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Partnership

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Partnership

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Partnership

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Constructivism Theory

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Welcome to Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Start with the Explanation section to gain a good understanding of the CONCEPT of constructivism. Then go on to Demonstration, where we move from CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM!

What is constructivism?
How does this theory differ from traditional ideas about teaching and learning?
What does constructivism have to do with my classroom?
Expert interview
What is the history of constructivism, and how has it changed over time?
What are some critical perspectives?
What are the benefits of constructivism?

What is constructivism?
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.

In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.

Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN.

You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences, students find their ideas gaining in complexity and power, and they develop increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information. One of the teacher's main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection process.

For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept.

Contrary to criticisms by some (conservative/traditional) educators, constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of expert knowledge. Constructivism modifies that role, so that teachers help students to construct knowledge rather than to reproduce a series of facts. The constructivist teacher provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities with which students formulate and test their ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process. Always guided by the teacher, students construct their knowledge actively rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the textbook.

Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory that compels students to "reinvent the wheel." In fact, constructivism taps into and triggers the student's innate curiosity about the world and how things work. Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions. They become engaged by applying their existing knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings.

The best way for you to really understand what constructivism is and what it means in your classroom is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it, and trying it yourself. As you progress through each segment of this workshop, keep in mind questions or ideas to share with your colleagues.

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Thirteen | Thirteen Ed Online | thirteencelebration.org

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Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

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Welcome to Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Start with the Explanation section to gain a good understanding of the CONCEPT of constructivism. Then go on to Demonstration, where we move from CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM! What is constructivism? How does this theory differ from traditional ideas about teaching and learning?

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Social-Cognitive Learning Theeory

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Introduction

Do you know how to do the Electric Slide dance? Come on...admit it. Even if you aren't proud of knowing it, you probably learned the dance at some point in time. Do you remember how you learned it? I doubt you read each step in a book and then tried it alone. You probably observed others dancing and then joined in when you thought you had a good understanding of the moves. There are many ways to gain new knowledge and learn behaviors and skills, and observation is one method.

Social Cognitive Theory

The social-cognitive theory is a theoretical perspective in which learning by observing others is the focus of study. Social-cognitive theory is grounded by several basic assumptions.

One is that people can learn by observing others. Learners can acquire new behaviors and knowledge by simply observing a model. A model is a person who demonstrates behavior for someone else. In our Electric Slide example, the observer watched the models perform the dance in order to learn it.

Assumption two: learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavior. Learning may not occur immediately. The observer could process the new behavior, but his/her learning may not be affected until a later point or never at all. In our dance example, it may take our observer multiple parties at which the Electric Slide is being danced until he joins in, or he may never join in.

There's also an assumption of goal-directed behavior. Social-cognitive theorists propose that people set goals for themselves and direct their behavior accordingly. They are motivated to accomplish those goals. In our dance example, the observer is motivated to learn the dance or else he wouldn't be observing it time and time again. In the classroom, learners are motivated by goals, such as a high GPA, popularity with classmates or even being the class clown. These goals direct behavior.

Another assumption of the social-cognitive theory is behavior eventually becomes self-regulated. Social-cognitivists, unlike behaviorists, believe that people eventually begin to regulate their own learning and behavior. Let's take our dancer for example. Behaviorists would say the best way for him to learn the dance would be through continual reinforcement from other people encouraging him to continue to improve. Social-cognitivists theorists, however, would say that he should observe the models, perfect his own moves, and compare them to the models moves. And then, give himself a pat on the back when he has mastered the entire dance.

Our final assumption deals with reinforcement and punishment. Social-cognitivists believe reinforcement and punishment have indirect (rather than direct) effects on learning and behavior. People form expectations about the likely consequences of future responses based on how current responses are reinforced or punished. People's expectations are also influenced by the observation of the consequences that follow other people's behavior. This is referred to as vicarious experiences. The non-occurrence of an expected consequence may also have a reinforcing or a punishing effect.

