It encourages learners to build their own knowledge in order to gain understanding that they may not receive when actively listening in class or reading from a prescribed textbook. “Explains why students do not learn deeply by listening to a teacher, or reading from a textbook” (Roy, 2017). The main theorists that propose Constructivism are John Dewey, Maria Montessori and David Kolb. Constructivism encourages learners to explore the world around in efforts to gain knowledge on particular subjects, thus forming what is known as Discovery Learning in opposition of the children learning passively. An example of a Constructivist activity that may be executed in the classroom is experimentation.
Theoretical Framework This study was anchored on the Constructivist Theory. Constructivism is defined by Cunanan-Cruz (2002) as an educational theory whereby learners construct their own knowledge by a natural ability to think, by learning from the environment, or by combination of both natural ability and environmental influences, where the result is an autonomous, intellectual learner. Constructivism influences instructional theory by encouraging discovery, hands-on, experiential, collaborative, project-based, and task-based learning. It has roots in cognitive psychology and biology and is an approach to education that lays emphasis on the ways knowledge is created while exploring the world. Exemplars of constructivist theory may be found in the works of John Dewey, Maria Montessori and David Kolb.
Tobin (1993) noted that the constructivist approach has become increasingly popular over the last ten years and it therefore represents a paradigm shift in teaching science. Yeany (1991) argued that "an unification of thought, research, curriculum development and teacher training now seems to happen under the theme of construction"(p 1). According to Scott, Asoko, Emberto and Driver (1994), "science learning involves epistemological and conceptual development in a constructivist perspective" (p. 219). Constructivism sees learning as a social and dynamic process in which learners construct meaning from their experiences as part of their previous understandings and the social environment (Driver,Asoko, Leach,Scott and Mortomer, 1994). The
Skinner in his experiment proved that behavior that produces pleasurable consequences is likely to be repeated whilst that which produces negative consequences is stamped out. Behaviorism and psychoanalysis both believed that
Slater was able to get a hold of Skinner’s other daughter, Julie Vargas, and find out her opinion on her father, Skinner, and his experiments. Julie went on to tell Slater that, “If my father made one mistake, it was in the words he chose. People hear the word control and they think fascist. If my father had said people were informed by their environments, or inspired by their environments, no on would’ve had a problem.” In other words, Julie was a fan of her father, and she thinks that if he had approached people differently, then people would have taken to him in a more positive way. So, while there is and always will be controversy surrounding Skinner and his experiments, Skinner contributed a great quantity to the field of psychology.
Education is centered on themes and concepts and the connections between them, rather than isolated information. Constructivism is first of all a theory of learning based on the idea that knowledge is constructed by the knower based on mental activity. Learners are considered to be active organisms seeking meaning. Constructivism is founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world consciously we live in. Each of us generates our own "rules" and "mental models," which we use to make sense of our experiences.
Meanwhile, constructivism helped the researcher in conceptualizing this study. It serves as a theoretical organizer for many science educators who are trying to understand cognition in science (Lunetta, 1998) learners construct their ideas and understanding on the basis of series of personal experiences. Under this theory, educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Teachers also promote open-ended questions and extensive dialogue among students. Kurt Lewin theorized a three-stage model of change that is known as the unfreezing-change-refreeze model that requires prior learning to be rejected and replaced.
Constructivism theory encourages learners to make new concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. In this sense, the learner selects and transforms information, assembles hypotheses, and formulates decisions relying on a cognitive structure. Cognitive configuration provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the information given" (Culatta, 2015). Students in this case ascertain, and assess what they know. They are active creators of their own knowledge.
The research is influenced by his/her values in choosing the research tradition, selecting the topic to investigate, the methods you employ to gather and analyzing information and how the researcher read the results on the study. The interpretivist research is risk to be inflicted by the biasness, to produce neutral inquiry the researcher must army with necessary skills and professionalism in conducing the
In a classroom there are a number of teaching practices with regards to the constructivist theory , students are told to use active techniques such as experiments and real world problem solving skills , they are then asked to discuss what they have taken in and then to reflect on it this creates more knowledge and their understanding changes . In order for students to succeed they have to be constantly assessed on the activities at hand and how they help them gain understanding .Students are provided with ever-broadening tools to keep learming . An example of a constructivist learning theory that is practised in a classroom is when the teacher requests that students draw up their own questionnaires to help them gain better understanding of the content and another one is when the teacher encourages group work and provides them with the necessary resources