Constructivist View Of Learning Research Articles

Moving from a Personal to a Social Constructivist View of Learning: Implications for Support in the Student Teaching Experience1

Recently, the school and co‐operating teachers have an increasingly important role, by offering stronger support during the teaching practice. Being congruent with similar developments in teacher education programmes in other countries, this development in Hong Kong is strengthened by research studies examining the process of learning to teach. By arguing that the process of learning to teach can be examined from a personal constructivist view of learning, this paper examines the experience from the student‐teachers’ perspective. The finding reports on the problems perceived by the student‐teachers during the student teaching practice and the support provided by the co‐operating teachers. The problems encountered and the support obtained were compared and contrasted to reveal the possible roles of the co‐operating teachers. The process of learning to teach is extended from a personal view to include support from the social milieu. This paper proposes to consider the process from a social constructivist view of learning. Drawing on the findings, it concludes with implications on how the school and the teacher education institute can collaborate and support the student‐teachers from a social constructivist view of learning. 1 This is a project supported by the Action Learning Project, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong.

Individual and Sociocultural Views of Learning in Science Education

In this paper we consider how theories of learning can inform the practice of scienceteaching in formal settings. We describe two broad strands of learning theory that havebeen drawn upon in science education, namely individual and sociocultural views. Weshow how aspects of both views can usefully inform our understanding of teaching andlearning science in formal settings. A perspective on science learning in formal settingsis presented which draws on and develops features of both individual and socioculturalviews, and the implications of this perspective on science learning for research and practice are discussed. The paper concludes with reflections on some of the recent critiques of so-called `constructivist views of learning' in the light of the perspective developed.

Preschool Cognitive Education: Why, How, With What Effects?

The authors make the case for the application of cognitive education with low-achieving children in preschool education. Their principal argument is that it is not sufficient to modify the curriculum contents and to present rich and varied activities in order to help the children to confront the basic learning tasks of the primary grades under good conditions. One must also help them to put into practice an effective cognitive functioning in these activities. Building upon a constructivist view of learning and development, the authors propose and illustrate a group of psychopedagogical conditions for presenting tasks that can help to induce and sustain modes of effective functioning that lead to conceptual abstraction. The authors illustrate the application of their concepts with empirical data obtained with a program of cognitive education for young children, Bright Start, as a vehicle for implementing these conditions.

A Study of Students' Focal Awareness When Studying Science Stories Designed for Fostering Understanding of the Nature of Science.

Using Marton's theory of the structure of awareness as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the aspects that students discerned and brought into their focal awareness while they studied four science stories in an instruction designed for fostering understanding of the nature of science (NOS). The data showed that when students studied the stories many focused only on one or two aspects, from among a range, presented in the stories. Further, the aspects of the stories in the students' focal awareness were closely linked to the views of NOS that they developed subsequent to the instruction. Students who focused on certain appropriate aspects acquired adequate views of NOS while those who focused on other aspects acquired inadequate views of NOS. The theory therefore offers a viable explanation for why students often construct idiosyncratic meanings from learning experiences that differ from those intended – by attributing it to students attending to certain aspects rather than others. However, the data also show that students' prior conceptions strongly influence their construction of meanings from the learning experiences. The complementarity of the theory of the structure of awareness and the constructivist view of learning are considered. Implications for classroom practices are discussed.

Interpretations of constructivism and consequences for Computer Assisted Learning

The changes that have occurred in accepted approaches to teaching and learning in recent years have been underpinned by shifts in psychological and pedagogical theory, culminating in moves towards a constructivist view of learning. This paper looks at the consequences of these theoretical shifts for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL).Moshman has identified three interpretations of constructivism: endogenous constructivism which emphasises learner exploration, exogenous constructivism which recognises the role of direct instruction, but with an emphasis on learners actively constructing their own knowledge representations and dialectical constructivism which emphasises the role of interaction between learners, their peers and teachers. This classification scheme provides a framework for looking at the various constructivist approaches to CAL.For example, constructivist CAL materials that draw on the endogenous view include hypermedia environments, simulations and microworlds. Materials that draw on the exogenous view include learner controlled tutorials, cognitive tools and practice modules. Lastly, materials that draw on the dialectical view include Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tools and support (or scaffolding) tools.