For example, our wannabe dancer may think that if he learns the dance, the audience will clap for him because he has observed this reinforcement while watching the others dance. However, if he does not see clapping or, perhaps, he sees everyone laughing at the other dancers, he may choose to not participate in the dance at all. We will discuss how the environment and cognitive factors enter into the social-cognitive learning in another lesson.

Modeling

We have discussed the assumptions of social-cognitive theory and that models play a critical role in the learning process. Now we will review the different types of models.

Most of the models we learn from and observe are live models. These are individuals whose behavior is observable in real life. For example, teachers, peers, and supervisors - these are real people. Our second type of model is the symbolic model. These are real or fictional characters that influence an observer's behavior. These types of models could be real or fictional characters portrayed in books, movies, and other media. Researchers do not indicate which type of model is best, as long as the model possesses certain characteristics to make them effective. Let's talk about those characteristics of an effective model now.

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social-cognitive learning theory: definition and examples - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Social-Cognitive Learning Theory: Definition and Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Do you know how to do the Electric Slide dance? Come on...admit it. Even if you aren't proud of knowing it, you probably learned the dance at some point in time. Do you remember how you learned it? I doubt you read each step in a book and then tried it alone.

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Cognitive Learning Theory

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Cognitive Learning Theory - Using Thinking to Learn

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The Cognitive Learning Theory explains why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things.

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Getting students involved

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Call it "active learning," or "classroom participation" -- every teacher wants to know how to motivate students to particpate, and how to nurture more involved students and fewer apathetic ones. With a little extra planning, that is possible.

Below are four common reasons students don't participate and techniques to solve those problems and spice up your lessons.

Maybe it needs to be repetitive because the students don't really "get it," or maybe you're reviewing for a test. In any case, they're tuning out.

Solution #1: Assess their prior knowledge.

This could be as simple as asking students, "What do you know about (topic)?" and writing their responses on the board. You could also try a pre-test or a graphic organizer like a K-W-L chart . The goal is to find out what they already know (or think they know). You create buy-in for the students because they feel smart, and you can tailor your lesson to the information they don't know or don't remember correctly.

Solution #2: Try skills grouping.

Divide the class into groups based on what skills they need to practice - not forever, but for a class period or two, so they can focus on what they really need help with. So have a group that works on multiplying fractions, one on dividing fractions, and one on converting fractions to decimals. Make a group of "already got 100% on the test" kids and give them an extra credit activity or let them preview the next lesson. Then take time to move between the other groups and help them review. You'll have more students engaged in the lesson and they'll get specific, focused practice time.

Solution #3: Let them teach each other.

Especially good when reviewing before a test: divide the class into groups and give each group a topic. Set some guidelines and then let them teach each other. Encourage them to do interesting activities - write tests for each other, design review games, etc. - and evaluate each group on the accuracy of their content, the creativity of their approach, and how well they work together as a team. This is also a great way to discover how to motivate students.

This is really half the problem. The other half - especially with older students - is their fear of "looking stupid" by asking questions.

Solution #1: Allow anonymous questions.

Put out a "question box" where students can submit questions any time. Give each student an index card and ask them to write something about the reading assignment they did for homework. If they don't have a question, instruct them to write a comment on the reading. Collect the cards and use them to lead a class discussion. You'll easily recognize what parts of the reading confused a lot of students and they won't feel embarrassed.

Solution #2: Allow them to work together.

We can't do this all the time; individual students need to be assessed. Ask yourself: is the goal of this activity for them to learn the content, or for them to be assessed? If you want them to learn the content, why not let them work together? When they bring in their homework, do a quick survey for completeness, then put them in pairs and let them review the homework together. Encourage them to make changes if their partner's answer looks right. When they've finished, review as a class. Students may be less embarrassed to share a group's answer than their own and you may be able to complete the review more quickly.

Solution #3: Try a jigsaw approach.

