The Ultimate Constructivism Quiz

Constructivism: A Philosophical Viewpoint on the Nature of Knowledge and Theory of Learning

• Constructivism posits that learners do not acquire knowledge passively but construct new understanding and knowledge through experience and social discourse, integrating new information with prior knowledge.

• The theory is linked to epistemology, which is concerned with the logical categories of knowledge and its justificational basis.

• The learner has prior knowledge and experiences, determined by their social and cultural environment, which are integrated into the learning process.

• Constructivism can be traced back to Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which focused on how humans make meaning in relation to the interaction between their experiences and their ideas.

• Lev Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism emphasized the importance of sociocultural learning and the zone of proximal development.

• Jerome Bruner and other educational psychologists developed the concept of instructional scaffolding, whereby the social or informational environment offers supports for learning that are gradually withdrawn as they become internalized.

• Constructivism has influenced psychology, sociology, education, and the history of science.

• The theory of constructivism suggests that learners construct knowledge out of their experiences, regardless of whether they are using their experiences to understand a lecture or following the instructions for building a model airplane.

• Social constructivism acknowledges the uniqueness and complexity of the learner and encourages, utilizes, and rewards it as an integral part of the learning process.

• The learning environment should be designed to support and challenge the student's thinking, and the instructor should adapt to the role of facilitator and not teacher.

• Learning is an active process where students should learn to discover principles, concepts, and facts for themselves, hence the importance of encouraging guesswork and intuitive thinking in students.

• A good relationship between the instructor and the student is essential, and students and instructors should develop an awareness of each other's viewpoints and then look to their own beliefs, standards, and values, thus being both subjective and objective at the same time.Social Constructivism in Education: Key Principles, Pedagogies, and Evidence

• Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the student and the instructor in the learning process.

• Learning approaches that foster interactive learning include reciprocal teaching, peer collaboration, cognitive apprenticeship, problem-based instruction, web quests, Anchored Instruction, and other approaches that involve learning with others.

• Collaboration among learners is essential to arrive at a shared understanding of the truth in a specific field.

• The zone of proximal development is a Vygotskian notion that has significant implications for peer collaboration.

• The context in which learning occurs is central to the learning itself.

• Authentic or situated learning is crucial, where the student takes part in activities directly relevant to the application of learning.

• Cognitive apprenticeship has been proposed as an effective constructivist model of learning.

• Dynamic assessment is a way of assessing the true potential of learners that differs significantly from conventional tests.

• Instructors should see assessment as a continuous and interactive process that measures the achievement of the learner, the quality of the learning experience and courseware.

• Knowledge should not be divided into different subjects or compartments but should be discovered as an integrated whole.

• Learners should constantly be challenged with tasks that refer to skills and knowledge just beyond their current level of mastery.

• Learners learn best using a hands-on approach, and learners learn by experimentation, not by being told what will happen.Misunderstandings and Applications of Constructivism

• Discovery-based teaching techniques are inadequate, and empirical research supports the use of guided discovery.

• Pure discovery-based teaching techniques are often promoted despite the instructional design recommendations of constructivism.

• The math wars controversy in the United States is an example of the heated debate that sometimes follows the implementation of constructivist-inspired curricula in schools.

• Well-designed, well-structured learning environments provide scaffolding for problem-solving and are supported by cognitive load theorists.

• Many people confuse constructivist with maturationist views, where the former involves active guidance from adults and the latter is permissive.

• Contextual constructivism is about understanding the fundamental, culturally based beliefs that both students and teachers bring to class.

• Radical constructivism emphasizes the experiences of the learner, differences between learners, and the importance of uncertainty.

• Relational constructivism focuses on the relational conditions that apply to human perceptual processes.

• Social constructivism addresses collaborative and social dimensions of learning and brings together aspects of the work of Piaget with that of Bruner and Vygotsky.

• Communal constructivism refers to the process of experts working together to create, record, and publish new knowledge in emerging areas.

• Constructivism has influenced the course of programming and computer science, and has informed the design of interactive machine learning systems.