USING CONSTRUCTIVISM TO INFORM TERTIARY CHEMISTRY PEDAGOGY

There have been many reports in the science education literature exhorting educators to teach from a constructivist view of learning. However, these reports typically fail to confront the difficulties associated with this stance. This review considers some of the implications and difficulties associated with a constructivist view of learning. The paper begins with an overview of paradigms and description of the origins of the constructivist paradigm that has become so dominant in science education research and scholarship, before discussing the principal criticisms of constructivism. The authors conclude that constructivism offers tertiary chemistry educators some valuable insights into classroom practice, but that appropriate pragmatism with regard to pedagogy is more important than adherence to any particular metaphysical belief system. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2001, 2, 215- 226]

Design and Development of a Computer Learning Environment on the Basis of Students' Initial Conceptions and Learning Difficulties About Chemical Equilibrium

This paper describes the design and development of an interactive learning environment inspired from the constructivist view of learning and aiming at helping students improve their conceptions about chemical equilibrium. The design of the software was based on data that emerged from research we undertook with 175 Greek students (aged 17–18), in order to detect their conceptions and learning difficulties about chemical equilibrium. The students' answers to a written questionnaire showed that they had inadequate representations of systems of substances at chemical equilibrium related to the empirical and the atomic level, manifested serious difficulties in conceiving the initial situation of a system at chemical equilibrium and the equilibrium shift, made overextended use of the Le Chatelier principle and applied intuitive personal rules instead of the equilibrium constant law. The aim of this computer application is to help students to create and/or improve their own representations about substances at chemical equilibrium in the empirical, atomic and symbolic level, to establish appropriate links among thes multiple representations, and to construct appropriate conceptions about the Le Chatelier principle and the equilibrium constant law. The software contains simulations and visualizations of experiments representing systems at chemical equilibrium, simulations of chemical reactions related to the atomic level, symbolic representations and dynamic graphs, and a step-by-step derivation of the equilibrium constant law.

The Social Construct of Writing and Thinking: Evidence of How the Expansion of Writing Technology Affects Consciousness

The technology for the digitized text creates fluid meaning, representing its culture in transition from the dominance of the single-authored text with its hierarchically ordered system. This new architecture for the digitized word has been making explicit the shift from human consciousness reflecting the interiority of the self to a human consciousness reflecting self in relation to others. Educators using the technology of networked writing environments need to understand how the technology functions and intervenes for pedagogical processes during models of asynchronous and synchronous collaborative writing. Both models support a constructivist view of learning; however, for each, educators need to consider the ethos of the writer as inhabiting a negotiated, shared space with readers during text production. As a consequence, cocognition may occur when writers share ideas and engage in the process of collaboration.

Scope, sequence and coordination: The Iowa Project, a national reform effort in the USA

The Scope, Sequence and Coordination (SS&C) project is a major reform initiative in the United States conceived by the National Science Teachers Association with major funding by the National Science Foundation. This is a report of the Iowa Project, a broad effort of many stockholders in 20 school districts, where a science-technology-society approach was emphasized through a constructivist philosophy of learning and teaching. Results indicated the successes of SS&C in four areas: (1) SS&C teachers are more confident to teach science and they better understand the nature of science and technology than do control teachers. (2) SS&C teachers can use teaching strategies that reflect a constructivist view of learning, and conduct action research projects related to effective teaching. (3) Students achieve significantly better in SS&C courses than they do in traditional textbookoriented courses. (4) Historically disenfranchised groups of learners, such as low ability students and females, are especially well served by SS&C science.

Towards expert knowledge? A comparison between a constructivist and a traditional learning environment in the university

This research monograph examines the potential of constructivist learning environments for developing prerequisites of expert knowledge during university studies. Drawing on recent theories of the development of expert knowledge and on the constructivist view of learning, an experiment was conducted in an educational psychology course. The primary purpose of the study was to compare the learning outcomes of students who studied the course material in a constructivist learning environment with those of students who learned it under traditional teaching and studying conditions. Students in the constructivist learning environment acquired more diversified knowledge. In addition, a theory will be presented about what actually changes when conceptual change occurs.

