Mini report2
- 1. MISTBusters! Mini-report #2 IST524: Dr. Su Team Roles Coordinator: Jan Clark Explorer A: Cord Bynum Recorder: Cynthia Sargent Explorer B: Michele Alaniz Elaborator: Alton Stevens
- 2. Constructivism A Guide for New Teachers: Practical Suggestions for the Classroom
- 3. Learning Theory Continuum Knowledge Acquisition Higher Level Thinking and Application Complex meaning-making Critical analysis Creative problem-solving Behaviorism Cognitivism Some Best Practices: ● Frequent feedback and reinforcement ● Link less desirable activities with more desirable activities ● Provide immediate reinforcers for close responses. Some Best Practices: ● Call the learners’ attention to the new learning ● Use scaffolding strategies ● Limit amount of info presented before an opportunity for practice Constructivism
- 4. Consider This . . .
- 5. Constructivism As a philosophy: Learning is a constantly evolving process that results from a learner’s interaction with the environment. That is to say, learning is context specific and learners make meaning from their own experiences. In the classroom: Learning is an active process; there is emphasis on “hands-on” learning, social collaboration, and self- directed learning. Tasks or problems given to students are authentic and prompt team-based inquiry or problem-solving.
- 6. Is constructivism a “research-based practice?” Meeting this criterion has become a requirement for decision-making regarding changes to classroom practices and lesson design. What the experts say: “Constructivism’s depiction of learning through active engagement and meaningful activity is generally corroborated by findings in neuroscience, anthropology, and education” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2011, p. 47).
- 7. More from the experts . . . “...Constructivism is considered the dominant educational theory; it has been embraced by nearly every educational reform initiative within the last two decades” (Karagiorgi & Symeou, 2005, as cited in Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 67). “Teaching methods that incorporate the use of communities of practice have been very effective” (Brown, 1992, as cited in Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 68).
- 8. From Theory to Classroom: Recognized Benefits of Constructivism ➢ Strong emphasis on student-centered learning; students are actively engaged in hands-on inquiry and other problem-solving activities that require higher-level thinking. ➢ Frequent social interaction between pupils expands knowledge base for all and promotes development of 21st century skills, preparing students for rapidly shifting environments and the demands of future job markets. ➢ Learning is a fluid process where one’s understanding of complex ideas and concepts is able to evolve, in light of new experiences and dialogue with others.
- 9. Potential Costs of Constructivism ➢ Students can sometimes flounder and outcomes can be poor ➢ Assessment can be difficult to create and it may be difficult to evaluate learning outcomes. ➢ The time needed to design constructivist-based activities, such as project- based learning, is significant and greater than “traditional” lessons. ○ There can also be hard costs associated with materials, field trips, adaptive e-learning pathways, and so forth. ➢ Often, the risks are high and a return on investment may not be realized even after a resource-intensive implementation of constructivist practices.
- 10. Our recommendations for your classroom & ID ➢ Find a balance between “sage on the stage” and “guide on the side” ○ Carefully evaluate the skills and capabilities of your learners to determine readiness for inquiry learning. ○ Do not forget the validated benefits of Behaviorism and Cognitivism; consider taking a “systematic eclecticism” approach (Ertmer & Newby, 2013, p. 62) to designing lessons. ○ Avoid pure discovery-learning in most lessons; plan to provide appropriate structure and guidance
- 11. Our recommendations for your classroom & ID ➢ Adopt constructivist-aligned classroom practices ○ Today’s learners have “hypertext minds” due to being digital natives. They prefer to learn by doing, being much more comfortable exploring than reading an owner’s manual. (Prensky, 2001, p. 6) ID aligned with this learner characteristic increases motivation and learner engagement ○ Structure the learning process to avoid the detrimental effect of multitasking on learning outcomes. (Gorlick, 2009)
- 12. References
Editor's Notes
- #3: Our audience is a group of preservice teachers. The setting is a college classroom; we are taking on the role of guest lecturers. The preservice teachers previously took a learning theory course early in their credential program, but we have been asked to review the main theories, with a focus on constructivism, to help the teachers use the theories practically to inform the lesson and unit designs they are creating for their student teaching assignment.
- #4: To help the new teachers understand or recall the first two theories, use these analogies: Behaviorism-mind is black box; Cognitivism-mind is a computer. Inform the audience that the focus of this presentation is on Constructivism and by the end they should be able to identify some best practices in the classroom for application of this theory. Also, at end of presentation, revisit the concept of an analogy for constructivism.
- #5: Behaviorism and cognitivism leave out the critical influence of a learner’s interaction with his/her environment. The mind as black box and mind as computer do not take into account that a learner is (consciously or unconsciously) evaluating what they think they know against what they experience in the world. These interactions, which can be “planted” by teachers (such as the demos shown in the video), not only spark students’ curiosity, but propel them to seek answers and engage in authentic meaning-making from these experiences. And it brings in the critical element of social collaboration.
- #9: The quality of the social interaction can be enhanced by providing students common experiences related to an inquiry or problem-solving activity. The chemistry teacher didn’t just ask his students “what do you know about pressure?.” He performed an intriguing demonstration of paper preventing water from falling out of a beaker. This common experience resulted in more meaningful discussions between students than just asking a question.
- #11: If the instructional goal and learning objectives of a lesson or unit involve complex tasks, higher-level thinking, or group problem-solving or inquiry, be sure your students have the skills and capabilities, or readiness, to engage in a constructivist-level lesson. Recall the video of the chemistry teacher; he wouldn’t use pure-discovery to have his students find out which elements are highly reactive! And constructivism probably isn’t best for students learning and practicing the principles of writing chemical formulas or balancing equations. It would be appropriate for students to discover which solutions from a provided set of beakers conduct electricity and which do not (using a safe conductivity sensor) and then collaborate with each other to identify patterns that would explain differences in conductivity results.
- #12: Direct instruction still has its place and cognitivism and behaviorism should continue to be learning theories that inform your ID. However, given the characteristics of today’s learner, constructivism should be applied in ID when appropriate.
- #13: Thank you for being an attentive and responsive audience!