Week 4: Constructivism

Overview of constructivism 

Definition: A focus on student engagement and learners as active participants in constructing their own knowledge. The core belief is that knowledge is not simply transferred to the learner; they must participate in acquiring it. 

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Key concepts in constructivism: 

• Cognitive conflict & equilibrium: Conflict occurs when learners cannot incorporate new learning into their existing internal schemas. Equilibrium occurs when the incorporation is successful. 

• Social constructivism: The importance of collaborative learning experiences where learners explore, explain, and evaluate to create a personal connection with material. In contrast with,

• Radical constructivism: The belief that constructing knowledge depends on the individual rather than social interactions. 

• Zone of Proximal Development: The range of tasks learners can perform with the assistance of a more knowledgeable other. 

• Scaffolding: temporary support a more knowledgeable other provides a learner. Their goal is to help learners accomplish tasks they cannot do alone. Support should be gradually withdrawn as the learner becomes more skilled. 

• Intersubjectivity: Two people start a task together with different skill levels and understanding, and both end up with a shared understanding.

 

Motivation in Constructivism: 

Intrinsic: Learners participate in learning/activity for the sake of learning rather than for other rewards. 

Extrinsic: Learners participate in learning/activity to receive praise, rewards, or other outcomes. 

 

KEY RESEARCHERS

Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) Radical Constructivist

First theorist of constructivism.  He believed humans create knowledge by interacting with experiences.

 

Key contributions:

• Accommodation: Learners reframe their mental representation of the external world to fit new experiences.

• Assimilation: Learners acquire social/psychological characteristics of the group.

 

Len Vygotsky (1896 - 1934) Social Constructivist

Learning occurs best through interacting with others and developing shared meaning with others.

 

Key contributions:

Zone of Proximal Development: The gap between what a learner can learn by themselves and what is beyond their learning capacity. It represents what a learner can master with guidance from a More Knowledgeable Other. 

 

John Dewey (1859 - 1852) Combination of Social & Radial Constructivist 

Believed learners who engaged in real-world activities as part of the learning process demonstrated the highest level of knowledge. 

 

John Keller (1938 - ) ARCS Model on Motivation 

Engaging learners by understanding their motivations.

 

Key contribution:

ARCS Model on Motivation 

Attention: Capturing learners' interest  through active participation (games/role play), humor, conflict, variety, real-world examples.

Relevance: Content is meaningful because it applies to  learners' real-life situations. 

Confidence:  Built by providing clear goals, achievable challenges, and constructive feedback. 

Satisfaction: Reinforce motivation through praise, rewards,  recognition. 

 

Implications of constructivism for instructional design 

Key constructivist theories instructional designers should consider in learning design:

 

Assessment of Prior Knowledge: Assessment is critical before implementing any constructivist principles, and this should be incorporated into all designs. Instructors must have an accurate understanding of learners' foundational knowledge on a topic before they can facilitate the construction of knowledge. 

 

Active Engagement: Learners must develop personal meaning from information for it to be meaningful. This can be accomplished by incorporating pre-learning questions, asking open-ended questions, playing games, or incorporating hands-on activities. This will not only establish students' base knowledge but will help get them engaged with the topic. 

 

Social Interaction: Building collaborative learning experiences can deepen individuals' learning. Designing cooperative learning experiences should be considered as part of any design. 

• Reciprocal learning:  Creating small groups of learners with comparable knowledge to master concepts.  

• Cooperative learning: Creating small groups of learners with different levels of knowledge - individual success is reliant on group success.

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Real-World Context: Content should be meaningful and applicable to real-life situations to help learners understand the value of material and build long-term mastery. The inclusion of stories and problem-solving activities can help learners make these personal connections. 

• Anchored learning:  students need to actively apply knowledge to real-world scenarios in order for that knowledge to be meaningful.

 

Scaffolding: Guidance should vary for each student based on their need as determined in assessments. It should be temporary in nature, and support levels should decrease. Effective scaffolding can be implemented by gaining the learner's attention, making tasks simple, and controlling frustration.

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Motivation: Understanding learner motivation is critical in instructional design. Again, this underscores the need for individual assessment at the beginning of any learning experience. Motivations can be either intrinsic (learning for the sake of learning), extrinsic (learning for a reward or recognition), or a combination of both. Application of Keller’s ARCS model will support understanding of student motivation; 

• Attention: Using participation, games, humor, or real-world examples to capture the learner’s attention.

• Relevance: Finding real-world connections between the learner and the material. 

• Confidence: Providing clear goals and objectives along with feedback will maintain self-efficacy.

• Satisfaction: This can be either recognition or the ability to apply new learning to the learners’ real world. 

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Strengths and limitations of constructivism in education 

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Challenges

Using constructivist theories in the design of the K-12 curriculum presents several challenges in instructional design, specifically when designing for adolescents and teens. First, any learning dependent on collaborative learning with this age group can be challenging. Social hierarchies outside the classroom will undoubtedly play into any reciprocal or cooperative learning type and can distract from actual learning.  Secondly, identifying and addressing motivation, particularly attention and satisfaction, is difficult for learners accustomed to the immediacy of personal technology.  Instructors must focus on extrinsic motivations for students to gain and hold attention. Lastly, the success of constructivist theories is highly dependent on assessments of prior knowledge, which, depending on the topic, could be time and resource-prohibitive given large class sizes and the need for well-conceived assessment. 

 

Strengths

While presenting several instructional design challenges, constructivist theories have many excellent applications in K-12 education. First, the foundation in making personal connections to information empowers the learner to take control of the process rather than simply memorizing rote information. Permission to reflect and analyze information will appeal to students with slow processing speed. Next, as learners are increasingly connected to global events and ideas through online news and social media, establishing real-world relevance will capture and hold their attention and provide satisfaction through the immediacy of application. Lastly, the emphasis on social learning, which can also be considered a limitation, teaches valuable skills in navigating group dynamics and interpersonal relationships (even if strained) that will serve them in future academic and professional settings. 

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