CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

 

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

    Constructivism

             Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just passively take in information. As people experience the world and reflect upon those experiences, they build their own representations and incorporate new information into their pre-existing knowledge.

         The theory of learning of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, considered father of Constructivism, focuses on the cognitive development of children and adolescents.

         The constructivist view of learning argues that students do not come to the science classroom empty-headed but arrive with lots of strongly formed ideas about how the natural world works. From this perspective, learning is a process of acquiring new knowledge, which is active and complex.

         Constructivist approach is not teacher-centered, rather than teacher facilitates scientific investigation by using many different strategies. These include observation, designing and making, questioning, prediction, discussion and recording experiences.

Examples of constructivist classroom activities

ü  Reciprocal teaching/learning. Allow pairs of students to teach each other.

ü  Inquiry-based learning (IBL) learners pose their own questions and seek answers to their questions via research and direct observation.

ü  Problem-based learning (PBL).

ü  Co-operative learning.

   Characteristics of Constructivist Teaching

1.  The learners are actively involved.
2. The environment is democratic.
3. The activities are interactive and student-centered.
4. The teacher facilitates a process of learning in which students are encouraged to be responsible and autonomous.

Principles of constructivism

·         Knowledge is constructed.

·         People learn to learn, as they learn.

·         Learning is an active process.

·         Learning is a social activity.

·         Learning is contextual.

·         Knowledge is personal.

·         Learning exists in the mind.

·         Motivation is key to learning.

      How can we apply the principles of constructivism in teaching?

1.       Engage students in problems that become relevant and meaningful.

2.       Organize curriculum into activities that address broad primary concepts.

3.       Seek out and value students’ perspectives.

4.       Encourage students to investigate and challenge their assumptions and suppositions.

5.       Use assessment to guide student learning.

 

FIVE-E LEARNING MODEL 

       It is a process in which the teacher plans structured activities or creates learning environments, implements them in classrooms, guides students to construct the knowledge or discover the knowledge through this activity and gives feedback for further progress or improvement in learning.

   The structured activities or learning environment are planned based on various methods and techniques depending on the purpose for which they are designed. The present trend is to plan the learning environments based on some Instructional design model.

   Instructional design model.

       An Instructional design is a decision-making process by means of which the most appropriate instructional strategy is selected to achieve an identified objective under a set of conditions. Instructional design requires development of learning material using learning theories and instructional strategies to ensure quality of design, delivery and effectiveness of transfer of learning to intended outcomes.

     It provides wider scope for teachers to plan and create learning environments and facilitate learning. Within the broad frame work of the instructional design, the teacher wisely selects and organizes suitable methods and strategies depending on the content category and the objectives to be achieved. It also involves assessment and evaluation strategies.

      The recommendation made by NCF 2005 is that the mode of transaction should be through constructivism. Hence, instructional design model’s constructivism is to be followed. There are several instructional designs models-based constructivism and one of the suitable models for science and mathematics subjects and most often used model is Five E’s model developed by Roger Bybee.

Five E’s Model Stage

I. Engage: 

        Facilitating learning environment, learning activities and situations and focusing the minds of learners on the higher order learning tasks is the main purpose of this stage. As far as possible present real-life situations to engage student’s attention on learning tasks.

The different ways of engaging learners are:

·         Ask open ended questions.

·         Act out a problematic situation.

·         Define a problem.

·         Show a surprising event.

·         Note unexpected phenomenon.

·         Consider possible responses to questions.

·         Present situations where student’s perceptions vary.

Stage-2: Explore:

        In this stage, learners are guided to explore and find answers for the questions/issues raised during the engage stage. Teacher role is to structure and present learning environment which facilitate learners to involve in investigative activities and provide opportunities for students to get directly involved with discovery process and construction of knowledge.

     Some of the investigative activities can be as follows:

·         Provide structured activities.

·         Have them work in teams.

·         Experiment with materials.

·         Use their inquiry to drive the process.

·         Employ problem solving strategies.

·         Identify sequence or patterns of events.

·         Brainstorm possible alternatives.

According to constructivist approaches, it is very suitable to structure small groups

(3 to 6 members) while involving students in the above-mentioned activities or any appropriate activity. Co-operative learning strategies are most suitable for this purpose.

Stage-3: Explain:

      At the second stage, students have engaged in the learning activities and through mutual interactions discovered the knowledge (scientific facts, concepts, generalizations and procedures) and constructed. Expressing this abstract knowledge through communicable form is the purpose of the third stage.

Students can express the constructed knowledge in different ways as follows:

·         Explain the constructed ideas.

·         Construct and explain a model.

·         Represent ideas through pictures/figures/graphs.

·         Represent information through symbols.

·         Present a summary based on the data.

·         Present oral and written reports.

·         Review and criticize solutions.

Stage-4: Expand:

       In the fourth stage, the teacher provides opportunities and guidance for students to apply the co9nstructed knowledge in several real-life situations. The students can also correlate the newly constructed knowledge to other related fields of knowledge. These new relationships can further lead to new discoveries or new understandings.

·         Apply knowledge and skills in real life situations.

·         Transfer knowledge and skills.

·         Ask new questions.

Stage-5: Evaluate:

    At this stage the teacher evaluates whether the students have constructed the knowledge completely and correctly and also have developed conceptual understandings. According to constructivist theory, evaluation should be as far as possible diagnostic in nature.

