What are features of constructivist learning?
• Using the case of how electricity works to light a light-bulb, describe at least 5 aspects of constructivist learning/teaching that are demonstrated in Can we believe our eyes?
Since constructivist learning is students constructing their knowledge from their personal experience, the light bulb was a great example to demonstrate. In the video, there were five aspects of constructivist learning demonstrated using the light bulb. First, the light bulb was an hands on activity which allowed the students to be more focused on the topic rather than if they were learning about the light bulb through the book. Second, it gave students a way to think out of the box. It made the students to think on their own to come up with a final product rather than the teacher giving the students the step by step procedures of how to make the light come on. Third, the students were able to explore their different ideas. They got to do what they thought would work. Fourth, they were able to experience trial and error. They kept record of all the ways they tried to help them find a way that worked. They did not have to worry about getting something right the first time. It allowed the students to work without the pressure of failing and enjoy learning. Lastly, this way of constructivist learning allows the students to work with their peers to put their ideas together so they can make the final product. The students were able to compare their records with their classmates to come up with a possible conclusion on how the light bulb works and how they can get it to light.
Based on what you learned from all the videos, what socio-cognitive and constructivist ideas might you need to consider when planning your own lessons within your own domain of knowledge?
Knowing that I will be the role model in my classroom for my students, I hope to show many different ways of how fun can be added to learning. Many students become bored with learning because most teachers assign readings on the subject or pages of work for the student to do which just makes the students unmotivated to learn. When teaching, if I am able to bring hands on activities that deal with the curriculum, I know the students will become more motivated to learn. In a math class, I can bring in money to demonstrate something they will have to use in everyday life that will encourage them to do addition and subtraction. When learning how to use measuring, I could ask them what object they want to figure how tall it is. Also, I can make a day out of measuring and show the students how to measure ingredients of how to make a cake. This way they can be hands on while learning important details of everyday life.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Constructivist Learning
The teacher plays a completely different role in constructivist learning. Instead of teaching, they become the questioner. In this style of teaching/learning, students take their ideas and test them on their own. The teacher becomes a supporter/coach that asks questions along the way. By having the students work in groups, like in the videos, they can question, motivate and teach each other. This is one of my favorite lessons that we have done thus far. It concentrates on what I have spoken of many times in the past class lessons, understanding and remembering. I am big fan of hands on work for these reasons and the videos are evidence that these teaching styles are proven to work.
In the first section of Can we believe our eyes?, the girl did not grasp the concept. But when she dissected the light bulb she figured it out. In the second section the students may have had a little trouble with the first configuration, but once they understood, the rest of the configurations became easier. In the interviews, the students said that they understood how the process actually worked and they could now explain the information on paper. My view has always been to make sure that students understand the lesson, but there is a time issue when you look at the agenda and standards that a teacher is required to cover. It was reassuring to hear the teacher in the video discuss that it’s okay to go a little slower and let the students understand the material than to just skim through the lessons.
These videos showed good examples of cooperative learning, discovery learning, guided discovery learning, problem based learning, creative thinking and reciprocal teaching - questioning. You could tell when the students had an “ah ha” moment, and could see that they really understood what they was working on. The videos really showed the positive in constructivist leaning. The video Children See Children Do, shows Bandura’s social cognitive theory at its best. It is also a great reminder to always set positive examples. It reminds me of two signs that one of my teachers had on her wall years ago that said “You never know when you are being looked up to.” and “You never know when you are making a memory.”
Constructivist Learning
1. Using the case of how electricity works to light a light-bulb, describe at least 5 aspects of constructivist learning/teaching that are demonstrated in Can We Believe Our Eyes?
- Students are given materials (wires etc.) and are told to make the lightbulb light, but are not given any instructions as to how to do this. This helps students reconstruct in their minds what they already know about the workings of a lightbulb in relationship to electricity.
In helping with metacognition and logical thinking, when experimenting with light bulbs, students were instructed to write down all positive and negative results and are reminded that we learn from what doesn't work as well as for what does work.
Cooperative learning: Students are encouraged to work in small groups during the experiment.- To encourage social learning, while working in small groups, the verbal discussions help students think aloud in a nonthreatening environment.
Building on prior knowledge, after the students have discovered for ways to light the lightbulb, she challenges Them to revise their early speculations of how a lightbulb should light, to how it actually does.
2. Based on what you learned from all the videos, what socio-cognitive and constructivist ideas might you need to consider when planning your own lessons within your own domain of knowledge?
