Constructivism in

the classroom
 What is Constructivism ? 
Constructivism is not a new concept, it has been around since the
turn of the century and was supported by:
 
•  John Dewey, who was an  American psychologist, philosopher,
educator, social critic and political activist.
 
• Jean Piaget, who based his view of psychological development
of children such that a child contructs understanding through
many channels: such as reading, listening, exploring and
experiencing his or her environment.
 
• Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist and philosopher and is 
associated with the social constructivist theory. He believed that
the influences of cultural and social contexts played an
important part in learning and supports a discovery model of
learning.
 Constructivism is:

• Constructivism is child-centered, rather than

curriculum based,
• Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction,
not knowledge reproduction,
• It is a belief that one constructs knowledge from one's
experiences,
• Everyone's view of the external world differs from
others because of their unique set of experiences,
• The ideas and interests of children drive the learning
process,
• Teachers are flexible- they are the facilitator,
 
 
 Constructivism is con't:

• Students construct new understandings using what

they already know, and prior knowledge influences
what new or modified knowledge they will construct
from new learning experiences,
•  Learning is active rather than passive,
•  Children may need different experiences to advance to
different levels of understanding.
• "a focus on student-centered learning may well be the
most important contribution of constructivism." (1)    
 
Jean Piaget - The learner is advanced through
three mechanisms

According to Jean Piaget  the three mechanisms used are:

 
1. Assimilation - fitting a new experience into an exisiting
mental structure(schema).
 
2. Accomodation - revising an exisiting schema because of
new experience.
 
3. Equilibrium - seeking cognitive stability through
assimilation and accomodation. (p. 95)
   
 
 
 
 Lev Vygotsky - associated with the
social constructivist theory
1. Making meaning - the community places a central role, and
the people around the student greatly affect the way he or she
sees the world.
 
2. Tools for cognitive development - the type and quality of
these tools (culture, language, important adults to the student)
determine the pattern and rate of development.
 
3. The Zone of Proximal Development - problem solving
skills of tasks can be placed into three categories: Those
performed independently by the learner. Those that cannot
be performed even with help. Those that fall between the two
extremes, the tasks that can be performed with help from
others.
 
 traditional vs constructivist classroom
Traditional Classroom
•  Student primarily work alone
• Curriculum is presented part to whole,
with emphasis on basic skills
• Strict adherence to a fixed curriculum
• Curricular activities rely heavily on
textbooks of data and manipulative
materials
• Students are viewed as "blank slates"
• Teachers generally behave in a didactic
manner,
• Teachers seek the correct answers to
validate student lessons.
• Assessment of student learning is
viewed as separate from teaching and
occurs almost entirely through testing.
Constructivist Classroom 
• Students primarily work in groups
• Curriculum is presented whole to part with
emphasis on the big concept
• Pursuit of student questions is highly
valued.
• Students are viewed as thinkers with
emerging theories about the world
• Teachers generally behave as facilitators
• Teachers seek the student's point of view
in order to understand student learning for
use later on
• Assessment of student learning is
interwoven with teaching and occurs
through teacher observation of students at
work and through exhibitions and
protfolios.
 Principles  of Constructivism
10 basic guiding principles of constructivist thinking that educators
must keep in mind:
  
1. It takes time to learn
2. Learning is an active process in which the student constructs
meaning out of
3. People learn to learn 
4. Learning involves language
5. Learning is a social activity
6. Learning is contextual
7. The act of constructing meaning is mental
8. Every one needs knowledge to learn
9. Learning is not the passive acceptance of knowledge it takes work
10. Motivation is a major aspect of learning
 Constructivism and Technology

• instruction goes from whole class to groups

•  facilitating rather than lecturing
•  stronger students may work independantly while weaker
or   struggling students get the extra help that they need
•  students are engaged more and learn to work with others
• students are more cooperative and less competative
 
 
With the every changing classroom and technology it only
makes sense to use some of the constructivisms' ideas to help
students learn.
 Pros & Cons of Constructivism
Pros
• students often like when
they are part of the
decision making process
•  a higher level of thinking
occures
• students like hands-on
activities
•  students feel a sense of
ownership when hand-on
learning occures rather
then just being told
something
Cons
• belief that learning is
based on the students
ability to discover new
knowledge 
• teachers may not take
responsibility for poor
learning
• may lead students to take
a majority rules attitude
rather then an individual
approach to decision
making 
Constructivism Graphic Organizer
 5 E Model English Lesson

• Indicator: Introduce yourself to a classmate and learn new

information about them.
 
• Objective: The student will write a paragraph about
themselves to share with a classmate. After the students
read their paragraphs to a partner, the student will ask their
partner questions to get to know them even better. Then
they will present their findings to the class by telling them
about their partner.
  
5 E Model English Lesson
 
 
 
•  Outcomes: The students will be able to use their new
knowledge of interviewing to share information about
themselves to a classmate and then present to the class.
They will have learned about each classmate.
 
• Grade: 4th
 
• Materials: Paper, pencils, list of questions about themselves.
 Engagement
 
• Have the students line up in order of birthdays (from
youngest to oldest). The students will pair up in two’s based
upon who they are next to.
 
• The students will write a paragraph about themselves, using
the list of questions as a guide to tell them what to include.
The students will write their paragraphs and then come up
with questions to ask their partner about other aspects of
their lives.

