This week I learned about constructivism and constructionism theories used in the classroom. Constructivism states that each individual activiely constructs his/her own meaning. Constructionism states that people learn best when they build on external artifacts or something they can share with others. My classroom theories are based on contsrtuctionism. My students use technology everyday to produce products on the computer and 3D models of their products, power point presentations, and tri-fold displays.
A concept that teachers could incorporate into their classroom is the ability to allow their ability to allow students to generate and test hypotheses. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) state "when students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes" (p 202). I feel that constructionism and generating and testing hypotheses go hand and hand. When students generate and test hypotheses they are in control of what they want to learn. This allows students to stay in equilibration.
A great activity that I use in my classroom is I have my students reverse engineer a product to see how the product functions and how they can improve it to make it better or easier to use. This allows the students to be engaged in problem solving, invention examine, experimental inquiry, and decision making. For the most part, the students have full control over all these aspects in their reverse engineering project with some guidance from myself.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M. & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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