An overview of the theory and practice of Constructivist-based learning.

1. Robin E. Ricket
“Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me
and I will understand” (Confucius)

2. Overview of Constructivist Principles
 Constructivism: Describes how people create meaning from the world through a
series of constructs. Constructs are the filters we place over our realities to
change our reality from chaos to order.
 Constructivism: Learning process which allows students to experience an
environment first-hand, thereby, giving the student reliable, trustworthy
knowledge. The student acts upon the environment to both acquire and test
new knowledge.
 Common terms associated with Constructivist principles include:
Discovery Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Experiential and
Inquiry-Based Teaching/Learning
Introduction
Discussion Point: Provide examples of PBL in familiar
settings?

3. Learning Objectives
 Define Constructivism
 Describe the knowledge construction process
 Select the most appropriate learning (theory) intervention,
given a series of hypothetical knowledge gaps.
 Discuss if Constructivism is compatible with Behaviorism and
Cognitive learning theories.

4. History of Learning Theories

5. Review of Behaviorist Principles
 Behaviorism: Worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive,
responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e.
tabula rasa) and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or
negative reinforcement.
 Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the
probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again.
 In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood
that the antecedent behavior will happen again.

6. Thorndike's Theories
 law of effect: Responses to a situation which are followed by a
rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened and become habitual
responses to that situation.
 law of readiness: A series of responses can be chained together to
satisfy some goal which will result in annoyance if blocked.
 law of exercise: Connections become strengthened with practice and
weakened when practice is discontinued.
 Identical Elements Theory: The theory suggests that transfer of learning
depends upon the presence of identical elements in the original and
new learning situations; i.e., transfer is always specific, never general.

7. Robert Mager (Criterion Referenced Instruction)
1) Performance: An objective always says what a learner is expected to be able to do;
the objective sometimes describes the product or the result of the doing.
2) Conditions: An objective always describes the important conditions (if any) under
which the performance is to occur.
3) Criterion: Wherever possible, an objective describes the criterion of acceptable
performance by describing how well the learner must perform in order to be considered
acceptable.
“If it’s worth teaching, it ought to be tested”
Three parts to properly written instructional objective:

8. Review of Cognitive Learning Theory
 What is Cognitive Learning Theory?
 Examines the mental processes influenced by
both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, which
eventually bring about learning in an individual.
 Effective cognitive processes make
learning easier
 Ineffective cognitive processes make
learning more difficult

9. Core Tenets of Cognitive Learning Theory 1
Content Chunking (Miller)
Cognitive Maps (Tolman)
 Learning can occur w/o a change in behavior
 Learning can occur without reinforcement (Tolman)
 Learning results in an organized body of information
(Schema)

10. Core Tenets of Cognitive Learning Theory 2
Gestalt Psychology
 Perception is often different from reality. (illusions)
 The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
 The organism structures and organizes experience
 The organism is predisposed to organize experience in particular ways.
 Problem-solving involves restructuring and insight.
Eureka! A Giraffe walking by a
window!

11. Social Learning Theory
Intrinsic Reinforcement
Bandura noted that external, environmental reinforcement was not the only
factor to influence learning and behavior. He described intrinsic reinforcement as
a form of internal reward, such as pride, satisfaction, and a sense of
accomplishment.
Learning does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior
While behaviorists believed that learning led to a permanent change in behavior,
observational learning demonstrates that people can learn new information
without demonstrating new behaviors.

12. Origins of Constructivist Theories (Discovery Learning)
Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Jerome
Brunner
Inquiry Based Instruction
Problem Based Learning
J. Brunner

13.  Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts
based upon their current/past knowledge.
 Learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes
decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure provides
meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond
the information given".
 Instructor translates information to be learned into a format appropriate to the
learner's current state of understanding.
 Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually
builds upon what they have already learned.
 Instruction should address four major aspects: (1) predisposition towards learning,
(2) the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most
readily grasped by the learner, (3) the most effective sequences in which to present
material, and (4) the nature and pacing of rewards and punishments.
J. Brunner and Constructivist Learning Theory

14. “To instruct someone... is not a matter of getting him to commit results to
mind. Rather, it is to teach him to participate in the process that makes possible
the establishment of knowledge. We teach a subject not to produce little living
libraries on that subject, but rather to get a student to think mathematically for
himself, to consider matters as an historian does, to take part in the process of
knowledge-getting. Knowing is a process not a product.”
Brunner’s Shift from Cognitive to Constructivist
Learning Theory
In your own words, explain what Brunner was saying?
Provide an example where knowledge construction is more appropriate
learning intervention than a standard Behaviorist approach?

15. Situativity
Situativity: The idea that knowledge is situated through
experience.
Two Distinct Themes:
1. “School" Context: Arises from research in psychology and
education. Focused on how people learn in school
2. “Anthropological“ Context: Focuses on communities, and treats
learning as a function of being part of a community
Situativity theorists examine not only how learning occurs, but also
how identity its constructed from social interactions. Situativity
marries the epistemology of social constructivism with blueprints for
action.
The implications for education are articulated in the idea of cognitive
apprenticeships, which aim to "enculturate students into authentic

16. Cognitivists V Constructivists
Kirschner, Sweller and
Clark
Hmelo-Silver, Duncan and Chinn
Claim:
PBL, IL, Discovery
Learning are less effective
due to the cognitive
loading placed on novice
students
“This is completely in line with our claim that the
Epistemology of a discipline should not be confused
with the pedagogy for teaching or learning it.”
Counter-Claim:
PBL, IL, should not be
conflated with Discovery
Learning because the former
two employ scaffolding and
other cognitive pedagogical
strategies
“We argue that IL and PBL approaches involve the
learner, with appropriate scaffolding in the practices
and conceptualizations of the discipline and in this way
promote the construction of knowledge we recognize
as learning”

17. Summary
 Define Constructivism?
 Describe the knowledge construction process?
 Select the most appropriate learning (theory) intervention,
given a series of hypothetical knowledge gaps.
 Discuss if Constructivism is compatible with Behaviorism and
Cognitive learning theories.
It’s time to play the Cognitive Pictographic Association Game!

18. References
Hmelo-Silver, C., Duncan, R., & Chinn, C. (2007). Scaffolding and
Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to
Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 99-107.
Retrieved January 8, 2016, from
http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/hmelo_ep07.pdf
Mager, R. (1997). Making instruction work, or, Skillbloomers: A step-by-step
guide to designing and developing instruction that works (2nd ed.). Atlanta,
GA: Center for Effective Performance.