Teachers must engage students in their lessons

in order for them to learn. Engage students by:
guiding whole group discussions, asking
students to explain what they learned, working
together in small groups to complete projects or
tasks. 
Teachers must engage students in
their lessons in order for them to
learn. Engage students by:
guiding whole group discussions,
asking students to explain what
they learned, working together in
small groups to complete projects
or tasks. 
 Exploration

• The students will read their paragraphs to their partners and

ask questions that they would like to know.
 
• The students will take notes on their classmates responses
 Students inquire, work together, form
hypotheses, learn about new ideas and
concepts on their own before coming
together as a whole class. Students develop
an idea of what they may think an object or
idea is, then explore it further to see if their
idea was accurate. Students use tools such as
textbooks, the internet, scientific
instruments, and their creative minds to
explore new concepts.
 Explanation

• When the students are done sharing then they will share
their findings with the class by introducing their partner to
them. The students will tell the class what they found out
about them.
 
• Each group will have to participate but the teacher will call
on volunteers first if any exist.
The student will define and explain
the current concept using their own
words.  The student will accomplish
this using informational readings,
group discussions, and teacher
interaction.  Learners will support
each other by sharing their ideas,
observations, questions, and
hypotheses.
 Extention/Elaboration

• After each group introduces each other, the class will ask
additional questions that they come up with about their
classmates.

Students will expand their learning on

the concepts by making connections to
related concepts and applying their
understanding to the world around
them.  This will help students make
connections that will lead them to more
inquiry which will lead to new
 Evaluation

• The teacher will ask each student to say one thing that they
learned about at least one student in the class.

Constructivism encourages teachers to

assess their students learning on an
ongoing basis.  In traditional classrooms,
assessment would be paper tests taken by
the students after the content was taught
and in which they received a grade.  In a
constructivist classroom the teacher
assesses the students work and adapts the
 Teacher engages students by providing knowledge expansion tools the
students use, collaboratively and cooperatively through inquiry, exploration,
teamwork, whole group discussions, and evaluation.
Listen Collaborate Explore Evaluate

Advantages:

Students LISTEN to their peers

Students COLLABORATE with group members
Students EXPLORE independently
Teacher EVALUATES what students learned.
Constructivist classroom should be characterized by the
following:

• the learners are actively involved

• the environment is democratic

• the activities are interactive and student-

centered

• the teacher facilitates a process of

learning in which students are
encouraged to be responsible and
autonomous
Strategies and Activities
  Role-playing 

  By simply letting the students take on the role of

various book characters, famous historical and
current affairs figures, body organs, plant parts,
sports materials, the students shall be better able
to deeply comprehend the depth and importance
of these personalities and entities.
In Social Studies, the teacher can choose a
student to internalize the role of a popular
dictator while the rest of the class proceed
to fire away questions for the person. 

In Science, a group of students may be

assigned to be the different organs of
the digestive system and asked to
explain how each of them works
individually and together with the other
organs in the system.
In Mathematics, a student may
temporarily become a triangle and
explain to the class what geometric
figures she/he is made of and how
his/her perimeter or area is
computed.
For the story grammar lesson in
English, for instance, a group of
students may be assigned to be expert
geographers (setting), psychologists
(characters), counselors (theme), and
reporters (plot) to retell a story. 

Other subject area teachers can easily incorporate these

role-playing activities for the deepening of students’
comprehension of important concepts.
 Hands-on, creative activities
One way to initiate these is for the
teacher to pose an open-ended question Present a wide range of
on how to solve a particular problem. options for the students to
Here, it is important that the teacher’s explore without directly stating
modelling and scaffolding will not what those options are. The
dictate a rigid structure that the students key is to make the discussions
might follow.  refreshingly engaging and at
the same time within the range
of their schemata. 
 After the exchange of ideas, let
the students work on the
presentation of solutions by way
of various creative activities, such
as choral recitation, commercials,
flyers, multimedia presentations,
conferences or request for
community involvement from the
rest of the student body.
 Real-life simulations 

The constructivist teacher believes that students

learn best by experience. By simulating real-
life situations and immersing the students in these
setups, the teacher successfully gives a very practical
and useful venue for the students to do their critical
thinking and exploring.
 How is this done?
 In Math, for instance, an activity on counting money may be a
day in the grocery store with only a limited amount of money on
hand. The students may be asked to buy the needed items on their
list by carefully noting down each item’s price and budgeting
their money to be able to afford all the necessary goods on their
list.

In Science, a trip outside the school grounds to the nearest safe

highway may be a good observation place for students learning
about the nature and description of the by-products of
combustion.
 The key to a successful constructivist
classroom is an interactive relationship
between the learner, the task, and the
teacher who will largely act as a
facilitator of learning without depriving
the students of experiencing learning
and discovering knowledge on their
own. Use strategies for constructivist
teaching for effective experiential
learning.
 More Advantages and Disadvantages of
Constructivism:
Advantages:

• Each person in the world builds their own knowledge.

• Focuses on student- centered learning
• Teacher guides students in building their own understanding and
knowledge.
• Students actively engaged in their learning process

Disadvantages:

• Lack of teacher preparation for constructivist classrooms

• Difficult to break the cycle of those who have been taught in a
classroom where they were expected to solely absorb information 
Create a classroom activity (teacher/learner
interaction) following the five E model of
Constructivism

a. Engagement
b. Exploration
c. Explanation
d. Extension/elaboration
e. Evaluation