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Constructivism Approach Business 304
Constructivism Approach Business 304
Constructivism Approach Business 304
• The constructivism approach is anchored on Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism and Lev Vygotsky’s Social
Constructivism.
• Constructivism advocates that learners build knowledge out of their experiences and ideas. This knowledge is
then shared and enhanced through interaction with significant others.
• Jean Piaget observed that learners create new knowledge from their prior experiences through the processes of
assimilation and accommodation.
• However, Vygotsky, who has been a supporter of Piaget’s work, insists that for learners to gain a greater amount
of learning, they should constantly encounter significant others.
• Vygotsky (1978) explained that a deeper understanding of concepts is achieved through language and
interaction with one another.
• Sotto (2007) believed learners take responsibility for their own learning, while teachers facilitate learning within
a social context. In short, learners are given the opportunity to work individually and collectively.
• Lave & Wenger (1991) & Duffy (2009) stressed that learning does not only depend on cognitive processes but
also social interactions and community engagement and other learning processes in a “contextualized” learning.
BELIEFS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
• Society and culture affect learning.
• Learning involves community engagement.
• Social interaction is equally important because of the characteristics of learners as social learners.
Gardner knew that his multiple intelligences theory had some room to grow since he mentioned that
multiple intelligences were not limited to the original seven. Furthermore, Gardner believed that there
could be additional intelligence worthy of inclusion in the model.
Chapman (2014) stated that Gardner added Naturalist intelligence (refers to relationship toward natural
environment), Spiritual or Existential Intelligence (refers to a relationship toward Supreme Being or
refers to one’s personal philosophy or belief), and Moral Intelligence (refers to taking care of the welfare
of living things and their well-being) among the list of intelligence.
However, Gardner suggested using “existential intelligence” rather than “spiritual intelligence” because
of the challenge of codifying quantifiable scientific criteria to it (Dhiman, 2017).
The table below shows the original seven with the inclusion of the additional intelligence.
1. Linguistic. Learners Ability to learn different Words and language Writers, poets, lawyers,
have an intense passion languages and use them speakers
for spoken and written to accomplish goals.
language.
3. Musical. Learners are Ability to recognize and Music, sound, rhythm Musicians, composers
adaptive to skills in compose musical pitches,
performance, tones, and rhythms
composition, and
appreciation of musical
patterns.
9. Spiritual/Existential. Ability to use collective Religion and ‘ultimate Human rights advocates,
values and intuition to issues’ legislators, theologians
Learners are concerned
understand others and
with various social issues.
the world around them
10. Moral. Ability to apply rules and Ethics, humanity, value Traffic enforcers, police
regulations in daily life of life officers, peace and order
Learners observe rules,
situations advocates
behaviors, and attitudes
that govern the sanctity
of life
2. Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic intelligence. This theory believes that learners learn even outside the
classroom. The environment is the best classroom for them. Thus, learners are encouraged to explore the
outside world to give meaning to their learnings.
• Kinds of Intelligence
a. Practical intelligence. The ability to do well in formal and in informal educational settings; is also known as
“street smart” individuals.
b. Experiential intelligence. The ability to deal with current situations so that novel situations that may arise in
the future are easily handled.
c. Componential intelligence. The ability to process metacognition and knowledge-acquisition components
effectively.
3. Wilhelm Wundt’s Structuralism. This theory assumes the discovery structure of the mind is built upon the
basic elements of ideas and sensations and could only be completed through introspection. Introspection is the
self-examination of one’s thoughts, memories, perceptions, and motivations (Zhou & Brown, 2015).
4. William James’ Functionalism. This theory examines how the mind functions and the mental processing
that leads to adaptive behavior. While the functionalists were concerned with both mental processes and
adaptive behavior, the major emphasis was on behavior (Zhou & Brown, 2015)
5. Kurt Lewin’s “life space” and “field theory”. “Life space” refers to reality such as needs, aspirations,
desires, and goals, while “field theory” refers to the functions of both person and environment. Hence,
learning occurs when the learners’ existing environment is in harmony with their present reality. Therefore,
learning activities must be relevant to their needs, aspirations, and goals.
6. Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence. This theory highlights the role of emotion in the development of
an individual’s personality, which eventually affects the progress of learning and behavior.
7. David Kolb’s Experiential Learning. This theory focuses on constructing knowledge as a result of one’s
reflective experience, which serves as the main driving force in learning (Baker, Jensen, & Kolb, 2002).