Week 4: Constructivism in Practice

As Dr. Orey discussed how we compare the constructivist theory to the constructionism, I was reminded of a phrase I have on my wall at school. Learn it, Do it, Own it... These words reflect how I want my students to learn in my classroom. Once the lesson has been taught, you have to let your students show you what they know. They have to "do it" and construct an artifact to show their knowledge of the subject.

One of the most difficult parts of this process is letting go of the micromanagement of the classroom and letting the students work together cooperatively. This means a bit more noise sometimes, but we need to let our students problem solve and become seekers of knowledge, not just tape recorders that listen to us teach them what they need to know. For too many students, they have gotten into the habit of waiting for someone to tell them the answer. We have to help them become detectives in their own education.

The six recommendations that are made in the Pitler text for generating and testing hypothesis, cover all the different techniques for a constructionist classroom. Then the artifact that is created by going through all of these steps can be easily created using different facets of technology. In order for us to create equilibration in our class, we need to help the students create more schema's in order to help them accommodate their new knowledge.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.