Learning Theories and

Instructional Design (EDLTI:303)

Unit III: Constructivism
Yubaraj Bhattarai
April 16, 2023 Sunday
Week 6
 What is Constructivism?

Constructivism is first of all a theory of

learning based on the idea that knowledge is
constructed by the knower based on mental activity.
Learners are considered to be active organisms
seeking meaning.
Constructivism is founded on the premise that,
by reflecting on our experiences,
 we construct our own understanding of the
world consciously we live in.
Each of us generates our own "rules" and
"mental models," which we use to make sense of
our experiences.
What are the principles of
constructivism?
1) Knowledge is constructed, rather than innate,
or passively absorbed.
2) Learning is an active process.
3) All knowledge is socially constructed
4) All knowledge is personal
5) Learning exists in the mind.
Key features of Constructivism
Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in
negotiation with the teacher or system.
Teachers serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches,
tutors and facilitators.
The student plays a central role in mediating and
controlling learning.
Knowledge construction and not reproduction is
emphasized
Problem-solving, higher-order thinking skills and
deep understanding are emphasized.
Collaborative and cooperative learning are favored
in order to expose the learner to alternative
viewpoints.
Scaffolding is facilitated to help students perform
just beyond the limits of their ability.
 Key figures of Constructivism
Lev Semyonovich
Vygotsky(1896-1943)
Jean Piaget(1896-1980)
John Dewey(1859-1952)
Jerome Seymour Bruner(1915-
2016)
What are the three main types of
constructivism?

Three broad categories:

(i) Cognitive constructivism based on the work
of Jean Piaget,
(ii) Social constructivism based on the work of 
Lev Vygotsky,
(iii) Radical constructivism.
Cognitive constructivism states knowledge is
something that is actively constructed by
learners based on their existing cognitive
structures.
Therefore, learning is relative to their stage of
cognitive development.
• Cognitivist teaching methods aim to assist students
in assimilating new information to existing
knowledge, and
• Enabling them to make the appropriate
modifications to their existing intellectual
framework to accommodate that information.
• According to social constructivism learning is a
collaborative process
• Knowledge develops from individuals' interactions
with their culture and society.
• Social constructivism was developed by Lev Vygotsky
 (1978, p. 57) who suggested that every function in the
child's cultural development appears twice: first, on
the social level and, later on, on the individual level;
first, between people (interpsychological) and then
inside the child (intrapsychological).
• The notion of radical constructivism was developed by
Ernst von Glasersfeld (1974)
• states that all knowledge is constructed rather than
perceived through senses.
• Learners construct new knowledge on the foundations
of their existing knowledge. However, radical
constructivism states that the knowledge individuals
create tells us nothing about reality, and only helps us
to function in your environment.
• Thus, knowledge is invented not discovered
• The humanly constructed reality is all the time
being modified and interacting to fit ontological
reality, although it can never give a ‘true picture’ of
it. (Ernest, 1994, p. 8)
Constructivism on behalf of Piaget
• Piaget's theory of constructivism argues that people produce
knowledge and form meaning based upon their experiences.
• Piaget's theory covered learning theories, teaching methods,
and education reform.
• Two of the key components which create the construction
of an individual's new knowledge are accommodation and
assimilation.
Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new
experiences into the old experiences.
This causes the individual to develop new outlooks,
rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate
what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions.
Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the
world and new experiences into the mental capacity
already present.
Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the
world operates.
When things do not operate within that context, they
must accommodate and reframing the expectations with
the outcomes.
Key concepts of Piaget’s theory
Four Stages of Cognitive Development
1. Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
2. Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
3. Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
4. Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up
The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to
2 years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
• The infant knows the world through their movements and
sensations
• Children learn about the world through basic actions such
as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
• Infants learn that things continue to exist even though
they cannot be seen (object permanence)
• They are separate beings from the people and objects
around them
• They realize that their actions can cause things to happen
in the world around them
Piaget believed that developing 
object permanence or object constancy, the
understanding that objects continue to
exist even when they cannot be seen, was
an important element at this point of
development.
The Pre-operational Stage (2
to 7 Years)
 Major Characteristics and Developmental
Changes:
• Children begin to think symbolically and learn to
use words and pictures to represent objects.
• Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and
struggle to see things from the perspective of others.
• While they are getting better with language and
thinking, they still tend to think about things in very
concrete terms.
• Children become much more skilled at
pretend play during this stage of
development, yet continue to think very
concretely about the world around them. 
The Concrete Operational Stage
(Ages: 7 to 11 Years)
. Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes
• During this stage, children begin to thinking logically
about concrete events
• They begin to understand the concept of conservation;
that the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal
to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example
• While thinking becomes much more logical during
the concrete operational state, it can also be very
rigid.
• Kids at this point in development tend to struggle
with abstract and hypothetical concepts.
• Their thinking becomes more logical and organized,
but still very concrete
• Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning
from specific information to a general principle
The Formal Operational Stage
(Ages: 12 and Up)
. Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
• At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to
think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
• Abstract thought emerges
• Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical,
ethical, social, and political issues that require
theoretical and abstract reasoning
• Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a
general principle to specific information
• The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and
situations is the key hallmark of the formal
operational stage of cognitive development.
• The ability to systematically plan for the future and
reason about hypothetical situations are also
critical abilities that emerge during this stage.
 Vygotsky Perspective on Constructivism
Vygotsky (1978), believed that community plays a central role in
the process of "making meaning." For Vygotsky, the environment
in which children grow up will influence how they think and what
they think about.
• Thus, all teaching and learning is a matter of sharing and
negotiating socially constituted knowledge.
• For example, Vygotsky (1978) states cognitive development
stems from social interactions from guided learning within the 
zone of proximal development as children and their partner's co-
construct knowledge
• Similarly, Learning is a social activity - it is something we do
together, in interaction with each other, rather than an abstract
concept (Dewey, 1938).
 Zone of Proximal Development
• Vygotsky (1978) sees the Zone of Proximal
Development as the area where the most sensitive
instruction or guidance should be given - allowing the
child to develop skills they will then use on their own -
developing higher mental functions.
• Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an
effective way of developing skills and strategies.
• He suggests that teachers use cooperative learning
exercises where less competent children develop with
help from more skillful peers - within the zone of
proximal development
For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw
puzzle (in the example above) by itself and would
have taken a long time to do so (if at all), but was
able to solve it following interaction with the father,
and has developed competence at this skill that will
be applied to future jigsaws.
Implication of Constructivism
• Constructivism has important implications for teaching.
First, teaching cannot be viewed as the transmission of
knowledge from enlightened to unenlightened;
constructivist teachers do not take the role of the "sage on
the stage”
•  Learning is based on prior knowledge, then teachers must
note that knowledge and provide learning environments that
exploit inconsistencies between learners' current
understandings and the new experiences before them.
• Students must apply their current understandings in new
situations in order to build new knowledge 
•  New knowledge is actively built, then time is needed to build
it. Ample time facilitates student reflection about new
experiences.
 Implication of Constructivism in
the classroom teaching
• Organize the content to be learned as systematically
as possible because doing this allows the teacher to
select and devise learning activities that are better
tailored to students’ cognitive abilities, or that
promote better dialogue, or both.

