A FINE LINK TO CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

Please go to the following link to have a good description of constructivist principles.
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emurphy/stemnet/cle3.html
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FEW TIPS ON CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

Constructivist approaches to teaching and learning have emerged from the work of psychologists and educators such as: Jerome S.Bruner,Jean Piaget and L.Vygotsky.
Jonassen (1994) proposed that there are eight characteristics that differentiate constructivist learning environments:

1. Constructivist learning environments provide multiple representations of reality.

2. Multiple representations avoid oversimplification and represent the complexity of the real world.

3. Constructivist learning environments emphasize knowledge construction instead of knowledge reproduction.

4. Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context.

5. Constructivist learning environments provide learning environments such as real-world settings or case-based learning instead of predetermined sequences of instruction.

6. Constructivist learning environments encourage thoughtful reflection on experience.

7. Constructivist learning environments enable "context- and content- dependent knowledge construction."

8. Constructivist learning environments support "collaborative construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition."

PRACTICUM II PROBLEM BASED LEARNING SCENARIO

How Does Issues-Based Lesson Look Like?
An Experiment with a Prototype Lesson.

Issues-Based Approach (IBA) to curriculum transaction is a novel and unique one in the history of school curriculum development in Kerala. This approach is a clear departure from the traditional ‘knowledge transmission’ models of curriculum transaction and focuses on ‘knowledge generation’ by the learners. The IBA aims to sensitize the learners about the numerous issues faced by our society through the learning material itself. These issues are developed and sensitized using various discourses which provide a linguistically rich environment in the classroom.
Being a novel one, the IBA poses a number of challenges to facilitators with respect to the preparation of teaching manual, lesson transaction, learner assessment etc. in the classroom. It is really a hard task to the facilitator to bring in various social issues in an appropriate form into the framework of formal education. The challenge of the facilitator is to generate contextualized knowledge in developing and transacting IBA lessons. Let us address this challenge by exploring the problem in detail with the following question.

HOW DOES ISSUES-BASED LESSON LOOK LIKE?
AN EXPERIMENT WITH A PROTOTYPE LESSON.

Student teachers are requested to
1) Generate Contextual knowledge on each issue domain discussed in the teachers’ handbook;
2) List out micro-issues related to each issues domain
3) Elaborate and contextualize each micro issue
4) Develop (in small groups) a unit plan on a r topic in IBA
5) Prepare, individually, a proto-lesson in IBA
6) Transact the lesson in the school or in informal settings.
7) Reflect on the experiences.

The banking concept of education

The banking concept of education views students as empty vessels to be filled by the teacher. According to Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, education is traditionally framed as "an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor" (Pedagogy of the Oppressed 58). In this framework, the teacher lectures, and the students "receive, memorize, and repeat" (58). Freire explains that banking education is generally characterized by the following oppressive attitudes and practices:
• the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
• the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
• the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
• the teacher talks and the students listen-meekly;
• the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
• the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
• the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
• the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who are not consulted) adapt to it;
• the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
• the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects
http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~stevens/critped/terms.htm#con

What is Constructivism?

Constructivism is a philosophy that views learning as an active process in which learners construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through action and reflection. Constructivists argue that individuals generate rules and mental models as the result of their experiences with both other human subjects and their environments and in turn use these rules and models to make sense of new experiences.

Three important concepts emerge from this definition:

1. Knowledge is socially constructed. It is not something that exists outside of language and the social subjects who use it. Learning--obtaining knowledge and making meaning--is thus a social process rather than the work of the isolated individual mind; it cannot be divorced from learners' social context.
2. Learning is an active process. Students learn by doing rather than by passively absorbing information.
3. Knowledge is constructed from experience. Students bring prior knowledge into a learning situation, which in turn forms the basis for their construction of new knowledge. Upon encountering something new, learners must first reconcile it in some way with their previous ideas and experiences. This may mean changing what they believe, expanding their understanding, or disregarding the new information as irrelevant.

In this framework then, learning is not a process of transmission of information from teacher to student, a model which positions the student as a passive receptacle, but an active process of construction on the part of the learner that involves making meaning out of multiplicity stimuli.

In practice, educators use active techniques (experiments, real-world examples, problem solving activities, dialogues) to introduce students to information and issues and then encourage students to reflect on and talk about what they did and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions and guides activities to address and build on them. Constructivism also often utilizes collaboration and peer criticism as a way of facilitating students' abilities to reach a new level of understanding.

Ref: http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~stevens/critped/terms.htm#con retrieved on 17/12/09

A Few Tips on Learner-Centered Approach.

Assumptions of the Learner-Centered Model

1. Learners are distinct and unique. Their distinctivenessand uniqueness must be attended to and takeninto account if learners are to engage in and takeresponsibility for their learning.

2. Learners' unique differences include their emotionalstates of mind, learning rates, learning styles, stages ofdevelopment, abilities, talents, feelings of efficacy, andother academic and nonacademic attributes and needs.These must be taken into account if all learners are tobe provided with the necessary challenges and opportunitiesfor learning and self-development.

3. Learning is a constructive process that occurs bestwhen what is being learned is relevant and meaningfulto the learner and when the learner is activelyengaged in creating his or her own knowledge andunderstanding by connecting what is being learnedwith prior knowledge and experience.

4. Learning occurs best in a positive environment, onethat contains positive interpersonal relationships andinteractions, comfort and order, and in which theleaner feels appreciated, acknowledged, respected,and validated.

5. Learning is a fundamentally natural process; learnersare naturally curious and basically interested inlearning about and mastering their world. Althoughnegative thoughts and feelings sometimes interferewith this natural inclination and must be dealt with,the learner does not need to be "fixed."

Key Characteristics of Learner-Centered Classrooms.

In learner-centered classrooms, the teacher

* Organizes learning activities around themes that aremeaningful to students.

* Provides complex and challenging learning activitiesthat promote conceptual and analytic thinking.

* Helps students develop and refine their understandingthrough critical and higher order thinking skills.

* Provides opportunities for students to choose theirown projects and work at their own pace.

* Provides opportunities for students to collaborate withpeers of different ages, cultures, and abilities, andincludes peer teaching as part of instruction.

* Uses a variety of instructional strategies and methodsto match student needs.

* Includes learning activities that are personally andculturally relevant to the students.

* Encourages shared decision making and student autonomy,and gives students increasing responsibilityfor their learning.

* Listens to and respects students' points of view.

* Monitors student progress continually and providesfeedback on individual growth and progress.

* Uses standardized and alternative forms of assessment,and allows competencies and achievement ofeducational standards to be demonstrated in a varietyof ways.

Source: McCombs, B., & Whisler, S. (1997). The Learner-centered classroom and school. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

* Uses heterogeneous grouping practices that promotecooperation, shared responsibility, and a sense ofbelonging.

How reflective journal is different from a daily diary?

Many a times it is asked that how reflective journal is different from a daily diary;

• Reflective journal involves reasoning whereas daily diary is descriptive;
• Reflective journal is focused on problem solving whereas daily diary is focused on identification of problem;
• Reflective journal is analytical whereas daily diary is narrative;
• Reflective journal is all about raising questions related to individual concerns whereas daily diary signifies sequence of events etc
• Reflective journal deals in taking initiatives for further learning whereas daily diary deals in depending on others

(http://socyberty.com/education/reflective-practice-for-classroom-teachers/ retrieved on02/12/09)