Constructivism and Constructionism

 Constructivism and Constructionism

Teachers are always adjusting and remodeling their teaching practices to create lessons that benefit student learning and success. Engaging students in their learning process and bringing excitement into the classroom is the main goal for educators.

Constructivism is a learning theory that draws on student experience to assist in their learning process. Orey stated that,

Constructivism is a theory of knowledge stating that each individual actively constructs his/ her own meaning. (Laureate Education, 2015e, 1:32)

This theory draws on the individual’s prior knowledge and understanding of a topic. Every student could have a different experience with certain things that alter their thinking, interest, and understanding in it. This is a great theory to use during interactive instructions with students. Students can be discussing a topic and based on their prior experiences, they would be able to explain their reasoning or build on someone else’s thoughts. The theory of constructivism engages the students in elaborating, interpreting, and deeply thinking about different topics (Yin, 2020). Constructivism allows students to be exposed to different points of view and begin to accept multiple perspectives on a topic.

         Like constructivism, constructionism is a learning theory that draws on the student’s experience. The difference between the two is that constructionism revolves around hands-on experiences. Orey stated,

Constructionism is a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others (Laureate Education, 2015e, 2:01)

Hands-on activities are the best way to activate student involvement and engagement by creating or building something (Csizmadia et al., 2019).  Constructionism is promoted through indirect instruction with problem-solving skills and experimental learning through building and creating with games and other assignments. Students are constructing their knowledge and understanding of the material through the process of building and creating.

In today’s classroom, students can use technology to promote constructivism and constructionism throughout learning. Students are able to use PowerPoint to create games, activities, posters, and more that help them develop a deeper understanding of the material and information. Technology tools can be very interactive that allows students to build, create, deeply think about, and further understand a topic. For the younger grades, word processing applications is software that allows students or teachers to add clipart and text to their document (Kuhn, 2012). Students are easily picking up new software and skills using technology that they can use to further the learning and understanding of a topic through hand on creations and experiences.

In my classroom, my goal is to provide my students with experience-based learning using the theories of constructivism and constructionism. I have found that my students thrive when they are enjoying their learning process, so I tend to stay away from lectures and focus more on games and activities. I start lessons by modeling for my students, but then I release them to navigate their own learning in order to problem-solve, build a deeper understanding, and experience their learning. My students love to talk about their findings and what they thought was cool or interesting from their learning experiences. Each student interprets information and activities differently, so it is fun to see where they are able to connect and learn from other experiences as well. Since I teach Kindergarten, we have just begun exposing the students to the realm of technology. My goal to integrate the theories of constructivism and constructionism in the classroom with technology is to model for my students how to use different applications where they are able to create their own activities and games, like Microsoft processing applications or PowerPoint. This will,

Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning (ISTE Standards for Educators, n.d)

My students will grow and develop a deeper understanding of the learning materials through experiences and hands-on activities.

         In the creation and application of my Genius project, I can incorporate aspects of the blog that I found this week because it describes the learning environment atmosphere. The blog states that,

A constructivist classroom fosters critical thinking, flexibility, creativity, active learning, and more (Machado, 2011).

Throughout the process of my students creating their events, the students will have the opportunity to engage in a hands-on experience that promotes them using their creative and problem-solving skills. The popular source I found this week (Constructionism - Using Integrated Software, n.d.) shows students building robots and using their skills to work together to make it work. In my classroom, I could use these ideas when my students are finalizing their ideas about the kindness event they would like to see at our school. My students will be able to use all of their learned skills to create a cohesive poster or advertisement for the whole event. They will have to pull together the key components of their project to display to their classmates and teachers. The popular source that I found describes constructivism and constructionism as the active involvement of the students in their learning experiences (Candra, & Retnawati, 2020). My students will be using their prior knowledge of kindness and how we treat others in and outside of the classroom to create a school event that teaches everyone how to be a kind role model for others. They will be participating in the hands-on experience of creating the event to foster their deeper understanding and knowledge of the material.

         Students need to be active in their learning. Passive learning does not promote the same growth and understanding of the learning experience. Constructivism and constructionism are theories that demonstrate students actively engaging in their learning process and environment in order to develop a deeper understanding. The connections that are made through engaging in the activities will provide the students with the long-term memory and knowledge to refer back to.

References

Candra, & Retnawati, H. (2020). A Meta-Analysis of Constructivism Learning Implementation towards the Learning Outcomes on Civic Education Lesson. International Journal of Instruction, 13(2), 835–846. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.29333/iji.2020.13256a

Constructionism - Using Integrated Software. (n.d.). https://sites.google.com/site/usingintegratedsoftware/home/blocks-to-robots-glossary/constructionism

Csizmadia, A., Standl, B., & Waite, J. (2019). Integrating the Constructionist Learning Theory with Computational Thinking Classroom Activities. Informatics in Education, 18(1), 41–67.

ISTE Standards for Educators. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

Kuhn, M., Pitler, H., & Hubbell, E. R. (2012). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Second Edition.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015e). Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Machado, J. (2011). A Constructivist Classroom is a 21st-Century Classroom. Retrieved from https://web.tech4learning.com/a-constructivist-classroom-is-a-21st-century-classroom

Yin, Q., Yang, W., & Li, H. (2020). Blending Constructivism and Instructivism: A Study of Classroom Dialogue in Singapore Kindergartens. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 34(4), 583–600. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/02568543.2019.1709926