The tools that are suitable for this purpose are:

·         Checklists for observations.

·         Projects and problem-based learning products.

·         Achievement and attainment tests.

·         Concept/mind mappings.

·         Portfolios assessments.

·         Rubrics.

·         Student interviews

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES

COLLABORATIVE SKILLS

Definition

        Collaborative skills are the behaviors that help two or more people to work together and function well in the process. Teachers can train their students in the skills of collaboration so they will be able to accomplish group tasks.

Examples

Basic skills of collaboration are similar to skills of communication, which can be taught to younger children. The University of Vermont's Department of Education has identified a list of skills of collaboration for the classroom. They require students to learn how to:

• Begin a conversation
• End a conversation
• Ask for help
• Ask a favor
• Give a compliment
• Join in
• Accept criticism
• Follow directions
• Ask questions
• Say 'thank you'
• Say 'no'
• Accept 'no'
• Encourage others
• State feelings
• Negotiate
• Express concern for others
• Listen
• Take turns
• Take responsibility

          Collaboration is the act of working together for a common goal. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills says that mastering collaboration skills requires the ability to work effectively with diverse teams. It also requires the ability to "be helpful and make necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal."

Time for productive collaboration is a must in today's classrooms.

• Phillip Schletchy identifies qualities of the work teachers give students that affect engagement. Affiliation, that is, opportunities to work with others, can be a positive influence on student engagement.
• A study on cooperative learning found that "subjects who worked cooperatively spent more time working on practice exercises and reported greater satisfaction than those who worked individually."
• "Studies have shown that groups outperform individuals on learning tasks, and further that individuals who work in groups do better on later individuals’ assignments as well (Barron, 2000b, 2003; O'Donnell & Danserau, 1992)."Powerful Learning by Linda Darling-Hammond, page 19.
• Having the capacity to collaborate is an important component in project-based learning and an essential personal and professional skill.
• The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organization formed by government, corporations, associations, and individuals, has developed a framework that fuses the 3 Rs with the 4Cs. The 4Cs are:
• critical thinking and problem solving
• communication
• creativity and innovation 
• collaboration

         Working effectively with others is an extremely complex endeavor. Collaboration skills are complicated to learn because they are actually people skills. Learning these skills takes guided practice and quality feedback. Teacher's shouldn't expect their students to work together effectively without explicitly teaching and modeling collaboration skills. These skills include:

• Active listening
• Respect
• Manners
• Positive Attitude
• Focused
• Social Awareness

Simply telling students to work together won't lead to productive collaboration. Teachers need to develop activities and projects where students have reasons to collaborate. We must teach students how to be good group members through modeling, role playing, discussion, and facilitating. Collaboration can be taught and learned by

• Assigning clear responsibilities
• Showing students examples
• Assigning a leader
• Encouraging self-direction
• Charting progress
• Conducting group and self-evaluations
• Designing rubric to measure the process and product

Co-operative learning techniques:

     Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams (each with students of different levels of ability); use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. It is an instructional arrangement for teaching academic and collaborative skills to small heterogeneous groups of students. Cooperation means working together to accomplish shared goals. Hence, students work in mixed ability groups and rewarded on the basis of the success of the group. Students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning. It is a teaching strategy involving children’s participation in small group learning activities that promote positive interaction. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of high achievement.

The main purpose of co-operative learning is actively involving students in the learning process.

Steps for co-operative learning technique

1.       Content to be taught is identified, and criteria for mastery are determined by the teacher.

2.       The most useful cooperative learning technique is identified, and the teacher determines the group size.

3.       Students are assigned to groups.

4.       The classroom is arranged to facilitate group interaction.

5.       Group processes are taught or reviewed as needed to assure that the groups work smoothly.

6.       Teacher develops expectations for group learning and makes sure students understand the purpose of the learning that will take place. A time line for activities is made clear to students.

7.       Teacher presents initial material.

8.       Teacher monitors student interaction in the groups, and provides assistance and clarifications as needed. Teacher reviews group skills and facilitates problem solving when necessary.

9.       Student outcomes are evaluated. Student musts individually demonstrate mastery of important skills or concepts of the learning. Evaluation is based on observations of student performances.

Steps of Most often used techniques

Learning together technique:

Steps:

1.       Determining the instructional objectives and content.

2.       Deciding the group size.

3.       Dividing the students into groups.

4.       Arranging of the class.

5.       Planning of educational materials.

6.       Giving the roles to the group members in order to provide dependence.

7.       Explaining the academic work.

8.       Creating the positive objective dependence and cooperation among the groups.

9.       Explain the criterions and behaviours necessary for achievement.

10.   Guiding the student behaviours and helping the group work.

11.   Finishing the lesson.

12.   Evaluation of individual student’s qualitative and quantitative learning.

13.   Evaluating the performance of the group.

Jigsaw technique

       The jigsaw strategy is a cooperative learning technique and efficient teaching method that also encourages listening, engagement, interaction, peer teaching, and cooperation by giving each member of the group an essential part to play in the academic activity. Just as in jigsaw puzzle, each piece, each student’s part is essential for the completion and full understanding of the final product.

Steps:

1.       Students are divided into home groups of three to six students.

2.       Individual members of each group then break off to work with the “experts’ from other groups.

3.       “Experts” research a subcategory of the material being studied.

4.       “Experts” return to their home group in the role of instructor for their subcategory.