Understanding Of Constructivism Research Articles

How constructivism influences pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices and child self-regulation

ABSTRACT Project Construct is a learner-centered constructivist framework that emphasizes positive teacher-student relationships, autonomy, and child-led experiences. Constructivist pedagogy promote cognitive, behavioral, and academic outcomes. Yet, novice teachers struggle to grasp constructivist teaching practices and tend to emphasize teacher-directed activities. The present study investigated whether the opportunity to learn and apply constructivist teaching approaches in an elementary school setting would affect education students’ understanding of constructivism and children’s self-regulation. Eight education students participated in a 4-week summer undergraduate class in a public-school setting. Students’ understanding of constructivist principles was assessed through a 30-statement questionnaire. Kindergarten classrooms were randomly assigned to either the Project Construct classroom where Education students participated in or the control classroom. Children’s self-regulation skills were assessed through the Head Toes Knees and Shoulders (HTKS) Task before and after the 4-week class. Results revealed that Education students’ knowledge of principles of constructivism grew significantly from the beginning to the end of this semester. Children’s performance on the HTKS grew significantly in the Project Construct and control classrooms, although there were no significant differences between the Project Construct and control classroom. These findings have implications for teacher education and how constructivist pedagogy can affect child self-regulation.

구성주의 전략을 활용한 리터러시 교육 연구

The purpose of this paper is to discuss effective literacy education methods through assertive writing and persuasive speech performance using constructivist strategies. To this end, speech learning after writing was designed based on the understanding of constructivism. The learning components are pre-teaching activities, learning guidance, learner-led learning, and assessment. According to the course, learning objectives, learner analysis, learning content mini-lecture, feedback, writing, presentation, teacher evaluation, and peer evaluation were planned. The learners performed solution-type argumentative writings, cold-bang-type argumentative writings, argument-type argumentative writings, goal-oriented argumentative writings, and persuasive speeches. Through this process and results, constructivist learning methods could be suggested to literacy education.

Teacher Candidates’ Understandings and Progress of Constructivism in Science Teaching

ABSTRACTEvaluations of any understandings, programs or tendencies in educational applications occasionally enable to check its improvement. Through a Science Teaching course included in a teacher training program, the authors utilized phenomenography to enlighten the teacher candidates’ (TCs) understanding of constructivism in science teaching, which was captured in three categories: Non-constructivist, Semi-constructivist and, Constructivist. There is a hierarchical relationship between these categories. The aspects were grouped as general and science-specific. Additionally, it was investigated whether the Science Teaching course was aimed to make the teacher candidates understand constructivism and gain the skills in utilizing constructivist understandings in teaching science related subjects. A significant transformation from the non-constructivist to the constructivist approach and from the semi-constructivist to the constructivist approach was achieved. It is asserted that the model encapsulates a su...

Constructivist Inquiry and Learning in Drama

Constructivism is an interpretive approach that emphasises the ‘meaning- making activity of the individual mind’. It is of particular relevance to drama education because learning in drama is based in process. A number of writers and researchers have applied this approach to learning, but only a few have extended this into a discussion of drama and learning. In this article an understanding of constructivism is described then evaluated through reference to two drama projects—firstly, the scripting of a cross- cultural performance work; secondly, a research project on applied creativity for beginning teachers.

The Constructivist Pedagogy We're Looking For

In the course I teach on Curricula in Higher Education, I my that part of curriculum design is re-design. In teaching a course, we learn how improve it. Especially the first time we teach a course. Joe Marren has taken the notion of improvement very seriously. Preparing teach a course for the second time, he has thought through course assignments, talked with who took the course the first time gather more information about their experiences, and tried figure out how best assess student achievement. In my response Joe's essay, I will focus on his arguments regarding constructivist pedagogy and try answer Joe's questions about the role of the instructor and in this course, useful assignments, and how assess student learning. I'll frame my response from a constructivist standpoint so I can address some common misperceptions about this approach teaching and learning. Many college and university professors believe that constructivism advocates a hands-off approach instruction. Constructivists, they imagine, don't tell anything because need discover answers and solutions problems.1 While Joe agrees that students learn best when they learn actively, he's not confident that his can create a code of ethics without his leading the discussion. He argues that his twenty-plus years of practical experience are a valuable resource for his students, and that dominating the discussion would defeat the pedagogical goal of teaching the teach Since he wants share his experience, he contends, he can't adopt a 'true' constructivist approach. Joe's right. Constructivist teachers are likely raise an eyebrow when confronted with a colleague who dominates a classroom discussion by neglecting provide with opportunities make sense of and test their understandings. That's because all constructivists believe that knowledge is constructed from existing (or prior) knowledge. Constructivist pedagogy therefore emphasizes the active learner-who discusses, questions, debates, hypothesizes, investigates, and argues in order understand new information (see Phillips and Soltis, 2004). This is not merely pedagogical perspective. It is a theory about how people learn that is widely shared, not only by constructivists, but by most educational psychologists and cognitive scientists. Like many faculty, however, Joe misapprehends some things about constructivist pedagogy. For example, he writes that constructivism requires to teach themselves. In my book, that's a misreading of constructivist pedagogy and probably rooted in early constructivist theory. A little history will help me make this point and clarify our understanding of constructivism. Jean Piaget, the twentieth-century Swiss psychologist whose theory of learning and development contributed today's constructivist theories, portrayed the learner as an individual encountering the world around her and making sense of it largely on her own. Critiques of Piaget's individualistic constructivism, even by his contemporaries in the 1920s and 1930s, rejected this individualistic account, emphasizing the critical role of social interactions and social contexts in shaping the individual's learning (for discussions, see Phillips and Soltis, 2004; Wertsch, 1985). In schools, for example, learning is mediated by teachers who are more skilled and knowledgeable than and who can guide them in the development of new knowledge and skills. Peers can also mediate learning when they share understandings of a task inside or outside the classroom. Learning in our everyday lives is also mediated. Children learn about acceptable values and behaviors by observing adults and peers. Consider, too, how we learn on the job and how we use workplace learning for educational purposes. A journalism internship on a newspaper staff, for instance, is intended introduce the professional practices of the field. …

