Constructivism
Constructivism is learning by ‘finding out’. Students are
not just given facts to memorise, but asked to find the answers, analyse and/or
draw conclusions. Wilson (2012, p.45) describes this as people learning by “making
sense out of the world”. The learning can be from planned activities, or
informally from any situation where a problem needs to be solved.
Clearly solving a problem requires critical thinking and
higher-order cognitive outcomes. The learner must engage with the situation and
bring together all the facts and issues in order to find a solution. Memorising
a list of names and dates may be accepted as a form of learning – but to know
how, why and when to use this data requires the higher order skills attained
through constructivism. In Reiser’s video (2012), he
specifies ‘complex problems’ to be solved. This means more than just answering
simple questions.
I’ve always been of the opinion that the students learn more
by finding the answers themselves, than just listening to me or ignoring the handouts
they are given, I found this came unstuck when they had to apply their findings
to other problems. They had just been copying and pasting and not fully
comprehending what they had found. This is a small example of evidence for the
theories which highlight the importance of informing the students of what they
are expected to learn, and how they need to apply the learning to fully
understand. This should help limit any confusion about ‘busy work’ versus appropriate
learning. Before they embark on the larger problem we have a group discussion to
ensure (for those who contribute and listen) that they have obtained the
information they needed. This also meets with Reiser’s (2012) view about
learner collaboration. Hearing other people’s views and debating understanding
helps to clarify meaning to all concerned. Actively engaging with the learning
activities usually means better learning results.Problem solving is more than just finding the answer. Future tasks will have to require that the students apply what they find straight away to encourage the higher order critical thinking skills. The scaffolding will have to change shape.
Wiki (2011)
The frontpage of
this wiki suggests it is about digital story-telling. Therefore I assume the
aim of this wiki was for students to create a digital story around one of many
learning theories or situations (to judge from the variety of pages available).
Since they probably had to research the theory before putting it on the wiki, there
was more than one problem to solve. The students had to learn to make a digital
story and contribute to a wiki, in the meantime learning something about
whichever theme they were demonstrating. This makes it an effective piece of
instructional design.
A wiki can reflect
a constructivist approach when it is used to meet the following ideals. Some
are automatically part of a wiki, others may need some introduction or
scaffolding from an instructor. Reiser (2012) lists six components of what
should be included in constructivist teaching methods:
1. Anchor
instruction – place the learning in context. A wiki achieves this by providing
a ‘tangible’ outcome for the research. The learners know why they are
researching.
2. Authentic task –
creating something akin to what would be done in the real world. The wiki is
certainly authentic for learning about instructional design as it may well be a
learning object which could be used.
3. Present complex
problems – Combining several problems makes it complex, for example how to
create a wiki as well as the topic under research.
4. Have learners
take the lead – learners determine what will go into the wiki
5. Learner collaboration
– this is the very basis of a wiki – that all the members can have authority to
edit each others’ pages.
6. Encourage learner
reflection. There is also a section on each wiki page for comments from others,
so learners can comment on other pages and respond to comments on their own.
A wiki can be a
useful tool for instruction if it is used
in the appropriate context and the learners are given direction and
support in what they are learning.
References
Reiser, R. (2012) Ten Trends Affecting the Field of Instructional
Design and Technology on VimeoWiki (2011) Constructivism as a Pedagogical Philosophy (accessed 7 July 2013)
Wilson, B.G. (2012)
Constructivism is practical and historical content. In R. Reiser and J Dempsey
(eds) Trends and issues in instructional
design and technology 3rd
edn. Pearson : Boston pp45-52.
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