No, we're not talking about puzzles or scary movies. If you're introducing new, difficult content, divide the class into groups and ask each group to master only one portion of it at a time. If, for example, you're teaching the American Revolution, have one group focus on the Continental Congress, one on Washington's Army, one on French support for the war, and so on.

Ask them to do a reading on their topic - to become the class "experts" on that subject. Then split up the class into new groups that include one "expert" on each topic. Ask these new groups to work together to write an essay or complete a worksheet that requires information about all the topics. They will teach each other in the process. Learn more about the Jigsaw Approach.

Problem: There's too much information to present in too short a time.

Sometimes there's no way around it: you simply have to get a lot of information out there in a short amount of time. So you opt for a lecture and just want your students to absorb the content. Instead, they fall asleep or stare out the window. What can you do?

Solution #1: Keep it "bite-sized."

Remember: research shows the average student's attention span is as long as her age. So even high school kids can only handle about 15 minutes. If you have a lot of information to convey, re-arrange your lesson plans so you never lecture for more than 10-15 minutes.

Break up large concepts into smaller sections - give a brief lecture, then do an activity to help it "sink in." Repeat this process over several days. You'll increase participation - and improve comprehension, too.

Solution #2: Keep them busy.

Don't allow students to stare into space while you talk. Give them something to stay connected. Try "fill in the blank" lecture notes. Delete key words and phrases in your lecture notes to create a "fill in the blank" worksheet. Then ask students to fill in the worksheet while you lecture. Another fun variation - lecture bingo .

Solution #3: Look into the future.

Before a lecture, give students a prediction activity. For example, tell them you will be lecturing on Shakespeare and ask them to predict what you will say, or give them a set of true/false statements and ask them to take their best guess.

As you lecture, instruct students to compare their guesses with what you actually say.

When the lecture is over, have a class discussion and evaluate how accurate student predictions were.

Problem: The lesson emphasizes the teacher, not the students.

Solution #1: Keep them busier than you are.

The traditional classroom of yesteryear had the teacher at the front of the room, droning on while students doze. Re-imagine your classroom as a place where students are busier than you are.

Keep the "sit still and let me talk to you" moments as brief as possible; get those kids working! Give them worksheets, activities, discussions, and projects. That doesn't mean you get to sit around -- you will still be busy, moving from student to student or group to group, correcting, evaluating, or providing feedback. But now everyone is busy and involved.

Homogeneous grouping? Heterogeneous grouping? Tracking? Forget the buzz words: having students work in groups is one of the best ways to increase student participation. Don't keep them in the same groups all the time -give them a chance to be the "smart kid" who can help someone one day and the kid who needs help the next.

Take a traditional worksheet or activity and give it to students in groups. Offer a reward to the group who finishes first with the most answers correct and watch them go! Note: it helps to have additional prizes available to keep groups motivated after the first group "wins." Even high school students enjoy these competitions.

Solution #3: Give them a voice and a choice.

Do students ever get a "say" in your classroom? Of course you need to make most decisions, but there must be some things you could leave up to them - whether it's what color chalk you use today or how long they practice a specific activity.

Kids tune out because they feel like their ideas don't matter. Show them their opinions are important and they'll pay better attention and speak up more in class.

There will always be some unreachable student who won't respond, even with these efforts. But if you give these a try, you may be presently surprised at the previously unreachable students who just might join in!

How do you encourage participation in your class? In what ways did you discover how to motivate students? Share in the comments section!

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top 12 ways to increase student participation

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Top 12 Ways to Increase Student Participation

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Call it "active learning," or "classroom participation" -- every teacher wants to know how to motivate students to particpate, and how to nurture more involved students and fewer apathetic ones. With a little extra planning, that is possible. Below are four common reasons students don't participate and techniques to solve those problems and spice up your lessons.

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Promoting Group Discussions

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The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

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Encouraging participation

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by Susan Verner 108,266 views

For some students, nothing will give them the push they need to share in a group. For most others, though, small changes in your leadership style and your expectations can be just what they need to open up and contribute to the conversation. Here are just a few ideas to help you get those silent students starting to share in your next group discussion.

