1. Student-Centered &
Constructivist
Approaches to Learning
Dr. Jennifer Irwin
EDU 620: Module 7
Chapter 8

2. The Constructive Nature of
Human Perception
Take a look at the pictures on the
next slides.

3. What do you see?
Do you see an old woman or a young
woman?

4. How about now?
Do you see a woman or a man playing
the saxophone?

5. How did you do that?
Regardless of which picture you saw, you
were (hopefully) able to see one of them.
We are able to do this because we observe
bits and pieces of images and construct
meaningful wholes from what we see.

6. What is Constructivism?
Without looking at the text, see if you can fill
in the missing terms in this definition of
constructivism:
A theory that learners must individually
discover information, check it against old
information (______ _________), and
revise and transform rules and knowledge
as needed (_____________).

7. What is Constructivism?
Did you think of:
A theory that learners must individually
discover information, check it against old
information (prior knowledge), and revise
and transform rules and knowledge as
needed (adaptation).

8. Other names for Student-Centered
Learning
• Progressivism
• Active Learning
• Constructivism
• Experiential Education
• Problem-Solving Approach
• Project-Based Learning
• Inquiry-Based Projects
• Discovery Learning
• Cooperative Learning

9. Basic Principles of
Constructivism Again, fill in the blanks with
your own prior knowledge
• Teachers seek and value their students’ ______
of view.
• Classroom __________ challenge students’
suppositions.
• Teachers pose problems of emerging ________.
• Teachers build lessons around primary concepts
and “______” ideas.
• Teachers assess student learning in the ______
of daily teaching.

10. Basic Principles of
Constructivism
• Teachers seek and value their students’ points
of view.
• Classroom activities challenge students’
suppositions.
• Teachers pose problems of emerging
relevance.
• Teachers build lessons around primary concepts
and “big” ideas.
• Teachers assess student learning in the context
of daily teaching.

11. Historical Roots of
Constructivism
• John Dewey (father of
progressive education)
– Education depends on experience
• Jean Piaget
– We learn best when we
experience disequilibrium
• Lev Vygotsky
– Learning is a social process,
learning from others is
advantageous

12. Just for fun …

13. Constructivist Teaching
• Planning for Instruction
– Prior knowledge & experience
– Students’ motivations, interests, needs, & learning
styles
• The student “constructs” his/her own meaning
through experience
• Research-supported ideas: student-centered
learning  higher achievement & motivation

14. Constructivist Teaching (cont.)
• Learning is meaningful, relevant, and it
builds on prior knowledge
• Critical/Divergent thinking is valued (not
necessarily based on “correct” answers)
“Process” … is valued over… “Product”

15. Other Aspects of Constructivism
• Breadth v. Depth
• Importance of Prior Knowledge
• Schema Theory
• Top-Down v. Bottom-Up Processing

16. Breadth v. Depth
Sept. June
Sept. June
– “Coverage is the enemy of understanding”
• Howard Gardner
– Constructivist classrooms teach fewer topics but
teach them in great detail
– Waldorf & Montessori schools are like this

17. The Importance of Prior
Knowledge
• Connection of old knowledge to new
knowledge
New learning
Hooks/
Old learning

18. Schema Theory
• Schemata are mental networks of related
concepts that influence new learning
You can think of them as a web of ideas
or as a filing cabinet full of folders for
each concept you know.

19. Top-Down v. Bottom-Up
Processing
Big concept
Specific details
How do many teachers teach? Top-down or bottom-up?

20. Top-Down v. Bottom-Up
Processing
• Yes, many lessons are Bottom-Up oriented
(starting with a detailed skill or fact and then
building up to the big picture, application, or
relevance)
• Constructivist classrooms are Top-Down. A
teacher might present a challenge or problem
first, have students think of solutions, then lastly
give the answer or details.

21. What does Constructivism
look like in the classroom?
This is a great book to get you thinking about it. The chart
that follows is from Brooks and Brooks.
The Case for
Constructivist
Classrooms
Brooks and Brooks
1999, ASCD

22. Traditional v. Constructivist Classrooms
Traditional Classrooms Constructivist Classrooms
1. Curriculum is presented part to 1. Curriculum is presented whole to part
whole, with emphasis on basic skills. with emphasis on big concepts.
2. Strict adherence to fixed curriculum 2. Pursuit of student questions is highly
is highly valued. valued.
3. Curricular activities rely heavily on 3. Materials include primary sources and
textbooks and workbooks. manipulatives.
4. Students are viewed as "blank 4. Students are viewed as thinkers with
slates" onto which information is emerging theories about the world.
etched by the teacher.
5. Teachers generally behave in a 5. Teachers generally behave in an
didactic manner, disseminating interactive manner, mediating the
information to students. environment for students.
6. Teachers seek the correct answer 6. Teachers seek the students' points of
to validate student learning. view in order to understand students'
present conceptions for use in subsequent
lessons.
7. Assessment of student learning is 7. Assessment of student learning is
viewed as separate from teaching and interwoven with teaching and occurs
occurs almost entirely through testing. through teacher observations of students
at work and through students exhibitions
and portfolios.
8. Students primarily work alone. 8. Students primarily work in groups.

23. Can we be “constructivist”
all the time?
• Linda Darling-Hammond advocates using “both-and” teaching
instead of “either-or”
• A “balanced” approach
– Ex: Knowing when to use “direct instruction” and when to use
“discovery methods”
• Critics of constructivist methods (yes, there are some) claim that
– Subject matter is sacrificed
– Students have free reign

24. More thoughts from Linda Darling-Hammond’s
“Experience and Education: Implications for Teaching and
Schooling Today”
• The constructivist classroom is highly structured, but
improvisational
• The constructivist teacher has to attend to:
– Demands of subject matter
– Needs of students
• Difficult to implement constructivist teaching when under
constraints of curriculum, school system, & federal
legislation Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t try to be more student-centered!

25. This is a student:
This is a student in a constructivist
classroom:
Any questions?