EDT 10 Constructivism by Linda Querni

The two websites that I looked at were www.ualberta./ca~hkanuka/EDIT575-EDPY483/whatis.htm and http://up.ac.za/catts/learner/lindavr/lindapg1.htm . These two websites discussed the concepts of constructivism.

Constructivism Has three parts to it. The first one is that learning is based on what we already know, just like building blocks. The second is that prior knowledge will influence what we learn in the future. The third concept is that Learning is an active process rather than a passive one.

People that are constructivists view learning as the result of mental construction. They think that students learn better by being in an active learning environment and putting new information together with the old.

With the Constructiivist theory, the emphasis is placed on the student rather than the teacher or t he instructor. If the student gets "hand on" experience, they would gain a greater understanding of the subject matter being taught. Learning is also affected by the students ideas. They are encouraged to try their own solutions and hypothesis’.

The basic idea of constructivism includes some of the following: Thinks of learning as a process, considers how the students learn, supports co-operative learning, involves learners in real life situations, looks at beliefs, and nurtures the learners curiosity. These are only few of many ideas of constructivism.

Social constructivism is the view that we construct meanings actively and continuously in social context. It uses conversational language for negotiation of meaning and conceptual delimitations. With this view, it is believed that we all have different views of the world based on our own individual experiences and beliefs from those experiences.