Children See Children Do was heart wrenching, reminding me as a teacher to always be a good example in my actions, even when I don't think anyone is watching. Often, adults tend to forget, and let their guard down when only children are present. Unfortunately, children are most vulnerable to bad reactions in adults. The social cognitive theory states that people learn from others through modeling, behavior, and observing. Children do learn constructively, by observing patterns and behaviors in others. When the behaviors are observed in those they love, children are motivated to emulate them, even if these behaviors are bad or wrong. They will learn these and continue the circle.
Albert Bandura said that the content of textbooks is perishable, but the tools of self directiveness serves one well over time. This reminds me that often the material is immaterial. Our ultimate goal is to teach students how to learn independently, which can be more important than what they learn.
When what we see doesn't make sense, our minds simply reject what we see. This was exemplified in the first lightbulb experiment lesson, where one month later the teacher's star student could not explain how a lightbulb works based on the experiment. The point of the lesson being included in the video was that children may actually be paying attention while listening to an expert teacher, but may still be misconstruing what is being taught. It is very important for me as a teacher librarian someday to have a good idea of what students already know when going into a lesson.
Teaching is not simply telling students new ideas, and when they don't understand the ideas, telling them again and again. As a teacher, I will need to learn to listen to their students' reasoning carefully for indications of what they have previously learned.
Constructivist learning is when children apply their knowledge and gain this knowledge from hands on and personal experiences. In the Can we believe our eyes video the teacher is using many aspects of constructivist learning/ teaching. Discovery learning is allowing the students to find a solution to a problem instead of being given the solution. The teacher also gives guided discovery by giving simple hints to help the student gain the information they need to solve the problem. Cooperative learning was also involved wich allows students to work in small groups to get their work completed. Individual or Cognitive Constructivism helps individuals construct knowledge in their minds. When planning my own lessons I think I will use more of a discovery learning and if the children are still not understanding the lesson I would then use a guided discovery.
Contructivism in the Classroom
The classrooms teaching about light bulbs in the video took a traditional approach, telling the student how it worked, letting them have an example and testing them on it. They did well on the test- so what’s the problem?
Constructivism is the idea that students actively construct their knowledge from personal experiences with others in the environment. We all search for meaning in the world, we try to understand why certain things happen the way they do. We don’t have to be taught about the world to make our own assumptions and conclusions. This approach acknowledges that students have prior conceptions to a given subject, and that this may interfere with long term learning of material in the classroom. One of the brightest students in the traditional classroom was given a pretest, taught the material, and tested well afterwards. But- a month later she was retested and she went back to her initial thoughts on how a light bulb worked- despite being told outright how they function. This can be seen as proof of the pervasiveness of constructivism.
Taken a step further to application, there comes the idea of individual or cognitive constructivism, which focuses on how individuals construct knowledge in their minds. It implies the following: that teachers release control of student learning, allow student’s interests to drive the process of knowledge construction, and let students make intellectual choices for themselves.
This evolved into the concept of discovery learning, where the students try to find a solution to a problem or an explanation for a phenomenon rather than simply memorizing rules and expectations. A more focused approach than simply letting the students find out for themselves (pure discovery) is guided discovery where students find a solution to a problem or an explanation for a phenomenon with the help of teacher hints and directions. The experimental classroom approach later in the video was a guided discovery format. The teachers gave the students a goal, the materials needed to complete the goal, and let them figure out how to accomplish it. When the students asked in frustration how to solve the problem the teachers did not cave in and explain, they instead redirected their questions to a more helpful direction so that they didn’t get stuck. They also emphasized that the students record everything they did, including their mistakes, so that they could build on that knowledge and figure out what didn’t work. At the end of the lesson the students figured out how to wire the light bulb so that is lit up several different ways, and understood exactly what needed to be done to make it light (wire connected at the bottom and the side). This is much more meaningful processing, and required direct confrontation with any contradictory ideas about light bulbs. This took a lot longer, but the students will probably remember the lessons much longer than they would have in a traditional classroom.
Based on what you learned from all the videos, what socio-cognitive and constructivist ideas might you need to consider when planning your own lessons within your own domain of knowledge?
If I were teaching kids (age 10-12) how to use a computer program (a good basic skill), such as Word or PowerPoint, I would tell them certain things I needed them to do, like make slides that have spinning text and formatting with a certain style- and let them figure out how to on their own. They would have to explore the program and try a lot of things that didn’t work, but would eventually find what they needed, and all that exploring and experimenting with features would be much more productive in learning than me telling them exactly how to do what I required them to do.