Educational Psychology: Getting to the Heart of the Matter Through Technology

Les efforts entrepris aux Etats-Unis et dans d'autres pays pour réformer le système éducatif se perdent dans les sables parce que souvent, pensons-nous, les idées qui sont au coeur de ces réformes ne sont pas correctement appliquées. Les chercheurs ont tendance à surestimer la valeur heuristique de leurs idées. Les récentes percées technologiques offrent une solution à ce problème rémanent. La technologie donne la possibilité de mettre à l'épreuve de façon systématique des dimensions du processus d'apprentissage qui pourraient autrement rester noyées dans un océan de détails, deux exemples frappants étant la maîtrise par les élèves des outils symboliques et l'appel au support social. Nous examinons une étude que porte sur l'impact de ces deux variables majeures sur l'apprentissage. On présente aussi des exemples de recherches où la technologie sert de révélateur en mettant en évidence des modalités d'apprentissage qui sont difficiles à observer dans la classe. Educational reform efforts in the US and other countries come to naught, we argue, because ideas that are at the heart of the reform often are not adequately developed. Researchers tend to overestimate the heuristic value of their ideas. Recent breakthroughs in technology offer a solution to this enduring problem. Technology provides a means of systematically testing aspects of the learning process that otherwise might get lost in a sea of detail, two prominent examples being students' mastery of symbolic tools and their utilisation of social supports. We discuss work that examines how these two key variables affect student subject-matter learning. We also present examples of research where technology serves as an enabler, making more visible certain kinds of learning that are difficult to observe in the classroom. SUMMARY We began this review of promising developments in educational psychology by highlighting a dilemma faced by social constructivists who are playing a leadership role in the current educational reform movement. This dilemma actually dates back to earlier periods of reform, however. It results from the fact that educational reformers often seize on new ideas–in the current case, constructivist views of learning–long before researchers have had the opportunity to work out the concrete details. Dewey and Piaget both experienced considerable chagrin over what many well-meaning educators had done with their complex notions about teaching and learning. There is a danger of that happening once again in the US. The “proceduralisation” of ideas in previous reforms invited an inevitable counter-reaction from educational conservatives, spelling doom for the reform effort. One positive sign that mitigates against the bleak scenario just described, we argue, is the creative way researchers in the US are making use of technology to study complex aspects of the new learning theory. We described three such research programmes: the use of technology to better understand the process of symbolic mediation, the use of technology as a site to examine the process of social support in learning, and the use of technology as an “enabler” to surface certain kinds of complex learning that otherwise would remain hidden–buried beneath the mass of detail that learners would need to master to operate at that level. We hope that our way of presenting these programmes of research will spur interest in the important theoretical and practical work yet to be done.

Educational Psychology: Getting to the Heart of the Matter Through Technology

Les efforts entrepris aux Etats‐Unis et dans d'autres pays pour réformer le système éducatif se perdent dans les sables parce que souvent, pensons‐nous, les idées qui sont au coeur de ces réformes ne sont pas correctement appliquées. Les chercheurs ont tendance à surestimer la valeur heuristique de leurs idées. Les récentes percées technologiques offrent une solution à ce problème rémanent. La technologie donne la possibilité de mettre à l'épreuve de façon systématique des dimensions du processus d'apprentissage qui pourraient autrement rester noyées dans un océan de détails, deux exemples frappants étant la maîtrise par les élèves des outils symboliques et l'appel au support social. Nous examinons une étude que porte sur l'impact de ces deux variables majeures sur l'apprentissage. On présente aussi des exemples de recherches où la technologie sert de révélateur en mettant en évidence des modalités d'apprentissage qui sont difficiles à observer dans la classe.Educational reform efforts in the US and other countries come to naught, we argue, because ideas that are at the heart of the reform often are not adequately developed. Researchers tend to overestimate the heuristic value of their ideas. Recent breakthroughs in technology offer a solution to this enduring problem. Technology provides a means of systematically testing aspects of the learning process that otherwise might get lost in a sea of detail, two prominent examples being students' mastery of symbolic tools and their utilisation of social supports. We discuss work that examines how these two key variables affect student subject‐matter learning. We also present examples of research where technology serves as an enabler, making more visible certain kinds of learning that are difficult to observe in the classroom.SUMMARYWe began this review of promising developments in educational psychology by highlighting a dilemma faced by social constructivists who are playing a leadership role in the current educational reform movement. This dilemma actually dates back to earlier periods of reform, however. It results from the fact that educational reformers often seize on new ideas–in the current case, constructivist views of learning–long before researchers have had the opportunity to work out the concrete details. Dewey and Piaget both experienced considerable chagrin over what many well‐meaning educators had done with their complex notions about teaching and learning. There is a danger of that happening once again in the US. The “proceduralisation” of ideas in previous reforms invited an inevitable counter‐reaction from educational conservatives, spelling doom for the reform effort.One positive sign that mitigates against the bleak scenario just described, we argue, is the creative way researchers in the US are making use of technology to study complex aspects of the new learning theory. We described three such research programmes: the use of technology to better understand the process of symbolic mediation, the use of technology as a site to examine the process of social support in learning, and the use of technology as an “enabler” to surface certain kinds of complex learning that otherwise would remain hidden–buried beneath the mass of detail that learners would need to master to operate at that level. We hope that our way of presenting these programmes of research will spur interest in the important theoretical and practical work yet to be done.

