1. CONSTRUCTIVISM
BY: ALJ
Confucius say: “I hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I understand.”

2. CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY
• Learning is an active, constructive process.
• Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypothesis of the
environment.
• Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process.
• Constructivism assumes that all knowledge is constructed from the learner’s previous
knowledge, regardless of how they are taught.

3. KEY PEOPLE
• Jean Piaget ~ Psychologist who developed the cognitive learning theory.
• Jerome Bruner ~ American psychologist who proposed learning is an active process.
• Lev Vygotsky ~ Russian educational psychologist who developed social cognition theory.
• John Dewey ~ Educational psychologist, philosopher, and political activist who advocated
child-centered learning.

4. JEAN PIAGET (1896-1980)
• Beliefs: • 4 Cognitive Stages:
• Children think very differently • Sensorimotor (Birth-2yrs)- learning
from adults. takes place mostly through the
child’s senses and motor actions.
• Children are active learners and
don’t need motivation from adults • Preoperational (2yrs-6/7yrs)-
to learn. children use symbols and images to
learn.
• Children were constructing new
• Concrete Operational (6/7yrs-
knowledge as they moved 11/12yrs)- children begin to learn
through different cognitive stages, facts and think logically.
building on what they already
knew. • Formal Operational (11/12yrs-
adult)- children transition from
• Children interpret this knowledge concrete thinking to more abstract
differently as they progress thinking forming their own beliefs
through the stages. and morals.

5. JEROME BRUNER (1915- )
• Stresses that teachers should actively engage their students in their own learning.
• Emphasizes an integrated curriculum by using multiple hands on activities to learn a
subject.
• Agrees that technology driven education offers a better learning environment with the use
of computers, books, videos, and other digital media in the classroom.
• Theory provides a basis for instruction based on cognition, suggesting that an individual
progresses through different intellectual stages.
• Believed learning should be through discovery and the teachers roll should be to
encourage students through exploration and inquiry.

6. BRUNER CONT..
Discovery Learning Advantages Discovery Learning Disadvantages
• Encourages active engagement • Creation of cognitive overload
• Promotes motivation • Potential misconceptions
• Promotes autonomy, responsibility, • Teachers may fail to detect problems
independence and misconceptions
• The development of creativity and
problem solving skills
• A tailored learning experience

7. LEV VYGOTSKY (1896-1934)
• Developed what is known as the social cognition theory that assesses three major
themes.
• Social learning precedes development
• MKO (more knowledgeable other) is anyone with higher knowledge or better
understanding than the learner, this can even be a computer or someone younger.
• ZPD (zone of proximal development) is the distance between guided instruction and
solving the problem independently, this is where learning occurs according to
Vygotsky.

8. JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952)
• Huge advocate for child centered instruction.
• Began the University Elementary School in 1896, also known as Laboratory School.
• Part of the progressive education movement which focusses on education from all
aspects of the child’s life including physically, mentally, and socially.
• Linked to pragmatism, which states that theory is only valuable for its practical
application.
• Has been called, by some, the Father of American Education.

9. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS
What the student does: What the teacher does:
• Learn by doing • Encourage students to discover
concepts by themselves.
• Participate in learning process
• Provide a rich learning environment
• Create or construct their own
with available technology for
understanding of a topic.
exploration.
• Use technology such as
• Translate the information to reflect the
computers, movies, games, electronic
student’s current level of learning.
flash cards, paint programs, etc. to
learn about a subject. • Be able to use scaffolding techniques
to discover the level of each child’s
cognitive/social development.

10. MY VIEWS ON CONSTRUCTIVISM
• Important part of instruction but not necessarily the only mode of instruction I’d like to use. It
should be combined with elements of the other theories and used when appropriate for the
lesson.
Resources
• Integrating Technology and Digital Media In The Classroom 6th Ed.: Teachers
Discovering Computers, Shelly, Cashman, Gunter, and Gunter (2009).
• Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011, November). Discovery Learning (Bruner)
at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved November 22nd, 2011 from http://www.learning-
theories.com/discovery-learning-bruner.html
• Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011, November). Constructivism at Learning-
Theories.com. Retrieved November 22nd, 2011 from http://www.learning-
theories.com/constructivism.html
• Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011, November). Social Development Theory
(Vygotsky) at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved November 22nd, 2011 from
http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html