• The second strategy is the self-assessment and self-

direction of learning.
• After having solid understanding of
Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories.
Students are provided with more
opportunities to play and learn with
their peers.
 Constructivist approaches to teaching
• Constructivist learning theory underpins a
variety of student-centered teaching methods
and techniques which contrast with
traditional education, whereby knowledge is
simply passively transmitted by teachers to
students.
 What is the role of the teacher
in a constructivist classroom?
The primary responsibility of the teacher is to create
a collaborative problem-solving environment where
students become active participants in their own
learning.
From this perspective, a teacher acts as a facilitator
of learning rather than an instructor.
The teacher makes sure he/she understands the
students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the
activity to address them and then build on them
(Oliver, 2000)
Scaffolding is a key feature of effective teaching,
where the adult continually adjusts the level of his
or her help in response to the learner's level of
performance.
In the classroom, scaffolding can include
modeling a skill, providing hints or cues, and
adapting material or activity (Copple &
Bredekamp, 2009).
• 1) Knowledge will be shared between teachers
and students.
• 2) Teachers and students will share authority.
• 3) The teacher's role is one of a facilitator or
guide.
• 4) Learning groups will consist of small numbers
of heterogeneous students.
Traditional Classroom Constructive classroom
Fixed curriculum is high valued Students questions, and interactions
are valued
Teacher centered Student centered

Teacher as authority person Facilitator

Learning is based on repetition Learning is interactive, building on

what the student already knows
Passive learning: students are
recipients of knowledge Active learning: helping students
construct their knowledge
Primarily students work alone Primarily students work in groups
(Competitive) (Cooperatively)
What are the pedagogical (i.e.
teaching) goals of constructivist
classrooms?
• 1) To provide experience with the knowledge
construction process (students determine how
they will learn).
• 2) To provide experience in and appreciation for
multiple perspectives (evaluation of alternative
solutions).
• 3) To embed learning in realistic contexts
(authentic tasks).
• 4) To encourage ownership and a voice in the
learning process (student centered learning).
• 5) To embed learning in social experience
(collaboration).
• 6) To encourage the use of multiple modes of
representation, (video, audio text, etc.)
• 7) To encourage awareness of the knowledge
construction process (reflection, metacognition).
Constructivism as a theory for teaching and lear
ning

• Constructivism is ‘an approach to learning that

holds that people actively construct or make their
own knowledge and that reality is determined by
the experiences of the learner’ (Elliott et al., 2000,
p. 256).
• In elaborating constructivists’ ideas Arends (1998)
states that constructivism believes in personal
construction of meaning by the learner through
experience, and that meaning is influenced by the
interaction of prior knowledge and new events.
 Disadvantage of Constructivism
• One of the biggest disadvantages of constructivism
is that the learner may be hampered by
contextualising learning in that, at least initially,
they may not be able to form abstractions and
transfer knowledge and skills in new situations
(Merrill, 1991) In other words, there is often,
during the initial stage, confusion. and even
frustration
• The biggest disadvantage is its lack of structure.
Some students require highly structured
environments in order to be able to excel.
• Learners will enjoy this new approach of
discovering learning, but do not always
actively construct meaning and building an
appropriate knowledge structure (Merrill,
1991) [they simply copy what the better
students do]
Thank you!