READER RESPONSE: A WAY TO HELP CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES THINK ABOUT LITERATURE

How a teacher of fourth‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐grade students with learning difficulties integrated principles from reader‐response theory and a constructivist view of learning into his language arts program is reported. Students’ written responses to literature are then examined to show how the use of a reader‐response approach influenced their ways of thinking about literature. Reader‐response‐based instruction is proposed as a viable way to foster in children with learning difficulties the active construction of meaning that goes beyond literal retelling of information to analysis, personal association, and interpretation.

A case study of a teacher's progress toward using a constructivist view of learning to inform teaching in elementary science

A case study of a teacher's progress toward using a constructivist view of learning to inform teaching in elementary science

Metaphors in knowledge and metaphors of knowledge: Notes on the constructivist view of learning

As the scientific change problem is at the center of epistemological research, the conceptual change problem is widely discussed in didactical research. In this paper common features of both problems will be discussed. Recent ideas on the role of analogies and metaphors in the growth of scientific knowledge are analyzed in order to show their relevance for scientific education problems. These ideas are also confronted with the image of scientific learning put forward by pedagogical and epistemological constructivism. In this perspective, the analysis of Maxwell's views about metaphors and analogies seems to give a deeper insight as to the problem of scientific change and scientific abstraction which still require clarification in educational and epistemological reflection.

Constructive Action Research: a perspective on the process of learning

ABSTRACT This paper describes an action research enquiry conducted by a primary science tutor in Higher Education. It focuses on his work both with students on an initial teacher education course and with qualified teachers on in‐service courses. The main theme of the paper concerns parallels between the research process and the approach adopted by the researcher to teaching adult learners. Both were underpinned by explicit epistemological assumptions based on a constructivist view of learning. This view of learning led to a particular approach to teaching, which was evaluated and refined over three years. The emergence of these parallels was a metacognitive outcome of the enquiry that led to the conceptualisation of ‘constructive action research’. The paper explores the extent to which his approach to the research was genuinely constructive. It considers the links between the researcher's learning, that of the adult learners he taught and the learning of the children they taught. The account includes dis...

Students' learning in science lessons: towards understanding the learning process

Constructivist views of learning have been applied to science education largely as a response to attempts to understand the origins of students' misconceptions in science, and therefore the learning process. As part of this effort to understand learning in science lessons, Appleton (1989) proposed a learning model drawn mainly from Piagetian (1978) ideas and generative learning theory (Osborne & Wittrock, 1983). This paper explores the development and evolution of the learning model as other constructivist view were applied, and as the model was tested against students' responses in science lessons. The revised model finally arrived at is then examined. It was found to be a useful means of describing student's learning processes during a science lesson.

Teacher development as professional, personal, and social development

This paper describes the findings of a 3 year research project on teacher development in which some New Zealand teachers of science were developing their teaching to take into account students' thinking and constructivist views of learning. The main finding was that the teacher development involved professional, personal, and social development. These three aspects are discussed in an overview.

Belief Systems as Barriers to Learning in Geological Education

The constructivist view of learning acknowledges the importance of the interaction between students' prior knowledge and incoming information in attempts to understand new situations. Belief systems held by students are likely to influence the ways in which they process new information during instruction. Learning outcomes are then mediated by their beliefs in unanticipated ways. A survey has been carried out among some 1,000 fourteen- to sixteen-year-old students living in Liguria, a non-volcanic region in Northern Italy. The aim of the investigation was to discover: 1) the students' ideas on the volcanism of the areas in which they live, and 2) the way they formed their opinions and how deeply rooted they are. The findings show that a great many of the students firmly believe they live in a volcanically active area. Mass media are the most important source of this idea, followed by classmates and other laypeople. Clearly these pre-(mis-)conceptions will affect subsequent learning. The ideas will also in...

Philosophical perspectives on constructivist views of learning

At present, soda1 constructivists agree on little more than the important assumption that knowledge is a social product. Beyond this, there is little agreement about proems. Different viewpoints about what it means to negotiate meaning and what the object of that negotiation ought to be (i.e., strategies/skills versus big ideas) reflect different assumptions about learning and the nature of truth. We examine these assumptions by contrasting three underlying world views: mechanistic-information processing, organismic-radical constructivism, and Deweyan contextualism or transactional realism. This third world view, we argue, is most consistent with idea-based social constructivism.