Implementing a Constructivist Approach in Higher Education through Technology

The purpose of this study was to examine how incorporating technology into teaching methods (including the phases of organizing video conferencing sessions) promotes college students’ construction of knowledge. Video conferencing technology via the Internet afforded an enriched environment in which students interacted with educators at different sites. The data analysis yielded four themes: the challenges of being constructivist teachers, thinking about thinking, the use of technology, and the importance of reflection. The use of online-video conferencing in conjunction with teacher education courses was an effective way to facilitate students’ understanding of constructivism. Suggestions regarding implementing a constructivist approach using technology in higher education are also discussed.

Integration of science and mathematics methods and preservice teachers’ understanding of constructivism

The study examined the integration of science and mathematics methods courses and preservice teachers’ understanding of constructivism. The participants were 50 preservice teachers who were enrolled in early childhood education mathematics and science methods courses, and an early childhood practicum. The two methods courses were integrated and the instructors adopted a collaborative approach, including common syllabi, texts, assignments, and teaching strategies. The preservice teachers completed e‐journal reflection that were subsequently coded and analyzed. The findings suggested that the instructional approach enabled students to develop and refine their understanding of constructivism. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Constructivism and classroom teachers: What can early childhood teacher educators do to support the constructivist journey?

Constructivism is a theory of learning that has become increasingly accepted by educators. Yet translating a theory of learning into practical instructional strategies has proven to be quite difficult for teachers. A qualitative study was recently completed that examined primary grade teachers’ understanding of constructivism and its influence upon their teaching practices. Analysis indicated that the teachers had several misconceptions of constructivism and were at varying levels of understanding, based upon their experience and professional development in constructivist education. This study has implications for the teacher education field, and early childhood teacher educators can play an important role in helping preservice and inservice teachers gain a deeper understanding of constructivism and implement teaching practices based upon this understanding. Suggestions for colleges of education are given.

Helping Primary Student Teachers Understand Pupils' Learning: Exploring the student‐mentor interaction

The school-based task is firmly established in teacher education in the UK. In the study reported, primary student teachers carried out tasks exploring children's learning in science and were told to discuss the outcomes with their classteacher-mentors. The tasks and their university-based training followed a "constructivist" approach to learning science. The mentors' role in debriefing school-based tasks has been assumed to be one of "reflective practitioner" able to unpack issues of pedagogy with the student teacher. The research reported here shows that discussions often lacked depth or reflected a superficial or different understanding of constructivism by mentors that conflicted with the student teachers' aspirations. The implications of the research for future practice in teacher education and specifically for the training of mentors in science are discussed.

Toward a Working Model of Constructivist Teaching: A Reaction to Simon

We start this discussion of article by Martin A. Simon with two major conjectures that we will try to substantiate. The first is that there is a kind of teaching that can legitimately be called The second is that Simon's model of teaching his prospective elementary school teachers, if modified, would fit our understanding of constructivist teaching, even though his basic premise is that constructivism does not tell us how to teach mathematics (Simon, 1995). The issue concerning whether constructivism tells us how to teach mathematics resides in how constructivism is understood. One way to understand constructivism is in terms of basic tenets like knowledge is not passively received but is actively built up by cognizing subject, and the function of cognition is adaptive and serves in organization of experiential world rather than in discovery of ontological reality (von Glasersfeld, 1989, p. 162). These basic tenets are orienting, but as indicated by Simon, they do not stipulate a particular model of teaching mathematics. Neither do they tell us how to do family therapy or how to provide psychiatric counseling. People who engage in these types of human activities, however, can use basic tenets of constructivism in building models of realities of those with whom they interact. If a teacher formulates a model of children's mathematical knowledge, including its construction, we claim that model is an important part of teacher's understanding of constructivism. Similarly, if teacher formulates a model of how she makes sense of children's mathematical knowledge, including its construction, this would be a constructivist model of teaching. It, too, would be an important part of teacher' s meaning for constructivism. Regarding teacher as a learner in activity of teaching is essential in our understanding of constructivist teaching, and it is a basic aspect of Simon's model of teaching as well.