2. PEOPLE OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM
oaks.nvg.org/jerome-bruner JeanPiaget.org
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Psychologist who observed children
Felt they were active learners who are motivated on their own to learn
Developed four cognitive stages of children
Jerome Bruner (1915- )
Psychologist and educator who proposed learning is an active process
Believes constructivist learners are participatory learners
Students should learn in a variety of ways and activities
Giambattista Vico
18th century philosopher and scientist
Known for coining the word “constructivist”
3. PEOPLE OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM CONT.
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
Educational psychologist who developed social cognition
Believed learning was influenced by social development
Proposed that children have a zone of proximal development which is the
difference between what the child has previously learned and the potential
that the child has from working with a more skilled person
Proponent of collaborative learning
Felt teachers should discover each child’s level of cognitive/social development
John Dewey (1859-1952 )
Educational psychologist, philosopher and activist who advocated child-
centered instruction
Believed education was a social process and school was a community
Began the Laboratory School which was to be viewed as an extension of
society where students have an active role
4. schuitema.co.za/blog
KEY POINTS OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand”-
Confucius
Students learn by doing and practicing
The learner forms, or constructs, the material taught
Students learn actively and create their own representations of
what they learned based on their past knowledges and experiences
There is not one true definition of anything because knowledge is
different for each individual
5. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE TEACHER
The teacher must offer a variety of activities and ways for students
to learn the material
According to Vygotsky teachers should “discover the level of each
child’s cognitive/social development and build or construct their
learning experiences from that point
Teachers should avoid a fact-driven curriculum and focus on large
ideas
In regards to technology, teachers should offer many different types
of technology for children to utilize in an assignment
For a research assignment students would use a computer, a powerpoint
software etc.
Teachers need to make classroom activities student-centered
6. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE STUDENT
Students should have a desire to explore
concepts and ideas
They must take initiative to discover new ways of
thinking and utilize their previous knowledge and
experiences to do so
They will use critical-thinking skills to create
their own individual understanding of a concept
They need to collaborate with other students
and work in groups to share ideas
They will use technology to explore ideas and
topics and use softwares to share their ideas and
perspectives
7. PERSONAL THOUGHTS
As a future math teacher, the main component of
constructivism that I agree with is doing and practicing,
students learn math best doing many practice problems.
Using ideas of constructivism is a great way for students
to learn material for the long term.
I like students to collaborate and learn in a creative way.
With math, constructivism does not fully apply because
there is set definitions and not as much room for
explorations but students can still apply math to a variety
of situations and learn to think of everyday things in a
mathematical way.