How to Encourage Student Participation

1. Sometimes during discussions, students may not understand what type of answer you are looking for. A simple way to encourage these students to speak is by giving a model answer. Answer your own question and show your students what type of answer they should give you. This gives them a grammatical structure on which to base their own ideas and removes some of the intimidation that they might otherwise feel.

2. Make sure you are not falling victim to a common mistake among teachers, especially inexperienced ones. Do not be afraid of silence. The next time you lead a class discussion and no one seems to have an answer to the question, time yourself and wait a full sixty seconds before breaking the silence. Sometimes an uncomfortable silence will be just what a hesitant student needs to speak up. For other students, that small amount of time can be enough for them to gather their thoughts and formulate what they would like to say before they open their mouths. If the teacher is filling in all the conversation spaces, your students are not likely to interrupt and it may appear that they do not want to participate in the discussion.

3. Be careful what and how much you are correcting. If you are correcting pronunciation and grammar and content all at the same time, it is not surprising that your students may feel too intimidated to open up! Focus your corrections on one issue so your students feel as though they can speak without being overwhelmed with their mistakes. Also, encourage your students that their opinions are welcome even if they are not in agreement with yours or their fellow students'.

4. Don't put students on the spot. Calling on a student who is not ready to speak will only increase his or her anxiety and will often cause that person to retreat even further into his or her shell. By refraining from putting pressure on unready students, you take away that fear factor. Though this alone may not get a quiet student talking, it will help create an atmosphere conducive to speaking.

5. Make sure your students know they have freedom to fail during group discussions. This does not mean that you want your students to underperform. What it does mean is that you are not going to criticize your students for making a mistake. When students know that there is freedom to be imperfect, the intimidation level of group discussion will decrease and that in turn will free your not so perfect students to speak.

6. Let your students work together. Sometimes intimidation and a fear of speaking in front of one's peers is enough to shut down students who are unsure of their speaking abilities. For those who might be more willing to talk when only one person is listening, designate one speaker for each group to share with the class and ask the remaining students to share with the designated speaker. Because you eliminate the fear of sharing in front of the entire class, your students may be more willing to participate in their discussion group.

7. Think about how you are grouping your students together during discussions. If you have some students who are more talkative than others and who also have a tendency to dominate a discussion, put them in a group together. Put all of your quietest students in a group of their own as well. By doing this, you force your more quiet students to engage in the discussion as no one else will be steering it for them.

8. Something as simple as where your students are sitting in a group can contribute to how much they share during discussions as well. If you are leading, make sure your most talkative students are sitting directly to your left and right if you are in a circle. Likewise, seat your quietest student directly in front of you. If you are not leading the discussion, designate a facilitator for each group and arrange your students' seats in the same manner. The amount of eye contact that each person receives from you or the facilitator can have an influence on how much that person speaks during the discussion.

These ideas are not going to solve every student's hesitancy to share in groups, but they will get you started moving in the right direction if you have students who struggle to participate in discussions.

The first step toward open discussion is to give your students the model they need and the time to formulate their own ideas for sharing. Then by creating an atmosphere that encourages discussion and not perfection, your students will be less intimidated to share in class. Finally, by strategically grouping and seating your students in their groups, you will create a physical environment in which your students will be willing to share. I hope these tips will help improve participation in your class discussions and encourage your students feel more comfortable when they do speak in class. Ultimately, each person's participation comes down to him or her, and you cannot force an unwilling student to participate in class. Do what you can to make your class more open to discussion and then challenge your students to step up to the plate and use the language they are trying to hard to acquire!

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

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8 Simple Tips to Encourage Student Participation During Group Discussions

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by Susan Verner 108,266 views For some students, nothing will give them the push they need to share in a group. For most others, though, small changes in your leadership style and your expectations can be just what they need to open up and contribute to the conversation.