Constructivism is the idea that students actively construct their knowledge from personal experiences with others in the environment. We all search for meaning in the world, we try to understand why certain things happen the way they do. We don’t have to be taught about the world to make our own assumptions and conclusions. This approach acknowledges that students have prior conceptions to a given subject, and that this may interfere with long term learning of material in the classroom. One of the brightest students in the traditional classroom was given a pretest, taught the material, and tested well afterwards. But- a month later she was retested and she went back to her initial thoughts on how a light bulb worked- despite being told outright how they function. This can be seen as proof of the pervasiveness of constructivism.
Taken a step further to application, there comes the idea of individual or cognitive constructivism, which focuses on how individuals construct knowledge in their minds. It implies the following: that teachers release control of student learning, allow student’s interests to drive the process of knowledge construction, and let students make intellectual choices for themselves.
This evolved into the concept of discovery learning, where the students try to find a solution to a problem or an explanation for a phenomenon rather than simply memorizing rules and expectations. A more focused approach than simply letting the students find out for themselves (pure discovery) is guided discovery where students find a solution to a problem or an explanation for a phenomenon with the help of teacher hints and directions. The experimental classroom approach later in the video was a guided discovery format. The teachers gave the students a goal, the materials needed to complete the goal, and let them figure out how to accomplish it. When the students asked in frustration how to solve the problem the teachers did not cave in and explain, they instead redirected their questions to a more helpful direction so that they didn’t get stuck. They also emphasized that the students record everything they did, including their mistakes, so that they could build on that knowledge and figure out what didn’t work. At the end of the lesson the students figured out how to wire the light bulb so that is lit up several different ways, and understood exactly what needed to be done to make it light (wire connected at the bottom and the side). This is much more meaningful processing, and required direct confrontation with any contradictory ideas about light bulbs. This took a lot longer, but the students will probably remember the lessons much longer than they would have in a traditional classroom.
Based on what you learned from all the videos, what socio-cognitive and constructivist ideas might you need to consider when planning your own lessons within your own domain of knowledge?
If I were teaching kids (age 10-12) how to use a computer program (a good basic skill), such as Word or PowerPoint, I would tell them certain things I needed them to do, like make slides that have spinning text and formatting with a certain style- and let them figure out how to on their own. They would have to explore the program and try a lot of things that didn’t work, but would eventually find what they needed, and all that exploring and experimenting with features would be much more productive in learning than me telling them exactly how to do what I required them to do.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Constructivist Approach to the Light Bulb Lesson
In the video we watched for class, we were able to look at the constructivist approach to learning in action. The teacher in Washington (dark hair & glasses) used a discovery learning approach when she allowed her students to discover the solution (how to make a light bulb light) rather than just memorize information she gave them. Another teacher (the one with the short gray hair) used the problem based learning approach when she gave her students the materials (wire, battery, & light bulb) and asked them to write or draw 4 different configurations that made the light bulb light up. The teacher from Massachusetts changed his style of teaching to cognitive constructivism when he reliquished control of the learning and gave his students the responsibility to discover information on their own. He commented that the one of the hardest things to change was not automatically answering the student's questions. Instead, he did provide a guided discovery approach by asking his students thought-provoking questions and hints that led them to discover the answers on their own. All the teachers in the video encouraged cooperative learning where the students were encouraged to work together in small groups to solve problems. Even though all the teachers admitted that this style of teaching takes more time, they agreed that the students were able to remember the material much better when they used a constructivist approach to teaching.
As a school media specialist, I will face the challenge of working with a large number of students and teachers from different content areas. Some of the ways I can try to use constructivist approaches would be to:
1. Introduce teachers to technologies & applications that employ problem-based or discovery approaches to learning like Webquest.
2. Instead of just giving the students the steps to information research, create a problem & have groups of students come up with their own plan. Discuss which ideas may/or may not work & why.
3. Integrate information literacy within the context of what they are already learning in content areas.
4. In book club meetings, let the students come up with own discussion questions.
These are just a few ideas, but I can see many opportunites for using this approach in a library setting.
As a school media specialist, I will face the challenge of working with a large number of students and teachers from different content areas. Some of the ways I can try to use constructivist approaches would be to:
1. Introduce teachers to technologies & applications that employ problem-based or discovery approaches to learning like Webquest.
2. Instead of just giving the students the steps to information research, create a problem & have groups of students come up with their own plan. Discuss which ideas may/or may not work & why.
3. Integrate information literacy within the context of what they are already learning in content areas.
4. In book club meetings, let the students come up with own discussion questions.
These are just a few ideas, but I can see many opportunites for using this approach in a library setting.
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