Why is constructivism good

He is actively engaged at this time in scholarly projects and the publication of a new book. He has published seminal journal articles and numerous books, including those on student thinking and conceptual change. Contact Us Staff Directory. Constructivism — the good; the bad; and the abhorrent? November 20, Keith S. If a student is writing a paper about history, they are also learning principles of grammar and writing as well.

Each thing we learn gives us a better understanding of other things in the future. Learning is an active process. Learning involves sensory input to construct meaning. Learners need to engage in the world so they are actively involved in their own learning and development. Learning is a social activity. Learning is directly associated to our connection with other people. Our teachers, our family, or peers, and our acquaintances impact our learning.

Educators are more likely to be successful as they understand that peer involvement is key in learning. Progressive education recognizes that social interaction is key to learning and they use conversation, interaction, and group applications to help students retain their knowledge. Learning is contextual. The things we learn and the points we tend to remember are connected to the things going on around us.

Knowledge is personal. Because constructivism is based on your own experiences and beliefs, knowledge becomes a personal affair.

Each person will have their own prior knowledge and experiences to bring to the table. So the way and things people learn and gain from education will all be very different.

Learning exists in the mind. Engaging the mind is key to successful learning. Learning needs to involve activities for the minds, not just our hands. Mental experiences are needed for retaining knowledge. Motivation is key to learning. Students are unable to learn if they are unmotivated. Educators need to have ways to engage and motivate learners to activate their minds and help them be excited about education.

There are different types of constructivism that educators can use to find success with this learning theory. These methods work to help students in learning new information by connecting it to things they already know, enabling them to make modifications in their existing intelligence to accommodate the new information. Cognitive constructivism comes from the work of Jean Piaget and his research on cognitive development in children.

Social constructivism focuses on the collaborative nature of learning. Knowledge develops from how people interact with each other, their culture, and society at large. Constructivism concentrates on learning how to think and understand.

Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist classrooms, students create organizing principles that they can take with them to other learning settings. Constructivism gives students ownership of what they learn, since learning is based on students' questions and explorations, and often the students have a hand in designing the assessments as well.

Constructivist assessment engages the students' initiatives and personal investments in their journals, research reports, physical models, and artistic representations. Engaging the creative instincts develops students' abilities to express knowledge through a variety of ways. The students are also more likely to retain and transfer the new knowledge to real life. By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world context, constructivism stimulates and engages students.

Students in constructivist classrooms learn to question things and to apply their natural curiousity to the world.