Week 7 - Constructivist views of learning Flashcards
3 types of Constructivism and their relevant theorists
Individual Constructivism - Piaget
Social Constructivism - Vygotsky
Social Constructism
Explain Constructivism
Constructivist views offer an explanation of knowledge and how human beings learn.
The view is that humans build their own knowledge by making meaning of the world. They believe that we test ideas by using what we already know and integrate it with new knowledge.
Define schema:
Mental structures that an individual uses to organise knowledge and guide cognitive processes and behaviour.
As we grow older, the more schemas we have
Define and/or provide an example of assimilation:
When we modify or change new information to fit into our schemas (what we already know).
A child sees a new type of dog that they’ve never seen before and immediately points to the animal and says, “Dog!”
Define and/or provide an example of accommodation:
Occurs when we change our schema to accommodate new information.
Name of type of dog.
Define equilibrium (week 7)
Balance between individuals’ mental schemata, or frameworks, and their environment.
Define disequilibrium (week 7)
Instability in an individual’s cognitive, emotional, or psychological state.
Define the Zone of Proximal development:
The zone of proximal development refers to the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can achieve with help.
Individual Constructivism (Piaget) explained
- Individual
- Schemas
Individual Constructivist perspectives hold the view that individuals build their own knowledge and beliefs as they explore their environment.
- Piaget’s considered an individual constructivist as he was interested in understanding how meaning was constructed by people
- Piaget proposed a sequence of cognitive stages that he believed all humans passed through
He argued that all species inherit two basic tendencies: Organisation and Adaptation
- Piaget believed that knowledge is organised in our mind in the form of schemas.
○ Schemas are mental representations of everything we experience in our world.
○ E.g. Clown Scheme: Red nose, fuzzy hair, big feet, funny outfit etc.
○ As we grow and get older, the more schemas we have
We either add to these existing schemas, called Assimilation or we make changes to existing schemas that aren’t entirely accurate by replacing them with more accurate ones, called Accommodation.
Radical Constructivism (branch of individual constructivism)
They believe there is no one true reality in the world, only individual’s beliefs and perceptions.
It suggests we cannot really ‘know’ the reality of others.
E.g. How can we be sure that we all see the sky in the same way
Extreme because it suggests all realities are equal
E.g. This means a student is allowed to believe stealing is acceptable because that may be their reality. They may come from a home environment where they see stealing is okay and how can we question their reality.
This poses an issue for teachers who have a responsibility for modelling core values such as honesty, integrity and social justice, therefore one can argue that not all beliefs are necessarily equal.
Social Constructivism
- Knowledge through social interaction and transmission of cultural values from family and society
- Dialectical relationship between individual and persons around him/her (both learn off one another)
- Ties in with Vygotsky’s ZPD concept (Zone of Proximal Development).
§ Arguing students who aren’t able to learn something on their own may be able to learn it with the help of a adult/teacher or expert peer. That gap between where the student is currently and where they could potentially be with help is known as the ZPD.
Vygotsky believed _____, _____ and _____ had an influence on learning and development
(Constructivism)
- Social interaction
- Cultural tools
- Activity
Provide one example of a constructivist-based teaching strategy:
IBL
IBL - Learners pose own questions; seek answers via research and direct observation.
