CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

THEORY
 Prominent theorists in the Constructivist theory

Born: 9 August 1896 Born: 17 November 1896.

Died: 16 September 1980 Died: 11 June 1934.

A Swiss psychologist A Russian psychologist

Cognitive contributions Sociocultural contributions
 INTRODUCTION
• Knowledge is not passively received, but actively constructed, and reconstructed (Piaget,
neuroplasticity research).
• Constructed knowledge and meaning is closely tied to social, historical, and cultural contexts
(Vygotsky).
• What is accepted as the ‘truth’ in one context, may not be accepted as truth in another
context.
• Human beings are not passively influenced by the forces around them. They are active agents who
make meaning of their lives within and through their socio-cultural contexts.
 Constructive Perspective: Key concepts
There are four key concepts of the constructivism that play a role in understanding the way
knowledge is constructed namely;
1. Active agency
2. Social construction of knowledge
3. Metacognition
4. Tools of Cognition
 Constructivist principles of practice
1. Process as well as content
2. Active learning
3. Connecting familiar to unfamiliar
4. Guided discovery
5. Scaffolding
6. Group work and cooperative learning

5
 Main concepts of the constructivist approach
- Top-down processes,
- Cooperative learning,
- Discovery learning,
- Rhizomatic learning,
- Self-regulated learning
- Scaffolding
 Top-down processes,
• British psychologist Richard Gregory (1970) proposed that the process
of perception is constructive and is dependent upon top-down
processing in order to interpret new information.
• Top-down processing involves the brain 'sending down' stored
information to the sensory system as it receives information from the
stimulus, enabling a plausible hypothesis to be made without the need
to analyze every feature of the stimulus.
• Thus, top-down processing is using the contextual information of
things that we already know or have already experienced in
combination with our senses to perceive new information.
 Top-down processes,
• He argued that the use of sensory information alone is an
insufficient form of perceptual processing as the majority of
information (over 90%) is lost between the time new stimuli
reaches the eye and arrives to the brain, requiring the use of
contextual information from prior knowledge and experiences
to properly perceive information.
• In top-down processing, perceptions are interpreted from
individual frameworks that help us perceive and interpret
information.
• These frameworks, also known as schemas, are constructed
from past experiences, prior knowledge, emotions, and
expectations (Piaget, 1953).
 Cooperative learning
• Cooperative Learning is an instructional method in which students work in small groups
to accomplish a common learning goal under the guidance of the teacher.
• Cooperative learning strategies offer students the possibility to learn by applying
knowledge in an environment more similar to the one they will encounter in their future
work life.
• Teachers get the chance to work on core competencies and on students’ communication
and soft skills, which are valuable for students’ success in life and work, integrating them
in school curricula.
• Cooperative learning strategies are content-free structures that can be reused in different
school contexts and we are going to learn how to use some of them
 Discovery learning
• Discovery Learning was introduced by Jerome Bruner, and is a method of Inquiry-Based Instruction.
• This popular theory encourages learners to build on past experiences and knowledge, use their
intuition, imagination and creativity, and search for new information to discover facts, correlations and
new truths.
• Learning does not equal absorbing what was said or read, but actively seeking for answers and
solutions.
• The Discovery Learning Model integrates the following 5 principles:
• Principle 1: Problem Solving.
• Principle 2: Learner Management.
• Principle 3: Integrating and Connecting
• Principle 4: Information Analysis and Interpretation.
• Principle 5: Failure and Feedback.
 Rhizomatic learning
• Rhizomatic Learning can be defined as the process of extending, nurturing, cultivating, and catalyzing the
development of a living network, consisting of knowledgeable agents, both human and artificial, and material
objects/resources.
• A rhizome, sometimes called a creeping rootstalk, is a stem of a plant that sends out roots and shoots as it
spreads
• It is an image used by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari to describe the way that ideas are multiple,
interconnected and self-relicating. A rhizome has no beginning or end… like the learning process
• Rhizomatic learning recognises that learning is a complex process of sense-making to which each learner
brings their own context and has their own needs
• It overturns conventional notions of instructional pedagogy by positing that “the community is the
curriculum”; that learning is not designed around content but is instead a social process in which we learn with
and from each other (Cormier 2010).
• In short Rhizomatic learning is messy unbounded and it doesn’t sit comfortably within current structures of
formal education
 Self-regulated learning
• Self-regulated learning refers to one’s ability to understand and control one’s
learning environment. Self-regulation abilities include goal setting, self-
monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement.
• Effective learners are self-regulating, analysing task requirements, setting
productive goals, and selecting, adapting or inventing strategies to achieve their
objectives.
• These learners also monitor progress as they work thorough the task, managing
intrusive emotions and waning motivation as well as adjusting strategies
processed to foster success.
• These are the students who ask questions, take notes, and allocate their time and
their resources in ways that help them to be in charge of their own learning
 Scaffolding
• The theorist responsible for Scaffolding is Lev Vygotsky.
• Vygotsky's major premise was that a person's internal
processes have their roots in interactions with others.
• Children watch the interactions between the people in their
world, interact with others themselves, and use these
interactions to further their own development.
• The increasing importance of Vygotsky's thinking is due
largely to his recognition that developmental
accomplishments depend as much on the influence of social
and other environments as they do on sheer maturation.
 Scaffolding
• Vygotsky formulated three particularly important ideas about cognitive
development:
• The concepts of internalization,
• The zone of proximal development (ZPD), and
• Scaffolding
 Scaffolding
• Scaffolding;
• Refers to a variety of instructional techniques used to guide students progressively
toward substantial understanding and ultimately, greater independence in the
learning process.
• The role of teachers and others in supporting the learners’ development and
providing support structures to get to that next stage or level.
• Many psychologists have used and expanded on Vygotsky's ideas to better
understand how children learn and think
• Research has suggested that children learn primarily in two different ways,
through direct instruction and through mediated learning experiences.
 Scaffolding
• Direct instruction is the teaching situation in which a teacher, parent, or other
authority imparts knowledge to a child by teaching it. When a teacher says, "Today, we'll
be learning about Sociology," he or she is embarking on direct instruction.
• A mediated learning experience (MLE) is one in which an adult or older child
indirectly helps a child learn by explaining events in the environment, but without directly
teaching some lesson. MLE is a form of scaffolding-competent assistance or support,
usually provided by a parent or teacher.
• Scaffolding supports cognitive, socioemotional, and behavioural forms of development.
For example, when an adult explains a phenomenon, the adult serves as an expert model
for the child.
• Feuerstein believes MLE is the stronger of the two kinds of learning for the development of
advanced cognitive skills. Teachers can create MLEs for students by explaining ideas or
events, while allowing the students to see for themselves the connections among the ideas
and their logical conclusions.
 Implications for teachers
• Vygotsky's theory has at least three key implications for instruction and assessment:

Serve as a role model for students

Build rather than hinder language
Make sure you neither expect too much nor too little
 Promoting Constructivist Learning Theory
The National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 aims to produce learners that are able to:

• Identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking;
• Work effectively as individuals and with others as members of a team;
• Organise and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively;
• Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information;
• Communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes;
• Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment
and the health of others; and
• Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem
solving contexts do not exist in isolation.