Constructionism in Action

Constructivism confirms that the responsibility for knowledge acquisition lies in the hands of the learner; while constructionism empowers the learner to take the reigns in regards to building new knowledge.  Constructionism affords students much of the decision-making in regards to his/her learning, and therefore, requires solid instructional strategies to facilitate this rewarding approach to effective learning.  The principles of constructionism provide a foundation for successful implementation in the classroom that correlate precisely with the Generating and Testing Hypotheses strategy. 

    One of the key principles Constructionism is that learners are engaged in authentic, real-world tasks (Glazer, 2001).  When students are asked to participate in generating and testing of information, learning is optimized and is presented in a real-world format (Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn, 2012 p. 205) Higher level thinking can be initiated at the onset of the unit by asking students to access prior knowledge in order to better scaffold the new information he/she is about to endeavor learning.  Graphic organizers are an appropriate tool to allow students to visualize how his/her previous knowledge connects to the information no being encountered.  Not only are students engaging in an authentic, real-world task, but the strategy he/she is employing to learn is  an authentic means of gaining knowledge.  A thorough understanding of a concept is often brought about by a “cycle of inquiry,” and generating and testing hypotheses is the essence of this cycle (Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn, 2012 p. 214).  

    The authenticity required by the Constructionist learning theory is easily achieved by using a variety of the educational technology tools connected to the Generating and Testing Hypotheses strategy.  An educator should optimize the time spent in the classroom by utilizing educational technology is more focused ways.  Spreadsheets offered in software programs such as Excel or Numbers are exceptional learning tools for projects that require data calculating and storage capabilities.  However, students should be engaged in higher level thinking tasks when asked to use such technology.  An educator can achieve this by pre-loading a template with authentic data relevant to a higher level thinking task.  By eliminating the tedious work of data entry, the educator has left class time and brain power for the higher level task work.  Additionally, instructional interactives provide many authentic, virtual simulations that students find engaging.  Many of the instructional interactive software programs provide an abundance of authentic data that educators can use to engage students in higher level thinking activities Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn, 2012 p. 215). 
   

References:

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.