons will be.
• Look for students' conceptions of the world or sets of assumptions. You can use these as a basis to assimilate new ideas and information.
• Compare competing pictorial representation of the "big picture".
• Give people analogies and metaphors to make sense of the whole picture of what you are teaching.
• Ask each students to express what they have learned in their own picture, diagram, or outline.
• Do hands-on problem solving.
• Encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information.
• Use open-ended questions and discussion