Principles Of Constructivism

Constructivism "is the philosophy, or belief, that learners create their own knowledge based on interactions with their environment including their interactions with other people" (Draper, 2002 : 522). Constructivists understand learning as an interpretive, recursive, building process by active learners interrelating with the physical and social world (Fosnot, 1996). The term constructivism most probably is derived from Piaget’s reference to his views as “constructivist” (Gruber & Voneche, 1977), as well as from Bruner (1966)’s description of discovery learning as “constructionist”.

2.1.1 Principles of Constructivism

First, knowledge is constructed, discovered, and transformed by students. Faculty create the conditions within which students

Constructivism focuses on personal experience as the foundation for learning new material, Co-operative Learning utilizes not only the student’s own experience to solidify knowledge, but also uses the experiences of others. Both theories emphasise the importance of interactivity with respect to the design and implementation of lesson plans. In the constructivist classroom, the focus tends to shift from the teacher to the students. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert") pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled. In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their own process of learning. In the constructivist classroom, both teacher and students think of knowledge as a dynamic, ever-changing view of the world we live in and the ability to successfully stretch and explore that view - not as inert, permanents facts to be

Social Constructivism in the Classroom : One version of constructivist learning theory, namely, social constructivism, emphasises the ways a culture influences its people’s mental constructs. A key assumption about social constructivism is that “learning is collaborative with meaning negotiated from multiple perspectives (Smith & Ragan, 1999 : 15). The main theory underlying co-operative learning is social constructivism proposed by Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934). He considered that the roles of culture and society as well as language and interaction are important in understanding how humans learn. Vygotsky (1962) assumed that knowledge is cultural; he took a socio-cultural approach in his study with children. This approach can be briefly described as “co-operative” and “cultural.” Vygotsky (1962) asserted that the cultures lead to the development of individuals, including their thoughts, languages and reasoning processes. These abilities are developed through social interactions with significant others including parents and teachers, therefore, they represent the shared knowledge of a given culture. Vygotsky (1978) studied the development of children from their environment and through their interaction with others, he found that what are given and what happens in the social environment (e.g., dialogues, actions, and activities), help children learn, develop and