Integrative Review: Constructivist and Social Constructivist Theory of Learning/ Philosophical Realism/ Realist Epistemology (original) (raw)

THEORY AND PRACTICE: IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM IN EDUCATION

Theory and Practice: Implications of social constructivism in education, 2023

Constructivism is a learning theory that emphasizes active engagement of learners in the learning process, which often happens through problem-solving and discovery. Education is also a field which is actively seeking changes and progress welcoming innovations in methods and techniques. Social constructivism is a theory that can be utilized for educational reform. The theory of Constructivism defines a prominent role for learners in the process and for the aim of building knowledge and achieving comprehension. A constructivist educational setting is mostly learner-centered trying to change learners into active participants rather than passive listeners. Thus, it can clearly work as an influential theory inspiring changes in both attitudes and practices in learning and teaching areas. In this paper, social constructivism will be defined, different dimensions of the theory will be clarified and it will be discussed as how it can function as a starting base for educators to draw practical implications to use during their teaching process.

Meaningful learning: the end of the social and individual constructivist dichotomy

2023

In educational theory, constructivists of diverse philosophical inclinations debate between social and individual constructivism and assume themselves as immovable in the apparent irreconcilable disagreement of their epistemes, generating confusion in the interpretation and implementation of the theory of constructivism. Consequently, this paper seeks to reconcile the social and individual constructivist currents through the exposition of their common theoretical premise. The method that guided the writing of this article was the contrast between authors and theories through educational reflection and hermeneutics applied to written texts. A total of 30 documents were selected from databases such as Scopus, EBSCO, Scielo and Google Scholar, from which 22 articles of different types were taken to strengthen the theoretical discussion. Thus, it was found that constructivist theories encompass the construction of knowledge as processes that, although derived from different conceptions of cognition and learning, agree in postulating that the learner is the protagonist of his or her own learning process. It was concluded that meaningful learning represents a link between individual and social constructivist theories, since it is the common vertex of both currents.

Constructivism and Learning

Constructivism: The Construction of What? In this article, we discuss constructivism as a theory of learning, hence, we debate on howpeople construct meaning and knowledge. It is important to distinguish this from epistemology of scientific knowledge, that is, the growth, development, and status of scientific knowledge about the world. We may ask what is constructed? Is it: 1. our individual knowledge about the world? (e.g., children construct their own knowledge) 2. the shared and accepted scientific knowledge about the world as it exists in established science? (e.g., scientific knowledge is socially constructed) or 3. the world itself ? (e.g., the world is socially constructed)

Constructivism: Implication for Research and Effective Learning

BSSS Journal of Education, 2021

Constructivism is an epistemology, or a theory, used to explain how people know what they know. Fundamentally, constructivism says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Constructivism is a theory that asserts that learning is an activity that is individual to the learner. This theory hypothesizes that individuals will try to make sense of all information that they perceive, and that each individual will, therefore, "construct" their own meaning from that information. Driscoll (2000) explains that constructivist theory asserts that knowledge can only exist within the human mind, and that it does not have to match any real world reality. Learners will be constantly trying to derive their own personal mental model of the real world from their perceptions of that world. As they perceive each new experience, learners will continually update their own mental models to reflect the new information, and will, therefore, construct their own interpretation of reality. The basic idea is that problem solving is the core of learning, thinking, and development. As people solve problems and discover the consequences of their actions through reflecting on past and immediate experiencesthey construct their own understanding and deeply understand what they have constructed. Constructivism is basically a theory based on observation and scientific study about how people learn. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, may be changing what we believe, or may be discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know. In the light of these themes, in this paper, discussions have been made on concept of constructivist learning, salient features of constructivist learning approach, difference between constructivist learning and traditional approach of learning, teacher's position in constructivist learning approach, learner's position in constructivist learning approach and implications of constructivist learning approach.

Social Constructivism as an Instrument to Strengthen the Learning Process

Landstede, Theo van Geffen

In the Netherlands all secondary vocational education institutions will be working with the new-style competence-based qualification guidelines by August 2010. Therefore educational institutions are developing new training courses and designing new types of examination to match the new qualifications. One of the questions is whether it is possible to use existing educational materials for the transition to competence-based education. This paper describes theory and practice of 'Project Guides' for students in a setting of competence based education. The paper has four parts. First a short introduction explaining the concepts constructivism, competency and problem based learning. Second a short problem statement. The third part gives an analysis of the Project Guides in the transition from problem based learning to competence based learning. The fourth part discusses the use of the guides and gives some recommendations.

Roots and Pedagogical Perspectives of Constructivism

Constructivism is a broad term used by philosophers, curriculum designers, psychologists, educators, and others to emphasize the active role of the learner in making sense of information through individual and social activity. Constructivism focuses on different aspects such as construction of knowledge, processing of existing structures, connecting new ideas sometimes through their own thinking and sometimes in collaboration with others. Constructivism can also be conceived as a revolt against the traditional objectivism. Educationists and researchers have focused on various types of constructivism such as - - (1) Cognitive constructivism, (2) Social constructivism, (3) Radical constructivism, (4) Critical constructivism, (5) Personal constructivism and (6) Emancipatory constructivism. This paper details the pedagogical aspects of cognitive and social constructivism and the elements such as theory of knowledge, learning process, learner, teacher and classroom transaction.

Constructivism: Learning Theory and Its Benefits

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2015

What is constructivism? Constructivism is basically a theory-based on observation and scientific study-about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know. In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them. Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN. You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences,

Constructivism Learning Theory: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

Constructivism represents one of the big ideas in education. Its implications for how teachers teach and learn to teach are enormous. If our efforts in reforming education for all students are to succeed, then we must focus on students. To date, a focus on student-centered learning may well be the most important contribution of constructivism. This article, therefore, discusses constructivism learning theory as a paradigm for teaching and learning. Constructivism is a learning theory found in psychology which explains how people might acquire knowledge and learn. It therefore has direct application to education. The theory suggests that humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Conceptual understanding of the theory was discussed as well as basic characteristics of constructivists learning environment. Seven pedagogical goals of constructivist learning environments and six benefits of constructivism were outlined in this article. Significant differences between traditional classroom and constructivist classroom were spelt out in a tabular form. Furthermore,principles of constructivism and several implications of constructivism for teaching and learningwere reviewed. The study, therefore, concluded that teachers need to reflect on their practice in order to apply these ideas to their work and that constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding.

Review of Constructivism and Social Constructivism

A B S T R A C T Although constructivism is a concept that has been embraced recently, a great number of sociologists, psychologists, applied linguists, and teachers have provided varied definitions of this concept. Also many philosophers and educationalists such as Piaget, Vygotsky, and Perkins suggest that constructivism and social constructivism try to solve the problems of traditional teaching and learning. This research review represents the meaning and the origin of constructivism, and then discusses the role of leaning, teaching, learner, and teacher in the first part from constructivist perspective. In the second part, the paper discusses the same issues, as presented in the first part, from social constructivist perspective. The purpose of this research review is to make EFL teachers and EFL students more familiar with the importance and guidance of both constructivism and social constructivism perspectives.